Walz accepts Democratic VP nomination in DNC remarks

Our live coverage of the DNC has moved here.

Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

Democrats are betting that within the American electorate is a deep desire to leave behind the bitterness of a decade dominated by former President Donald Trump. And so, at the party’s convention?Wednesday night?in Chicago displayed a “joy” strategy, portraying Vice President Kamala Harris as the candidate who can move the nation forward.

Here are six takeaways from the DNC’s third night:

Tim Walz, the happy warrior, introduces himself: Before his selection as Harris’ running mate, not only had he never delivered a high-stakes speech in front of a national audience — he’d never even used a teleprompter. In a moment of this magnitude, he introduced himself as a coach, a teacher, a hunter, and a neighbor as he made the case that Democrats are the party of freedom.

Oprah portrays Harris as “the best of America”: Talk show legend Oprah Winfrey said Harris is poised to make history and that soon, Americans will teach their children how the child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father grew up to be a US president. “That is the best of America,” she said.

“For the people” vs. “Me, myself and I”: Bill Clinton framed the election as a choice between Harris being “for the people” or Trump being “about me, myself and I.” Clinton used his speech to cast Trump as self-obsessed and Harris as a clean break from the drama that encompasses the former president. Trump “mostly talks about himself,” Clinton said. “So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies. Count the I’s,” he said. “His vendettas, his vengeance, his complaints, his conspiracies.”

Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow: Several of the party’s aging figures, including Clinton, acknowledged the twilight of their influence and urged voters to usher in new leaders. Clinton — who at 78 is keenly aware?that?he has lived longer than his father, grandfather and great-grandfather — told the crowd Wednesday night that he’s been to every Democratic National Convention since 1972 and has “no idea how many more of these I’ll be able to come to.”

Hostage’s parents share ‘agony on all sides’ of Israel-Hamas war: Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, shared their “anguish and misery” in one of?the?night’s most poignant moments. The two said they were “deeply grateful” to Biden and Harris, who they’ve met “numerous times” at the White House. They acknowledged the deaths of civilians in Gaza, saying “there is a surplus of agony on all sides” of the war. Hours after their speech, leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement, which has criticized Biden’s mishandling of Israel’s war in Gaza, were told that their request for a speaking spot had been denied. Members reacted by staging a sit-in outside the United Center.

Capitol police officer says Trump “betrayed us”: Defending democracy remains a key theme for the campaign, as highlighted by Aquilino Gonell, a former US Capitol Police sergeant, who said that Trump “summoned our attackers” who rioted at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress was gathered to count electoral college votes.

Read more takeaways.

Leaders of the?Uncommitted National Movement?began a sit-in outside the?Democratic convention?Wednesday night after being told by party officials that a Palestinian-American speaker would not get a speaking slot at the gathering.

Some Democratic representatives showed support for the movement.

Rep.?Ilhan?Omar of Minnesota hugged the movement’s co-founder Abbas Alaweih?and sat down with the “uncommitted” delegates and others. She made short remarks before she left.

Rep. Summer?Lee?of Pennsylvania showed support for the sit-in. “I think it’s brave to be out here to continue to fight,”?Lee?told delegates and supporters sitting outside after the convention wrapped. “Don’t be discouraged, don’t let up. Don’t let people move us out of spaces.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York spoke to the group virtually, thanking them for taking action. She said the group’s request for a speaking slot was “not in any way an irrational thing to ask for.” Just because no has been given as an answer, “that doesn’t mean that we’re accepting no as a final answer,” the Democratic congresswoman said. She stressed that they need to ensure that a Palestinian-American voice is featured at the DNC and urged them to keep pushing for their demands.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ running mate, formally accepted the vice presidential nomination during his keynote address Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention.

Walz, 60,?was chosen by Harris earlier this month, capping his short but swift ascent from a relative unknown to a leading driver of the Democratic attacks on Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda.

Other notable speakers Wednesday included?former President Bill Clinton,?former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?and?media mogul Oprah Winfrey.

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is joined by his wife Gwen and their children Hope and Gus after his speech at the Democratic National Convention on August 21.

Former President Bill Clinton started his speech?by thanking President Joe Biden?for his service to the country. He said Biden’s decision to drop out from the reelection race will enhance his legacy.

John Legend?performs a tribute to Prince?before Walz delivered his keynote address on Wednesday. Prince was a Minnesota native known for epitomizing “The Minneapolis Sound” at his home and studio, Paisley Park. Both Harris and Walz, Minnesota's governor, discussed their love of Prince’s music in a recent campaign video.?

A Democratic National Convention attendee wears buttons from past Democratic presidential tickets alongside a Harris 2024 button.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey speaks at the convention on Wednesday.?She urged voters to elect Kamala Harris to the White House, framing November’s election as a fight for freedom.

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of?Hersh Goldberg-Polin,?shared their “pain and misery” for their missing son on Wednesday. Hersh was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ attacks on Israel last year, and in April,?a video of him?was released by Hamas — the first sign since the attack that he was still alive. He is among the most recognizable of the?estimated 109 Israeli hostages?being held in Gaza as?negotiations for a ceasefire?between Israel and Hamas continue. Jon Polin said that?“the time is now”?for a deal to be made to release the hostages.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walks on stage to give a speech on Wednesday. "We must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections, who respect the peaceful transfer of power,”?Pelosi said. “The choice couldn’t be clearer. Those leaders are Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. (Tim) Walz.”

“Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson?made fun of the conservative Project 2025?and talked to Americans that could be affected by its proposals. “You ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is,” Thompson said as he walked out onto the stage carrying a large book with the?920-page document.?

Rowan Curry holds up a USA sign on the convention floor at Chicago's United Center.

See more pictures from the Democratic National Convention.

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 19.

Kamala Harris?has helped America see joy and now she needs to make America see a president.

Her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night will represent her most exacting test yet in?a dizzying month?that rocketed her to the threshold of an historic presidency that could reshape American politics.

The vice president will offer the country a new beginning and a chance to move to a different place — beyond the prolonged funk brewed by years of?Donald Trump’s dark rhetoric and public exhaustion after a once-in-a-century pandemic and consequent and punishing high prices.

More broadly, she’s proposing to restore the elusive lightness and optimism to American life and to reclaim the concept of “freedom” from conservatives, encompassing everything from reproductive rights to new economic relief for the working and middle classes, to access to health care and safety from mass shootings.

Her party is calling on Harris to ascend to the next level of the political stratosphere after advanced age ended President Joe Biden’s reelection bid.

No modern presidential nominee of any major party has faced such a tough assignment in so short a time.

Read the full analysis.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21.

Former president Donald Trump called Josh Shapiro a “highly overrated Jewish Governor” in a social media?post criticizing Shapiro’s remarks at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

He said the Pennsylvania governor’s speech was “really bad and poorly delivered.”

The former president also claimed that he is “the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had,” and continued to say that he has done “more for Israel than any President, and frankly, I have done more for Israel than any person, and it’s not even close.”

“Israel is in BIG trouble!”

The attacks on Shapiro are the latest effort by Trump to denigrate Jewish Democrats and cast the decision by Harris not to choose Shapiro as her running mate as a slight to Jewish voters.?

Remember: The DNC today featured the parents of Israeli American hostage?Hersh Goldberg-Polin?who addressed the convention. But leaders of the?Uncommitted National Movement?(UNM) were denied a speaking slot at the gathering by party officials. UNM emerged during the Democratic presidential primary to marshal protest votes against the Biden administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza. Harris has also consistently reiterated her commitment to support Israel.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff congratulated Tim Walz and celebrated?with the Democratic vice presidential nominee, his wife and two children after the governor’s speech, according to a Harris campaign aide.

Comedia Keenan Thompson carries a book referencing Project 2025 while addressing the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

As Donald Trump’s campaign keeps a close eye on the Democratic National Convention, one aspect that has irked them more than their insults or references to the former president’s convictions has been the constant links to Project 2025, according to sources familiar with his thinking.?

At least once every night, a speaker on stage has sought to portray a second Trump term in dark terms, with a full book of all the proposals in Project 2025, to a skit tonight with “Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson.

Trump has been furious about it and repeatedly sought to distance himself from it, despite how dozens of his former aides were involved in crafting it, the sources said.?

Remember: The?920-page document?— a conservative blueprint for a second Trump term— was organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who?served in Trump’s administration.

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

Democrats are exuberant going into the final day of their convention, but one worry that comes to life in one speech after another and our conversations with party leaders: There’s no time or tolerance for complacency.

The excitement and enthusiasm here belie the concern inside the party about the tough race ahead with Donald Trump.?

And that is the message Vice President Kamala Harris intends to deliver tomorrow: She’s the underdog and won’t win this race without a robust fight.

Neil Young personally allowed the Harris-Walz campaign to use his song “Rockin’ in the Free World” as Walz exited the stage in Chicago on Wednesday night, a campaign official tells CNN.

Walz personally chose the song, given it’s a favorite of his, to use after his speech, during which he symbolically accepted the Democratic vice presidential nomination.

Young does not blanket license his music and previously sued the Trump campaign to stop them from using it in 2020.

While Kamala Harris is the “legitimate nominee of the Democratic Party,” it is “a little bizarre” how the party put together this Harris-Walz ticket, Donald Trump’s running mate JD Vance told CNN.

Vance recounted how the Democrats had maintained that President Joe Biden was fit for another term until recently.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, responding to Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s DNC speech Wednesday night, said that the Minnesota governor’s attack on Donald Trump’s policies is meritless.

Vance challenged Kamala Harris or Walz to show what policies they believed worked for the middle class under Biden.

Vance was responding to a clip of Walz taking a new riff on his popular refrain of calling Republicans “weird.”

Ohio Sen. JD Vance said he had “no reservations” about being Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick in response to Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin’s speech at the DNC, in which the Maryland congressman reminded Americans about the danger to former Vice President Mike Pence’s life on January 6.

Vance dismissed the comment, saying he “can’t help but laugh what Jamie Raskin said.”

Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance speaks with CNN on August 22, 2024.?

CNN’s Jake Tapper spoke with Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance following the conclusion of night three of the Democratic National Convention.

Vance criticized Pete Buttigieg after the transportation secretary again slammed Vance over his “childless cat lady” comments at the convention.

Buttigieg again slammed Vance over his past “childless cat lady” remarks, saying that many of the people he was deployed with didn’t have children either but “our commitment to this country was pretty damn physical.”

While she appeared briefly at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night and traveled to Milwaukee with running mate Tim Walz for a campaign event on the second night of the event, Kamala Harris’ team cleared her public schedule on Wednesday so she could focus on practicing and making final edits to her speech.

In the final hours, her focus has largely been on perfecting the delivery of her speech, sources said, by trying to anticipate how the audience will receive and feel every line.

This week also provided ample opportunity for Harris to spend time with her family – including members of her husband’s family – who have all descended on Chicago for this week’s political festivities. Some of those family members have provided input on her speech.?

Even though?Harris has been vice president for three-and-a-half years, she still views her Thursday night speech as “her introduction to America in her own voice,” advisers told CNN.?

Something else she did tonight: call Tim Walz before his speech to wish him good luck.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday in a prerecorded phone call offered advice to her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, ahead of his speech at the Democratic National Convention where he accepted?the vice presidential nomination.

Walz told Harris he was feeling “great” ahead of his speech and thanked her for the opportunity to join her on the Democratic ticket.

“I’m good, I’m ready. Thanks for the opportunity. It’s going to be electric in there and the messages this entire week are so great. So go down there and deliver a freedom speech,” Walz said.

“I am really looking forward to it. I think the Minnesotans are going to be pretty jazzed up. Yeah, it’ll be fun. We’ll talk to you when it’s over,” he later added.

Harris is watching speeches from her hotel in Chicago, a campaign aide told CNN.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21

Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz introduced himself to America on the biggest political stage of his career Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention.

The speaker lineup also featured other well-known faces in the Democratic Party, including former President Bill Clinton, House Minority Leader?Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker?Nancy Pelosi.

The convention leaned into its “fight for our freedoms” theme, featuring speakers that highlighted the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol and reproductive rights.

Here are some of the key moments you might have missed:

Television host and producer Oprah Winfrey speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21, 2024.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

At the Democratic National Convention, former President Bill Clinton spoke about the jobs created in the US “since the end of the Cold War in 1989,” noting that of the 51 million jobs added, 50 million of those were created during Democratic administrations.?

Facts First:?Clinton’s claim is true, although aspects such as timing, rounding, and large-scale national crises influence the math.?

First, it depends on when the clock starts: From January 1989 through July 2024, the US economy added?a net 51.825 million jobs,?according to Bureau of Labor Statistics?seasonally adjusted data.?

In tabulating the monthly job totals, and starting in February for the respective presidential administrations, there were 50.281 million jobs added during Democratic administrations and 1.544 million jobs added during Republican administrations (including January 1989’s 263,000 net gain, as that was the end of Republican President Ronald Reagan’s term). The totals vary slightly if the presidential terms are started in January (49.985 million for Democratic presidents and 1.84 million for Republican presidents).?

But presidential terms don’t start and end in a vacuum, and economic cycles can carry over regardless of party. Plus, the ups and downs of the labor market and the broader economy are influenced by factors beyond a single president (although specific economic policies can influence economic and job growth).?

Clinton’s data point also leaves out some very important externalities: the dot-com bubble, 9/11, the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic. Job losses, which were?sometimes massive, were prevalent during those national crises and respective downturns.??

