Obamas headline day 2 of Democratic National Convention

Our live coverage of the DNC has moved here.

Former President Barack Obama walks onstage at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 20.

Barack and Michelle Obama electrified the?Democratic National Convention?on Tuesday, delivering back-to-back speeches that eviscerated Donald Trump and urged Americans to reject the Republican nominee once and for all.

Here are some takeaways from the DNC’s second night:

“Kids with funny names”: 20 years after Barack Obama burst onto the political scene with his 2004 DNC speech, he delivered its bookend. “This convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Obama said. The 44th president made many references to his own campaigns — including the “Yes we can” chants once so omnipresent at Obama rallies, now returning as “Yes she can.”

“Hope makes a comeback”: Few people have as much of a hold on the hearts and minds of the Democratic base as Michelle Obama, who was greeted with one of the loudest, longest rounds of applause as she took the stage in her hometown. “Hope is making a comeback,” she said of Harris’ candidacy, echoing the theme of her husband’s 2008 presidential run. “My girl Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment,” she said. “She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency, and she is one of the most dignified.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 20.

Warnings of “foolishness”: Michelle?Obama urged the audience to keep their eyes on the prize. She told Democrats to avoid the “foolishness” of waiting to be asked to act and made a personal appeal for everyone to “do something” between now and Election Day. “Yes, Kamala and Tim are doing great now. We’re loving it. They pack arenas across the country. Folks are energized. We are feeling good,” she said. “But remember, there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome.”

Emhoff introduces “Momala”: The second gentleman sought to show America a personal side of his wife — telling stories about how they met and how she became “Momala” to his two children. But Emhoff’s speech wasn’t purely anecdotes. He also described Harris as tough. “Here’s the thing about joyful warriors: They’re still warriors. And Kamala is as tough as it comes,” he said.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 20.

GOP speakers show up for Harris: Democrats weren’t just working to appeal to their own party. Throughout the night, the DNC featured former Republicans making the case for independents and Trump critics to vote for Harris, including Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, former Trump aide Stephanie Grisham and Kyle Sweetser, a Nikki Haley supporter who plans to vote for Harris.

“VP Harris, Governor Walz”: The?roll?call, a tradition of political conventions, was turned into an hourlong, prime-time mash-up led by DJ Cassidy of songs associated with each state, while representatives from the states delivered speeches as they cast their delegates’ votes. Some song picks were by musicians who are synonymous with their home states, including Eminem (Michigan), Prince (Minnesota), Bruce Springsteen (New Jersey), Jay-Z and Alicia Keys (New York), and Petey Pablo (North Carolina).

Georgia stole the show. Lil Jon started the party by rapping “Turn Down for What.” Then, as the track to “Get Low” played, Lil Jon tweaked the words. “To the window, to the wall” became “VP Harris, Governor Walz.” It ended with Democrats cutting from the?roll?call?to a live video of Harris and Walz stepping onstage in Milwaukee, where they held a rally on the same night.

Read more takeaways.

Republican political strategist and commentator Ana Navarro drew on her personal background to criticize Donald Trump for labeling Kamala Harris a communist, instead suggesting that the former president’s policies and behavior more closely mirror communist dictators.

“I know communism. I fled communism from Nicaragua when I was eight years old. I don’t take it lightly,” she said at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, where she appeared as a host.

“Now tell me something. Do any of those things sound familiar? Is anybody running for president who reminds you of that?” she asked in her speech.

Navarro was referring to Trump’s regular criticism of the press, the appointment of his family members to multiple roles while he was in the White House, and his baseless claims about election fraud in 2020 that led to the riot on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Former President Barack Obama gave the keynote speech Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention, telling the crowd in Chicago that he was “feeling hopeful”?because Vice President Kamala Harris was ready to step into the White House.

He was introduced by his wife, Michelle,?who delivered her own speech on Tuesday?and told America that “hope is making a comeback.” Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, also took the stage.

Harris and Walz?were holding a campaign rally?in nearby Milwaukee. Harris appeared via video after a ceremonial roll call on Tuesday.

Former President Barack Obama delivers a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, August 20.

An audience member tears up while listening to Obama's keynote address on Tuesday.?

Michelle Obama, who gave a speech at the DNC, was greeted by a long standing ovation before she talked about the “contagious power of hope.” She was critical of former President Donald Trump and his policies, saying he had dug in on “ugly, misogynist, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will make people’s lives better.”?

California Gov. Gavin Newsom poses for a selfie during the convention on Tuesday. “There’s a sense of energy that’s beyond just these four walls,”?the governor told CNN. “You see it out there, you feel it out there."?

People cheer as Teamster union members take the stage at the convention on Tuesday.?

Rapper Lil Jon performs two of his classics, “Get Low” and “Turn Down for What,” during Georgia's roll call on Tuesday.?

Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff,?speaks at the convention?on Tuesday. He said that his wife rises to the occasion “wherever she’s needed” and has done that for their family. During his speech,?he also recalled how he first met Harris?during a blind date in 2013 — sending the crowd into laughter after telling them Harris replays his first awkward voicemail to her every anniversary.

Harris?appears via video?to symbolically accept the party's nomination after a ceremonial roll call on Tuesday. She and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, were in Milwaukee for a campaign rally.?

See more pictures from the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

Democratic presidential candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris and democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz walk onstage for a campaign rally at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 20.

It’s time to turn joy into votes.

Democratic Party Hall of Famers spent the first two days of?their party’s convention?doubling down on their 11th-hour wager on their ebullient new presidential ticket.

Now it’s all on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.

The vice president and the Minnesota governor are largely unknown to vast swaths of the country and have experienced nothing like the looming maelstrom of an election clash with Donald Trump.

But they can’t have hoped for more help than the Democratic Party giants of the last 40 years.

A president, Joe Biden,?drew a curtain?on a 50-year political career.

An ex-president, Barack Obama, implored a polarized nation to renew what Abraham Lincoln called “our bonds of affection” and to unify behind Harris.

Hillary Clinton, who came so close to breaking the male monopoly on the presidency,?peered through the cracks?in the highest, hardest glass ceiling and envisioned Harris taking the oath of office as the first woman president.

And another former first lady, Michelle Obama, declared, “hope is making a comeback” while beseeching voters to “do something” to thwart a Trump restoration.

But on the next two nights in Chicago, Harris and Walz must begin to answer whether their chummy double act can evolve into a serious electoral movement as their campaign enters a critical new stage.

Read the full analysis.

Kerstin Emhoff, second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife, was one of the producers behind the introduction video narrated by their son Cole at the Democratic National Convention?on Tuesday evening, she said on X.?

The 3-minute-long video teed up Emhoff’s speech, presenting him as a son of New Jersey, a McDonald’s “Employee of the Month,” an accomplished lawyer, and a dad.

Kerstin Emhoff, who has been in the family box this week, posted the video, writing: “This is my Dad, Doug.?A film by Cole Emhoff, produced by me, and @Venture_land.”

She is a film producer and the CEO of production studio Ventureland.

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama embrace on stage on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago.

Former President?Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff?were the big speakers on the second day of the Democratic National Convention.

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, did not attend because they held a prime-time rally in Wisconsin as they tried to get their message out on a tight timeline ahead of the election.

Here are some of the key developments from the second day of the DNC:

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Former President Barack Obama said Kamala Harris and Tim Walz embody “a return to America where we work together and look out for each other” while wrapping up his Tuesday night headlining spot at the DNC.

He added: “And together, we too will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.”

“So let’s get to work,” the former president said, ending his remarks.

Barack and Michelle Obama have pledged to continue their efforts to help Vice President Kamala Harris in the final 11 weeks of her presidential campaign.

The former president spent time in Chicago on Monday, aides said, recording videos for Harris’ campaign. He has served as a sounding board, encouraged his former top advisers to join her campaign and intends to hit the campaign trail in the final month of the race.

The Harris campaign believes the speech from former first lady Michelle Obama may resonate particularly well with some of the very voters they need to win the election, aides said, and it intends to use her message in the weeks ahead.

Vice President Kamala Harris watched part of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama’s DNC speeches while on the Marine Two helicopter, according to a campaign official.?

Harris was traveling back to Chicago from a campaign rally in Milwaukee during their remarks.

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

The whole world watches elections in the United States, former President Barack Obama reminded Americans.

Former President Barack Obama praised Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, saying he will be an “outstanding partner” for Kamala Harris in the White House.

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Former President Barack Obama said Kamala Harris pushed his administration hard to get results for Californians when she was the state’s attorney general.

“Yes she can,” Obama said, repeating what an audience member said as he spoke about how Harris would be as president. The audience went on to chant “yes she can.”

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Former President Barack Obama told the Democratic National Convention that America does not need four more years of a Donald Trump presidency, slamming his policies and his character.

Obama said Trump’s move to kill a bipartisan border deal in the Senate and strip reproductive rights for women hurt Americans. When the crowd booed, Obama said:

“We do not need four more?years of bluster and bumbling?and chaos, we have seen that?movie before, and we all know that the?sequel is usually worse,” Obama said.

He said Trump’s complaints are “getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala.”

“The childish nicknames, the?crazy conspiracy theories, this?weird obsession with crowd sizes,” Obama said to loud to cheers from the crowd.

Former President Barack Obama reminded voters in his speech at the DNC Tuesday that the upcoming election will be a “tight race.”

He urged voters to fight for the America they believe in.

As Americans consider which candidate is thinking about their future, Obama said, Donald Trump “is not losing sleep over that question.”

“Here’s a 78-year-old?billionaire who has not stopped?whining about his problems since he rode down his golden?escalator nine years ago. It has?been a constant stream of?gripes and grievances that’s?actually been getting worse now?that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” Obama said.

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Former President Barack Obama opened his speech with effusive praise toward his former vice president, but he added “the torch has been passed” as Kamala Harris now leads the Democratic Party.

Former President Barack Obama on stage during the second day of the DNC in Chicago, on Tuesday, August 20.

Barack Obama, in his speech to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, remembered choosing his former vice president, Joe Biden, 16 years ago and recognized his friend’s accomplishments as Biden passes the torch to his own running mate, Kamala Harris.

“Joe and I come from different backgrounds, but we became brothers,” he said, saying that what he came to admire was Biden’s empathy, decency and resilience.

Obama recalled feeling that America needed a leader after Donald Trump’s four years in office and during a global pandemic: “We needed a leader to put politics aside and do what was right.”

And when the economy was “reeling,” Obama said Biden’s policies turned the country around.

“And I am proud to call him my president, but I am even prouder to call him my friend,” he said, before the crowd began chanting “thank you, Joe.”

Former President Barack Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Former President Barack Obama told the crowd at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday that he is “feeling hopeful” because Vice President Kamala Harris is ready to step into the White House.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up. I’m feeling ready to go,” he said.

He was introduced by his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama.

The 44th president is expected to give a “forceful affirmation” that Vice President Kamala Harris is the right person to lead the country in this moment, an adviser previously said.

A long, intertwined history: While the Democratic convention here this week represents a passing of the torch from President Joe Biden to Harris, it also underscores how her candidacy is forever intertwined with Biden and Obama.

Harris’?quick ascension?to the top of the Democratic Party would?have been?unlikely without?the swift endorsement of Biden?– whose own presidency was made possible in no small part by Obama.

Obama also played a key role in Harris’ election as California attorney general in 2010, endorsing her candidacy and later endorsing her in California’s all-Democratic Senate race.

This post has been updated with remarks from Barack Obama.

Michelle Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago, during the DNC.

Former first lady Michelle Obama urged Americans to vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz because there is “no other choice.”

“As we embrace this renewed sense?of hope, let us not forget the?despair we have felt,” she said at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Obama also warned people to not let up as the Democratic ticket faces an “uphill battle” with less than three months before Election Day.

Various Democratic National Convention speakers have invoked Project 2025, saying or hinting that this project is former President Donald Trump’s own agenda.?Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont referred to “Trump’s Project 2025.”?State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta of Pennsylvania used the same phrase. Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, talking about Trump and running mate Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, referred to “their Project 2025 agenda.”?

What Project 2025 is:?Project 2025 has been led by The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, working in collaboration with dozens of other conservative organizations. Their efforts, which?began in 2022, resulted in a?920-page document, called “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,” that lays out “hundreds of clear and concrete policy recommendations for White House offices, Cabinet departments, Congress, and agencies, commissions, and boards.”

The document proposes a variety of right-wing policy changes in a variety of policy areas, from immigration to health care to agriculture to education, plus a major overhaul of the executive branch that would significantly increase presidential power.?

Read more about Trump’s links to Project 2025 and what Trump has said about it here.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders reminded Democratic National Convention attendees of the dark times in the US during the Covid-19 pandemic.?

