Day two of the Democratic National Convention has begun.
Former president Barack Obama, former first lady Michelle Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak at the DNC, a day after the unofficial farewell for President Joe Biden, who served eight years as Obama's vice-president. Biden won't be in the hall to see his former running mate speak, as he departed Chicago Monday after delivering his own speech.
With President Biden having addressed delegates, the week's full focus now turns to Vice-President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov Tim Walz.
Here's the Latest:
Democrats highlight former Trump voters who switched to supporting Harris
For the second in as many nights, the Democratic convention has frequently featured stories from ordinary voters, who talked about voting for Trump in 2016 or 2020 or both, but said they wouldn't do so again.
The voters, filmed in what to be in their homes in states around the country, described being fed up with Trump's criminal conviction, his frequent lying for political gain and his leading a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021.
The effort recalled Republicans, who during their convention featured frequent videos of "everyday Americans" to fire up their own crowd last month in Milwaukee.
Trump's former press secretary backs Harris
Trump's former White House press secretary says she used to be a "true believer" who spent holidays with the Trump family, but now she's backing Harris.
Stephanie Grisham told Democratic delegates that Trump "mocks" his supporters behind closed doors and "has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth."
This fall, Grisham said she's backing Harris because the Democrat "tells the truth, she respects the American people and she has my vote."
Grisham resigned from her White House post following the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, the first senior staffer to do so that day.
She held no press briefings as Trump's press secretary, explaining "unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand behind that podium and lie."
Democrats throw the book at Trump (again)
One of Democrats' favourite new political props, a massive book labelled Project 2025, made a repeat appearance at the second night of the DNC.
On Tuesday, Malcolm Kenyatta, a Pennsylvania state representative and rising Democratic star, totted the book out onto the convention stage before roasting Trump and his running mate Sen. JD Vance.
"Usually Republicans want to ban books, but now they are trying to shove this down our throats," Kenyatta said.
In a sign of how unpopular Project 20205 is with the public, Trump has disavowed the effort. Still, it was crafted by many leading conservatives who would likely hold influential positions in a future Trump administration.
The book made its first appearance on Monday when Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow walked on stage and dropped the hefty tome on the top of the speaking lectern
Presidential grandsons stump for Harris
Grandsons of former presidents Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy cast Vice-President Haris in the same image as their famous family members.
“Kamala Harris carries my grandfather’s legacy,” said Jason Carter. “She knows what is right.”
He said the 99-year-old former president wishes he could be in attendance. “His body may be weak tonight, but his spirit is stronger than ever,” Carter said. “My grandfather can’t wait to vote for Kamala Harris.”
Jack Schlossberg, Kennedy’s grandson, said like when his grandfather was elected in 1960, “Once again, the torch has been passed to a new generation,” he said. “She believes in America like my grandfather did — that we do things not because they are easy, but because they are hard.”
Patti LaBelle performs 'You Are My Friend'
The DNC crowd didn’t get James Taylor singing “You’ve Got a Friend” but they did get another music legend — R&B star Patti LaBelle — singing “You Are My Friend.”
LaBelle sang the stirring number during a memorial segment as the proceedings began for the evening. “God bless America, Kamala Harris!” she called out at the end.
This isn’t the first time at the DNC for LaBelle — she wowed the crowd two decades ago at the 2004 convention with her rendition of Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come.”
Last month, LaBelle kicked off her 8065 Tour at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles — “80 years of life, 65 years in music.” And in June, she sang “Oh, People” on the White House lawn for President Joe Biden’s Juneteenth concert, joined by Gladys Knight among other artists.
And we're off
Night 2 of the Democratic National Convention has kicked off in Chicago, with organizers moving up the start time by half an hour to try and keep the program from running as far behind schedule as it did on the opening night.
On Monday, the convention opened late and never got back on schedule, with President Joe Biden delivering the featured speech around 11:30 p.m. on the East Coast.
Organizers promised more tweaks in the schedule to keep things moving more quickly on Tuesday.