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21, 2024.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz delivered a fiery speech on the third night of the Democratic National Convention, and it gave Americans a glimpse of why Kamala Harris picked him to be her running mate, CNN anchor Jake Tapper said.

Tapper: “People are still on their feet, all the way in the?rafters, holding signs that?say, ‘Coach Walz’ — a barn burner?of a speech,” Tapper said, noting that Walz had revealed to Harris that he did not know how to use a teleprompter.

CNN’s anchor Dana Bash: “The entire speech?was wrapped in language and?words that people can relate?to,” she said. “If they live in New York?City, if they live in the?Midwest, if they lived in the?Pacific Northwest, and on the?coast or in the middle of the?country. And that was clearly?the goal.”

He conveyed that “he is a dad, he?is a coach, but he is somebody?who understands the economic?struggles” during the Biden administration, Bash said. “That was?the challenge of the Biden-Harris ticket — trying to get?past saying, ‘Oh, we have all of?these accomplishments,’ and?breaking through the fact that?people were still feeling a lot?of pain. And this was a way to?try to turn the corner and make that connection.”

Minnesota governor and former high school football coach Tim Walz used a string of football analogies to describe how he hopes Democrats will win the White House in November.

“You might not know it, but I have not given a lot of big speeches like this,” Walz said to close out the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. “But I have given a lot of pep talks.

Kamala Harris’ running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, laid out what Americans could expect from her presidency in his speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

“This is the part — clip and save it and send it to your?undecided relatives so they?know,” Walz said before listing off some of Harris’ promises.

The vice presidential nominee said that Harris would cut taxes for the middle class and “take on big pharma.”

He also said she would help make buying a home more affordable.

Harris?unveiled her housing plan?last week, which included proposals such as providing up to a $25,000 down payment to first-time homebuyers, tax incentives for builders that build starter homes sold to first-time buyers, and incentives to build affordable rental housing.

Read more about Harris’ campaign promises.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, during his speech Wednesday night to symbolically accept the Democratic vice presidential nomination, sought to tie his rivals, Donald Trump and JD Vance, to the conservative Project 2025.

“That is?what this is all about.?The responsibility we have to?our kids, to each other, and to?the future that we are building?together in which everyone is?free to build the kind of life?they want,” Walz said.

“But not everyone has that same?sense of responsibility.?Some folks don’t understand?what it takes to be a good?neighbor.?Take Donald Trump and JD?Vance.?Their Project 2025 will make?things much, much harder for people just trying to live?their lives,” he added.

The?920-page document?— a conservative blueprint for a second Trump term—was organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who?served in Trump’s administration.

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

“They spend a lot of time?pretending they know nothing?about this.?But look, I coached high school?football long enough to know,?trust me on this, when somebody?takes the time to drop a?playbook, they are going to use?it,” Walz said.

Taking a new riff on his popular refrain of calling Republicans “weird,” he said of Project 2025, “It is an agenda that serves?nobody except the richest and?the most extreme amongst us.?And it’s an agenda that does nothing for our neighbors in?need. Is it weird??Absolutely.?Absolutely.?But it is also wrong and it’s?dangerous.”

He then led the crowd in a chant of what has become a rallying cry for the Harris-Walz campaign: “I don’t know about you, I’m?ready to turn the page on these?guys.?Go ahead, say it with me, ‘We’re not going back!’”

Minnesota Governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz's son Gus and daughter Hope react as he speaks during the Democratic National Convention on August 21.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz shouted his family out in his keynote speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night.

Walz repeated a familiar story about his family’s struggles with infertility and how those struggles inspired him and his wife to name their daughter “Hope.”

Walz’s entire family was shown crying as Walz spoke about this.

Hope Walz, wearing brat-green fingernail polish, formed her hands into the shape of a heart and appeared to mouth: “I love you.”

Tim Walz introduced his life and background to Americans on the third night of the Democratic National Convention after he accepted the party’s nomination for vice president.

He started with his life, growing up in Butte, Nebraska, “a town of 400 people.”

“I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale,” he said in an apparent swipe at his Republican rival JD Vance, who is a Yale alumnus.

Walz said he grew up learning to take care of his neighbors in Butte and looking out for them, which instilled in him a “responsibility to contribute.”

“For me, it was?serving in the Army National?Guard. I joined up two days?after my 17th birthday, and I?proudly wore our nation’s?uniform for 24 years,” he said.

Walz shared that his dad, a Korean war veteran, died of lung cancer and left behind “a mountain of medical debt.”

“Thank?God for social security?survivor benefits. And thank?God for the G.I. Bill that?allowed my dad, and me, to go to college, and millions of other?Americans,” he said.

He then traced his life to teaching and coaching football — ultimately winning a state championship.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor Tim Walz takes the stage of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center, in Chicago, on August 21.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination for vice president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Wednesday.

“It’s the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States,” Walz said

He also thanked Kamala Harris for inviting him on to the ticket and thanked President Joe Biden for “four years of strong, historic leadership.”

He was introduced with a video narrated by Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz. The video featured Gwen Walz telling the story of her husband’s life starting in Nebraska and enlisting in the Army National Guard, including photos of him from his time in the military.

Gwen Walz and their kids, who are at the convention, were emotional watching the governor take the stage.

In the speech, which is the biggest of his political career, he is expected to continue to lean into his personal biography to introduce himself to voters.

This post has been updated with remarks from Tim Walz.

A former student of Tim Walz said the now-Minnesota governor believed in his students.

“And he helped us believe in each other” Ben Ingman said at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday. Ingman then introduced several football players from the school where Walz taught on the convention stage in Chicago.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 21.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota delivered the nominating speech for Kamala Harris’ running mate and her home state’s governor, Tim Walz, at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.

Klobuchar looked to highlight Walz’ Midwestern roots: “In Minnesota, we trust a coach who turned a team that was 0-27 into state champions. In Minnesota, we trust a hunter who has stood in a deer stand in 10 degree weather. In Minnesota, we trust a candidate who has made viral video on how to change a burnt out headlight.”

She then compared the connections in the United States to the Mississippi River, which flows all the way from Minnesota down to New Orleans, Louisiana: “So, let us commit here and now to cross the river of our divides, to get to a higher ground and let us join together to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

This post has been updated with remarks from Klobuchar.

John Legend performs at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 21.

John Legend and percussionist Sheila E. performed a tribute to Prince ahead of Gov. Tim Walz’s taking the stage.

As governor, Walz paid homage to the late seven-time Grammy award winner and Minnesota native who was known for epitomizing “The Minneapolis Sound” at his home and studio, Paisley Park.

Both Harris and Walz discussed their love of Prince’s music in a recent campaign video, with Harris calling the legendary singer one of her “personal favorite musicians.”

Sheila E. was Prince’s longtime friend and collaborator. Over the years, Legend has been an outspoken supporter of both President Biden and the vice president, performing Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” at the Biden-Harris inauguration in 2021.

This post has been updated with their performance.

Pete Buttigieg, the current secretary of transportation and one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, slammed Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance during his remarks at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

“Choosing a guy like JD Vance to be America’s next vice president sends a message, and the message is that they are doubling down on negativity and grievance, committing to a concept of campaigning best summed up in one word: darkness.”

“The thing is,” Buttigieg added, “I just don’t believe that America today is in the market for darkness.”

Television host and producer Oprah Winfrey speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

Oprah Winfrey applauded the immigrant parents who raised Vice President Kamala Harris in her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday.

Harris, who was?officially nominated?earlier this month, is the first Black woman and first Asian American to lead the ticket of a major political party.

Her late?mother,?Shyamala Gopalan,?was born in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and immigrated to the US in 1958 to attend a doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley. Harris has shared?childhood memories of visiting her grandfather?in Chennai and has spoken about how her Indian heritage has influenced her life and career.

Winfrey talked about other examples where young girls were shown by their parents “how to?challenge the people at the top?and empower the people at the?bottom.” She told the story of Tessie Prevost, a pioneer of Deep South school desegregation.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore leaned on his experience as an Army captain to take a jab at Donald Trump’s avoiding the Vietnam draft during his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.??

Moore, who has long been seen as a rising star in the Democratic party, was briefly floated as a possible running mate for Vice President Kamala Harris before she began focusing on other candidates.

In his speech Wednesday, he recalled that in the early morning following the catastrophic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in March, one of the first calls he received was from Harris: “’Gov., it’s Kamala. I know you spoke to the president, and I want you to know that we are here with you every step of the way,’” Moore said the vice president told him.

“I led soldiers in combat in Afghanistan, and my training taught me to never learn anything about anybody when times are easy. You learn anything you need to know about somebody when times are hard, when the temperature gets turned up, and America, I saw that Kamala Harris is the right one to lead in this moment firsthand,” Moore said.?

This post has been updated with remarks from Moore.

Oprah Winfrey said she is a registered independent voter and called on other independent and undecided voters to elect Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to the White House because “decency and respect” are on the ballot and voting for their Democratic ticket is “just plain common sense.”

“Values and?character matter most of all —?in leadership and in life,” she said. “Decency and?respect are on the ballot in?2024. And just plain?common sense, common sense?tells you that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us?decency and respect.”

She urged Americans to “choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to an individual.”

“Let us?choose optimism over cynicism,?because that’s the best of?America. And let us choose?inclusion over retribution. Let?us choose common sense over?nonsense, because that’s the?best of America,” she added.

Using a common refrain of the Harris campaign she also said, “We won’t go back.”

“Let us?choose the sweet promise of?tomorrow over the bitter return?to yesterday. We won’t go?back. We won’t be set back,?pushed back, bullied back, kicked back. We are not going?back,” she said.

She led the crowd into a chant of “We’re not going back!”

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/57fbf446-8a35-4278-bbdd-057cfb7f08f2.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/57fbf446-8a35-4278-bbdd-057cfb7f08f2.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="2024-08-22T03:19:25.359Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="Oprah DNC" data-first-publish-slug="Oprah DNC" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

045c42f3-c595-4712-a464-ce1a80ea9cb9.mp4

02:04 - Source: cnn

Television host and producer Oprah Winfrey speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 21.

Oprah Winfrey told the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday that Americans at their best treat each other like neighbors, while also taking a swipe at Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Her comments are a reference to a 2021 interview on Fox News where Vance, then a candidate for the Ohio Senate, told Tucker Carlson that the United States was being run by?“a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they’ve made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too.”

Oprah Winfrey quoted the late Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, on the third night of the Democratic National Convention to stress that freedom in America requires continuous work.

She said Lewis “knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are.”

Winfrey went on to describe America as an “ongoing project” that requires “being open to the hard work and the heart work of democracy.”

Oprah Winfrey takes the stage on Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center, in Chicago, Illinois, on August 21.

Oprah Winfrey began her speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago by talking about the enthusiasm in the arena and harkening back to former first lady Michelle Obama’s call to “do something.”

She urged voters to elect Kamala Harris to the White House, framing November’s election as a fight for freedom.

“There are?people who want you to see our?country as a nation of us?against them, people who want?to scare you, who want to rule?you, people who’d have you?believe that books are?dangerous and assault rifles?are safe. That there’s a right?way to worship and a wrong way?to love. People who seek first?to divide and then to conquer.?But here’s the thing — when?we stand together, it is?impossible to conquer us,” she added.

“Freedom isn’t free.?America is an ongoing project.?It requires commitment. It?requires being open to the hard?work and the heart work of?democracy,” she added.

Remember: Winfrey is no stranger to politics. Her endorsement of former President Barack Obama in 2008 made headlines worldwide. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016, but largely stayed off the trail. In 2020, Winfrey supported President Joe Biden and Harris, celebrating Harris as the first woman to serve as VP.

Winfrey’s close friend Gayle King previewed some of Winfrey’s remarks on CBS, saying “she was still tweaking this afternoon.”

“She hadn’t intended to be involved. She tries to stay out of politics,” King said, adding that “she has some things to say tonight.”

This post has been updated with remarks from Winfrey.

Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania who was on the short list for Kamala Harris’ running mate, said the Democratic Party is the “party of real freedom” while making his case for the the vice president at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.

“Donald Trump, a man with no guardrails, wants to take away our rights and our freedoms,” Shapiro said. “And listen - while he cloaks himself in the blanket of freedom, what he’s offering isn’t freedom at all.”

“Democrats,” he later said,” we are the party of real freedom.”

On the third night of the Democratic National Convention, Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto?of Nevada painted Kamala Harris as a “strong leader” who will “fight for our families and our freedoms.”

Over the last two days of the convention programming, Democrats have reminded voters that the presidential race will be tight and urged them to vote.

Cortez Masto recounted her 2022 Senate race when she was considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats but eventually won with less than 8,000 votes.

Nevada voters helped the party win a Senate majority in 2022, and they could “do it again,” she said.

Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, took the stage on the third night of the Democratic National Convention to perform a new poem.

“We gather at this hollowed place because we believe in the American dream,” she began her poem.

“We are one family, regardless of religion, class or color. For what defines a patriot is not just our love of liberty, but our love for one another,” she read.

Gorman struck a hopeful tone with her poem, stressing that “divided, we cannot endure but united, we can endeavor.”

Gorman previously read a poem at President Joe Biden’s inauguration titled “The Hill We Climb.” ?

This post has been updated with Gorman’s performance.

