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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
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Tom McCarthy and Scott Bixby in Philadelphia

DNC 2016, day two: Bill Clinton hails 'change-maker' Hillary – as it happened

Bill Clinton gives deeply personal speech to support his wife, Hillary

Summary

Thus finishes the second day of the Democratic national convention. Here’s what happened:

  • The Democratic party nominated Hillary Clinton for president. Bernie Sanders played a prominent role, stepping in at the end of a roll call vote of states to ask for nomination by unanimous acclamation.
  • While some Sanders backers left the hall, the room bore only traces of the painfully audible, Clinton-versus-Sanders split that defined Day One.
  • With the nomination official, the party and the campaign embraced Clinton’s historic stature as the first female presidential nominee from a major party and possibly first female president.
  • The foregrounding of the here-comes-the-first-woman-president narrative represented a reversal from Clinton’s 2008 primary run, when she faced an equally historic opponent.
  • The narrative culminated with a slide show of US presidents, ending with an impressive animation of shattering glass – and there, suddenly, was Clinton, addressing the convention by video.
  • The crowd really enjoyed all of the aforementioned.
  • Clinton said, in part: “And if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say: I may become the first woman president but one of you is next.”
  • Former president Bill Clinton delivered a keynote speech in which he told the story of falling in love with Hillary Clinton and of how amazed he was at her industriousness and commitment to improving other people’s lives.
  • Bill Clinton, seeking to turn the Republican argument that Hillary has been around too long lead the country in a new direction, branded her “the change-maker.”
  • Sanders’ brother, Larry Sanders, appeared with the Democrats Abroad delegation and tearfully said their parents would have been proud of Sanders’ accomplishment.
  • Speakers from former secretary of state Madeleine Albright to Lena Dunham to Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards emphasized the role that women voters could play in electing president Hillary Clinton.
  • The Republicans released a statement that said in part, “Tonight Democrats formally nominated the most scandal-plagued and disliked candidate in the history of their party.”

That’s it from us. See you bright and early tomorrow.

Updated

Here’s the RNC response to tonight’s fireworks in Philly. Reince Priebus calls Clinton “the most scandal-plagued and disliked candidate in the history of the party”:

Tonight Democrats formally nominated the most scandal-plagued and disliked candidate in the history of their party,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. “Despite clinching the nomination, poll after poll continues to show Hillary Clinton’s trustworthiness and favorability sinking to all-time lows, and her constant shapeshifting on the issues will only further alienate millions of Americans already repelled by her cronyism and double standards. Simply put, Hillary Clinton cannot escape the fact Americans overwhelmingly regard her as dishonest, hypocritical, and completely out for herself. Our country cannot afford for her to bring her poor judgment and unethical behavior into the White House.

Whether it’s her endless flip-flops on the issues, perfecting the art of politics for personal gain, or benefitting from a rigged system, Americans simply do not like Hillary Clinton. While Democrats have chosen to nominate a career Washington insider who is always out for herself, Donald Trump is promising to shake up Washington and bring strong leadership that will restore prosperity, secure our homeland, and Make America Great Again.”

Further reaction:

Is “curmudgeon” the word for this?

Here’s Clinton’s “yes we can” video:

Updated

Here’s what was going on just before the Clinton-glass-splosion:

Representative Fudge comes out as the delegates stream out. The convention is recessed until 4.30pm tomorrow.

What did you think of the breaking glass thing? It sure did work for the crowd.

Updated

Clinton addresses convention by video

“Tonight is an incredible night for American history and feminist history...” says Keys.

It seems like she’s going to sing Girl on Fire. But suddenly there’s a slide show of dead presidents – of all the presidents. Where’d Keys go?

Wow Barack Obama gets a cheer. But what happens next is the real show-stopper...

Hillary Clinton herself – well, a video of her – breaks through the slide show to the sound of shattering glass and she kind of is blinking there on the video screen.