Facts First:?Sanders’ claim about the labor market at the start of the Biden administration?is not true. While the unemployment rate skyrocketed in April 2020 at the start of the pandemic, the situation was improving by the time President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.??

The nation’s self-imposed shutdown in the early months of the pandemic led to millions of people losing their jobs in April 2020 as the unemployment rate shot up to 14.8%.?

By the following January, the nation’s labor market had significantly improved, with millions of Americans regaining employment – though the US still had a long way to go to recover all the lost jobs. The unemployment rate had fallen to 6.4%.?

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and former President Barack Obama just hugged backstage at the Democratic National Convention, a senior adviser to the campaign says.

Former first lady Michelle Obama said Donald Trump is going to try and attack Kamala Harris in this election — something she said she and her husband have personal experience with.

“For years Donald Trump did?everything in his power to try?to make people fear us.?His limited narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by?the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people?who happen to be Black,” she said.

The line was a jab at?Trump’s comments?at the June presidential debate and while speaking last month to the National Association of Black Journalists, where he said that immigrants are taking “Black jobs.”

She went on to slam Trump’s policies, such as limiting reproductive freedom and cutting health care.

As she returned from a Milwaukee campaign rally to Chicago, Kamala Harris sat in Air Force Two, circling the skies longer than necessary — for about 15 minutes — so that she could watch her husband Doug Emhoff’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, a Harris campaign official told CNN.?

Harris later posted to Instagram a picture of herself watching Emhoff’s address with the caption: “Love you, Dougie.”

Former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a series of not-so-subtle digs at Donald Trump during her speech at the DNC on Thursday — evoking his name to critique what she described as his “ugly, misogynistic, racist lies.”

“If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top,” she said.

Lest anyone think she was being ambitious, Obama called Trump out by name.

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated successful people who happen to be Black.”

Michelle Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago, during the DNC.

Michelle Obama, in her speech to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, described Kamala Harris as a qualified presidential candidate who worked her way up from a middle-class background, drawing on lessons from the two women’s late mothers.

“She’d often tell her daughter: ‘Don’t sit around and complain, do something,’” Obama said.

She recounted how Harris was a student at Howard University — a historically black university — and then attended law school.

Former first lady Michelle Obama said she decided to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday to honor her mother and the sacrifices she made.

She said the last time she was in her hometown of Chicago, where the convention is being held, was when her mother died.

“The woman who showed me?the meaning of hard work and?humility and decency.?The woman who set my moral?compass high and showed me the?power of my own voice,” she said.

She remembered her mother as someone who helped others, volunteering at the local school and helping kids around the neighborhood. These values, she said, were instilled in her now.

Michelle Obama speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago, during the DNC.

Michelle Obama was greeted by a long standing ovation from the crowd at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago before she spoke about the “contagious power of hope” and said that the country is at “the cusp of a brighter day.”

The former first lady said that America has “the chance to vanquish the?demons of fear, division and?hate that have consumed us and?continue pursuing the?unfinished promise of this?great nation, the dream that?our parents and grandparents?fought and died and sacrificed?for.”

Obama is making good on a pledge she made in a video alongside her husband last month, in which the two endorsed Kamala Harris. “We got your back,” she said. She also said she is proud of Harris and expects the upcoming election to be historic.

This post has been updated with remarks from Michelle Obama.

Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic nomination and deliver her keynote speech on Thursday — which is also the tenth anniversary of her marriage to Doug Emhoff.

“This Thursday will be our 10th wedding anniversary,” Emhoff told the audience at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday. He said it means he will have to listen to the first awkward voicemail he sent to Harris, which she kept and replays on their anniversaries.

“However, that’s not all I’ll be hearing that same night,” he added. “I’ll be hearing my wife, Kamala Harris, accept your nomination for president of the United States, and with your help, she will lead with joy and toughness, with that laugh and that look — with compassion and conviction.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff talked about his wife Vice President Kamala Harris’ character and how she connected him more deeply to his Jewish faith.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, he said Harris “finds joy in pursuing justice” and wants to see people succeed and do well.

Emhoff, who is Jewish, said that Harris comes to synagogue with him on holidays and he goes to church with her on other occasions.

“Over the past decade, Kamala?has connected me more deeply to?my faith, even though it is not?the same as hers,” he said.

“Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career. She is the one who encouraged me, as second gentleman, to take up that fight, which is so personal to me,” Emhoff said.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff on Tuesday recalled how he first met Kamala Harris during a blind date in 2013 — sending the crowd into laughter after telling them Harris replays his first awkward voicemail to her every anniversary.

Emhoff, a lawyer, recalled how a happy client set him up with Harris, and how Emhoff called Harris to set up their first date at 8:30 a.m.

Watch Emhoff’s full explanation on obtaining Harris’ phone number below:

Doug Emhoff introduced himself as the “first second gentleman” to the crowd at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night, with a walkthrough of his background in New Jersey and California as he looked to cast a relatable image of him and his wife, Kamala Harris.

“When my dad had to get a new job, we moved across the country to LA. Money was tight so I worked at McDonalds in high school for some extra cash,” he said, nodding to Harris’ background working at McDonalds, which she has highlighted in a campaign ad.

“I waited tables, parked cars, I was working full time so I could afford to go to college part-time, and thanks to a partial scholarship, student loans, and a little help from my dad, I got myself through law school, and I got my first job as a lawyer,” said Emhoff, who has had a decades-long career as a lawyer focused on media, entertainment, and intellectual property.

Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband and the second gentleman, highlighted their family at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

He said that his wife rises to the occasion “wherever she’s needed” and has done that for their family.

Harris’ stepson, Cole Emhoff, introduced his father in a video message. Both Cole and Doug Emhoff’s participation highlights what Harris often describes as her “blended family.”?

Emhoff’s first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, was also sitting in the VIP box.

“Hello to my big, beautiful blended family up there. I love you so much,” he said at the beginning of his remarks.

It comes as the vice president is trying to quickly introduce herself to the American public following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his own reelection bid last month

He would become the country’s first “first gentleman” come January if Harris is elected

This post has been updated with Doug Emhoff’s remarks.

Illinois Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth shared some of her personal struggles with infertility while speaking at the DNC on Tuesday night.

Duckworth, a wounded veteran, said her struggle with infertility “was more painful than any wound I earned on the battlefield.”

Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago, during the DNC.

Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, said in his speech to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night that Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden delivered more for his conservative community than Donald Trump.

“I have a confession to make: I’m a lifelong Republican. So, I feel a little out of place tonight. But I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican Party,” Giles said.

The mayor from Arizona, a key 2024 battleground state, told CNN last month he would be supporting Harris over Trump in November. He is one of several Republicans who are speaking at the convention.

“Turns out, Donald Trump was all talk. He wanted our votes, but he couldn’t deliver a thing. But these days, my city of Mesa’s on the move. I’m going to ribbon-cuttings every single week. All because Joe Biden and Kamala Harris reached across the aisle. And they delivered for my conservative community and countless more across the country,” Giles said.

This post has been updated with remarks from Giles.

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama have arrived at the United Center in Chicago ahead of their speeches tonight.

The pair workshopped their speeches together over the last several weeks, sharing drafts and suggestions with one another about what to say when they take the stage back-to-back.?

On the second night of the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker repeated a claim a Democratic congressman had made the previous night about something former President Donald Trump said about the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

After touting Illinois’ handling of the pandemic, Pritzker then said of Trump: “And Donald? Well, Donald told us to inject bleach.”?

Facts First:?Pritzker’s claim is misleading. Trump never portrayed his ill-informed 2020 musings about the possibility of using disinfectant to treat Covid-19?as actual advice to Americans. Rather, Trump was talking about scientists testing the possibility of using disinfectant as a treatment.

During a?press briefing in April 2020, Trump expressed interest in scientists exploring the possibility of whether Covid-19 could be treated using disinfectants inside people’s bodies, “by injection inside or almost a cleaning,” or by deploying powerful light “inside the body, which you can do either through the skin or in some other way.” Trump’s comments were?slammed by medical experts?as highly dangerous, and they prompted urgent?warnings?from public health authorities and companies that sell household disinfectants. But he never actually said he was suggesting citizens go and use such products.

Trump made the ill-informed remarks after Bill Bryan, the acting undersecretary of science and technology for the Department of Homeland Security, outlined tests in which he said sunlight or disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol quickly killed the coronavirus on surfaces and in saliva.

When Trump jumped shortly afterward to the dangerous idea of injecting disinfectants inside people’s bodies, he was talking about experts somehow testing that idea. He said: “And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning, because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs, so it’d be interesting to check that, so that you’re going to have to use medical doctors with, but it sounds interesting to me. So we’ll see.”

Angela Alsobrooks speaks during the DNC on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago.

Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic Senate candidate from Maryland, introduced herself to Americans at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago as “the proud?granddaughter of a housekeeper?Sara Daisy who raised her three?children in a one-bedroom?apartment.”

The longtime mentee of Kamala Harris, who is trying to become the first Black person Maryland sends to the US Senate, spoke about her relationship with the vice president as well as Harris’ record as a criminal prosecutor and a district attorney.

Speaking about today’s political moment, she said the nation feels “trapped.”

“It’s not just our?politics that have been trapped,?it’s our imagination. And then?Kamala came along. Kamala has?reminded us that we don’t need?to fear anything — not the?future and certainly not that?man. This is our moment to leave?Donald Trump where he belongs?— in America’s past. We stand?with Kamala Harris because we?as a country are not going back,” she added.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago, during the DNC.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said at the DNC Tuesday that Kamala Harris isn’t just the better choice in a matchup with Donald Trump, she’s “the best choice.”

“That’s the president I want,” the governor added. “That’s the next president of the United States.”

This post has been updated with remarks from Lujan Grisham.

When touting the accomplishments of the President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders made a claim about the impact of the expanded child tax credit passed early in their administration.?

“We cut childhood poverty by over 40% through an expanded child tax credit,” Sanders said during his primetime remarks at the Democratic National Convention.??

The?American Rescue Plan Act, which Democrats pushed through Congress in March 2021, increased the size of the child tax credit to up to $3,600 – from $2,000 – for eligible families, enabled many more low-income parents to claim it and distributed half of it on a monthly basis.?

That helped send?child poverty?– as measured by the Supplemental Poverty Measure – to a record low 5.2% in 2021, a drop of 46% from 2020, when the rate was 9.7% according to the US Census Bureau.?

But in 2022,?child poverty soared?to 12.4%, roughly comparable to where it was prior to the pandemic in 2019. It was the largest jump in child poverty since the Supplemental Poverty Measure began.?

Tuesday night’s protests saw some tense moments outside the Israeli Consulate where protesters and police in helmets began pushing and shoving, a CNN crew observed. According to CNN affiliate WLS, an organization called Behind Enemy Lines was demonstrating and had several speakers address the crowd before the physical confrontation began.

Members of the large crowd stayed in the area after the confrontation and followed different yell leaders, shouting slogans like “free, free Palestine!”

There was no early word on how many arrests had been made Tuesday night, but at least one person appeared to be detained by police.

CNN’s Whitney Wild, Andy Rose, Michael Williams, Jamiel Lynch and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.

The Harris campaign has raised nearly $500 million in the month since President Joe Biden exited the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, a major milestone and symbol of fundraising strength in the final 77 days of the campaign.

Harris’ team is expected to cross the $500 million mark in the coming days, a campaign official said.

That haul signals a remarkable turnaround: Prior to Biden’s July 21 decision to step aside, Democratic donors had?expressed deep concerns?about the president’s viability as a candidate, holding back big checks and standing down on planned fundraising events. Harris’ campaign raised more than $200 million in the first week of her candidacy.

Reuters was first to report on the approaching fundraising milestone.

Gov. JB Pritzker speaks on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago.

Illinois’ Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker celebrated Vice President Kamala Harris’ record while in office and slammed former President Donald Trump’s during remarks at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday.

He went on to outline Democratic values on issues ranging from gun laws to education and healthcare.

“Democrats want economic policies that are kind, not cruel but Trump chooses cruelty every time,” Pritzker said. “After all, everything he has achieved in his own life has been by hurting someone else.”

He claimed that Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have “spent their lives lifting people up.”

Pritzker, who was at one point floated as a possible running mate?for Vice President Kamala Harris, was first elected in 2018 and?sailed to reelection in 2022?by more than 10 percentage points.

The?heir to the Hyatt hotel riches, he is a popular progressive governor that has tackled several issues at top of mind for Democrats, from gun control to reproductive rights.

First, Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz got inside Donald Trump’s head by branding him and his running mate, JD Vance, “weird.”

On the eve of the convention, the Democratic National Committee projected a slogan reading “Trump-Vance – weird as Hell” on the side of the Trump International Hotel and Tower that looms over downtown Chicago.