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/67b0dd37-666a-4f72-909b-445b3f085e4e.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/67b0dd37-666a-4f72-909b-445b3f085e4e.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="2024-08-22T02:43:41.843Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="Amanda Gorman DNC" data-first-publish-slug="Amanda Gorman DNC" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

975f1ae5-fda4-4209-a07a-b47525070c69.mp4

03:18 - Source: cnn

US House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at the during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries?made a claim Wednesday that has been delivered for years by various Democrats, including President Joe Biden.

In Jeffries’ remarks at the Democratic National Convention, the New York Democrat said of former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cut law: “Trump was the mastermind of the GOP tax scam, where 83% of the benefits went to the wealthiest 1% in America.”??

The benefits breakdown is much different while the individual tax cuts and corporate tax cuts are both?in place. The Tax Policy Center estimated in 2017 that in 2025, the top 1% of taxpayers would get about 25% of the benefits. That is still a very large chunk, but nowhere near 83%.????

Uncommitted National Movement (UNM) leaders told reporters Wednesday that the Democratic National Convention has now denied their request for a speaking slot in Chicago.

UNM co-founder Abbas Alawieh said he received a call from a DNC official tonight, saying, “Abbas, the answer is no.”

Some context: This has been one of the group’s long-running requests to the DNC and Harris camp. Before addressing reporters, Uncommitted activists could be seen embracing, some of them in tears

Before making the announcement, Alawieh called for a moment of silence. He then described being a child, at 15, in South Lebanon during an Israeli bombing.

“Our government’s policy is to kill people like me,” he said, increasingly emotional.

He praised the parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin for their message to the DNC earlier in the evening, then again railed against US policy that, he said, had unconscionably been used to kill “babies, babies, babies!”

Alawieh recalled deciding not to protest in the streets but to work within the party hierarchy and lobby the DNC and Harris camp, reasoning then that they could persuade Democrats to allow them a voice here.

“I’m an insider, I work the system,” said Alawieh, who previously worked for former Rep. Andy Levin and was a staffer on the Hill during the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Alawieh repeatedly said the group had no desire to lift up Trump or help his campaign in any way.

But the decision, he said, after so many phone calls and talks with the DNC and Harris camp, saying he “knew” the vice president was aware of the talks, was infuriating and heartbreaking.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis joined other speakers at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday in attacking Project 2025, an effort by dozens of conservative organizations, led by the Heritage Foundation think tank, to lay the groundwork for the next Republican presidency.??

After holding up what he said was a copy of the 920-page Project 2025 policy document, which is called “Mandate for Leadership,” Polis said at one point: “Page 451 says the only legitimate family is a married mother and father, where only the father works.”??

Mary Vought, vice president of strategic communications for the Heritage Foundation, told CNN in a message on Wednesday night: “As a working mother myself, I know this claim is simply a lie. The Mandate for Leadership says nothing about which families are ‘legitimate.’ If Gov. Polis actually read the page he cited, he would know that.”?

What Page 451 actually says: It is true that Project 2025 expresses a preference for a certain type of family – the married “nuclear family” with a mother and father. On the page Polis mentioned, the document asserts that “families comprised of a married mother, father, and their children are the foundation of a well-ordered nation and healthy society;”?that “working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children;” and that “homes with non-related ‘boyfriends’ present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be.” ?

The same page of the document criticizes the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services for supposedly “focusing on ‘LGBTQ+ equity,’ subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage,” and it says, “these policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.” (We won’t address the accuracy of Project 2025’s own claims in this fact check.)?

But the page does not say, as Polis claimed, that there is only one kind of “legitimate” family – let alone say that families in which a mother has a job do not qualify.?

Former President Bill Clinton riffed on the famous “place called Hope” line he gave at the 1992 Democratic convention to encourage Americans to vote the “president of joy,” Kamala Harris, into the White House.

Clinton, who is from Hope, Arkansas, famously said in the 1992 convention that “I still believe in a place called Hope.”

On Wednesday, the former president said: “From a man who once had the honor to be called in this convention, a man from Hope, we need Kamala Harris - the president of joy - to lead us.”

“So, I’ll be doing my part. You do yours. I’ll see you when we’re making a real joyful noice when the votes are counted,” he said.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began her remarks at the Democratic National Convention by touting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration, prompting the crowd to chant “thank you Joe,” after she played a role in urging President Joe Biden to drop out of the race last month.

Pelosi pointed to the jobs created by the administration, the expansion of the child tax credit, infrastructure improvements and climate legislation.

Pelosi described Harris as a “person of deep faith which is reflected in her community care and service,” and added that politically, the vice president is “astute and strategic in winning difficult elections.”

The former speaker also said it was “an honor” working in Congress with vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, whom she backed as he rose among other vice presidential contenders. Pelosi touted his victory in a red district and applauded him for voting for the Affordable Care Act.

Pelosi also stressed that the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol made clear that “our democracy is only as strong as the courage and commitment of those entrusted with its care.”

Despite choosing to not run for reelection for leadership following the 2022 midterms,?Pelosi — the only woman to serve as House speaker —?still remains an influential figure in the Democratic party. ?

The California congresswoman, who has a decadeslong relationship with President Joe Biden, was among the high-profile lawmakers who was worried about the viability of his campaign. ?

Pelosi privately told Biden that polling showed he could not beat former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and his run could destroy Democrats’ chances of winning back the House, CNN previously reported. Biden dropped out of the race days later. ?

At the California delegation breakfast in Chicago on Monday, Pelosi showed no remorse for efforts to push Biden aside, telling people with lingering feelings about her role in the effort “that’s their problem, not mine.”

She also attacked former president Donald Trump for his role in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, urging voters to keep the attack on the capitol in mind and support Harris and Walz, who she said will protect the core tenants of democracy.?

This post has been updated with remarks from Pelosi.

Former President Bill Clinton vouched for Vice President Kamala Harris in his Democratic National Convention speech — taking the crowd through her life story and the promise that he believes her candidacy represents for the country.

Clinton said he wants America to be “more inclusive, more future-focused,” and said that Harris is the person to accomplish that vision.

The former president gave some examples, saying Harris has “fought for kids her whole life” as a prosecutor and has led the fight for reproductive rights when she was in the White House. Clinton also pointed to Harris’ plan to address affordable housing and make homeownership more affordable.

Harris unveiled her housing plan last week which included proposals like providing up to a $25,000 down payment to first-time homebuyers, tax incentives for builders that build starter homes sold to first-time buyers, and incentives to build affordable rental housing.

“She’s gained an?invaluable amount of experience?as vice president advancing?our values and interests around?the world,” he said, adding that she will continue to build off of that experience.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Former President Bill Clinton, in pointed attacks on Donald Trump during his speech to the Democratic National Convention, said the Republican presidential nominee only talks about himself while praising Kamala Harris.

“Kamala Harris is?the only candidate in this race?who has the vision, the?experience, the temperament,?the will, and yes, the sheer?joy, to get something done.?I mean, look, what does her opponent do with his voice? He?mostly talks about himself.?So, the next time you hear him,?don’t count the lies, count the?‘I’s.’”

Clinton went on to criticize the former president’s “vendettas, his vengeance, his complaints, his conspiracies.”

“He is like the tenors opening?up before he goes on stage, like I did, by?saying, ‘me, me, me, me, me.’?When Kamala Harris is?president, every day will begin with you, you, you, you,” Clinton said.

America faces a “clear choice” between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in November, former President Bill Clinton told the Democratic National Convention.

“In 2024, we gotta pretty clear choice, it seems to me,” Clinton said. “Kamala Harris, for the people, and the other guy, who has proved even more than the first go-around that he’s about me, myself and I.”

Clinton added: “Kamala Harris will work to solve our problems, seize our opportunities, ease our fears, and make sure every single American, however they vote, has a chance to chase their dreams.”

Former President Bill Clinton took a jab at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s age.

Some context: Clinton is just a few months younger than Trump, who turned 78 in June this year.

“There’s a certain point at which you don’t want to hear ‘Happy Birthday,’” Trump told his supporters in Las Vegas after they sang a disjointed rendition of the world’s most recognizable song earlier this summer. “You just want to pretend the day doesn’t exist.”

If Trump wins in November, he would be the oldest president at his swearing in at 78 years and 219 days, surpassing President Joe Biden’s previous record of 78 years and 61 days.

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/446577f6-0c54-44bb-b263-e7a0565d9b1d.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/446577f6-0c54-44bb-b263-e7a0565d9b1d.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="

" data-timestamp-html="

Updated 2:34 AM EDT, Thu August 22, 2024

" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-08-22T01:47:58.964Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="Clinton DNC" data-first-publish-slug="Clinton DNC" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

0c9dfd05-6dbf-4df6-8223-44740bf6714e.mp4

00:19 - Source: cnn

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Former President Bill Clinton started his speech Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention by thanking President Joe Biden for his service to the country.

He said Biden’s decision to step aside from the reelection race will enhance his legacy, acknowledging that it’s not easy for a politician to do.

Biden announced last month that he was exiting the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. Many of the speakers throughout the convention have been thanking the president for his accomplishments and honoring his long service in politics in their remarks.

This is Clinton’s 13th speech to a Democratic convention.?

In the rest of his remarks, Clinton is expected to make a robust case for the importance of the election — and the urgency to stop Donald Trump from winning back the White House. He will echo Hillary Clinton’s remarks earlier this week that Kamala Harris is the perfect candidate to finish the job that his wife started back in 2008 and 2016.

Hillary and Chelsea Clinton are in the arena watching the speech.

This post has been updated with remarks from Bill Clinton.

US House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks at the during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries on Wednesday laid out a robust agenda that Vice President Kamala Harris and Democrats could achieve together if the party retains the White House and takes back the House.

“President Biden, selflessly?passed the torch to Vice?President Kamala Harris who was?ready, willing and able to?fight for the people,” Jeffries said on the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

He said Biden “will go down as one of the most consequential presidents of all time” and called Harris “a courageous leader, a compassionate leader and a common sense leader who will deliver real results for everyday Americans.”

Jeffries compared former President Donald Trump to “an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away.”

The New York Democrat drew contrasts with the other side of the aisle, saying for many in the country the “American dream is out of reach,” but “extreme MAGA Republicans don’t care about everyday Americans. They only care about themselves.”

He went on to criticize Trump’s stance on taxes and Covid-19, while applauding Harris for her position on the economy, immigration, law enforcement, climate change and more.

Some background: Jeffries made history last year when he became the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress. If Democrats win a majority of House seats in the fall, they could elect Jeffries to become the first Black House speaker.

The New York Democrat succeeded Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who served as speaker in the prior session of Congress when Democrats held the majority. In addition to being the first Black lawmaker to attain such a position, he is also the first person elected to lead House Democrats to be born after the end of World War II.

CNN’s Shawna Mizelle contributed reporting.?

This post has been updated with more of Jeffries’ comments and background.

Actress Mindy Kaling speaks at the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Actress Mindy Kaling recalled how she “immediately hit it off” with Vice President Kamala Harris when they met for the first time to make dosas, a South Indian dish, for an Instagram video.

She shared that after speaking to the then-senator, “it was clear” that Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, “had passed down the same optimism and fearlessness to her daughter.”

But Kaling said the most memorable thing from that day was how well Harris cooks — and how warm she made her feel.

“She was so much better than me,” Kaling said, but stressed that Harris made it a point to still compliment Kaling in front of her daughter.

Kaling also poked fun at former President Donald Trump’s remarks questioning Harris’ racial identity at a conference of Black journalists last month, introducing herself as an actress and “the woman who courageously outed Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video.”

Kaling is one of four celebrity hosts tapped by the DNC to emcee one night of the convention each. ?

Kaling is a long-time supporter of Vice President Kamala Harris. In 2019, the actress told CNN’s Jake Tapper that she supported the then-senator among a crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls.

This post has been updated with remarks from Kaling.

Kenan Thompson speaks during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

“Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson made fun of the conservative Project 2025 and talked to Americans that could affected by its proposals while on stage at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night.??

Thompson walked out onto the stage carrying a large book with the conservative Project 2025 920-page document.

“You ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time? Here it is,” Thompson said.

He then spoke with Americans over video who could be affected by proposed policies organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who?served in Trump’s administration.

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/8241aab3-5af4-49d5-a38b-fe14a7d3afcb.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/8241aab3-5af4-49d5-a38b-fe14a7d3afcb.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="

" data-timestamp-html="

Updated 2:34 AM EDT, Thu August 22, 2024

" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2024-08-22T01:32:45.722Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="Kenan at DNC" data-first-publish-slug="Kenan at DNC" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

b2ec3575-dcb6-45cc-b477-e0c35e9cbc95.mp4

06:16 - Source: cnn

Stevie Wonder performs during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Legendary singer, songwriter and activist Stevie Wonder performed his hit song “Higher Ground” during the third night of the Democratic National Convention. ?

The song urges listeners to “keep on tryin’, ‘til I reach my highest ground.” ?

Wonder urged voters to “choose joy over anger” ahead of his performance.?

Stevie Wonder on stage during his performance.

Wonder’s music has been inexorably linked with American politics since the 1960s. His song catalogue was a staple throughout Barack Obama’s campaign and the former president often walks out to Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.”? ?

In 2014, then-President Obama presented Wonder with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor.?

The post was updated with some of Wonder’s remarks.