Democrat campaign group breaks fundraising record
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it raised US$17.6 million in July, making the Committee’s year-to-date total a record US$107.1.
“The American people are hearing Democrats’ message of lowering costs, growing the middle class, and defending their rights, and they are showing up to support this forward-looking agenda,” said DCCC Chair Suzan DelBene in a statement. The DCCC is the campaign arm of Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Obama will make the case for Harris during his address
Former president Barack Obama will use his remarks tonight to make the case for Harris’ election and lay out the task before Democrats in the coming 10 weeks.
That’s according to an Obama aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss his speech in advance. Obama will also make the case for the values of the party and nation he believes are at stake in the race against Trump.
The speech comes as Obama plans to increase his political activity this fall to support Democrats up and down the ticket.
20.3 million viewers tuned into the DNC on Monday
Democrats reached an estimated 20.3 million television viewers for the first night of their national convention, the Nielsen company said. That compares to the 18.3 million Republicans reached on the first night of their convention last month.
Nielsen tallied the audience from 13 separate networks that televised the event from 10 p.m. Eastern until the end of President Biden’s speech after midnight.
Most people, 4.6 million, watched on MSNBC with CNN coming in second, Nielsen said.
The key night for political watchers will be Thursday when Vice-President Harris delivers her acceptance speech for the top of the Democratic ticket. Last month, Trump, less than a week removed from an assassination attempt, reached 25.3 million for his speech.
No credible danger following bomb threat
The U.S. Secret Service and Chicago Police Department found no credible dangers after checking into bomb threats made Tuesday at “a number of locations” in downtown Chicago where the Democratic National Convention is taking place.
Law enforcement cleared the affected areas and are continuing to assess any reported threats.
Gov. Pritzker denies 2024 presidential aspirations
Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker denies seriously considering running for the presidency in 2024, though he’s flattered people talked about him in that context.
He said at the CNN-Politico Grill that the background plotting that some assumed he’d been doing in the shuffle of Biden stepping down was “not occurring.” He said he likes being governor but didn’t rule out running for president in the future.
Pritzker said he had campaigned with Biden and DNC officials to hold this year’s convention in Chicago and was happy about how it was going so far.
“As you all can see, Chicago’s a great city to have a convention,” Pritzker said. But when asked if he’s angling to host another one in 2028, he said that would be premature.
“We aren’t starting a bidding process yet,” he said.
James Taylor isn't mad about getting bumped from the DNC
Singer James Taylor said it was an honor to be at the Democratic convention despite his performance getting cut for time.
Taylor was to have sung his 1971 hit “You’ve Got a Friend” accompanied by cellist Owen Young and singers Kenya Hathaway and Matthew Johnson before President Biden’s speech on Monday night. But convention officials said they had to make cuts because of the “raucous applause” that was interrupting speakers and prolonging the program.
“It became clear, as the evening unfolded, that there wouldn’t be time for our ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ with cello and voices,” Taylor said in a statement Tuesday. “Maybe the organizers couldn’t anticipate the wild response from the floor of the United Center.”
He added, “Anyway, sorry to disappoint. But a great and inspirational, quintessentially American moment. We were honored to be there.”
Gen Z congressman on his political start
Florida Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost, the first Gen Z member of Congress, has more in common with the oldest president in U.S. history than some might think.
Onstage at the CNN-Politico Grill, the 27-year-old Frost recalled relating to Biden over entering politics at a young age. Frost got elected to the House at 25, and Biden was elected to the Senate at 29.
“He called me when I first won my race, and we talked about the similarities,” Frost said. “We spoke about his experiences going through that.”
Frost said he thinks Gen Z cares about Biden’s legacy and called himself a “big Joe Biden fan.” But he now supports Vice-President Kamala Harris, with whom he said he shares something else: a diverse background.
“We talk about intersectionality and all these different things, but for someone like Kamala Harris, this is her life. Being mixed race. Understanding different cultures,” Frost said. “And this is what our country is. Me too.”