Then, on Tuesday, Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris played the latest card in her poker game over crowd size with the former president – who is obsessed with the subject.

Harris filled Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, where Trump gave his keynote speech at the RNC a month ago, with cheering supporters. She beamed from there onto the jumbotron at the cavernous United Center in Chicago just after the symbolic roll call of the states confirmed her nomination.

None of this will count for much if Democrats can’t get out their vote in November. But the Milwaukee rally was an impressive show of organizational muscle and enthusiasm in a critical swing state.

Harris filled two huge venues in different cities on the same night.?And Trump was surely watching.

Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the second night of the DNC.

Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders gave his reasons tonight why he believed electing Kamala Harris is important by highlighting the Biden administration’s accomplishments.

Speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Sanders talked about the Covid-19 pandemic and what the administration did to help the country out of the crisis.

He talked about progressive initiatives like rent relief and mortgage assistance as well as food programs that were passed in the wake of the pandemic.

“When?the political will is there, government can effectively deliver for the people of our country,” Sanders said.

Looking forward to the next four years, he called for additional agenda items like taxing the rich and taking on price gouging — something that Harris already announced as part of her economic policy proposals. He said he also wants to raise the minimum wage and salaries for teachers.

“Bottom line, we need an economy that works for all of us, not just the billionaire class,” he said, arguing that these are things that “the American people want from their government”

“I look forward to working with Kamala and Tim (Walz) to pass this agenda,” Sanders said.

Some background: Sanders, who was a staunch supporter of President Joe Biden, previously told CNN that he was “really impressed by the energy” of Harris’ campaign. He said that the vice president should be proud of what she and the Biden administration has accomplished.

This post has been updated with remarks from Bernie Sanders.

Ana Navarro speaks on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago.

On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, CNN commentator Ana Navarro encouraged voters to support Vice President Kamala Harris because of her love of dogs.??

Later, Navarro grew more serious when she spoke of fleeing communism in Nicaragua as a child and?urged Democrats to “love our country more.” ?

“In this election, putting country first means one thing and one thing only: Voting for Kamala Harris.”?

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago during the DNC.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer drew a contrast between what America could look like under a potential Harris administration and a Trump administration.

The vice president “has been the?best partner Senate Democrats could have asked for,” he said.

The New York Democrat also said the party will “hold the Senate?again” and is “poised to pick up seats.”

He named Democratic Senate and House candidates in vulnerable districts and closely fought races, including Sen. Jon Tester in Montana, Sen. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin and Rep. Elissa Slotkin in Michigan, saying they will deliver the Democratic agenda.

Schumer also criticized how Republicans have voted in the Congress on high-priority issues.

This post has been updated with additional lines from Schumer’s address

California Gov. Gavin Newsom poses for a photo during the second night of the DNC on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said one thing Donald Trump could never have anticipated is the “sense of spirit and pride” in the Democratic Party because of Kamala Harris’ ascendent candidacy.

The former president could not have imagined “the one intangible” that’s consolidated his party so quickly, he said.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Fiserv Forum during a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Tuesday, August 20.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz contrasted the Democratic convention with the Republican convention last month while speaking at the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arena where Republicans nominated former President Donald Trump last month, which Walz called “a coronation of one man over there.”

Walz began his remarks by noting that Trump addressed the Republican convention last month in Fiserv Forum — where Harris and Walz are speaking tonight — and called Trump’s speech at the last night of that convention “92 minutes of ranting and raving insanity.” He also marked the dramatic shift in the presidential race since the GOP convention, without explicitly acknowledging President Biden’s decision to step away from the race.

Walz continued to use the speech in Milwaukee this evening as a foil for the GOP through their convention messaging.

“That convention had one purpose, to coronate one man,” he said. “This is where we’re at. It’s not a celebration of — a coronation of one man over there. It’s a celebration of all of us over there.”?

“Not only do we have massive energy at our convention, we got a hell of a lot more energy at where they had their convention, right here,” he continued, eliciting loud cheers from the thousands in attendance.?

Walz also teased the upcoming vice presidential debate with Ohio Sen. JD Vance in October, saying he’s looking forward to having “a little talk” with the Republican vice presidential nominee.?

“JD Vance, he writes the foreword for the architect of the Project 2025,” he said. “Look, you can find joy in the world everywhere. Here’s where I find my joy. On October 1, we’re going to have a little talk, he and I on the same stage.”

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris appears via video after the roll call during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago.

Vice President Kamala Harris symbolically accepted the party’s presidential nomination on Tuesday in a video appearance from Wisconsin, after delegates at the Democratic National Convention held a ceremonial roll call in Chicago.

Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are holding a campaign rally tonight in Milwaukee while the DNC continues in Chicago. The video of their remarks was played for the delegates inside the Chicago arena.

The vice president already became the party’s official nominee for president earlier this month after receiving a majority of votes via?a virtual roll call.

Harris is the first woman of color to become the nominee of a major American political party. She will give her full acceptance speech on Thursday, the final day of the convention.

The last roll calls came from California and Minnesota, the respective home states of Harris and Walz.

Watch moment here:

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/6985122d-e8d7-4ca8-96b6-697edb40a32c.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/6985122d-e8d7-4ca8-96b6-697edb40a32c.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="" data-timestamp-html="" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-08-21T01:39:16.982Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="kamala harris accepts nomination" data-first-publish-slug="kamala harris accepts nomination" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

9f72806a-e78d-49b4-ad26-16588d0cefe9.mp4

02:33 - Source: cnn

This post has been updated with remarks from Kamala Harris.

California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom ended an energetic and ceremonial roll call to select the party’s presidential nominee with a personal speech about his friend and fellow Californian, Kamala Harris.

“The thing that we pride ourselves most on is that we believe the future happens in California first. And Democrats, I’ve had the privilege for over 20 years to see that future taking shape with a star in Alameda courtroom by the name of Kamala Harris,” Newsom said.

Newsom was joined by former Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, who played a role in getting the vice president from her home state to the top of the Democratic ticket.

“It’s time for us to do the right thing and that is to elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United States of America.”

Delaware, the home of Joe Biden, began the roll call to recognize the president.

Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to go after recent remarks from former President Donald Trump on reproductive rights during her Milwaukee rally Tuesday night, according to excerpts of prepared remarks.

Harris will continue, “Well, we will make sure he does face the consequence at the ballot box this November.”

CNN spoke with Harris supporters ahead of the remarks. Standing on the floor of the Fiserv Forum arena with two friends, Dezzy Lovell immediately cited Harris’ economic proposal of $25,000 dollars for first time home buyers as a key reason why he supports her candidacy.

But the Milwaukee entrepreneur noted fiscal conservatism could be a reason he sees some Black men in his community attracted to the Republican ticket.

Lovell, however, is worried about the conservative policy proposal Project 2025. He’s especially concerned about the notion of eliminating the Department of Education.

“Who is going to fend for the small schools in urban areas. Things like that are scary,” he said. “Financial equity is really important to me and that’s why I’m supporting the ticket,” he added.

Retired Milwaukee writer Ken Reibel said he’s voting for the vice president because “she’s not Trump.”

When asked if he was particularly animated by any one policy, he said he was more worried about what he views as “a perpetual state of hate.” Reibel, age 69, sat on the arena floor to take a break after waiting on line for several hours.

“I’ve got like best friends since I was a kid who are all in for Trump and we can’t even talk to each other,” said Reibel, adding he hoped the country could emerge more unified after the election.

This post has been updated with interviews with Harris supporters.

Lil?Jon?performs during the roll call on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Tuesday, August 20.

The song choices during the Democratic National Convention’s roll call exemplified the broad cultural range of the country.

For the roll call of each state, district or territory, DJ Cassidy played a song representative of each delegation.

Alabama got Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” Florida got “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty, a native of the state. California got “The Next Episode,” Dr. Dre’s West Coast classic featuring Snoop Dogg.

The song choice for Georgia represented the liveliest moment of the evening, as Atlanta’s Lil Jon belted his classics, “Get Low” and “Turn Down for What.”

Later, actors Wendell Pierce, Sean Astin and Eva Longoria presented votes for Louisiana, Indiana, and Texas respectively. Astin who starred in the film “Rudy” about football at the University of Notre Dame, introduced the votes for for Indiana. Pierce, a native of New Orleans, introduced the votes for Louisiana. And Longoria, who is from Corpus Christi, introduced speakers to read the votes for Texas.

Additionally, director Spike Lee, who hails from Brooklyn, stood with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in the reading of their votes.

You can watch the roll call that is underway now in the video player above this page.

This post has been updated with additional details and video from the roll call.

Attendees hold up signs on the second night of the DNC on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago.

Delegates are conducting a ceremonial roll call at the Democratic National Convention to celebrate Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. You can watch the moment in the video player above this page.

The 57 delegations will deliver remarks and cast ceremonial votes — notably, the first roll call will begin with President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. The last roll calls will come from California and Minnesota, the respective home states of Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons will begin the role call for the first state. Minnesota’s delegation will be represented by a former student who used to call Walz by the nickname Harris and Democrats around the country have embraced wholeheartedly: “Coach.”

Here are some other things to watch for:

More context: The vice president already became the party’s official nominee for president earlier this month after receiving a majority of votes via?a virtual roll call.

There was also no in-person roll call four years ago for then-presumptive nominee Joe Biden because the pandemic forced that year’s convention to be largely virtual.

Delegates also held a ceremonial vote for Walz on Monday of the convention.

CNN’s Aaron Pellish contributed reporting to this post.

Hundreds of Arizona Democrats, including?nearly?a dozen convention delegates pledged to Vice President Kamala Harris, have signed?a letter calling for the US to impose an arms embargo on Israel until a “permanent ceasefire” is agreed in Gaza.

The document is being circulated both in Arizona, a critical 2024 battleground state, and at the DNC in Chicago. It had more than 325 signatures by late Tuesday, including current and former state lawmakers, local leaders, party officials, and Palestinian and Jewish activists.?

Democrats have unified behind Harris following Biden’s decision to end his campaign, but Israel’s continuing war in Gaza,?which started in response to Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023,?remains a point of discord within the party as protests have turned violent and at times antisemitic.?There have been protests outside the DNC perimeter since the convention began on Monday, but the issue was rarely mentioned onstage.

Ceasefire negotiations are ongoing in the Middle East this week, though months of efforts by the Biden administration have failed to secure a pause in fighting Gaza or the return of Israeli hostages still held in the enclave.?In Chicago, the Uncommitted National Movement, which sprung out of the efforts in Michigan to corral a protest vote, has been lobbying for a primetime speaking slot. But that request, along with a similar demand for a halt on deadly weapons to Israel, have been met with stiff resistance from party officials.

Activists, especially in swing states, have been warning Democrats that the conflict is stifling support among younger voters and Arab-Americans infuriated by the rising death toll in Gaza.

“We can defeat Trump and his fascist threat if we unite in defense of our democracy, human rights, and freedom everywhere,” said Mohyeddin Abdulazziz, a Palestinian Arab American community leader. “This unity can be accomplished if our country ends its unconditional support of Israel and its complicity in genocide, respects international law.”

Harris-Walz delegate Salauddin Choudhury said:

“Many in our Muslim and South Asian community are desperately hoping for President Biden and Vice President Harris to show they’re listening by stopping this war – or at least stopping sending the bombs Israel is dropping indiscriminately on Gaza and killing so many Palestinian children.”

The post was updated with more remarks from activists

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says he is confident North Carolina is in play for Democrats this year.

“I have that 2008 feeling,” Cooper told CNN, referencing the last time his state went for the Democrats in a presidential election.

Cooper added that there were 12,000 volunteers the first couple of weeks after Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, 90% of whom were first-time volunteers.

“There is real excitement on the ground about this election,” Cooper said.

Twenty years after Barack Obama addressed the Democratic convention in Boston in a keynote speech that sparked his ascent in the party, he will be delivering an address tonight that he has told advisers is far more important to the country.

For months, Obama has been worried about the sustained rise of Donald Trump. His fingerprints are on President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside.?

Tonight, Obama will praise Biden, an adviser said, but spend the lion’s share of his address to praise Harris, talking about their friendship of two decades, and implore Democrats and independent voters to join him in supporting her candidacy.

President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen is seen on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago.

Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen is on the floor at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

It’s a remarkable turn of events for Trump’s former fixer, who’s since emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the former Republican president.

Much of Tuesday night’s speaking program has been slotted for former Republicans who’ve thrown their support behind Kamala Harris’ campaign.

Cohen did not respond to questions on whether he’s slotted to speak tonight.