Olivia Julianna, a political influencer, activist and content creator, called for young voters to show up to the polls this election in her remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

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 Olivia Julianna.

Oprah Winfrey is in the United Center, where the Democratic National Convention is underway, according to multiple people who just saw her in the venue’s basement.

“I’m so happy to be here,” Winfrey told one person in the hallway.

Gayle King previewed some of her good friend Oprah’s remarks expected tonight.

“She was still tweaking this afternoon,” King?told CBS. “She hadn’t intended to be involved. She tries to stay out of politics.”

“She has some things to say tonight,” King stated.

King also relayed some of the cloak-and-dagger tactics meant to keep Oprah’s speech a secret. For rehearsal on stage, Oprah wore a cap, sunglasses and a face mask. When she approached Nancy Pelosi to say hello, Pelosi asked who she was.

A Pelosi aide, who saw the interaction, confirmed King’s account.??

CNN reported earlier today that Winfrey is set to participate in the lead up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s acceptance of the Democratic vice presidential nomination, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the night’s program.

Aquilino Gonell, a retired US Capitol police officer, began his remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago by acknowledging the police officers who died following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Gonell, who served as a sergeant in the US Army, said “nothing prepared me for January 6.”

Gonell was badly beaten on January 6, as rioters descended on the US Capitol, bludgeoned police and sprayed chemical irritants. He was caught in a tunnel on the West Front, engaging in some of the most brutal fighting of the day. Gonell publicly announced his departure from the department in 2022, citing the?lingering trauma of the US Capitol riot?as a key reason for the end of his career.

He said former President Donald Trump “summoned our attackers and sided with them.”

He went on to urge voters to elect Vice President Kamala Harris.

“On January 6 I nearly died?protecting the Capitol and I?would do it again for our?democracy.?The way to preserve it is to?elect Kamala Harris, our first?female commander-in-chief,” he said.

This post has been updated with more of Gonell’s comments.

Sonnet Swire?and?Whitney Wild contributed reporting.?

While Democrats are gathering in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance will be in Nebraska and Kansas on the campaign trail.

Vance has a fundraiser in Omaha, Nebraska, tonight and in Mission Hills, Kansas, on Thursday night, according to a source familiar.?

The Kansas fundraiser will also feature former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin.

Earlier, Vance dropped by DJ’s Dugout, a sports bar in Omaha, Nebraska, to greet supporters.

Rep. Bennie Thompson speaks at the DNC in Chicago on August 21.

Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, who served as the chair of the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, said rioters came to Washington because Donald Trump “couldn’t handle losing.”

The committee released an 800-page final report and referred four criminal charges against Trump to the Justice Department and recommended that the former president be barred from holding office again. ?

Before Thompson took the stage, a video was played showing the events of January 6.

Thompson added in his remarks that in America, “we settle our differences at the ballot box, not through violence.”

“It took a long time to get here and we’re not going back,” Thompson said, sharing how his father never cast a ballot due to Jim Crow laws.

Thompson also stressed that in America, “elections are about choice” and urged attendees to back Vice President Kamala Harris.

This post has been updated with remarks from Thompson. ?

Geoff Duncan speaks on stage during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Geoff Duncan, a former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia, said even though he doesn’t agree with all of Kamala Harris’ political positions, he plans to vote for her —?and made the case that other Republicans should, too.

The former Georgia official, who is currently a CNN contributor,?described the Republican Party as a “cult” under Trump.

“Our party is not civil or assertive. It’s chaotic and crazy. And the only thing left to do is dump Trump,” he said.

Michelle Obama paralleled her own story with Vice President?Kamala Harris?by comparing their mothers on Tuesday night, drawing on a theme that has laced throughout the Democratic National Convention.

And praise for strong women is not isolated to Democrats this year.

The Republican vice presidential nominee Sen.?JD Vance?of Ohio said at the Republican National Convention in July that his own rise came only thanks to his Mamaw, “the name we hillbillies gave to our grandmothers.”

Bonnie Blanton Vance was the “guardian angel” who raised him when his mother struggled with addiction. Vance described her as a woman of contradictions, a Christian who “also loved the F word” and who hoarded guns in her house.

“Thanks to that Mamaw, things worked out for me,” Vance said.

But it is some other comments from Vance – made years ago on a cable TV show about Democrats without children, including Harris, who he called “childless cat ladies” – that may be more remembered from this campaign.

Speaking Tuesday night before the Obamas, Harris’ husband?Doug Emhoff?talked about the role Harris, who his two children call “Momala,” plays in their “big, beautiful, blended family,” which includes his ex-wife.

Democrats have played on the dad jokes of Emhoff and Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov.?Tim Walz. But they have also had to contend with Walz’s misstatement of the?fertility treatment his wife Gwen?underwent in becoming pregnant with their two children, part of a larger conversation about?protecting access to in vitro fertilization, even in states that have outlawed abortion.

Democrats are counting on women voters to swing toward Harris in November and make her the first woman president, so a focus on the role women play in society makes sense and is at the core of the version of freedom being pushed by Democrats.

When Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gets on stage tonight, he will be optimistic, joyful and patriotic, a person familiar says, not only introducing himself to the nation but also making “a strong case” for Vice President Kamala Harris.

As another source familiar with his prep put it, Walz’s ascension to the national ticket has happened so quickly that this evening will feature Walz using a prompter — something he told Harris during his vetting process he wasn’t deeply familiar with, though he has quickly become so.

His wife Gwen Walz and their kids will join him on stage after remarks. Other family members are also expected to join after on stage. His mother and father-in-law will be in the box.?

On the third night of the Democratic National Convention, speakers continued to attack Project 2025, an effort by dozens of conservative organizations, led by the Heritage Foundation think tank, to lay the policy groundwork for the next Republican presidency.?

The initiative produced a 920-page document called “Mandate for Leadership” that proposes both a variety of right-wing policy changes and a major overhaul of the executive branch that would significantly increase presidential power.?

Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware, who is also a US Senate candidate, said Wednesday of former President Donald Trump: “He has with his friends said the quiet parts out loud – but not only said it out loud, he wrote a book about it. What’s it called? Project 2025.”?

CNN?reported in July?that?at least 140 people who worked in the Trump administration had a hand in Project 2025, including more than half of the people listed as authors, editors and contributors to the policy document.?But noting that Trump has extensive ties to Project 2025 is significantly different than claiming that Trump actually wrote Project 2025.?

Noah Weinrich, a spokesperson for Project 2025, said in a message to CNN on Wednesday night: “Project 2025 is not affiliated with any candidate, and no candidate was involved with the drafting of the Mandate for Leadership, which was published by Heritage in April 2023.”?

Trump has?said?that some of the document is “absolutely ridiculous and abysmal” but also said?“many of the points are fine.” He has not specified which proposals he rejects and which he finds acceptable.?

Carlos Eduardo Espina on stage during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Carlos Eduardo Espina, an influencer and content creator, argued that America is stronger with its culture of immigrants and called for those values to be protected in this election.

“Kamala Harris understands this too, and that’s why, once elected she will reject hate and find solutions that make our nation stronger,” he said. “So let’s get her elected and ensure that our country remains a beacon of freedom and opportunity for all.”

Espina, who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to a Uruguayan father and a Mexican mother, said his parents immigrated to Texas.

Espina said, like his parents, other immigrants that he speaks to every day believe the US is “the land of opportunity where anything is possible.”

He said those are “the same people that Donald Trump wants you to believe are poisoning the blood of our country.” He also called that rhetoric “dangerous” and “anti-American.”

Espina describes himself as a law student and immigrant rights activist on Instagram. He posts content, much of it in Spanish, across his social media platforms — including some from the DNC this week.

Ahead of Espina’s remarks, a video with remarks from DACA recipients was played.

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 Espina’s remarks.

Olivia Troye speaks on stage during the DNC on Wednesday, August 21, in Chi

Olivia Troye, a former national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, called for Republicans to support Kamala Harris in remarks at the Democratic National convention Wednesday.

She said that four years ago she resigned from Donald Trump’s administration. “As a Republican who dreamed of working in the White House, it was a hard decision. But as an American, it was the right one,” she said.

Troye has been a leading voice in speaking out against Trump becoming president again.

“I saw how Donald Trump undermined our intelligence community, our military leaders and ultimately our democratic process. Now, he’s doing it again,” she said.

“As a Latina and daughter of a Mexican immigrant that realized the American dream,” she said in Spanish, “being in Trump’s White House was terrifying but what keeps me up at night is what will happen if he’s back there,” she continued in English.

Troye, urging her fellow Republicans to vote for Harris, said, “You aren’t voting for a Democrat, you’re voting for democracy. You aren’t betraying our party, you’re standing for our country.”

Bexar County Texas Sheriff Javier Salazar?speaks on Wednesday, August 21, during the DNC in Chicago.

Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar described former President Donald Trump as a “self-serving man,” declaring his support for Vice President Kamala Harris while undercutting the Trump campaign’s immigration-related criticisms of Harris.

Bexar County encompasses San Antonio.

Salazar closed his speech by saying, “cuando luchamos, ganamos,” which translates to “when we fight, we win.”

Pete Aguilar, House Democratic Caucus chairman, slammed former President Donald Trump during remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“All he knows is chaos and division,” Aguilar said Wednesday regarding Trump.

He compared the former president’s record to Vice President Kamala Harris’.

Aguilar, who is the highest ranking Latino in the House, went on to say “our community understands the stakes in this election because we believe in the promise of this country.”

This post has been updated with more comments from Aguilar and background.

Oprah Winfrey’s appearance tonight at the Democratic convention reminds exuberant Democrats of her support for Barack Obama in 2008 – it also recalls the lingering anger from other Democrats for her declining to support Hillary Clinton in the same way in 2016.

When Winfrey traveled to Iowa and South Carolina to endorse Obama, it was the first time the television star weighed in on politics.

Her absence on the campaign trail in 2016 was felt by Clinton loyalists. The media icon did eventually endorse Clinton in the summer of 2016.

CNN’s David Wright contributed reporting.

Tonight, John Legend will perform a tribute to Prince — and one of the late singer’s biggest fans, Tim Walz.?

The Minnesota governor talks often about Prince, a Minneapolis native, and last year signed a bill into law for the Prince Memorial Highway.?

Walz, a music lover, is a devoted fan of Purple Rain. The highway signs are in purple as an ode to Prince.

Sen. Chris Murphy speaks on Wednesday, August 21, during the DNC in Chicago.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut told the story of how Donald Trump likely tanked a bipartisan border bill which was earlier drafted with the help of his allies.

“It was a tough bill — $20 billion in new border security, gave the president the emergency power to shut the down the border,” Murphy said on the third night of the Democratic National Convention. “One Republican said it would have had almost unanimous support if it weren’t for Donald Trump. Trump killed that bill, and he did it because he knew that if we fixed the border, he’d lose his ability to divide us.”

In contrast, he said Kamala Harris knows “we can be a nation of proud immigrants and a nation of strong immigration laws.”

Harris can deliver that vision, Murphy added.

This post has been updated with remarks from Murphy.

Vice President Kamala Harris will watch speeches from the third night of the Democratic National Convention from her hotel in Chicago, a campaign aide says.?

Among those speaking are former President Bill Clinton, and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.?

There are no plans for her to come to the United Center tonight, as she briefly did Monday for the opening night of the convention.?

Harris’ extended family, including members of second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s family, is in Chicago this week to participate in the festivities. Emhoff will be in the arena tonight, an aide said.

Harris will make her acceptance speech tomorrow night.

Less than an hour before the parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin addressed the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday night, the leaders of the Uncommitted National Movement praised the DNC’s decision to give the family a platform — but asked, again, that a Palestinian-American Democrat be offered the same opportunity.

Uncommitted has been negotiating with DNC and Harris officials for more than a month on a series of demands, including policy asks, like a US arms embargo of Israel, and other more cosmetic steps, like giving the movement a chance to speak at the convention.

So far, though, those requests have been denied. The group was allowed to host a panel on Palestinian rights on DNC turf, but the activists have been absent from the convention programming.?

“We made that request (for a speaker), we made it clear to (Vice) President Harris’ close advisers, we made it clear to top leaders at the Democratic National Convention. We’ve been making that ask,” Alawieh said. “We made it on Monday, we made it on Tuesday, we made it on Wednesday. Time is running out and I’ve been calling these same folks all day.”?

Protests over Israel’s war on Hamas following the group’s October 7 attacks have led to large-scale demonstrations around the country calling for an immediate ceasefire after tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Some of those demonstrations have been antisemitic, with some protesters voicing support for Hamas, drawing condemnation from the Biden administration.

Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas drew contrasts between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on the border issue during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

“When it comes to the border, hear me when I say, ‘You know nothing, Donald Trump,’” said Escobar, who represents a district along the southern border.

The congresswoman added that Republicans are looking at immigration as a “political opportunity to exploit instead of an issue to address.”

Escobar is the convention chair for Wednesday. The DNC has four co-chairs, one per night.

Escobar is also a national co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, and previously served in the same role for the Joe Biden campaign before the president withdrew from the race last month. ??

This post has been updated with remarks from Escobar.

Maren Morris performs during the third night of the DNC in Chicago, on Wednesday, August 21.

Maren Morris performed her song “Better Than We Found It” live at the DNC Wednesday night. ??

The song asks America:

Morris got her start in country music, but in 2023, the Grammy award-winning singer told the Los Angeles Times she was quitting country because of its role in the culture wars, saying the industry’s pro-Trump bias was on “full display.” ??