Trump says Harris supports defunding the police
Turning to the men gathered behind him in uniform, he asked “do you want to be defunded?” Some in the crowd booed at the question.
Turning to the DNC, Trump said Harris must have been laughing when President Joe Biden spoke in Chicago on Monday night.
“It was a vicious violent overthrow of a president of the United States,” he said of Biden’s decision to not seek reelection.
Israel supporters gather in downtown Chicago
Israel supporters, including some relatives of people kidnapped by Hamas, gathered at a pro-Israel art installation Tuesday morning in downtown Chicago to call on U.S. leaders to continue backing Israel and pushing for the release of hostages.
The art installation included giant milk cartons bearing photos of some of the hostages.
“We are here to sound a voice,” Michael Herzog, Israeli ambassador to the United States, told the small crowd. “We are here to keep the issue of the hostages high on the agenda.”
He noted that 319 days have passed since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. “We need to call on Hamas to let our people go,” he said, prompting the crowd to chant “let them go.”
Elan Carr, CEO of the Israeli-American Council, condemned the pro-Palestinian protesters who have descended on Chicago this week, calling them “fringe crazies” and demanding that U.S. leaders “stand unequivocally with the state of Israel.”
Consul General of Israel to the Midwest Yinam Cohen said he was disappointed by the “institutional support of the city of Chicago for the anti-Israel protests.”
DNC roll call will be ceremonial
Democratic delegates already voted virtually to nominate Harris as their presidential nominee.
Regardless, they’re still holding a celebratory in-person roll call vote on Tuesday — and it’s expected to be a party.
The roll call will feature a live DJ playing songs to represent each of the 57 delegations present, a convention spokesperson said. It also will feature music, lights, visuals and special effects.
The spokesperson said those present in person or tuning in from home can expect to hear a range of diverse voices during the roll call, including elected officials at all levels of government and delegates who will share moving personal stories.
The roll call will start with Delaware — Biden’s home state — and end with California and Minnesota, home states to Harris and Walz.
Secret Service looking into bomb threats in Chicago
The U.S. Secret Service was checking into bomb threats made Tuesday at “various locations” in downtown Chicago where the Democratic National Convention is taking place.
Law enforcement was screening the affected areas and examining the credibility of the threat, according to a message from the joint information center established for the convention.
A reporter for Fox 32 in Chicago said in a post on X that their station received an email making a pipe bomb threat at four hotels in downtown Chicago.
Oversized Project 2025 book will be seen again at DNC
Michigan State Sen. Mallory McMorrow kicked off her speech at the opening night of the Democratic National Convention with a bang, slamming down an oversized hardcover copy of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 book on the podium.
The book, which McMorrow joked in an interview weighs as much as her 3-year-old daughter, is filled entirely with actual text from Project 2025, the term used for the Heritage Foundation’s nearly 1,000-page handbook for the next Republican administration.
The idea to create an oversized version of Project 2025 first came about several weeks ago when Vice-President Kamala Harris’ campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, contacted McMorrow about speaking about Project 2025 at the convention.
McMorrow said she had never spoken to an arena full of people before and wanted to come up with something that would “play well both at home and in the arena.”
According to McMorrow, Monday night won’t be the last appearance of the massive Project 2025 book at the convention. It will be displayed by various speakers throughout the week, with a designated “keeper of the book” ensuring its safekeeping in the interim.
“There will be others who pick up the book baton,” McMorrow said. “That won’t be the last time you see that Cheesecake Factory menu.”
Broadway stars form group to back Harris
A list of Broadway heavy hitters — including Audra McDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, Sara Bareilles, Tony Kushner and Sarah Paulson — have gathered to back the Democratic ticket, creating the volunteer group Broadway for Harris.
The group says it will use phone banks, canvass, social media and host special fundraising events to increase voter participation in key swing districts. A Democratic National Convention watch party on Thursday in Manhattan will launch the group.
Members include more than 70 industry leaders, current and former Broadway performers, producers, writers, directors, choreographers and marketing specialists. A public Zoom call has been set for Aug. 26 to learn about how fans can get involved.