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/b14127ea-1886-4ab3-89bf-55e8c6be4ec8.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/b14127ea-1886-4ab3-89bf-55e8c6be4ec8.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="

" data-timestamp-html="

Updated 3:23 AM EDT, Wed August 21, 2024

" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-08-21T04:48:55.847Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="VIDEO Grisham DNC 082124" data-first-publish-slug="VIDEO Grisham DNC 082124" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

a7ac4f22-0995-4d72-bd42-7208eda8f2fb.mp4

01:52 - Source: cnn

Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, told the Democratic National Convention tonight that the former president has no empathy.??

Grisham worked for more than five years in the Trump administration as East Wing communications director, White House press secretary and chief of staff to Melania Trump. She has previously said she is “terrified” of a second Trump term and said she didn’t vote for the former president in 2020 even as she worked for the former first lady.

She also recalled how she resigned following a conversation she had with the former first lady during the January 6 insurrection.

“I asked Melania if we could at least Tweet that while peaceful protest is the right of every American, there’s no place for lawlessness or violence. She replied with one word: ‘No.’”

Grisham said that now she is on the stage “advocating for a Democrat and that’s because I love my country more than my party. Kamala Harris tells the truth, she respects the American people and she has my vote.”

Speaking with CNN after her remarks, Grisham described her experience on the DNC stage as “surreal” and added she never imagined she would be addressing the convention during her time as one of Trump’s top messengers.

This post has been updated with tonight’s remarks from Grisham.

CNN’s Michael Williams contributed reporting to this post.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks on crime and safety during a campaign event at the Livingston County Sheriff's Office, Tuesday, August 20, in Howell, Michigan.

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday pointed to President Joe Biden’s visit to Howell, Michigan, in 2021 when asked by a reporter about the Harris campaign criticizing Trump campaigning in Howell a month after White supremacists marched through the city’s downtown.?

“Who was here in 2021?” Trump said when asked about the criticism from the Harris campaign.

“Joe Biden,” the reporter responded.?

“Thank you,” Trump said after giving a speech focused on crime at a small campaign event at a sheriff’s office in Howell.

The Harris campaign blasted Trump ahead of his visit to the city and pointed to a video reported on by local news outlets that shows demonstrators in Howell chanting, “We love Hitler. We love Trump” in July.

Minnesota’s delegation at tonight’s roll call vote will be represented by a former student who used to call Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz by the nickname Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats around the country have embraced wholeheartedly: “Coach.”

Hans Storvick, a former student of Walz in Mankato, Minnesota, who ran on the middle school track team Walz coached, will speak on behalf of the Minnesota delegation at the Democratic National Convention’s roll call vote in Chicago on Tuesday, a campaign official tells CNN.

Storvick’s older brother, Kris, also played on the high school football team Walz coached. He’s expected to speak about the impact Walz had on him and his brother, who passed away recently.

Also speaking on behalf of the Minnesota delegation will be NFL Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle, who played eleven seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, the campaign official said.

Storvick and Randle’s place in the convention proceedings are part of the Harris campaign’s effort to brand the Minnesota governor as “Coach Walz,” an effort that has caught on with supporters at her campaign events. When Walz or Harris will reference his background coaching football, supporters will regularly chant the word “Coach,” often interrupting the remarks.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith are also expected to speak on behalf of the Minnesota delegation, the official said.

They’ll be joined virtually by Minnesotans participating in the roll call virtually from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, the home stadium of the Minnesota Vikings.

Democrats can count on former President Barack Obama to bring them to their feet when he addresses the DNC in Chicago, his political hometown, on Tuesday night, because he has done it so many times before. Obama delivered convention speeches twice as a presidential candidate and twice as a former president.

But it’s worth remembering the first time Obama addressed fellow Democrats on the national stage, 20 years ago in Boston, when despite being a state senator from Illinois, he gave the keynote address – and one of the great modern convention speeches.

The reason everyone knows his name today, arguably, is because of his argument for a politics of hope that night, condensed into 17 eloquent minutes. The speech gave him a national profile. The Senate seat he won that November gave him a platform for a presidential campaign. And within four years, the “skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him too” was on his way to the White House as the nation’s first Black president.

But while the message of hope and unity still inspires, the intervening two decades have proven to be a fertile time for cynicism – as misinformation has clouded the country’s collective reality and faith in American institutions and democracy itself have cratered.?

When Obama speaks tonight, he’ll be pushing the candidacy of another person whose name is mangled by her political opponents and, for the second time, a candidate who would be the first woman to sit in the Oval Office. But he will not be able to say that he successfully led Americans “out of this long political darkness.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told CNN Vice President Kamala Harris has shown “she can stand on her own two feet” when asked how some of her policies might diverge from President Joe Biden’s.

Whitmer’s comments came after she was asked on the convention floor whether Harris had divergent opinions from Biden, especially on issues like the Israel/Gaza war.

“I think that Vice President Harris has shown that she can stand on her own two feet, and she is the type of leader we need in Washington, DC: who sees every person, who cares about making sure that every one of us has a path,” Whitmer said.

Content creator Nabela Noor talked about her fertility struggles and advocated for IVF treatment and reproductive freedom at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Noor creates beauty and lifestyle content. She describes herself on YouTube as a “Bangladeshi-American entrepreneur, author and designer” and shares her experience as a mom of two.

She also has talked on her platform about fertility struggles and having miscarriages.

Noor got pregnant again just a few weeks before her egg retrieval, but she said she knows “this is not everyone’s ending.”

“For many women, IVF is the only choice. That choice and more is at stake in November. The freedom to plan your family. The hope of having a family at all,” Noor said, adding that she is standing with everyone fighting for reproductive rights because everyone’s daughters — including hers — “deserve every option.”

CNN reported earlier this week that more than 200 content?creators?have been credentialed for the Chicago convention, with their own reserved platform space on the convention floor.?

This post has been updated with remarks from Nabela Noor.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepson Cole Emhoff will take the stage at the United Center tonight to introduce his father, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, CNN has learned, with the second night of the Democratic National Convention poised to highlight what Harris often describes as her “blended family.”?

And in a recorded video message that will play before Doug Emhoff’s speech, Cole Emhoff will discuss how his parents – Doug and Kerstin Emhoff – split when he was in middle school and what a challenging time that was.?

Sitting in the VIP box tonight will be Emhoff’s first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, according to a source. Kerstin Emhoff has publicly supported Harris and her campaign.?

Alabama native Kyle Sweetser says he was a lifelong Republican voter who cast a ballot for former President Donald Trump three times. But this election, Sweetser says he’s had a change of heart. ?

“I believe our leaders should bring out the best in us, not the worst, that’s why I’m voting for Kamala Harris,” he added.

“I’m voting for Kamala?Harris because she’ll make us?proud to be American again,” he said.

Sweetser’s speech follows a pattern at this year’s Democratic National Convention of highlighting Republican voters and former MAGA activists who have turned away from the former president and decided to cast their ballot for the Harris-Walz ticket. ?

This post has been updated with remarks from Kyle Sweetser.

Common performs on stage on Tuesday, August 20, during the DNC in Chicago

Grammy award winning artist and activist Common is performing on the second night of the DNC. ?

Watch his performance live in the player above. ?

Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20.?

Jack Schlossberg, the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy, evoked the generational turnover that his grandfather’s presidency represented while addressing the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night.

Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, speaks during the second night of the DNC in Chicago, on Tuesday, August20.

Jason Carter, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, spoke of his grandfather’s legacy during a speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night in Chicago.

Carter said his grandfather “can’t wait to vote for Kamala Harris.”

He went on to applaud Harris’ record, saying that she “knows what is right and she fights for it.”

“She understands that leadership is about service, not selfishness. That you can show strength and decency. And that you can get a whole lot more done with a smile than with a scowl” Carter said.?

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Jason Carter.

Patti LaBelle on stage on the second night of the DNC on Tuesday, August 20, in Chicago

Grammy-award winning R&B singer Patti LaBelle is singing the “In Memorial” portion of the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. ?

Watch the performance live in the video player above and follow along for analysis here. ?

Stagehands vacuum the stage inside the United Center before the start of day two of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Tuesday, August 20.

The second night of the Democratic National Convention is now underway in Chicago.

Tuesday evening’s programming will feature remarks from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, as well as other key Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

The theme of the night is “A Bold Vision for America’s Future.”

The evening will also feature some Republicans as Democrats seek to demonstrate a capacity to reach across the aisle: Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham and others.

Former first lady Michelle Obama would love to step away from politics, but will argue tonight that the presidential race is too important to stay on the sidelines, urging Americans to stop Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

While former President Barack Obama and his wife will deliver back-to-back addresses tonight, it is the message from the former first lady that advisers to the Harris campaign believe could be a more powerful message outside the convention hall.

It’s a rare public appearance – and an even rarer primetime address – about the stakes?of the election. She intends to make an impassioned case for Kamala Harris, as well as one against Trump.

An adviser tells CNN that she will deliver an updated take of her well-known 2016 speech when she told Democratic delegates: “When they go low, we go high.”

The former president will focus on why he believes Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, are “precisely the leaders the country needs right now,” as he seeks to lay out the path for what Democrats need to do over the next 10 weeks.

He will cast this as an “all-hands-on-deck moment” for the Democratic Party, an adviser said, in his speech that is expected to be one of many between now and November.

Donald Trump, who promoted false “birther” conspiracies about Barack Obama, praised him today ahead of the former president’s DNC address tonight.

Asked about Obama’s remarks at the 2020 convention, during which he said Trump “never grew into the job as president,” Trump told CNN he liked and respected Obama.

Trump’s comments are a bizarre turnaround. For years, Trump repeated lies about Obama’s birth and frequently questioned his eligibility to be president.

In recent weeks, Trump has repeated similar false claims about Vice President Kamala Harris, who like Obama is biracial.

When Doug Emhoff takes the stage at the United Center Tuesday night for his speech at the Democratic National Convention, the audience in the arena will hear one of the second gentleman’s favorite songs: “You Get What You Give” by New Radicals.

Emhoff himself chose to walk out to that tune, sources said, as he prepares to deliver what he and his wife’s presidential campaign fully recognize will be the biggest speech of his career yet.

The song “You Get What You Give” — an optimistic 90s anthem about the value of persisting even as “this whole damn world could fall apart” — happens to hold special meaning for President Joe Biden, who formally passed the proverbial torch to his vice president?on the opening night of the convention.?In his 2017 memoir, “Promise Me, Dad,” the president details how his late son, Beau Biden, made him listen to “You Get What You Give” before chemotherapy sessions while being treated for the brain cancer that would ultimately take his life.

“Even though Beau never stopped fighting and his will to live was stronger than most – I think he knew that this day might come,” Biden wrote. “In retrospect, I think Beau played that song during our mornings together—not for him, but for me. To remember to not give up or let sadness consume me, consume us.”?

The band broke up in 1999, but it reunited to perform the song for Biden’s inauguration in 2021.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, will describe his wife as a “joyful warrior” who “rises to the occasion.”

Emhoff will also say that the 2024 election is a moment that calls for someone to rise to the occasion – “She’s ready to lead, she brings both joy and toughness to this task, and she will be a great president?who we will all be proud of.”

Georgia’s former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, said that he is at the Democratic National Convention “as an American.”

Duncan, a CNN contributor, went on to call former President Trump “a fraud.”

Hear more of what he had to say here.

More than 20 million viewers watched the opening night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, eclipsing the 18.1 million who watched the first night of the Republican National Convention last month in Milwaukee.?

The opening night at the DNC, which featured speeches from Hillary Clinton, first lady Jill Biden and President Joe Biden, drew an average of 20.03 million viewers from 10 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET across 13 television networks, Nielsen reported. Biden’s speech, which began just before 11:30 p.m. ET, drew about 19.1 million viewers.

Among those who watched Monday night,?MSNBC led with 4.6 million viewers, followed by CNN with 3.4 million, ABC with 2.8 million, Fox News with 2.5 million, CBS with 2.1 million and NBC with 1.9 million. MSNBC touted the viewership as the network’s most-watched first night of a DNC ever. CNN, meanwhile, drew the largest television audience in the advertiser-coveted 25-54 age demographic with 902,000 viewers.

Monday’s DNC viewership also surpassed the first night of the party’s 2020 convention, when 19.7 million viewers tuned in, but it fell below 2016 when 26 million viewers watched.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont will lean into the importance of centering a progressive economic agenda that uplifts the working class in his remarks tonight at the Democratic National Convention.

The progressive independent, who caucuses with Democrats, will go on to call for Americans to summon the will to take on the?“oligarchs” to ensure the working class has access to basic necessities.?

“Bottom-line: We need an economy that works for all of us, not just the greed of the billionaire class,” according to Sanders, who fell short in his two runs for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020.

The 82-year-old will also call for going after price gougers, which has been heavily derided by Republicans, but is included in Vice President Kamala Harris’ economic policy agenda.