This headline and post has been updated with details from Maren Morris’ performance. ??

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin on stage during the DNC in Chicago, on Wednesday, August 21.

Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, the parents of?Hersh Goldberg-Polin — who was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 — shared their “pain and misery” for their missing son to the audience at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.??

“Hersh is a happy go-lucky, laid back, good humored, respectful and curious person. He’s a civilian,” Goldberg-Polin said, after chants of “bring them home” from the crowd.

Their American-born son was kidnapped from the Nova music festival during Hamas’ attacks on Israel, and in April, a video of their son was released by Hamas — the first sign since the attack that he was still alive.?

On October 7, Goldberg-Polin said her son and his friend “went to a music festival in the south of Israel. It was advertised as celebrating peace, love and unity. They also went to celebrate Hersh’s 23rd birthday.” Goldberg-Polin then detailed reports of Hamas attacking the music festival where hundreds were killed.

Their son is among the most recognizable of the estimated 109 Israeli hostages being held in Gaza as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continue.

“Anyone who is a parent, or who has had a parent, can try and imagine the pain and misery that Jon and I and all of the hostage families are enduring,” Goldberg-Polin said.

Jon Polin said “the time is now” for a deal to be made to release the hostages.

This post has been updated with additional remarks from Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg-Polin.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison discussed his relationship with Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz while he was prosecuting the case of former police officer Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd.

Ellison, speaking at the Democratic National Convention, said when he first saw the video of Floyd’s murder he was heartbroken and angry.

“And that morning, my phone rang and on that line was Gov. Tim Walz,” he said. “Tim Walz felt the exact same way I did and a few days later Tim appointed me to prosecute Floyd’s murder.”

Floyd, who was 46 years old, died in police custody on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, a White police officer, was?filmed?kneeling on Floyd’s neck and back for?nearly?9 minutes?as Floyd pleaded for help and said he couldn’t breathe.

Chauvin was?convicted?of murder and manslaughter in a state trial in 2021 and sentenced to?more than 22 years?in prison. He later?pleaded guilty?in federal court of depriving Floyd of his civil rights.

In that case, Ellison managed the team, outlined the strategy early in the case and served as one of the trial’s public faces. He said that after the conviction, he also got a call from Harris, “calling to congratulate my team and the work.”

Some more background: In 2006, he became the first Muslim elected to the US Congress. After losing a reelection bid, Ellison decided to run for Minnesota attorney general in 2018.

CNN’s Ray Sanchez contributed reporting to this post.

This post has been updated with remarks from Keith Ellison.

Former President Bill Clinton ripped up the draft of his speech he had been working on after the first night of the Democratic National Convention this week.

After seeing and feeling the energy and enthusiasm inside the United Center Monday night, Clinton decided he needed to start anew – and began writing “with a more fun, youthful, joyful approach,” a Clinton aide told CNN.

“He’s going to have fun. I can’t stress this enough,” added the aide, who has read the former president’s new speech.

But if that speech that Clinton is set to deliver Wednesday night will try to join in the joyfulness that Vice President Kamala Harris has tried to emphasize in recent weeks, it will also mark Clinton’s sharpest public critique yet of former President Donald Trump, according to the aide.

Clinton will argue that while Harris has spent years trying to expand the definition of “us,” Trump has demonstrated at every turn that he is singularly focused on himself.?

Clinton won’t make any references tonight about the 2016 presidential race, which his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, lost to Trump.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis holds a copy of the Heritage Foundation's "Mandate for Leadership," a major component of the "Project 2025" political initiative during the DNC in Chicago, on Wednesday August 21.

Democrats are attacking parts of?the conservative Project 2025?that sets up a blueprint for a potential second Donald Trump presidency.

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.

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

But, last month, Russell Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025, 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.”

Bill Clinton speaks during the 1988 Democratic National Convention in the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia, July 21, 1988.

Of the dozen or so times Bill Clinton has addressed delegates at a Democratic National Convention, there is one speech he’d like to take back.

The year was 1988. The candidate was Michael Dukakis. And for Clinton, the speech was an unmitigated disaster.

For starters, the lights in the convention hall stayed on while he was speaking, meaning no one on the floor was paying any attention.

He spoke for almost double the time he was allotted. By the end, someone backstage typed “PLEASE. YOUR TIME IS UP” into the teleprompter. His biggest applause line was: “In conclusion.”

María Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino,?speaks during the DNC in Chicago, on Wednesday, August 21.

María Teresa Kumar, president of Voto Latino, praised the power of the Latino voting bloc. Kumar said her organization has registered 1.5 million voters ahead of the 2024 election “and we are just getting started.” ?

This post has been updated with remarks from Kumar. ??

Dennis Kucinich is seen in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, May 15.

Former Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a two-time Democratic presidential candidate himself, was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s first campaign manager—but now as the Democrat-turned-independent prepares to endorse Donald Trump, he won’t say how he’s voting.

Kucinich, who is running for Congress in Ohio as an independent, did say that he believes this shift will help Trump, and that Democrats should have been more open to Kennedy in the primary process.

“If they’d treated him differently, we’d have a different outcome right now,” Kucinich said in a brief phone interview with CNN on Wednesday.

Kucinich said he had not seen Kennedy’s turnaround on Trump coming, disputing any suggestion that this move had been part of a plan.?

Kucinich reiterated the argument that Kennedy only left the Democratic Party last fall to become an independent because he felt the primary process had been “rigged” against him— imagine, Kucinich argued as an example, if President Joe Biden had agreed to a primary debate: Kennedy could conceivably have been the Democratic nominee, he believes.

Now Kennedy could be part of a very different outcome.

“From the early campaign, it was clear that Robert F. Kennedy’s support came from people who also supported Donald Trump—and if in fact he endorses for Trump, it will help President Trump consolidate,” Kucinich said.

Asked if that consolidated support is significant, Kucinich said, “It very well could be in a few states.”?

In Congress, Kucinich was known as a dovish, left leaning Democrat. He declined to answer if people with politics like that should be backing Trump now.?

Asked how he feels about a campaign he helped get off the ground now trying to help Trump win, Kucinich said, “I don’t get upset by much of anything.” He added that at the risk of alienating either Trump or Kamala Harris voters that he’s trying to win himself, “I’m not taking a position on the presidential race.”

Mini Timmaraju, the president of the pro-choice nonprofit Reproductive Freedom for All, speaks on Wednesday, August 21,

Mini Timmaraju, the president of the pro-choice nonprofit Reproductive Freedom for All, said “when abortion is on the ballot, we win” during remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday.

She went on to criticize former President Donald Trump’s stance on abortion and commended Vice President Kamala Harris.

Alexis McGill Johnson, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood, also applauded Harris, saying that “we trust Kamala Harris” when it comes to the issue of reproductive rights.?

“We cannot call ourselves a free nation when women are not free,” Johnson said.?

She went on to accuse Trump of wanting “women to be less free, and pregnancy to be more dangerous.”

And Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood, criticized abortion bans proposed by Republicans. She called on voters to elect Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, come November.

“One day our children and grandchildren may ask us when it was all on the line, ‘What did you do?’” she asked. “And the only acceptable answer is: ‘Everything we could.’”

This post has been updated with remarks from the leaders of reproductive rights groups.

Sen. Cory Booker speaks during the third night of the DNC in Chicago, on Wednesday, August 21.

New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said the third night of the Democratic National Convention is “about freedom” before introducing a group of speakers to talk for reproductive rights.

The senator also paid tribute to New Jersey Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., who died earlier Wednesday.

“We are sad for his loss but we celebrate his life,” Booker said.

Booker later introduced additional speakers. He used the opportunity to needle Project 2025, jokingly calling it “Project 1825” and “Project 1925.”

Booker described the document as a “poisonous agenda where every single state will be in a state of crisis.”

The headline and post have been updated with Booker’s remarks.

A view of the United Center ahead of day three of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Wednesday, August 21.

The third night of the Democratic National Convention is officially underway in Chicago.

It is a big night for Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the vice presidential nominee assumes the biggest stage of his political career.

The convention will lean into its “fight for our freedoms” theme on its third day, organizers said. This includes putting focus on the?January 6?insurrection and Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential?election, according to multiple sources familiar with the program.

And convention-goers will hear from another former president, Bill Clinton. His wife, Hillary Clinton, and former President Barack Obama already took the stage this week. Oprah Winfrey is also expected to participate in tonight’s programming.

Here’s what to watch for:

Oprah Winfrey — one of the most powerful, successful, and influential women in the world — is set to be part of the Democratic National Convention program tonight, lending her voice and support to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.

Winfrey is set to participate in the lead-up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s acceptance of the Democratic vice presidential nomination, according to multiple sources with knowledge of tonight’s program.

CNN reached out to representatives for Winfrey and the DNC for comment.?

The DNC is quickly becoming the hottest ticket in Chicago, with an appearance last night from Lil Jon, and performances expected from Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Maren Morris and Pink to close out the week.?

In 2020, Winfrey supported President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, celebrating Harris as the first woman and the first woman of color to serve as VP.?

“I was thinking the other day, ‘I wish Maya (Angelou) were alive to see it,’” Winfrey said to?People Magazine?in 2020. “There’s no way to measure what the election of Kamala Harris means for all women, all colors, everywhere.”

Winfrey is no stranger to politics. Her endorsement of former President Barack Obama in 2008 made headlines worldwide. She endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 but largely stayed off the trail.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will be delivering his 13th?speech to a Democratic convention and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will be delivering his first major address.

The two speeches, officials say, are designed to complement one another and underscore one of the central reasons Vice President Kamala Harris selected Walz as her running mate: To put some parts of Trump country back in the reach of Democrats.

Walz, born and raised in Nebraska, who moved to Minnesota three decades ago fits that bill.

Clinton is poised to make a robust case for the importance of the election — and the urgency to stop Donald Trump from winning back the White House. He will echo Hillary Clinton’s remarks that Harris is the perfect candidate to finish the job that his wife started back in 2008 and 2016.

For much of the day, Walz has been practicing his speech — his biggest moment yet on the national stage, including traveling with a teleprompter to practice.

An aide of former President Bill Clinton provided excerpts of his speech Wednesday.

Tonight will mark Clinton’s 13th convention speech, the aide said, and will call on Americans to unite. The former president will attempt to tap into the enthusiasm and energy that Vice President Kamala Harris’ new presidential campaign has infused into the Democratic Party, by describing her as the candidate who has the “sheer joy” to lead the country.

The federal government routinely revises economic data, but it rarely makes a correction as large as it did on Wednesday, when the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported America’s economy created?818,000 fewer jobs than it initially thought?over the past year.

The new data comes at a politically consequential moment, as Vice President Kamala Harris tries to ride momentum as Democrats’ new presidential nominee and rewire voters’ perceptions of the Biden administration’s?economy.

Joe Biden boasted at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night that he had helped create 16 million new jobs as president, rounding up from 15.8 million. He could no longer say that after Wednesday’s BLS report.

Still, creating 15 million new jobs is not nothing – far more than the nearly 7 million jobs created during Donald Trump’s administration after stripping out pandemic-related job losses.

Democrats have found momentum in the presidential race with Harris stepping in for Biden. In an?ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll?released on Sunday, she led Trump nationwide among registered voters.

But Trump has a 9-point advantage on the two issues most cited by Americans in that poll as the most important – the economy and inflation.

In?Gallup polling?from July, less than a quarter of Americans had rated the US economy as good or excellent for most of the last year.

Any bad economic news in the coming months would seem to be an advantage for Trump in the election.

Read more about the correction and its possible implications.

The nation’s eight female Democratic governors offered their advice on Wednesday to Vice President Kamala Harris as she prepares to ceremonially accept the party’s presidential nomination in a panel moderated by “Veep” star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Here’s what some of the leading women said:

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

The second night of the Democratic National Convention drew 20.8 million viewers, surpassing the 20 million who watched the first night, according to Nielsen data.

Tuesday’s DNC audience eclipses the 14.8 million viewers who tuned in to the second night of?the 2024 Republican National Convention?in Milwaukee last month, which featured Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The viewership also outpaced the second night of the 2020 DNC, which drew 19.2 million viewers,?according to Nielsen.?

The Chicago convention featured speeches from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama and was carried by 12 television networks. During the former president’s address – which kicked off around 11:03 p.m ET and lasted until 11:37 p.m – viewership jumped to 21.9 million viewers.

Among the networks, MSNBC led the night with 5.1 million viewers, followed by CNN with 3.7 million, ABC with 3 million, NBC with 2.7 million, CBS with 2.2 million, and Fox News with 1.7 million.?

This post has been updated to include additional data from Nielsen.

In their?first convention?since the end of federal abortion protections, Democrats have woven reproductive health care access into every night of programming, highlighting an issue they hope will boost turnout for candidates in November.

“We’ve never had a convention like this, where it’s been reproductive freedom every single night,” Mini Timmaraju, the president of Reproductive Freedom for All and one of Wednesday’s speakers, told CNN.

Abortion access has been a key focus of past Democratic conventions, particularly in 2016, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and abortion rights advocates warned that Donald Trump would appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Those warnings have come to fruition.?Nearly two dozen states?have enacted abortion limits since the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision overturning Roe. But the aftermath of that ruling has led to a wave of political activity that has boosted Democrats, who had a better-than-expected showing in the midterm elections. This year, Democrats hope that enduring anger over bans, as well as?abortion rights ballot initiatives?in a handful of key battleground states, will help 2024 candidates.