She looks a bit like Zod. That was definitely from Superman with the glass. There’s Hillary Clinton now addressing the crowd.

The crowd is “freaking out”.

She says this:

I can’t believe we just put the biggest crack in that glass ceiling yet ... this is really your victory.

And if there are any little girls out there who stayed up late to watch, let me just say: ‘I may become the first woman president but one of you is next.’

The crowd freakout twists a few notches tighter to full throttle freakout.

So it turns out that – wait, is Alicia Keys going to skip Girl on Fire? They really collapsed the program.

Anyway, here’s Girl on Fire:

Updated

Alicia Keys:

“Big up to Bernie Sanders– Where my Bernie people at?”

Some cheers.

“Big up to Hillary Clinton– where my Hillary people at?”

That sounds like about everybody now. She introduces her next song:

We can’t let politics divide us. We have to show the world that bigotry and fear will never win, because we have so much in common.

Updated

Here’s Alicia Keys, who begins with Superwoman:

I dedicate this song to the mothers of the movement and to all mothers who have lost their children to senseless violence.

Updated

Here’s a quickie roundup of reaction from non-Democrats to Bill Clinton’s speech:

Streep pitches Clinton as historic figure

Streep asks of Clinton, “How does she do it? Where does she get her grit and her grace? Where do any of our female firsts... where do they find that strength?”

Then she places Clinton in some incredible company: Parks, Chisholm, Tubman, Ride, O’Connor...

“They have forged new paths so that others can follow them. Men and women. Generation after generation. That’s Hillary. That’s America.”

Streep says, “you people have made history.”

The crowd cheers, liking the idea.

“And you’re going to make history again in November!” (cheers) “Because Hillary Clinton will be our first woman president (big cheers) and she’ll be a great president. She’ll be the first, but she won’t be the last.”

Now Streep suddenly is gone – she somehow slipped away without a huge big applause line – is she coming back? Hard to tell, we’re in the middle of another video.

“We got some fight left in us, don’t we?” Streep begins. She’s about to push Alicia Keys out of prime time.

What does it take to be the first female anything?” she asks. “It takes grit and it takes grace.”

She names the woman soldier who served disguised as a man in Washington’s army, Jack -a-Roe style. When she took a blast in battle she was afraid to reveal her secret. So she took out a penknife, took out the musket ball and sewed herself up again.

The video is a medley of celebrity and recording artist appearances. At the end they turn into Hollywood squares and then there are about a hundred of them and it turns into an American flag.

Here now is Meryl Streep, wearing an amazing flag shirt.

The video is people singing Clinton’s campaign song, Fight Song by Rachel Platten.

Oh look, there’s Gloria Steinem: “I’ve still got a lotta fight left in me,” she sings that line.

Elizabeth Banks is back: “How do you get the job of following Bill Clinton?”

She fundraises off the spot on the speech. Every dollar counts.

“Coming up: some incredible women. Alicia Keys, Meryl Streep... and a few surprises.”

Banks says she has a surprise. She has made a video. Here’s the video.

Clinton now is riffing on the primary election without the Teleprompter. He went to West Virginia:

To look those coal miners in the eye because Hillary sent me to tell you that .. if she wins, she is coming back for you to take you on a ride to America’s future

Here’s the big finish:

HIllary will make us stronger together. You know it, because she spent a lifetime doing it. I hope you will do it. I hope you will elect her. Those of us who have more yesterdays than tomorrows tend to think more about our children and grandchildren.”

Then he says something like if you elect her, she will, and he walks away.

The whole end was unscripted, and it really worked in the hall.

Clinton:

If you win elections on the theory that government is always bad and will mess up a two-car parade, a real change-maker represents a real threat.

So your only option is to create a cartoon, and run against the cartoon...

Life in the real world is complicated...

Then he returns to the construct of “the real one” versus the made-up version:

Good for you, because earlier today, you nominated the real one.

The line lands with unexpected force. it brings the crowd to their feet. They are clapping and they chant Hillary! Hillary!