Here in Chicago, former President Barack Obama and and first lady Michelle Obama are set to take the stage tonight for remarks to the Democratic National Convention — but they’re not the only marquee names expected to take the stage at the United Center when the convention gavels in on Tuesday.

Grammy award-winning singer Patti LaBelle, who’s been dubbed “the Godmother of Soul,” was seen rehearsing along with her background singers Tuesday for an “In Memoriam” segment scheduled for Tuesday’s program.

Rapper Common was seen rehearsing his song “Fortunate,” featuring musician Pete Rock later in the afternoon.

Country music singers Mickey Guyton and Jason Isbell performed during Monday’s session of the DNC, though significant delays throughout the night forced organizers to scrap a scheduled performance from James Taylor later in the evening.

Read more.

Authorities did not find any credible threat to the various locations that received threatening messages earlier Tuesday afternoon in downtown Chicago, near where the Democratic National Convention is taking place.

CNN previously reported the Secret Service was aware of threats made to “various locations” in downtown Chicago.

Angela Alsobrooks gives remarks at an event for President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris at Prince George’s Community College on August 15, in Largo, Maryland.

Kamala Harris isn’t the only Black woman trying to make history this year.?Angela Alsobrooks, who will take the stage in Chicago on Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention, is trying to become the first Black person Maryland sends to the US Senate.

And though neither puts their history-making potential at the forefront of their public message, they’re riding a wave of Democratic enthusiasm about what’s possible in November.

Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive, is vying to become only the third Black woman elected to the Senate, along with Delaware’s Lisa Blunt Rochester. (The one Black woman currently serving — California’s Laphonza Butler — was appointed and?isn’t running?to stay beyond this year.)

Alsobrooks is up against Republican Larry Hogan, a popular former two-term governor, whose?entrance into the race in February?raised the stakes for Democrats – who were already on defense across the country – to hold retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s seat.?With Republicans poised to flip a Senate seat in West Virginia, the party only needs to pick up one more seat or win the White House to secure the majority.

Read more about Alsobrooks’ race and appearance in Chicago here.

Lindsey Halligan leaves the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and Courthouse in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 1, 2022.

One of Donald Trump’s attorneys was targeted in a hacking attempt, three sources familiar with the matter tell CNN, marking a potentially serious new development as US intelligence agencies confirmed?Monday that they have?concluded?Iran is behind a recent hack?into the former president’s 2024 campaign.

One source told CNN that Lindsey Halligan was targeted as part of the Iranian hacking effort, though the?timing of the attempt and the?extent of any breach of her devices or accounts remains unclear as the FBI continues to conduct a high-stakes investigation months out from the presidential election.

CNN has?previously reported?that suspected Iranian hackers breached the personal email account of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone, and then used his email account to access the account of a senior campaign official.

Halligan has been on Trump’s legal team for several years and initially worked closely on the classified documents case. She recently attended the Republican convention and sat in the front row of the VIP box on the final night when Trump delivered his speech.?

While she is not as public-facing as other attorneys, Halligan is seen internally as a “Trump whisperer,” one of her former colleagues told CNN. Trump trusts her and often wanted her at the table for big moments. Others would often turn to her to communicate messages back to him.

Catch up on the full story here.

Rep. Dean Phillips talks on the floor before the Democratic National Convention on August 19, in Chicago.

During his failed primary challenge against President Joe Biden, Rep. Dean Phillips was largely outcast by the Democratic Party establishment.

But now, as Democrats gather at the party’s convention in Chicago, Phillips said he has been “welcomed back at the popular kids’ table.”

When he?launched his presidential bid, Phillips said he was worried that Biden would lose in a rematch with former President Donald Trump, citing the president’s age. He called on the 81-year-old incumbent to pass the torch. Although he did not originally plan to attend the DNC, Phillips said he decided to do so last minute, telling CNN “it was a great decision.”

The Minnesota Democrat was not critical of the party for casting him aside. Instead, his experience at the DNC has, as Phillips said, “really restored my faith that there still is capacity for dissent and to be welcomed back.”

“There?is?no?political?reward?for?demonstrating?courage,” he said.

Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Donald Trump said Tuesday he would be open to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. playing a role in his administration if the independent candidate drops out of the 2024 race and endorses the former president.?

Trump’s comments came after Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said on a podcast posted Tuesday that the Kennedy campaign is considering dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump. She described the decision as one intended to reduce “the risk” that Vice President Kamala Harris defeats Trump.?

Trump said he would “love that endorsement, because I’ve always liked” Kennedy Jr.

Asked if he would consider appointing Kennedy Jr. to a role in his administration if he wins in November, Trump said he “probably would.”?

“I like him a lot. I respect him a lot,” Trump said. “I probably would, if something like that would happen. He’s a very different kind of a guy — a very smart guy. And, yeah, I would be honored by that endorsement, certainly.”?

The former president also downplayed the potential for backlash from Republicans for appointing Kennedy Jr., who has taken a number of progressive positions.

“I like smart people, and Republicans like me,” Trump said.?

In the interview, Trump acknowledged that the state of the 2024 race had changed since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race last month and Harris emerged as the Democratic nominee.?

However, Trump insisted that his strategy and message have not changed.?

“I’m leading in the polls, but not by as much,” he said. “But regardless of that, my whole thing doesn’t change. We don’t want crime. We want to have a strong military. We’ve got to stop drugs from coming in. We have to stop people from pouring into our country through an open border.”

Read more about Trump’s comments on RFK Jr.

Watch here:

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/49821708-1139-4ae8-ad3e-eee95f048826.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/49821708-1139-4ae8-ad3e-eee95f048826.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="

" data-timestamp-html="

Updated 3:23 AM EDT, Wed August 21, 2024

" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-08-20T22:25:38.203Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="kristen holmes rfk trump" data-first-publish-slug="kristen holmes rfk trump" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

95eee585-e622-4de3-a90a-0ace5a995d21.mp4

00:39 - Source: cnn

This post has been updated with more comments from Trump.

Ohio Sen.?JD?Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, speaks during an event at Kenosha City Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 20.

The Trump campaign is the one who is actually for the American worker, Ohio Sen. JD Vance said in a message to the president of the United Auto Workers union and any other member of the labor movement.

Vance’s comments come after Shawn Fain, the UAW president, spoke last night at the Democratic National Convention and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, wearing a T-shirt that said “Trump is a scab.”

Earlier Tuesday, Vance said it’s “bizarre” for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, to lie about using IVF to start a family, after his wife Gwen issued a statement clarifying that she did not use in vitro fertilization to conceive, but a different fertility treatment, intrauterine insemination.

The Republican ticket is holding events in battleground states during the DNC. While Vance spoke in Wisconsin, Trump spoke on crime and justice in Howell, Michigan on Tuesday.

Vice President?Kamala?Harris?speaks on stage during day one of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center, in Chicago, on August 19.

When Vice President Kamala Harris took the stage in the Milwaukee region a mere month ago — the first rally of her presidential campaign — she told fired-up Wisconsinites the path to the White House runs through their state.

Tonight, Harris will hold her third campaign rally in Wisconsin in four weeks at the same site where Republicans held their convention earlier this summer.

The Harris campaign’s decision to launch the evening rally that will compete with primetime programming during their own convention in Chicago illustrates the pressure they face to get their message out in the states that could decide the election under a dramatically truncated timeline.

Their goal is to expand the aperture of the convention beyond a blue city in a solidly blue state and use it as a time to continue to talk to battleground voters. Remember that in 2020, in Wisconsin, President Joe Biden only narrowly defeated former President Donald Trump by about 20,000 votes.

Sen. Tim Kaine, the Democratic 2016 vice president nominee, says he feels “very good” about the Harris-Walz ticket.

“For us to win in November, we need energy and we need unity,” Kaine told CNN on Tuesday.

While the Democrats were unified under President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, the energy was not there, Kaine said. In the aftermath of the June debate, unity was lacking as well, Kaine noted. He added that with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket there is now a surge of energy and the party has unified again.

Kaine added that in his state of Virginia, where he has been campaigning for Harris, he’s seeing all over the commonwealth, “reddest Appalachia, bluest Northern Virginia — every party of the commonwealth, surge of volunteerism, crowds at events. The energy, even before I was seeing any polling, I was like, I know what this means and I feel very very good about our chances in Virginia and nationally now.”

Riot police officers try to hold a demonstrator during the rally "March on the DNC" on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in?Chicago, on August 19.

Thirteen people were arrested during protests related to the Democratic National Convention on Monday, according to Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling.

Ten of those arrests stemmed from a small group that?breached?a portion of the northern security perimeter fence at the United Center in Chicago on Monday afternoon, he said.?

The superintendent said charges ranged from criminal trespass to aggravated battery of police officers.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to hold a rally in Milwaukee during the middle of her convention may appear on the surface like it could split her supporters’ attentions.

But in the recent history of nominating conventions, it’s not particularly unusual. In fact, it’s only recently — under former President Donald Trump — that a nominee attended each night of their party’s gathering.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held a rally on the first night of her convention in 2016, addressing supporters in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the proceedings were getting underway in Philadelphia.?

When former President Barack Obama was running for reelection in 2012, he flew to Norfolk, Virginia, for a rally on the first night of that year’s Democratic Convention, returning afterward to the White House. He didn’t arrive in the convention’s host city of Charlotte until the day before his acceptance speech.

It was a similar scenario in 2008, when Obama was campaigning in Kansas City as former first lady Michelle Obama delivered her speech on the convention’s first evening. He watched the speech from a supporter’s home, and was beamed in on a screen afterward as his wife and daughters waved.

Former Sen. John McCain was in Ohio on the first night of the Republican convention in 2008, helping disaster relief volunteers pack supplies for hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.?

Former President George W. Bush made a swing through New Hampshire, Tennessee, Iowa and Ohio as the 2004 Republican convention was underway in New York.

Former Secretary of State John Kerry was in Norfolk and Philadelphia before arriving at his convention in Boston.

Kamala Harris has proposed using tax credits to provide relief to middle-class and lower-income Americans.

Her plan revives or extends temporary measures that Joe Biden and congressional Democrats enacted in major packages when the party controlled Congress during the first two years of the president’s term.

Harris’ proposal would restore the American Rescue Plan’s popular?expansion of the child tax credit?to as much as $3,600, up from $2,000, and call for it to be made permanent. The enhancement was?only in effect?in 2021.

Her plan would restore the American Rescue Plan’s enhancement of the earned income tax credit, known as the EITC, which increased the maximum credit for workers without dependent children to roughly $1,500. That previous boost was only for 2021.

Plus, the proposal would also add a new child tax credit of up to $6,000 for middle-class and lower-income families with children in their first year of life.

And Harris has also promised to?end federal income taxes on tips, sparking Trump’s ire that she is copying?his campaign promise. Tips would remain subject to payroll taxes under Harris’ plan.

Kamala Harris’ health care platform builds on the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce prescription drug costs.

She is calling to expand the current?$35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin?and the upcoming $2,000 annual limit on out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs generally to all Americans, not just Medicare enrollees.

These caps were put in place for those on Medicare in the?Inflation Reduction Act. The $2,000 limit on Medicare Part D drug costs takes effect in January.

The?three major insulin manufacturers?in the US offer price caps or savings programs that lower the cost of insulin to $35 for many patients – a move Joe Biden pushed for in his State of the Union address last year.

Harris’ plan would also accelerate the speed of Medicare’s drug price negotiations so that the costs of more medications come down faster.

The Biden administration just announced the results of the?first-ever round of negotiations, which is expected to result in $6 billion in savings for Medicare and a $1.5 billion reduction in out-of-pocket costs for seniors when the lower prices take effect in 2026.

Democratic National Convention stage is seen on August 18.

Delegates gathered inside Chicago’s United Center for the Democratic National Convention will participate in a ceremonial roll call Tuesday to celebrate Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to sources familiar with the planning.?

The 57 delegations will deliver remarks and cast ceremonial votes — notably, the first roll call will begin with President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware. The last roll calls will come from California and Minnesota, the respective home states of Harris and Walz.

These details are meant to drive home the passing of the torch occasion, organizers said.?

Some background: The vice president already became the party’s official nominee for president earlier this month after receiving a majority of votes via a virtual roll call, but Tuesday’s in-person votes will mark a heavily symbolic moment.

Because the party went through such heavy turmoil and disarray over the past few months, culminating in Biden dropping out of the 2024 race in July and Harris quickly locking up the nomination days later, many Democrats are looking forward to this week as a cathartic celebration.

There was also no in-person roll call four years ago for then-presumptive nominee Biden because the pandemic forced that year’s convention to be largely virtual.