Even before she became the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris made abortion rights a key part of her portfolio. In March, she became the first sitting vice president?to visit an abortion clinic?when she toured a Minnesota Planned Parenthood with her future running mate, Gov. Tim Walz.

Now, abortion rights groups have expanded their messaging to focus on the stories of women – as well as their families and health care providers – who have been harmed by post-Roe bans. They have also put a spotlight on access to other forms of reproductive health care, such as contraceptives and access to in vitro fertilization.

They are also arguing that the movement’s electoral wins are sustainable.

Read more about the role reproductive health care is playing at the DNC here.

Kamala Harris’ senior most campaign adviser said Wednesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race was unlikely to significantly impact the contest.

“We are very confident that the vice president is going to win whether she’s running against one candidate or multiple candidates,” Jen O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, said at an event held on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.?

“I don’t think it’s really going to interfere with the race too much,” she said at the CNN-Politico Grill.

“I think we’re going to be focused on what we have to do, and we’re going to be ready regardless.”

She said it wasn’t clear which candidate Kennedy was pulling more support from, suggesting it had been in “flux” over the course of the contest.

She noted Harris carries the support of the Kennedy family, many of whom disavowed their relative’s independent bid.

One family member, Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, spoke at the DNC earlier this week.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Republican vice presidential nominee, arrives at a campaign rally on Wednesday, August 21, in Asheboro, North Carolina.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said he didn’t know if reporting that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Donald Trump is true, but said he has “no reason to question” it as there has been communication between the campaigns.

ABC first reported that Kennedy is dropping out of the presidential race by the end of the week and plans to endorse Trump. CNN reported that Kennedy is suspending his campaign on Friday.?

Earlier today, Vance told NBC that former president Trump is “working hard” to secure Kennedy’s endorsement, “but it’s completely separate from whether RFK gets a cabinet position.”

“I haven’t spoken to RFK personally, but I know there’s been a lot of communication back and forth between RFK, between the campaign, between this campaign,” Vance told NBC.

Vance also told reporters last week that he hopes Kennedy drops out and endorses Trump. However,?Vance?said that no important government role should be traded for an?endorsement, as it would be unethical.

Former President Bill Clinton has stood on this very Democratic National Convention stage before in Chicago, back when he delivered his speech to be reelected to a second term.

Tonight, 28 years later, Clinton will do one of the things he did on that night in 1996: Talk about the economy “in a way that few other people can,” an aide tells CNN, as well as drawing a sharp contrast with a man he’s known for decades: Donald Trump.

The former Democratic president will challenge the former Republican president through “policy and decency,” an aide said, as he makes the case to some of the same voters who supported him – in areas that are now Trump country – to come home to the Democratic ticket.

Read more about what Clinton is expected to say tonight.

Robert F. Kennedy?Jr?speaks in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 26.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to suspend his campaign on Friday at an event in Arizona, a source familiar with the plans told CNN.?

There are current talks between Donald Trump’s team and Kennedy’s orbit for the candidate to endorse the former president and appear at Trump’s Phoenix-area rally the same night on Friday, the source said.?

CNN has reached out to the Kennedy campaign for comment.

Discussions between Trump allies and advisers and Kennedy’s team began in the lead up to the Republican National Convention in July, prior to?a leaked phone call?between Trump and Kennedy that same month, a source familiar with the conversations told CNN.?

Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., had been pushing his father and the Trump campaign for weeks about finding a way to encourage Kennedy to end his campaign, the source said.?

In addition to Trump Jr., former Fox News host Tucker Carlson — who is close to Kennedy — as well as businessman Omeed Malik, a Trump donor who is close to both Trump Jr. and Carlson and has previously donated to Kennedy’s campaign, have been helping facilitate the talks.?

Many of the conversations focused on whether having Kennedy’s endorsement would benefit Trump. However, once President Joe Biden ended his campaign in late July and it became clear that Vice President Kamala Harris would likely top the Democratic ticket, many more people in Trump’s orbit — including several of his most senior advisers — believed that having Kennedy’s support would be an asset, two people close to the talks said.?

Minnesota first lady Gwen Walz will narrate a video introducing Gov. Tim Walz ahead of his remarks at the Democratic National Convention tonight that will detail his rise from small town roots to the Democratic presidential ticket.

The video, shared with CNN by the Harris campaign, will feature Walz telling the story of her husband’s life starting in “small town Nebraska” and enlisting in the Army National Guard where he ended up “rising to command sergeant major,” and feature photos of him from his time in the military.

In the video, she touches on Walz’s experience as a teacher and football coach, noting his role as the faculty advisor for his high school’s Gay-Straight Alliance group.

Noah Hobbs, a former student of Walz, remembers the governor for being “so joyful in everything that he does” in the video.?

The video details his time in Congress, where he “spent a lot of time working with Republicans” and his time as governor, where he “fought for the largest tax cut in Minnesota state history.”

It ncludes footage of the governor hunting as Gwen Walz notes he is “a lifelong hunter and gun owner” who also supports stricter gun control measures. “After the Sandy Hook school shooting, he knew that we had to do something, so he’s fought for background checks and red flag laws” she says.

Walz also touches on her struggles with infertility, which she clarified in a statement this week she overcame with intrauterine insemination treatment. She says they sought “fertility treatments” to conceive.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore does a sound check ahead of the third day of the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, August 21, in Chicago.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore previewed the focus of his speech for later tonight at the Democratic National Convention, saying that he will talk “about the importance of service in this moment, that everybody has an obligation to serve.”?

The first-term Democratic governor also said he’s “very excited” to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on the final night of the DNC and for her to “articulate her vision for the future.”

“I think you are going to see why people are so excited in this moment, that we have the leadership team in both her and also Gov. (Tim) Walz that we need to not just win in November, but also just to protect our future,” he said, adding that Harris “is going to give a remarkable speech tomorrow and I know I’ll be very excited to be on the floor to see it,” he added.

Moore said that he’s hearing “excitement” from delegates but that they “understand that the work is going to be required” for Democrats to win in November.

“I always know that when you get down to the final days, the campaign that has the energy, the campaign that has the momentum, and the campaign that understands the assignment is usually the campaign to win,” he said. “So we’re feeling good.”

Stevie Wonder does a sound check ahead of the third day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, on August 21

Stevie Wonder will take the stage Wednesday to perform during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

Wonder was spotted this afternoon doing a sound-check at the United Center as CNN was live on-air.

“Saturday Night Live” star Kenan Thompson will also perform a skit about Project 2025, a convention official has confirmed with CNN.

Other performers slated for tonight include?John Legend and Maren Morris. Pink is confirmed to take the stage on Thursday for the last night of the convention.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will take the stage tonight at the Democratic National Convention as the party’s nominee for Vice President of the United States.

Here are somethings you should know about Walz, a second-term governor who has passed several progressive measures during his tenure.

Read more about here.

JD Vance speaks at a campaign rally in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, on August 15.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance called former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama “gifted speakers” who “can drive a message,” but said the most interesting thing about their Democratic National Convention speeches Tuesday night was Vice President Kamala Harris’ absence.

Vance also encouraged Democrats to “pump the breaks a little bit on the apocalyptic rhetoric” against Trump, reminding them that their messaging that the former president “must be stopped at all costs” could lead some bad actors to “take crazy actions and take matters into their own hands.”

Earlier this week, when Biden was asked about similar remarks by Trump suggesting there was a “coup” within the Democratic Party, the president responded: “His stability is in question.”

Harris and her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, held a rally in Milwaukee during last night’s DNC events. The vice president however symbolically?accepted her historic presidential nomination?in a video appearance from the rally?after a rollicking roll call?in Chicago.

The Chicago Police Department and FBI are investigating whether maggots were intentionally placed into food at a DNC-related breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago on Wednesday morning, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the incident.

One law enforcement source said authorities believe the maggots were brought into the Fairmont Hotel by activists.

It was not immediately clear when the issue was discovered during the breakfast.

Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance speaks at a campaign rally, on August 19, in Philadelphia.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance called the Democratic National Convention a “coronation” for Vice President Kamala Harris, after she ascended becoming the presidential candidate, and criticized the Harris-Walz branded camouflage hats as a poor attempt to connect with rural Americans.?

He added that Democrats “think they’ve cracked the code for how to appeal to rural Americans,” but described their strategy as “distributing camo hats with Kamala Harris’ name on it.” ?

“You know what I think would appeal to rural voters and veterans? Not having a running mate who lies about a service,” he added knocking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Walz has defended himself in light of recent attacks from Republicans about his military service, saying he is “damn proud” of his service in the Army National Guard.

Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday called the Democratic National Convention in Chicago a “charade” and criticized Democrats for allegedly mentioning him more than the US southern border and the economy in their main stage programming.?

“They mentioned my name I think 271 times. They mention the economy like 12 times. They mentioned the border maybe none. They don’t talk about the border,” he added.?

The former president grumbled about being told by advisers to stick to policy rather than personal attacks, after mentioning the Obamas’ speeches at the Democratic National Convention last night.

“Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night take little shots? He was taking shots at your president. And so was Michelle. You know, they always say, ‘Sir, please stick to policy, don’t get personal.’ And yet they are getting personal all-night long, these people. Do I still have to stick to policy?” he said, to which the crowd shouted back, “No.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks at the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 26.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make a speech in Phoenix, Arizona, on Friday morning, the campaign announced on Wednesday.

The announcement comes as the campaign considers whether to drop out of the race and endorse former President Donald Trump.

The campaign did not specify what he will be speaking about. CNN reached out for additional information.

Kennedy’s speech comes after his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said in a podcast interview on Tuesday the campaign is considering whether to “join forces” with Trump to prevent the “risk” of Vice President Kamala Harris winning the election.

Trump is holding a rally of his own in Arizona on Friday evening.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign announced Wednesday it has created a new website to highlight that Vice President Kamala Harris doesn’t have a policy section on her campaign site.?

The website created by the Trump campaign echoes the attacks that he has been?lobbing at Harris on the campaign trail, calling her “weak, failed and dangerously liberal.”

It points to Harris’ past support of progressive policies that her campaign says she no longer supports, including the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, and hits her over the US-Mexico border.?

Former aide to Donald Trump and “Apprentice” star Omarosa Manigault Newman is at the Democratic National Convention.

She is the latest former Trump ally to pop up during festivities in Chicago as Democrats rally around Vice President Kamala Harris’ nomination this week. On Tuesday, former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham was given a speaking role, while Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen was spotted on the floor last night.

The former White House aide posted a photo from the United Center to?social media platform X?Wednesday, writing “HU! YouKnow!” showing her support for Howard University— the vice president is also an alum of the DC university.

More background: A controversial figure who rose to infamy during the first season of “The Apprentice,” Manigault Newman was fired from the White House in 2017 by then-White House chief of staff John Kelly, drawing harsh criticism for?recording the firing, which took place in the White House Situation Room where electronic devices are prohibited, on her phone.

At the time, Trump offered?warm regards?to the departing longtime aide, writing on Twitter, “Thank you Omarosa for your service! I wish you continued success.” But the relationship soured after she published a dishy tell-all memoir comparing Trump to a “cult leader,” prompting the former president to call her “a low-life.”?

The Harris campaign on Wednesday launched two new ads targeting?Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) voters in key battleground states.

The ads aim to show a contrast between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who has worked “to expand health care protections and combat anti-Asian hate.”

The two spots are the first ads specific to AANHPI communities launched by the campaign since Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee. They will air in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as part of a broader $90 million paid media buy for the last three weeks of August.?

The two ads will be featured on both television and digital spots.

Some background: This is the latest investment by the campaign in paid media to reach this demographic. Following the launch of the campaign’s national AANHPI organizing and engagement program in July, the Harris campaign hired additional staff dedicated to AANHPI voter outreach, along with planning specific direct voter contact activities across the battleground states, including in-language canvassing and phone banking.

Former president Donald Trump remarks during a campaign event at Precision Custom Components on August 19, in York, Pennsylvania.

Former President Donald Trump discussed the Democratic National Convention, the upcoming debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and the Israel-Hamas war on a conservative talk radio show Wednesday.

“I was mentioned at the Democrats’ little party that they have going on in Chicago, and it’s pretty sad,” he said on the “The Hugh Hewitt Show.”

Trump said that Democrats didn’t talk about violent crime in the city, “but I was mentioned, I think, almost 200 times. And they mentioned the economy about five times. They mentioned the border maybe none. They mentioned crime almost none. So, I mean, they’re out of control.”

Trump also mentioned the scheduled upcoming debate with Harris on September 10 and how he would counter her line of attack that she’s a prosecutor and he is a convicted felon.?

The former president also said he thought Democrats are “making it very hard for Israel to win” and that Harris was “giving the other side tremendous hope” when he was asked about Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.?

Pro-Trump supporters storm the US Capitol following a rally with former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.

As part of tonight’s program, the Democratic National Convention will focus on the?January 6?insurrection and Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential?election, according to multiple sources familiar with the program.

Expect to see multiple videos highlighting what happened?on January 6, spotlighting Trump’s election denial.

Two Republicans will give prominent speeches, including Georgia’s former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who told CNN his speech would be “directed at Republicans who are sick and tired of making excuses for Donald Trump.” It will also focus on the importance of standing up for what is right.