The group includes actors Rachel Brosnahan, Adrienne Warren, Idina Menzel, John Leguizamo, Billy Porter and Alan Cumming; songwriters Alan Menken, Jeanine Tesori, Stephen Schwartz and Benj Pasek and Justin Paul; playwrights David Henry Hwang and Jeremy O. Harris; and producers Jordan Roth, Thomas Schumacher and Jeffrey Seller.
Walz: 'We’re not going to make that mistake again'
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz says he listened to Hillary Clinton address the party’s convention Monday night and couldn’t help but imagine “how different things could have been in 2016, if we’d gotten the work done.”
“We’re not going to make that mistake again,” Walz said at a meeting of the convention’s Women’s Caucus.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says Harris nomination could be barrier breaking moment
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called the nomination of Vice-President Kamala Harris a historic, potentially barrier breaking moment for women in politics during a gathering of the Democrat’s Women’s Caucus.
Hochul referenced past trailblazing Democratic women like Rep. Shirley Chisholm, a Jamaican American New Yorker who ran for president in 1968, and Geraldine Ferraro, who served as the party’s presidential nominee in 1984.
“Maybe this means that women can do more than be the supporting cast,” Hochul said.
“There will be no more barriers. That’ll be proof that every little girl can be whatever she wants because someone came before,” Hochul said. She urged the audience to prevent a “Trump travesty” this year.
New security measures after activists clashed with police
A Chicago park, which had erupted into chaos during the first day of the Democratic National Convention as several dozen activists clashed with police, was calm Tuesday morning but now fortified with new security to prevent further breaches.
During a march of several thousand calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, the group paused at a park a block from the convention center. Several dozen activists then broke away from the larger group, breaching police fencing before being pushed back by officers, leading to multiple arrests.
On Tuesday morning, an extra line of fencing was installed at the park and the tall metal barriers were reinforced to prevent protesters from lifting and removing the panels in the future. No police officers or protesters were present at the park early Tuesday.
Closer to downtown Chicago, security was tighter than usual — including law enforcement officers with weapons slung across their bodies — outside the office building that houses the Israeli consulate and a major city transportation hub. Metal barricades were set up and an officer said they were preparing for a 7 p.m. demonstration.
Most of the largest demonstrations have been organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC, which has focused on calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. But smaller protests have popped up around the city, including disruptions at the convention’s welcome party at Navy Pier.
DNC organizers plan to start earlier on 2nd day
Organizers are planning an earlier start to day two of the Democratic National Convention in hopes avoiding scheduling that ran hours late and into the wee hours of the night on day one.
DNC director Alex Hornbrook said Tuesday morning that “we made some real-time adjustments last night” and “we’re working with our speakers and making some other adjustments this evening” including starting at 5.30 p.m. local time in Chicago “to make sure that we stay on track.”
During a briefing with reporters, Hornbrook ducked a question about speakers who were canceled on night one as the program ran long — including a performance by acclaimed singer-songwriter James Taylor — would be rescheduled. He said only, “Our program team is working very hard right now to ensure that we can be on schedule” without providing further details.
President Joe Biden gave Monday’s night key address, but didn’t take the stage until around 11:30 p.m. on the East Coast, and the program didn’t wrap up until well after midnight for a large chunk of the audience watching around the country.
The DNC won’t only feature speeches by Democrats
The Harris campaign announced Tuesday that several Republican leaders will also offer remarks in Chicago, including former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and the mayor of Mesa, Arizona, John Giles.
Also speaking are former Trump White House staffers Olivia Troye, a former national security official, and Stephanie Grisham, who was a White House press secretary.
Grisham said she knows Harris will “defend our freedoms and represent our nation with honesty and integrity.”
“I never thought I’d be speaking at a Democratic convention,” she said in a statement. “But, after seeing firsthand who Donald Trump really is, and the threat he poses to our country, I feel very strongly about speaking out.”