Kamala Harris speaks on the first day of the DNC in Chicago, on August 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris has picked up the baton from President Joe Biden on the fight against so-called greedflation – the notion that the United States inflation crisis was exacerbated by excessive corporate profit-taking that marked up goods or shrunk their sizes and padded businesses’ bottom lines.

Is there any truth to those claims? Sure, some.

“We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed, but our supply chains have now improved and prices are still too high,” Harris said Friday in North Carolina.

But the Harris and Biden fight against greedflation and price gouging ignores three fundamental truths: Consumers play a pivotal role in the price of goods. Inflation had many causes, but corporate greed was not a primary factor. And the war on inflation has largely been won already.

Make no mistake, some of the biggest food companies are raking in big fat profits. But here’s the kicker: Many reported even bigger profits when inflation was much lower.

Read the full analysis.

Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling and Ana Navarro will serve as hosts at the Democratic National Convention the rest of this week, event officials told CNN.

Each star will host one night of the four-day convention in a role similar to an award show host, kicking off the event and then appearing onstage throughout the evening to help guide the audience through programming, according to organizers, reported first by CNN.

Tony Goldwyn hosted on Monday night, Navarro will on Tuesday, Kaling on Wednesday, and Washington on Thursday, when Vice President Kamala Harris will speak.

All four hosts have a history of supporting the Democratic Party and publicly campaigning for candidates.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris are onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, in Chicago.

When Doug Emhoff walked onto the stage at the United Center Monday afternoon for a quick rehearsal, “You Get What You Give” by the New Radicals blasted from the speakers as the second gentleman pretended to wave to a raucous audience.?

The arena was mostly empty still, with hours left until it would fill up with delegates for the first night of primetime programming. But when Emhoff returns to that stage tonight, millions of Americans will be tuning in — and many will be hearing him speak for the first time.?

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign views Emhoff as one of the most important speakers of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. There is nobody else who knows Harris as well as her spouse, and at a moment when the vice president is trying to quickly introduce herself to the American public following President Joe Biden’s decision to end his own reelection bid last month, the campaign already sees Emhoff as playing the unofficial role of “chief advocate” of the vice president.?

His speech will touch on the story of the couple’s meeting and delve into how the vice president became a stepmom to Emhoff’s two children, Cole and Ella. Emhoff will describe Harris as being the anchor that grounds their blended family, the sources said.?

Emhoff is uniquely capable of helping to “round out” Harris’ public image and help let Americans “see the whole person,” one of the sources said.?

Tuesday night will also mark a key opportunity for Emhoff to introduce himself to the American public as he now hopes to become the country’s first “first gentleman” come January. Sources say he will speak to his own background and upbringing, including his work as a lawyer before his move to Washington.?

When convention planners were quickly rejiggering their plans after President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race, it was clear they would need a powerful speaker to introduce their new nominee to the American public.?

And so they turned to arguably the party’s most powerful speechmaker, former President Barack Obama, whom people involved in this week’s gathering say was deliberately tasked with making an affirmative case for a nominee many Americans say they still don’t know much about.

Perhaps no other Democrat could manage that task as skillfully as Obama, this person said, pointing to past convention speeches that have resonated widely while accomplishing a series of complicated objectives.?

In 2016, Obama sought to make the case for Hillary Clinton while also issuing a withering attack on Donald Trump. That speech was not ultimately enough to win Clinton the White House, but it’s a general combination that seems likely to be revived Tuesday.

Yet it is his affirmation of Harris that many involved in this week’s convention hope will prove most resonant. In his own address on Monday, President Joe Biden offered warm but not extensive testimony about his vice president.

That, people familiar with the matter said, would be Obama’s task.

Actor Tony Goldwyn speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on August 19, in Chicago.

Actor Tony Goldwyn, known for his role as President Fitzgerald Grant on the show “Scandal,” is serving as a host during this week’s Democratic National Convention, a gig he says is an honor.

Goldwyn went on to commend Harris’ public service career, especially her career in criminal justice. He also praised President Joe Biden, who he had supported before Biden stepped aside.

Goldwyn said that Biden was a steady leader the country needed to navigate a tumultuous time. “He did a lot of quiet work that he does not get credit for,” Goldwyn said.

He went on to say Biden made a courageous — and, what he imagines, painful — decision to step aside. Through “a selfless act,” Biden has “shifted the tide,” the actor said.

Trump ally Rep. Byron Donalds brushed off the criticism former President Donald Trump has received from Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign for holding a campaign event in Howell, Michigan, a month after White supremacists marched through the suburban community’s downtown.

The Florida Republican called the demonstrations “distasteful,” but also said his brother-in-law lives in Howell and he’s “not some neo-Nazi,” rather he’s “just trying to work hard and do the right thing.”

Senior Trump campaign adviser Brian Hughes said that President Joe Biden also visited Howell, the largest city in Livingston County, in 2021, and suggested scrutiny should also be applied to Democrats for holding their convention in Chicago.?

Trump will focus on crime and safety in his remarks on Tuesday in Michigan, while his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, will hold an event with law enforcement in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Flanked by signs titled “Kamala Crime Crisis” detailing increased murder rates since 2019 in major American cities, including New York and Chicago, Donalds also hit Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, on the issue.

While Donalds acknowledged that recent crime rates have fallen in many cities, he argued “crime is only down from the horrifically high levels under the Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration.”

Asked by a reporter about Trump’s previous remarks, including at a rally in Iowa last year, that he would use military forces to fight crime in American cities, Donalds downplayed the idea that Trump actually means to enforce some of what he tells voters publicly.

“Saying something at a rally is not public policy,” he said.

One of the pro-Palestinian activist?groups pressuring President Joe Biden’s?administration over the continuing war in Gaza wants more prominent representation at the Democratic National Convention, a lead protest?organizer said Tuesday at a news conference in Chicago.

“A Palestinian American voice would be critical,” said Abbas Alawieh of Uncommitted National Movement, which encouraged Democrats to vote “uncommitted” in state presidential party primaries to demand Biden support a ceasefire.

Though humanitarian concerns related to Gaza have been raised at the convention, there is no Palestinian American main stage speaker scheduled at the DNC, Alaweih said.

Uncommitted National Movement?representatives have been sitting down with representatives of Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss their concerns, including demands for an American arms embargo of Israel, Alawieh said.

Doctors who have provided medical care to Gazan civilians during the war joined the Uncommitted National Movement to call for a ceasefire on Tuesday.?

Calling for an arms embargo, Dr. Tammy Abughnaim, a Chicago emergency physician who has been to Gaza twice this year, said it was “disheartening” to know that “as I am standing in front of the patient, pulling shrapnel out of their body, that my tax dollars have paid for this, and that my president and vice president and their administration are in full support of this.”

This post has been updated with the doctor’s remarks.

Former President Donald Trump remarks during a campaign event on August 19, in York, Pennsylvania.

Former President Donald Trump bashed President Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention Monday night as “angry and ranting.”?

“An angry and ranting Speech full of LIES, Biden took credit for everything done during the Trump Administration, even continuing to say that he was better on Inflation and Jobs,” Trump posted on Truth Social.?

Trump attacked Biden over the chaotic withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, his response to the Covid-19 pandemic and his handling of illegal immigration.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.

In February 2008, then Sen. Barack Obama told his followers, “we are the change we seek.”

On Tuesday night, the two-term former president is expected to update his message —framing Kamala Harris as the only vessel of change in 2024 in a primetime convention address.

It will be a neat trick if Obama can pull it off because Harris is the second most important member of an unpopular administration that, while legislatively successful, failed to win the country’s confidence on the issue voters care about most — the economy.

Where Obama preached hope, Harris is invoking joy — betting that after grim years marked by the pandemic, the darkness of former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric and the pain of high prices —Americans are ready for something new.

She’s got one big advantage. It’s tough for Trump to be the change candidate since he’s a quasi-incumbent himself, having led the Republican Party for eight years already and authored the most divisive presidency of modern times.?

The former president seems befuddled that Harris has seized the change mantra. He’s arguing that she can’t claim to represent a break with the Biden administration because she’s part of it, saying at rallies “Day one for Kamala was three and a half years ago.”?

Democratic strategists however say their internal polling suggests that Harris is far less associated with Biden’s struggles on the economy than Trump would like. So, Harris may have a narrow window to pull this off.

The Israel-Hamas war is the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country and has spurred a multitude of protests around the US since it began in October.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in late July, Kamala Harris gave a?forceful and notable speech?about the situation in Gaza.

Harris echoed Biden’s repeated comments about the “ironclad support” and “unwavering commitment” to Israel. The country has a right to defend itself, she said, while noting, “how it does so, matters.”

The sympathy she expressed for Palestinians’ suffering was far more forceful than what Biden has said on the matter in recent months. Harris mentioned twice the “serious concern” she expressed to Netanyahu about civilian deaths in Gaza, the humanitarian situation and destruction she called “catastrophic” and “devastating.”

Harris emphasized the need to get the Israeli hostages back from Hamas captivity.

But when describing the potential ceasefire deal being negotiated, she didn’t highlight the hostage for prisoner exchange or aid to be let into Gaza. Instead, she singled out the fact that the deal stipulates the withdrawal by the Israeli military from populated areas in the first phase before withdrawing “entirely” from Gaza before “a permanent end to the hostilities.”

Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress in late July, instead choosing to stick with a prescheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance?penned an op-ed?in the Wall Street Journal Tuesday morning attacking Vice President Kamala Harris for supporting net-zero energy policies, claiming they will obliterate the American auto industry, exacerbate electricity demand and not effectively combat climate change.

“A Harris administration would be worse than the Biden administration. President Biden at least claimed not to support the Green New Deal. Ms. Harris was an original co-sponsor of the bill and even said she would abolish the Senate’s filibuster to pass it. Ms. Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov.?Tim Walz, is yet more extreme. Mr. Walz actually signed a bill that would end all sources of electricity other than wind and solar in his state by 2040,” Vance said.

Claiming Harris cares more about climate change than inflation, Vance said the US is “facing a catastrophic electrical capacity shortfall of hundreds of gigawatts” and that “variable solar and wind can’t take the place of large base-load generators.”?

“Ms. Harris is unfazed by the unprecedented destruction of our energy infrastructure. She thinks windmills and the sun will come to the rescue. But she is dreaming,” Vance said.

Vance concluded, “President Trump has made it crystal clear we will end the net-zero energy policies shutting down investment in electricity capacity. Instead, we will pave the way for a massive energy expansion. We will streamline permitting, end the distorting effects of federal subsidies, unleash private investment, and lay the groundwork for a historic expansion in American energy capacity.”

Read more about where Harris stands on climate and energy here.

Stephanie Grisham is seen on ABC's Good Morning America, on October 4, 2021.

Stephanie Grisham, the former White House press secretary under Donald Trump, told CNN that she will speak about her experience with the former president during her address to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night.

“My speech touches on who he really is behind the scenes as someone who was with the family for six years,” she said.

Grisham started working for Trump during his first presidential campaign in 2016 and went on to work as East Wing communications director, White House press secretary and chief of staff to Melania Trump during his administration.

Grisham resigned as Melania Trump’s chief of staff after the violent riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Grisham went on to write a book about her experience and has been publicly critical of Trump.

Significant bus delays for DNC attendees Monday evening were caused by a combination of protest activity in the area and two other separate shuttle bus incidents, the Secret Service said Tuesday.

A vehicle screening area outside the Democratic National Convention was temporarily closed Monday for security reasons during ongoing protest activity, according to Anthony Guglielmi, US Secret Service chief of communications.

At the same time, one shuttle bus inadvertently struck a security gate while a second shuttle bus became disabled due to mechanical issues, further obstructing additional traffic, Guglielmi said.

Former President Barack Obama delivers remarks alongside former First Lady Michelle Obama at a ceremony to unveil their official White House portraits at the White House on September 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Tuesday evening’s Democratic National Convention programming will feature remarks from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, as well as other key Democrats, including:

There will be a celebratory roll call vote with to-be-unveiled “new, innovative, exciting elements,” said convention executive director Alex Hornbrook.

The evening will also feature some Republicans as Democrats seek to demonstrate a capacity to reach across the aisle: Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, and others.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who will also speak tonight. His speech is expected to include details from his personal biography as well as his relationship with Kamala Harris.?

“America will get to know our future first gentleman, from his middle-class upbringing in Jersey to his successful career as a lawyer and now as a law professor,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said.

He continued: “Doug Emhoff will show America the Kamala Harris only he knows. As America has seen these last few weeks, she’s joyful, she’s empathetic, and she’s tough.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to hold a rally in nearby Milwaukee this evening. Asked whether she had plans to watch her husband’s speech, officials offered scant details.?

Vice President Kamala Harris is on stage during the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19.