The other Republican speaker will be Olivia Troye, who served as a national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, and who who has been a leading voice in speaking out against Trump becoming president again. Her speech tonight is expected to include a call for more Republicans, independents and swing voters to vote for Kamala Harris, according to a source familiar with the speech.

Following those speeches, Rep. Bennie Thompson, who served as the chairman of the?January 6?Select Committee, is scheduled to speak. The focus put on the attack on the Capitol is meant to serve both as a reminder and a warning of what happened in the chaotic final days of Trump’s presidency, according to a source familiar with tonight’s speeches.

Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans who served on the?January 6 committee, is scheduled to speak at the convention?tomorrow night.

Duncan and Kinzinger are CNN contributors.

John Legend performs onstage during attends City Year LA's Spring Break at SoFi Stadium on May 4, in Inglewood, California.

John Legend will take the stage Wednesday night ahead of Gov. Tim Walz’s remarks at the Democratic National Convention, according to a source.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Legend. A spokesperson for the DNC did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Legend is no stranger to politics. A longtime Hollywood advocate?for the Democratic Party, he has been an avid supporter of President Joe Biden throughout his term and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. In a?recent interview, Legend said that his daughter, Luna, who is Black and Asian, sees herself in Harris.

Legend, who has been on the ground already in Chicago at the DNC this week and headlined a show for Illinois?Gov.?JB Pritzker, also performed at the 2008 convention for former President Barack Obama and at the 2020 DNC for Biden.

Singer Pink performs onstage on August 10, in St Louis, Missouri

Pink has been tapped for a closing night performance by the Democratic National Convention, a source familiar with the plans told CNN.

The singer will perform on Thursday evening, the source said, ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris taking the stage for the most significant speech of her political career.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Pink.

A spokesperson for the DNC did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.

This will be the first major politically set performance for Pink, who has been outspoken about causes she is passionate about throughout her career.

The singer has been a longtime advocate for the LGBTQ community and women’s rights and has supported organizations that align with Democratic issues, including Planned Parenthood, the Human Rights Campaign and more.

In 2022, the pop superstar?released a music video?for her song, “Irrelevant,” which touched on racism and sexism in America. The video features images that reflect reproductive health care, civil rights and racial tensions. In the song, Pink sings, “Girls just wanna have rights. So, why do we have to fight?”

Pink has made clear that she doesn’t believe artists should stay silent regarding their personal politics, even if it draws criticism. When Roe v. Wade was overturned, the best-selling artist spoke out on social media.

Vice President Kamala Harris, from left, addresses Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz at a campaign event in Rochester, Pennsylvania, on August 18.

A former student of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz said they made the school a “safe place” for him to come out as gay.

Speaking to CNN, Jacob Reitan, the founder of Mankato West Gay Straight Alliance, said:

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris spoke about Walz’s involvement in creating the Gay Straight Alliance while working as a teacher when she announced him as her running mate for the 2024 election, saying: “Tim knew the signal it would send to have a football coach get involved.”

Doug Vose recalled being one of the Minnesota governor’s students when the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks took place.

When asked what message he had for people about Walz, Vose said he is “a man of character.”

“He is exactly what you think he is. And we’re really proud of him,” Vose added.

Former football players from Mankato West High School will join Ben Ingman, another former student, as he submits?Walz’s name for the vice presidential nomination tonight.

The Chicago Police Department said it made “between 55 and 60 arrests” Tuesday night as pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated in front of the Israeli consulate in Chicago, about two miles away from the site of the Democratic National Convention.

“As the Chicago Police Department, we did everything that we could to deescalate that situation,” police superintendent Larry Snelling said in a news conference Wednesday. “But there is only so much de-escalation that you can attempt before it becomes excessive repetition.”?

Snelling said two protesters were taken to a hospital after being arrested. “One for knee pain, one with a finger injury,” Snelling said. The superintendent said they were treated and released.

“Last night was a danger to our city, and a danger to our citizens in this city,” Snelling said.

More background: Large protests are erupting outside the DNC this week, including?clashes with police in the streets of Chicago. Crews set up an additional line of security fences in the area on Tuesday — a day after a group of?pro-Palestinian demonstrators, rallying against US support for Israel in its war against Hamas, breached a barrier near the United Center.

Florida GOP Rep. Mike Waltz highlighted the three-year anniversary of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan to attack Vice President Kamala Harris’ foreign policy record during a news conference in Chicago on Wednesday.?

Waltz told reporters Harris’ involvement in the decision-making behind the chaotic withdrawal, which took place in August 2021, speaks to the misguided foreign policy views of Harris and Democratic leaders broadly. He pointed specifically to the Abbey Gate attack that left 13 US military service members dead, saying Harris “owns” those deaths.?

The news conference was organized by the Trump campaign and previewed two digital ads highlighting Harris’ role in the Biden administration’s foreign policy. Both ads include a clip of Harris telling CNN’s Dana Bash she was comfortable with the outcome of the Afghanistan withdrawal after closely consulting with Biden on the process.?

Waltz condemned the remarks by Democrats at the Democratic National Convention for focusing strictly on Trump without acknowledging the Afghanistan withdrawal.?

“We won’t hear the term ‘Afghanistan;’ you’ll hear Trump hundreds of times, but you won’t hear any ownership of that debacle out of any one of the speakers this week,” he said.

Former President Bill Clinton speaks during the Willie Mays Celebration of Life Ceremony at Oracle Park on July 8, in San Francisco, California.

Former President Bill Clinton would like to have a bit of fun Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention, according to an aide.?

As the former president is getting ready to speak at the third night of his party’s convention in Chicago, he has made clear that his remarks should be fitting of the burst of enthusiasm and energy that Vice President Kamala Harris — and her quick ascent to the top of the Democratic ticket — has infused into the Democratic Party.??

Perhaps not surprisingly, Clinton’s own campaign for the White House in 1992 has been on his mind —Democrats had lost five of the six prior presidential elections and were searching for a new direction — as he has watched Harris’ rise over the past month.

Clinton’s appearance at the United Center will mark?his?13th?consecutive speech at the Democratic Party’s convention – the first time Clinton spoke at a convention was in 1976, when he was 29 years old.?It will decidedly not be a policy speech – notable for the former president well-known for his ability to boil down complicated policy into simple and easy-to-understand ideas.

Instead, expect the former president to vouch for Harris, her life story, and the promise that he believes her candidacy represents for the country, ahead of what Clinton sees as the most consequential election of his lifetime, the aide said. He’ll include plenty of “Clintonisms” and folksy language, but there will also be a forceful takedown of one of his successors in the White House, former President Donald Trump, according to the aide.?

Correction: The post was updated to reflect that tonight’s speech is Bill Clinton’s 13th time speaking at a Democratic National Convention.

(From left to right) Former first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris, and former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Former first lady Michelle Obama paralleled her own story with Vice President?Kamala Harris?by comparing their mothers on Tuesday night, drawing on a theme that has laced throughout the Democratic National Convention.

Obama told delegates in Chicago that the last time she was in her home city, it was to memorialize her mother,?Marian Robinson, who died in late?May and “who set my moral compass high and showed me the power of my voice.”

Obama tied her mother’s values to those of Harris’ mother, Shyamala Gopalan, who immigrated to the US from India, built a career as a medical researcher while raising her daughters and died in 2009. Harris frequently brings up her mother in speeches.

Speaking next, former President?Barack Obama returned to Robinson, the Black mother from the South Side of Chicago, who he said reminded him of his own grandmother, “a little old White lady born in a tiny town called Peru, Kansas,” who “helped raise me as a child.”

His point was about the commonality of Americans and the importance of being good people. These women, from such different backgrounds, shared the same outlook, he argued.

“They knew what mattered,” he said. “Things like honesty and integrity, kindness and hard work. They weren’t impressed with braggarts or bullies. They didn’t think putting other people down lifted you up or made you strong.”

Democrats are counting on women voters to swing toward Harris in November and make her the first female president, so a focus on the role women play in society makes sense and is at the core of the version of freedom being pushed by Democrats.

Keep reading Wolf’s analysis.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi attends day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago,?on August 19.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Michigan’s delegation on Wednesday she was there to “sing all of your praises,” while highlighting the stakes of the moment.

Pelosi told the group “so much is riding on you,” remarking on Michigan’s role in helping Democrats hold on to the Senate and win back the majority in the House.

“You cannot add by subtracting,” Pelosi said, emphasizing that Michigan Democrats must play in retaining seats being vacated by retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Rep. Dan Kildee, as well as by Rep. Elissa Slotkin, who is the Democratic Senate candidate for Stabenow’s seat.

Pelosi was one of several national and state leaders, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who addressed Michigan’s delegation, underscoring the state’s critical role in electing Vice President Kamala Harris and ensuring Democratic power in Washington, as both parties focus in on the “blue wall” Midwestern states.

The group also honored Stabenow and Kildee ahead of their retirements.

Ahead of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, 48 Republican lawmakers who served in the military signed an open letter accusing Walz of “abandoning” his fellow military members for retiring from the Army National Guard prior to his unit being deployed overseas and attacking him for making false statements about his military service.?

The letter, distributed to media members at a news conference in Chicago organized by the Trump campaign, claims Walz’s retirement from the National Guard, along with a previous comment in which he claimed to carry weapons “in war” and previous statements wrongly self-identifying as a “retired Command Sergeant Major” demonstrate Walz has “violated the trust of our brothers and sisters in arms.”

In a letter, the Republican members of Congress accused the Minnesota governor, saying “you turned your back on your troops.”

The letter is the latest effort by the Trump campaign to discredit Walz’s military service, an effort led primarily by Ohio Sen. JD Vance, himself a veteran of the US Marines.?

For context: Walz filed to run for Congress in 2005, months before his unit was notified it may deploy overseas. He retired from the unit after 24 years of service months before his unit was ultimately deployed to Iraq.?

The Harris campaign has said Walz “misspoke” when he stated he carried weapons “in war.” Walz was deployed to Europe in support of the US military operation in Afghanistan, but he was never deployed to a combat zone.?

President Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in?Chicago, on August 19.

President Joe Biden has only been gone from Chicago for a day – but it feels longer.

The reality of Biden’s lame duck status is beginning to dawn as he vacations across the country in California.

It’s extraordinary that a sitting president in his first term has become an afterthought at his party’s nominating convention – especially one who has passed more big-ticket legislation than his two Democratic predecessors.

And the future of his party is being written without him – the Obamas remain the most prominent force in the Democratic Party nearly eight years after leaving the White House. And judging by this convention, the prospect that Kamala Harris could be the first woman president has lent new relevance to Hillary Clinton’s experience as the person that almost broke that glass ceiling in 2016.

The president had his big night on Monday. But it’s all about the future now.

Independent Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is seen at a campaign stop in Brooklyn, New York, on May 1.

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said it would be good for the Trump campaign if independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dropped out and joined forces with them.?

“I think it would be good for the campaign,” Vance told Fox News.

“My pitch to him and to a lot of his voters would be the Democratic Party of my grandparents, that supported his uncle John F. Kennedy for president, has been completely abandoned by the modern leadership of the Democratic Party,” he said.

Some background: Trump told CNN yesterday that he would “certainly” be open to putting Kennedy in his administration, if reelected.

Last week in a gaggle with reporters, Vance also said he hopes Kennedy drops out and endorses Trump but asserted that no important government role should be traded for an?endorsement, as it would be unethical to do so.

Vice President Kamala Harris taped three TikTok appearances here in Chicago Monday alongside some of the creators credentialed for the Democratic National Convention.

Engaging creators and influencers is a key piece of Democrats’ 2024 strategy to meet voters where they are, and an effort to reach Americans — especially young Americans — who are increasingly turning to social media to get news.

Vidya Gopalan, who has 3.4 million followers on her @QueenCityTrends TikTok account,?posted a pair?of videos with Harris where they talk about their shared Indian heritage.?

In the video, Harris reflected on traveling to India as a child: “Some of my fondest memories are with my grandfather and we used to — he had a tradition of taking his morning walk with his buddies, his retired buddies, and I’m the eldest grandchild and I got to go on the walk with my grandfather.”

Harris said her grandfather often talked about the importance of democracy.?

“I realize now that I was very young … but those conversations impacted me in a very substantial way,” she said.?

Gopalan posted a second video asking Harris to weigh in on her favorite Windy City delicacy.?(It’s the Italian beef sandwich, the vice president said.)?

Gopalan largely posts apolitical content revolving around her family, shopping, and eating – but the inclusion of Harris in her feed marks an effort by the campaign to tap into her substantial following. Gopalan’s first video has over 1.2 million views so far.?

Additional videos will be posted in the coming days, a campaign official said.

Wednesday’s Democratic National Convention will lean into its “fight for our freedoms” theme in its third day, organizers said, as Democrats continue to introduce vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz to voters.??

In addition to Walz’s remarks, a number of key Democrats and rising stars are expected to speak Wednesday evening, according to convention executive director Alex Hornbrook.

Form

er President Bill Clinton is a major speaker Wednesday, and he will “underscore the importance of this moment and this election not just for our party, but for our country’s future,” Hornbrook said.?

Other notable speakers include:

There will also Republicans making the case against former President Donald Trump, including Trump national security official Olivia Troye and former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.?Several GOP speakers took the stage at the DNC last night, as well.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Governor?Tim?Walz?attends a campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 20.