The first night of the Democratic Party’s convention made clear that the foundation of Vice President Kamala Harris’ attempt to beat former President Donald Trump will be built on a massive turnout of Black and women voters.?

Hillary Clinton peered through the cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling she failed to breach and said she saw the new Democratic nominee raising her hand to swear in as the first woman president.

Speakers hammered Trump over the Supreme Court’s overturning of the constitutional right to an abortion. And the party showcased prominent and promising Black elected leaders like Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock.

But Harris can’t win on the party’s base alone. So it’s fair to ask how scenes of Clinton slamming her 2016 opponent for falling asleep in his trial or United Auto Workers Union leader Shawn Fain blasting the GOP nominee as a “scab” help win over the moderate middle.

Harris must find a way to reach white, male working voters in the Midwest — a notable constituency of President Joe Biden — and disaffected Republicans who disdain the ex-president but balk at liberal rhetoric.?

Things could change Tuesday night. Former President Barack Obama made a political career on broadening the Democratic coalition, and he will try to do the same for Harris in his speech.

Look out also for dissident Republicans who broke with Trump.

At least five Republicans will speak at the Democratic National Convention. Here’s what to know about them:

John Giles?is the mayor of Mesa, Arizona. He told CNN he was supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in July, saying: “This was not something I was excited to do … but occasionally there are issues and questions that we are presented with?in life that are just too compelling to be silent.”

John Giles, mayor of Mesa, Arizona, attends the U.S Conference of Mayors 88th Winter Meeting at the Capital Hilton in Washington, DC, on January 22, 2020.

Geoff Duncan is the former lieutenant governor of Georgia and has come out in support of Harris. He previously told CNN he had a message for Republicans across the nation:

“Just because you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 doesn’t mean you’re a Democrat. It just means you’re a patriot. You’re doing your duty as an American to step up to the plate and reclaim this country’s future,” he said.

Duncan is a CNN contributor.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan leaves the Fulton County Courthouse on August 14, 2023, in Atlanta.

Stephanie Grisham served as the White House press secretary for less than a year during the Trump administration. She worked in various roles as a senior aide to Donald and Melania Trump over five years and has written a book about her time as Melania’s chief of staff.

Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary, arrives for a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, on June 18, 2019.

Olivia Troye is a former Trump White House national security official. She joined Harris for an event in Michigan a few days before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.

Former Trump national security official Olivia Troye speaks during an event on July 17 in Portage, Michigan.

Adam Kinzinger?is a former Republican congressman who served for 12 years. He describes himself as a “proud conservative” and had endorsed Biden in June. He was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for Trump’s impeachment for “incitement of an insurrection” in relation to the former president’s role during the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

Kinzinger is a CNN contributor.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger attends the Principles First 2023 Summit Preserving American Institutions at the Conrad Hotel in Washington, DC, on March 5, 2023.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz will visit two more caucus meetings at the Democratic National Convention this morning.

The Minnesota governor will continue to rally for Harris and “express his gratitude” for the support of members of the DNC Women’s Caucus and DNC Youth Council.

“Governor Tim Walz will continue to build upon the momentum of yesterday’s kick off of the Democratic National Convention and drop by a series of convenings with delegates where he will express his gratitude for their support of the Harris-Walz ticket, and discuss how Vice President Harris is fighting for people, our freedoms, and our future,” the official said.

Later in the day, Walz will join Harris for a rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.??

The 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19.

Democratic National Convention organizers have adjusted the start time of Tuesday’s convention programming following Monday’s late night, which ran significantly behind schedule.

President Joe Biden’s remarks, originally scheduled for primetime, bled past midnight ET.

“We made some real-time adjustments,” convention executive director Alex Hornbrook said at a Tuesday morning briefing.

He continued: “We’re working with our speakers and making some other adjustments for this evening, including beginning at 5:30 (PM CT), to make sure that we stay on track tonight.”

Domingo Garcia, chairman of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), says that the Harris-Walz campaign is gaining traction among Latinos who have historically been low-propensity voters.

The Harris-Walz campaign started slow but “I think they’re really picking it up,” Garcia told CNN.

Garcia noted that there are 65 million Latinos in the US, many who are living in key battleground states.

“We can be the deciding factor. The road to the White House goes through the barrios of San Antonio, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas as well as Chicago and I think we can make that difference this year,” he said.

Some background: LULAC endorsed the Harris-Walz ticket earlier this month. The civil rights organization is dedicated to advancing opportunities for Hispanic Americans and was established in 1929. The PAC says that this is the first time LULAC has endorsed a presidential candidate in its almost 100-year history.?

The group describes itself as the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization.

CNN’s Samantha Waldenberg contributed to this report.

Kamala Harris has quickly started trying to?counter Donald Trump’s attacks?on her immigration record.

Her campaign released a video in July citing support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and Trump’s successful push to?scuttle a bipartisan immigration deal?that included some of the toughest border security measures in recent memory.

In June, the White House announced?a crackdown?on asylum claims meant to continue reducing crossings at the US-Mexico border – a policy that Harris’ campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, indicated in July to CBS News would continue under a Harris administration.

Trump’s attacks stem from Biden having tasked Harris with?overseeing diplomatic efforts?in Central America in March 2021. While Harris focused on long-term fixes, the Department of Homeland Security remained responsible for overseeing border security.

She has only occasionally talked about?her efforts?as the situation along the US-Mexico border became a political vulnerability for Biden. But she put her own stamp on the administration’s efforts, engaging the private sector.

Harris pulled together the Partnership for Central America, which has acted as a liaison between companies and the US government. Her team and the partnership are closely coordinating on initiatives that have led to job creation in the region. Harris has also engaged directly with regional leaders.

Experts credit Harris’ ability to secure private-sector investments as her most visible action in the region to date but have cautioned about the long-term durability of those investments.

Former President Donald Trump makes remarks during a campaign event in York, Pennsylvania, on August 19.

Americans crave pre-Covid prices. Former President Donald Trump is promising to make them a reality.

“Prices will come down,” Trump told voters during a speech last week laying out his vision for a return to the White House. “You just watch: They’ll come down, and they’ll come down fast, not only with insurance, with everything.”

There’s no doubt the federal government can help influence the price of certain goods and services. However, broad-based price declines are not only improbable, they would bring about a?doom loop difficult to escape from.

“Prices will come down and come down dramatically and come down fast,” he said.

Trump vowed to slash not just the price of gasoline, cooling bills and electricity, but predicted this would happen across the economy.

It’s one thing to try to slow the rate of inflation, making prices go up at a more gradual pace. That’s exactly what the Federal Reserve has been working to do the past two years, with a surprising amount of success.

But what Trump appeared to be describing is deflation: widespread price drops. And that’s something that scares economists because of what it portends.

“The way to bring about deflation would be to create a massive recession. That would cause businesses to start cutting prices,” Wolfers said.

But falling prices are problematic because they would stall the economy in its tracks.

Read more about how Trump’s price proposal could impact the US economy.

People shop at a grocery store on August 14, in Rosemead, California.

High prices are a top concern for many Americans who are struggling to afford the cost of living after a spell of steep inflation. Many voters give President Joe Biden?poor marks?for his handling of the economy, and Vice President Kamala Harris may also face their wrath.

As part of her economic agenda, Harris wants to counter the increase in food costs, which she argues stems in part from some big grocery chains that are keeping prices high even though their production costs have leveled off.

To do so, she is calling for the first-ever federal?ban on price gouging?on food and groceries. She would also secure new authority for the Federal Trade Commission and state attorneys general to investigate and penalize companies that unfairly exploit consumers in the quest for excessive profits on food and groceries.

Harris has echoed many of the same economic themes as Biden in campaign speeches, saying she wants to give Americans more opportunities to get ahead.

She promised in a July rally to continue the Biden administration’s drive to eliminate?so-called junk fees?and to fully disclose all charges, such as for events, lodging and car rentals.

Elon Musk listens to then-President Donald Trump as he meets with business leaders at the White House in 2017.

Former President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview Monday that he would weigh giving Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk a role in a possible Trump administration.?

“He’s a very smart guy. I certainly would, if he would do it, I certainly would. He’s a brilliant guy,” Trump said to Reuters when asked if Musk could be named as an adviser or Cabinet member.?

Musk endorsed Trump last month on X, which the tech titan owns, after the former president’s attempted assassination.?

In May, Musk said on X that “there have not been any discussions of a role for me in a potential Trump Presidency,” in response to a video about Wall Street Journal reporting about his alliance with Trump and a possible White House position.?

John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, and Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia.

It won’t just be Democrats speaking at?their convention in Chicago?this week. Several Republicans have received key speaking spots.

While some of the biggest names among Republicans opposed to GOP presidential candidate?Donald Trump?have remained on the sidelines, others will be taking to the United Center stage this week to lay out the case for why they’re there – and why they think conservatives?should join them in voting for?Kamala Harris.

Two prominent speakers are from key battleground states:?John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, and?Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Duncan will have a “prominent” speaking slot on Wednesday night, according to a source familiar with the speech.?

The source said his remarks will be “directed at Republicans who are sick and tired of making?excuses for Donald Trump.”

He will be joined by?Olivia Troye, a former Trump White House national security official who joined Harris for an event in Michigan a few days before Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Stephanie Grisham, who served as White House press secretary during the Trump administration, will also speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

CNN previously reported that former Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger will speak on Thursday evening ahead of Harris. Both Duncan and Kinzinger are CNN contributors.

“I’ve been a Republican all my life. But since Donald Trump refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, the Republican Party has spiraled further and further into political extremism,” Giles said.

Read more about the Republicans who have spoken out against Trump.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz arrive at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport for a campaign rally on August 7.

The Harris coalition is coming into focus.

When?Vice President Kamala Harris?replaced?President Joe Biden?as the Democratic presidential nominee last month, her twin challenges were to shore up support with the groups where Biden was weak and to maintain his standing with the groups where he was relatively stronger.

As she arrives at?the Democratic convention?in Chicago this week, a broad array of polls testify to her progress on both tests.?

But in the Rustbelt and Sunbelt alike, formidable challenges remain to this emerging “Kamala coalition.” Although Harris has demonstrably regained ground with younger, Black and Latino voters, in most polls she still lags below the levels Biden reached with them in 2020.

It’s far from certain Harris can win any of the major Sunbelt battlegrounds — North Carolina and Georgia in the Southeast, Arizona and Nevada in the Southwest — unless she can come even closer to those previous Democratic benchmarks. And the remaining voters she needs may be tougher to corral than those that have already returned to her.

Read more about where Harris has succeeded in building support since taking over the campaign here.

Crews in Chicago were working early Tuesday morning to install an additional line of security fences near the United Center in the area where protesters breached an outer perimeter fence Monday.

About a dozen workers were installing a third row of fencing stretching east on Washington Boulevard from the area that was breached. The new row of fencing is in between the two rows that had already been in place.

More on protesters: Thousands took to the streets to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza on the first day of the Democratic National Convention.

Families with babies in strollers, students, elected leaders and others holding signs and flags joined the march to the United Center to call for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. As the larger group marched peacefully, a few dozen who broke away tore down pieces of the security fence.

Several protesters who had managed to get through the fence were detained and handcuffed by the police. Officers put on gas masks as some protesters tried to bring down a second fence set up in front of police. Authorities said the inner security perimeter surrounding the convention site was not breached and there was no threat to those attending the convention.

Inside the arena, CNN spotted three or four?protesters?holding up a banner that read “STOP ARMING ISRAEL.”?Other attendees blocked the banner with “WE ?? JOE” signs, and the stadium turned off the lights to the section until the?protesters?were escorted out.

CNN’s Jake Tapper contributed reporting to this post.

I there was one lesson?Kamala Harris?took from the 2004 Democratic National Convention, it was to fuel up for some long days.

“You definitely have to eat your Wheaties,” the?then-39-year-old San Francisco district attorney told a crowd in Boston before heading off to the week’s hottest ticket: a party celebrating the breakout keynote speaker,?US Senate?candidate Barack Obama?of Illinois.

Now, 20 years later, Obama – who went from the star of that convention?to the nation’s first Black president in a short four years – will speak on behalf of Harris, the party’s newly minted standard-bearer,?delivering a “forceful affirmation that Harris is the right leader for the moment,” an adviser said.

Arriving at this moment was indirect, painstaking and awkward for so many Democrats, considering the 2024 convention was long intended to celebrate President?Joe Biden, Obama’s onetime vice president.

Obama is among the party elders whose quiet maneuvering helped Biden realize that Democrats were headed to almost certain defeat if he stayed on the ticket.

Harris’s?quick ascension?to the top of the Democratic Party would?have been?unlikely without?the swift endorsement of?Biden?– whose own presidency was made possible in no small part by Obama.