Former football players coached by Gov. Tim Walz will be on hand as his name is entered into nomination on Wednesday, as the vice presidential nominee assumes the biggest stage of his political career.

The former players from Mankato West High School, where Walz once coached, will join Ben Ingman, a former student, as he submits Walz’s name for nomination.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar will also participate in the event, as will the team’s head coach.

The programming Wednesday will amount to many Americans’ first glimpse of the vice presidential nominee. Walz will seek to introduce himself to American voters by highlighting values instilled from his Nebraska upbringing, according to the Harris-Walz campaign.

In his speech — which will be, by far, the biggest of his political career — Walz plans to draw a line from his origins in the Sandhills of Nebraska, through his work as a teacher, football coach, member of Congress and governor, the campaign said.

He’ll also say those roots helped shape his service in the National Guard, which has emerged as a point of controversy. He’ll connect that all to Kamala Harris’ plans for working families and call on the crowd to help get her elected.

The Democratic National Convention’s ceremonial roll call on Tuesday night took a distinctly different tune, with each state introduced to songs in a party-like atmosphere.

Lil Jon started the party for Georgia by rapping “Turn Down for What.” Then, as the track to “Get Low” played, the rapper tweaked the words: “To the window, to the wall” became “VP Harris, Governor Walz.”

Some of the 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).

While the DNC released its own roll call Spotify playlist, the music resonated so much with some viewers that they’ve now taken to streaming services to listen to full playlists of the evening’s tunes, with one Spotify playlist racking up more than 17,000 saves.

It’s not the first memorable night in music for the Democratic convention — in 1996, delegates showed off their moves as they famously danced on the floor to “Macarena” by Los del Río.

While the Democrats’ night was full of songs, former President Donald Trump’s Republican Party has struggled with music licensing for events, with Celine Dion most recently criticizing Trump’s campaign for the “unauthorized” use of her music at a recent rally. Rihanna, the?Rolling Stones,?Ozzy Osbourne,?Queen, and the?estate of George Harrison, among other musicians, have also previously objected to the Trump campaign using their music, dating back to his original run in 2016.

Vice President Kamala Harris waits to speak at a campaign rally at United Auto Workers Local 900 on August 8, in Wayne, Michigan.

Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic nomination and deliver her keynote speech on Thursday — which is also the 10th 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 meant you dill have to listen to the first awkward voicemail he sent to Harris, which she kept and replays on their anniversaries.

Former US President Jimmy Carter waves to the congregation after teaching Sunday school at Maranatha Baptist Church in his hometown of Plains, Georgia on April 28, 2019.

From the walls of his hospice room, former President Jimmy Carter is keeping closely informed on the shifts in the Democratic Party.

His grandson, Jason Carter, said the former president was “super aware” of the changes taking place in the 2024 campaign as Vice President Kamala Harris became the presidential nominee.?

Recently, the family had been discussing the former president’s upcoming 100th birthday when he said:

The younger Carter said his grandfather is “remarkably engaged” and “is excited about the prospects that we have to sort of turn the page on this era that we’ve been living in, with Donald Trump as a sort of a constant presence in our politics.”

Carter — a longtime friend of Joe Biden’s — was also keeping a keen eye on the president’s decision to drop out of the race. Biden was the first senator to endorse Carter’s run in 1976, and his grandson described him as ‘“proud that Joe Biden took a courageous decision to pass the torch.”

Carter has remained in hospice for the last 18 months. His grandson said Wednesday that Carter’s “body is very physically diminished, but he’s doing well.”

Biden said last year that Carter has asked him to deliver his eulogy following his death.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance said that Vice President Kamala Harris not being present at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday night suggests that the Democratic Party isn’t united.?

Harris made brief remarks to the convention via live video from a campaign rally in Milwaukee, symbolically accepting the party’s presidential nomination.

She?watched?part of the speeches from Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama while on Marine Two returning to Chicago from the Wisconsin rally, according to a campaign official.

Vance also claimed that former President Obama was one of the people who “forced” President Joe Biden to end his bid to become 2024 Democratic nominee and argued that the party was more focused on their “hatred” of former President Donald Trump than their love for America.?

Former first lady?Michelle?Obama?speaks during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, on August 20.

It’s not hard to see why Republicans obsess about Michelle Obama one day running for president.

The former first lady has become one of the most powerful political figures in America — despite and because of her aversion to the business of politics.?

The Obamas’ every word and gesture in the White House came under unforgiving scrutiny given their barrier breaking status as the first Black first family. But those constraints long since fell away, and Michelle Obama delivered the most personal and blazing takedown yet of Donald Trump on Tuesday night.

She poignantly recalled the impact of the “birtherism” campaign that launched Trump’s political rise — and that she implied was a preview of how the Republican nominee will mount a racist campaign to cast Kamala Harris as not authentically American.

Obama’s endorsement of Harris was equally steely as a proud icon of Black womanhood lifted up a Democratic nominee who Trump has slandered as not really Black.

Democratic ground operatives will meanwhile delight at the former first lady’s searing warning against voter complacency and admonition for everyone who fears the prospect of a second Trump term to “do something.”

Even former President Barack Obama quipped: “I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”

Many young Americans are distrustful of a broad range of institutions, according to a?Gallup-Walton Family Foundation survey?released Wednesday, with roughly half saying they have very little trust in Congress or the presidency.

Fifty-three percent of voting-age members of?Generation Z?– which the survey defines as those younger than 28 – said they trusted Congress very little, with 51% saying the same about the presidency and 44% about the Supreme Court.?Just 20% said they had “quite a lot” or “a great deal” of trust in the Supreme Court, with even fewer expressing high levels of trust in Congress or the presidency.

More than a third of Gen Z adults also say they have very little trust in large technology companies (49%), the news (43%), the criminal justice system (41%) and the police (37%), with fewer saying the same of the military (30%) and the medical system (26%). Just 7% say they have very little trust in science as a whole.

Young members of Gen Z largely have faith in their teachers, the Gallup-Walton Family Foundation survey finds. A 59% majority of current middle school, high school and college students say they have high levels of trust in their teachers and other adults at their school.

Read more about the findings of the Gallup survey.

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

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said he did not support the bipartisan border deal earlier this year.

“It was a bad bill, and it would have made our border policy even worse,” the Ohio senator said.

Some background: Senate Republicans blocked a?major bipartisan border deal and foreign aid package?in February. The failed procedural vote was a stunning rebuke by Senate Republicans of a deal that would have enacted restrictive border measures and was crafted in part by one of their own members.

Republicans had demanded that border security be part of the bill, but rejected the deal after pressure from former President Trump. While Trump and other Republicans had attacked the border deal as too weak, it would have marked a tough change to immigration law and would have given the president far-reaching powers to restrict?illegal migrant crossings at the southern border.

Democrats 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 — the conservative blueprint for Donald Trump’s second term —was organized by The Heritage Foundation think tank and developed in significant part by people who served in Trump’s administration.

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.”?

Mindy Kaling speaks onstage during Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2024 on May 15, 2024 in New York.

Mindy Kaling will host the Democratic National Convention tonight, event officials told CNN.

Kerry Washington is scheduled to host tomorrow, when Vice President Kamala Harris will speak.

This comes as the four-day convention scheduled to showcase a star each night in a role similar to an award show host, according to organizers, reported first by CNN.

Tony Goldwyn hosted on Monday night, and Ana Navarro appeared on Tuesday.

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

Kamala Harris?supercharged Democratic fundraising in July after taking over the?top of the party’s presidential ticket, new federal filings show, helping erase what had been an emerging cash advantage for Republican nominee?Donald Trump.

The new filings also show independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. facing dwindling campaign resources and refunding contributions from his running mate, who said on a podcast posted Tuesday that the campaign is?considering exiting the race?and endorsing Trump.

Meanwhile, prominent outside groups funded by top megadonors raked in millions amid the transformed presidential race, and spent millions more on recharged advertising campaigns.

Read the full story.

The 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday, August 19.

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

Monday: “For the People”

Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future”

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 Vice President Kamala Harris.

Kate Cox – the woman who famously fled her home state of Texas last year to seek an emergency abortion – revealed on?CNN This Morning?she is expecting a baby boy in January.?

Cox announced her pregnancy in June during an interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, and she participated in Texas’ portion of the roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention.

“The end of last year I had the most heartbreaking and complicated pregnancy … we received the most devastating news,” she explained. “It was a pregnancy plagued with pain and suffering.”

Cox continued that, “We made the most difficult and devastating decision … after what we went through, now we speak out and share our story.”?

She added that she is “very honored” to be at the DNC and praised Vice President Kamala Harris for all of the work she has done fighting for women and promoting reproductive rights.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly described when Cox announced her pregnancy.

Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow speaks on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19.

State Sen. Mallory McMorrow who represents Michigan, a key battleground state in the 2024 election said Project 2025, the conservative blueprint for the next Republican president has galvanized voters in the state.

On the first night of the Democratic National Convention, McMorrow stepped onstage with a large prop: a book containing the conservative Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” agenda, so big that it barely fit on the podium.

She highlighted one portion of the agenda that would give the White House more control of nonpolitical government jobs. Another, she said, would allow Trump to weaponize the Justice Department and “turn the FBI into his own personal police force.”

“That is not how it works in America,” she said. “That’s how it works in dictatorships. And that’s exactly what Donald Trump and his MAGA minions have in mind: an expansion of presidential powers like no president has ever had or should ever have.”

More on Project 2025: The Heritage Foundation is a 51-year-old conservative organization that aligned itself with Trump not long after his 2016 victory. Heritage is led by Kevin Roberts, a Trump ally whom the former president praised as “doing an unbelievable job” on a February night when they shared the same stage.

More than 140 Trump administration officials were involved in producing Project 2025.

When asked what she would say to people who believe Republican claims that Trump wasn’t involved in Project 2025, McMorrow replied:

US Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, left, and her running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz arrive to speak at Temple University's Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 6.

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.

Barack Obama at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20.

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.”

The third night of the Democratic National Convention takes place tonight in Chicago.

Tonight’s big speakers include:

The theme of the night is “A Fight for Our Freedoms.”

Donald Trump and Elon Musk

Let’s just get this out of the way: Elon Musk is almost certainly not going to work for a Donald Trump administration.

Anything’s possible, of course, in a Trump 2.0 White House. But to take on any major role in that administration, Musk would have a mountain of conflicts of interest to climb.

By law (and by common sense), you can’t work on government matters that would affect your own personal finances. That’s a big problem for someone like Musk, whose?$245 billion fortune?is largely tied up in shares of Tesla, SpaceX and X (formerly Twitter), along with his holdings in the fields of biotech, artificial intelligence, satellite communications and road infrastructure projects.

Still, the MAGA odd couple of Musk and Trump is clearly having fun teasing at the idea of a Secretary Musk. On Monday, Trump?told Reuters?that he would consider naming Musk to an advisory or Cabinet role if reelected in November.

There are many reasons to take this speculation with a grain of salt. Not least: They both tend to lie and exaggerate to keep their names in the headlines.

But just as a thought experiment, let’s say they were serious and that Musk would actually want to serve in public office.

Read more about why it’s unlikely Trump would appoint Musk here.

Political commentator Ana Navarro speaks on stage during the second day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center on August 20, in Chicago, Illinois.

Republican political strategist and CNN contributor 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.

“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 US President Barack Obama speaks during the 2024 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.”

Michelle Obama speaks at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, 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.

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.

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. Astin introduced the votes 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.

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

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Tuesday recalled how a happy client set him up with Kamala Harris and how he called her at 8:30 a.m. to set up their first date.

He also gave a shout-out to their family at the Democratic National Convention, including his first wife, Kerstin Emhoff, highlighting what Harris often describes as her “blended family.”

Harris rises to the occasion “wherever she’s needed” and has done that for their family, Emhoff said. “And now that the country?needs her, she’s showing you?what we already know.?She is ready to lead,” Emhoff said.

He also talked about how the vice president connected him more deeply to his Jewish faith even though it’s not the same as hers, saying she goes with him to the synagogue on holidays while he goes to church with her on other occasions.

Michelle Obama was greeted by a long standing ovation from the crowd at the Democratic National Convention.

“Hope is making a?comeback” with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz energizing Democratic voters, she said.

But she urged Americans to not become complacent, with less than three months before Election Day.

The former first lady also slammed Donald Trump for 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.

She again urged voters to act.

Michelle Obama at the United Center during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on August 20.

Michelle Obama returned to her hometown of Chicago on Tuesday to deliver a rousing and forceful endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris on the second night of the Democratic National Convention.

And, in perhaps her most frank and public comments to date, the former first lady didn’t mince words when she spoke about Donald Trump, the threat she feels he poses to the US and democracy, and the racism she and Barack Obama experienced during their eight years in the White House – attacks that were often perpetuated by Trump, the architect of the so-called “birtherism” conspiracy.

The allusion to a widely criticized remark Trump made?during CNN’s presidential debate?earned loud cheers from the thousands of delegates at the convention.

As reactions to her speech poured in on social media, many noted she appeared to have?pivoted away from the soaring rhetoric she used when she coined the slogan “When they go low, we go high” during the 2016 DNC.

Instead, eight years later, Obama issued a challenge to those Americans experiencing “grief” and anxiety around the 2024 presidential campaign:

“Do something.”

Read the full story.