Read the full story.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on August 7.

Ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz visiting Wisconsin on Tuesday, the campaign has touted its organizing infrastructure and laid out how it believes Harris’ record of accomplishments has impacted Wisconsin voters.

In a new memo on Tuesday, Harris campaign Wisconsin state communications director Brianna Johnson said the campaign had seen “record new volunteer signups” since Harris took over the top of the ticket from President Joe Biden.

She said Democrats in Wisconsin have “made over 600,000 door knocks and phone calls,” aided in part by the more than 170 staff the campaign has in the state.?

Johnson also highlighted economic policy and criminal justice policies adopted by the Biden administration that have benefited Wisconsin voters, including noting the approval of additional funds to strengthen local police by allowing them to hire more officers and handle more 911 calls.?

Johnson concluded her memo by contrasting Harris’ message with Trump’s, who the campaign calls “a convicted felon who would drag this country backwards and make life more expensive for working families.”

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the DNC in Chicago, on August 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris has filed paperwork?to begin planning for a potential transition to the White House — a standard move for a non-incumbent presidential candidate, but another measure of her rushed campaign launch.?

Former President Donald Trump announced his own transition committee last week.?

To lead the effort, CNN has learned that Harris is tapping the same person who ran the process for President Joe Biden: Yohannes Abraham, the current Indonesia-based ambassador to?the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. He and Harris worked together closely four years ago and then when he was the first chief of staff to the National Security Council under Biden. He’ll soon leave his job and move back to Washington for the role.

Law firm Covington & Burling — the firm of former Attorney General Eric Holder, which ran the running mate vetting process for Harris — will help advise how best to set up the effort to hire other staff.

The purpose is to ease any new administration taking control of the massive federal government, preparing senior aides for jobs and structures they may not already know about and facilitating a smoother transition for whoever is sworn in?at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.

But it’s a tricky balance for Harris, who is running as both an extension of Biden’s administration and as a fresh start. A person?familiar with the vice president’s planning tells CNN that the transition?apparatus will not be making personnel decisions before the election. She was facing a deadline of next week to file the paperwork.

The person added that as with the transition processes under Biden and former President Barack Obama, “this transition apparatus will focus on operational considerations in the pre-election period, such as making sure that sufficient vetting capacity exists post-election.”

Eventually, should either candidate win, the transition committee becomes the nexus for everything from picking Cabinet secretaries, to hiring lower-level jobs, to getting arms around information and major decisions the new president will face.

John Legend performs in Inglewood, California, on May 4.

When Barack Obama accepted his presidential nomination at the 2008 Democratic?National Convention in Denver, Jennifer Lopez was in town, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner?attended the proceedings together, and Kanye West performed at an Obama campaign party.

Four conventions later, the?A-list enthusiasm?for the?party’s?presidential?ticket remains. Not since the Obama years has celebrity enthusiasm been so high, merging the world of pop culture and politics as the race kicks?into high gear with?this week’s convention.

John Legend – who performed at the?2008 and 2020?conventions?– is set to headline a show?tonight for Illinois?Gov.?JB Pritzker. Tomorrow, “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus?is?hosting a panel?with the country’s eight female Democratic governors. And on tomorrow night, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts will perform at a benefit concert thrown by the Creative Coalition, a Hollywood advocacy nonprofit.

Notable actors expected to attend include Tim Daly, Uzo Aduba, Anthony Anderson, Iain Armitage, Yvette Nicole Brown, David Cross, Jon Cryer, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Danai Gurira, Richard Kind, Busy Philipps and Sheryl Lee Ralph.

High-profile speakers are still being finalized, multiple sources?told?CNN, adding that a slew of actors will speak on the convention’s main stage.

But speculation has run rampant about two stars in particular: Taylor Swift and Beyoncé.

With no major performer announced, fans of both Beyoncé and Swift are hopeful that the women — who both?endorsed the Biden-Harris ticket?in 2020?— will show up in Chicago. Representatives for Swift and Beyoncé did not respond to CNN’s numerous requests for comment.

Kamala Harris and Barack Obama are pictured during an event at The White House in Washington, DC, in April 2022.

Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, who were aghast in 2016 when Donald Trump won the presidential election, will speak to the nation this week as Democrats try to once again stop Trump from entering the White House.

A source familiar with the Obamas’ upcoming remarks said former President Barack Obama will “affirm why Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are precisely the leaders the country needs right now” – and underscore how high the stakes are heading into Election Day.

Former first lady Michelle Obama will speak to how she believes Harris is “ready to lead our country forward and turn the page on fear and division,” the source said. She intends to stress that the vice president is “one of the most qualified candidates to seek the presidency.”??

Eric Schultz, senior adviser to Barack Obama, said the former president intends to continue lending Harris a helping hand as she campaigns against Trump.

Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump is pictured during a campaign event in York, Pennsylvania, on August 19.

Donald Trump’s counterprogramming to the?Democratic convention?continues Tuesday in Michigan, the former president’s first visit there since a seismic shakeup in the race altered the playing field in the Midwest battleground.

A month ago, the Trump campaign projected confidence in the Wolverine State. At Trump’s nominating convention, Chris LaCivita, a top strategist to the former president, told a room full of reporters that Michigan stood out as the so-called Blue Wall state most likely to turn red in November.

Days later, Trump?landed triumphantly in Grand Rapids?for his maiden rally with new running mate JD Vance. In what was also his first campaign event following the?attempt on his life, Trump poked fun at the Democratic angst surrounding the top of their ticket.

“Who would you most like to run against?” he asked a fully packed auditorium before rattling off rumored contenders to replace?President Joe Biden, who was then still seeking reelection. When the former president floated Biden’s name, his supporters cheered loudest.

But those hopes were soon dashed. The next day, Biden dropped out, and Trump’s opponent soon became Vice President?Kamala Harris, whom Democrats will formally nominate Tuesday at their convention in Chicago.

Read how Harris’ entry into the race has shifted the political landscape in Michigan.

Vice President Kamala Harris, center, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, right, attend the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 19.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will attend a Milwaukee campaign rally today in the same arena where the Republican National Convention was held last month.

The rally will be held at the Fiserv Forum in the battleground state of Wisconsin, according to her campaign, in what will be Harris’ third trip to the state since she became the Democratic presidential candidate.?

Harris’ remarks are expected at 8:00 p.m. CT (9:00 p.m. ET), a campaign official said.

That means her address will be during some of the main programming at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.?

Former President Barack Obama, former first Lady Michelle Obama, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are all expected to speak at the DNC tonight.

The campaign said they would offer rally attendees the opportunity to attend a watch party outside of the Fiserv Forum after the rally, so they can watch the primetime speeches.?

Congresswoman Gwen Moore, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, and members of the Milwaukee Bucks franchise, including forward Khris Middleton and organization President Peter Feigin, are expected to participate in today’s rally, the campaign said.

The stage is set for the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on Sunday, August 18.

Vice President Kamala Harris is set to speak Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, but only after a “who’s who” list of speakers from the Democratic party and beyond.

From past presidents and presidential hopefuls to key Harris allies, here’s a look at some of the people who are set to deliver speeches in Chicago this week:

Tuesday:

Wednesday:

Thursday:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries are also expected to speak at some point during the convention, according to DNC officials.

Vice President Kamala Harris is joined by President Biden on stage following his remarks on Monday, August 19.

Delegates gathered for the Democratic National Convention will participate in a ceremonial roll call today to celebrate Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to sources familiar with the planning.

The 57 delegations will deliver remarks and cast ceremonial votes inside Chicago’s United Center.

Notably, the first roll call will begin with President Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware and the last roll calls will come from California and Minnesota, the home states of Harris and Walz. These details are meant to drive home the passing of the torch occasion, organizers said.

Harris became the party’s official nominee earlier this month after receiving a majority of votes via a virtual roll call, but today’s in-person votes are heavily symbolic. Because the party went through turmoil over the past few months — culminating in Biden dropping out of the 2024 race in July and Harris quickly locking up the nomination days later — many Democrats are looking forward to this week as a cathartic celebration.

Four years ago, there was also no in-person roll call for then-presumptive nominee Biden because the Covid-19 pandemic forced that year’s convention to be largely virtual.

President Joe Biden gives remarks during the DNC on Monday, August 19, in Chicago.

Democrats?opened their convention?in Chicago Monday with a send-off to President Joe Biden, who closed the night with a hand-off to Vice President Kamala Harris.

Here are six takeaways:

Biden got four-minute ovation: Biden said choosing Harris as his running mate in 2020 was “the best decision I made my whole career.”

He also sharply criticized Trump and a detailed recollection of his administration’s legislative achievements.

Clinton underscores potential for first woman president: Though she’d fallen short eight years ago, Clinton said she wanted her grandchildren and their grandchildren to know she’d been there for Harris when the “glass ceiling” finally shatters.

She invoked Shirley Chisholm, the first woman to run for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for vice president. “Shirley and Geri would say, ‘Keep going,’” Clinton said.

Clinton on Trump’s “familiar” attacks: Referring to Trump’s convictions in New York, she said that he “made his own kind of history: the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.” The crowd responded with chants of “Lock him up!” – Democrats’ spin on the “Lock her up” chants?about Clinton?that were omnipresent at Trump’s 2016 rallies.

Abortion rights: Democrats lambasted Trump for appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who helped undo Roe v. Wade’s protections for abortion rights. Three women with stories of abortion and reproductive care told their stories as part of support for abortion rights, which has been Democrats’ most potent issue at the ballot box since Roe v. Wade’s reversal two years ago.

Democrats downplay Israel’s war: Few issues have divided Democrats more – by age, by ideology, sometimes by identity – than Israel’s war in Gaza. Not that you would have known it from watching Monday night. Biden spoke at the greatest length about Gaza, showing sympathy for those killed. But for most of the speakers in prime time, the war barely warranted a mention. It is, quite clearly and unsurprisingly, an issue Democrats see little electoral upside in highlighting.

Spotlight on Project 2025: Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow stepped onstage with a large prop: a book containing “Project 2025” so big that it barely fit on the podium. The moment reflected how eager Democrats are to tie Trump to what McMorrow called “a Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.” Though the former president has disavowed it, Democrats have framed the playbook for a second Trump term as his agenda. McMorrow left the stage with a pledge that the book would return Tuesday night.

Read more of the takeaways.

President Joe Biden is seen onstage at the DNC in Chicago, on Monday, August 19.

Awash in his party’s love,?President Joe Biden?finally did become that bridge to a new generation of leaders.

He movingly performed the most profound act a politician in a democracy can undertake — willingly handing over power — as he ceded the party’s leadership to Kamala Harris Monday at?the Democratic National Convention.

He capped a half-century-long career as a senator, a vice president, and finally president by citing a verse of a song called “American Anthem” that he said was important to his family.

In a valedictory speech in Chicago that stretched passed midnight on the east coast, Biden, 81, also placed that legacy — and what he sees as the fate of American democracy — in the hands of the woman he referred to as “vice president soon-to-be-president Kamala Harris.”

“She tough, she’s experienced and she has enormous integrity,” he said.

Biden’s gesture was especially poignant as he became the first sitting president to shelve a reelection race in over five-and-a-half decades.

Read the full analysis.

Democrats gave a hero’s send-off to President Joe Biden while rallying around their new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, on Monday.

Each day of the four-day Democratic National Convention has a different theme:

Monday: “For the People”

Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future,” with a speech from former President Barack Obama.

Wednesday: “A Fight for Our Freedoms,” with a speech from vice presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Thursday: “For Our Future,” closing out with an acceptance speech from Harris.

Dmocrats gathered in Chicago to ceremonially nominate Vice President Kamala Harris for president plan to showcase the conservative Project 2025 on each night of the four-day event, convention officials tell CNN.

The 920-page document was organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who served in Trump’s administration.

The four-night examination of Project 2025 — the conservative blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term — began when Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow focused on Trump’s recent claim that he would be a dictator on his first day in office.

Trump has publicly distanced himself from the initiative, calling unspecified Project 2025 ideas “seriously extreme.”??

But, last month, Russell Vought, one of Project 2025’s key authors, was heard on video talking candidly about his behind-the-scenes work to prepare policy for Trump, his expansive views on presidential power, his plans to restrict pornography and immigration,?and his complaints that the GOP was too focused on “religious liberty” instead of “Christian nation-ism.”

Vought thought the men he was talking to were relatives of a wealthy conservative donor. They actually worked for a British journalism nonprofit and were secretly recording him the entire time.

Project 2025’s proposals for right-wing policies and a radical reshaping of the executive branch have become frequent targets of Democratic criticism.

A Harris campaign official previously said the campaign has “made a deliberate decision to brand all of Trump’s policies” as “Project 2025,” since they believe “it has stuck with voters.”?