More Clinton, winding to a finish:

I have lived a long full and blessed life. It really took off when I met and fell in love with that girl in the spring in 1971.

...

For this time, Hillary is uniquely qualified.. and she is still the best darn changemaker I have ever nown.

Clinton asks:

“How does this square with the things that you heard at the Republican convention?”

The answer draws a laugh and cheers:

“You can’t. One is real. And the other is made up. You just have to decide which is which, my fellow Americans.”

Clinton lists what he says are Clinton’s accomplishments as secretary of state:

She flew overnight from Cambodia to the Middle East to get a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

She backed Obama’s decision to go after Osama bin Laden.

She launched a team to fight terrorism online.

She put climate change at the center of our foreign policy.

She stood up for women’s rights and LGBT rights around the world.

She tripled the number of people with Aids whose lives are being saved without it costing any more.

She boosted the approval rating of the United States by 20 points during her time in office.

Updated

Now on to the secretary of state years. Clinton mentions Clinton losing to Obama, continuing:

She worked for his election hard. But she hesitated to say yes when he asked her to join his cabinet, because she so loved being the senator from New York. But like me in a different context, he had to keep asking.

Now Bill Clinton is up to the senate years. “She became the first senator ever from new York to sit on the armed services committee.” He rattles off some accomplishments. It does not loo like he is reading from the Teleprompter. It’s moving anyway. Now it stops moving, because Clinton takes an ad-lib swipe at Trump, not by name:

Nobody who has dealt with the men and the women in the military believes they are a disaster. They are a national treasure.

Lots of applause.

Clinton says that as the Clintons navigated public life, “real life goes on.” And he contributes a pretty funny scene from Chelsea Clinton’s dorm room, moving into Stanford:

There I was in a trance, staring out the window, trying not to cry. And there Hillary was on her hands and knees, desperately looking for one more drawer to put that liner paper in.

Chelsea gently told them it was time to vamoose.

Clinton goes in for a pretty easy big cheer, mentioning Michelle Obama, who rattled the rafters in here last night.

It works! They cheer.

Bill Clinton: 'she's a changemaker'

Clinton repeats the line about Hillary Clinton being a changemaker.

Hillary Clinton is tweeting out key lines from Bill Clinton’s speech:

Clinton says that Arkansas went from one of the nation’s worst in education to one of most improved. He credits Hillary Clinton.

This by the way is all off the Teleprompter, although with a fair bit of filigree.

“Next thing you know, I’m being dragged around to all these pre-school graduations... watching these poor parents with tears in their eyes because they never thought they’d be able to help their kids learn.”

“She did all those while being a full-time mother while enjoying her life.”

Clinton delivers a larger applause line: “She’s the best darn change-maker I’ve ever met in my life.”

He says this is a “take-home point from this convention”

If you believe making change from the bottom up... speeches like this are fun. Actually doing the work is fun. People say we need change. She’s been around a long time. She sure has. And she’s sure been worth every single minute she put in to making things better.”

Clinton then describes every dinner and lunch conversation and walk they have as a time she prefers to spend describing how to “move the ball forward.” Fun times.

Clinton reveals he took a couple days off to watch all six police academy movies back-to-back.

Fact check: when did Police Academy six come out?

Then Clinton lost a gubernatorial election. She said go back to work. They went back to work. And in 1982 he became the first govenor in Arkansas history to be elected, defeated, elected.

My experience has been, it’s a pretty good thing to follow her advice.

By 1979, Clinton was the nation’s youngest governor. He asked Hillary (we’re going to call her that for clarity’s sake?) to develop a health care program for rural and remote areas.

“It wasn’t the only big thing that happened that spring...we found out that we were going to be parents. On February 27, 1980, 15 minutes after he got home from the national governor’s conference in Washington, Hillary Clinton’s water broke. Chelsea was born just before midnight.

It was the happiest moment in my life. A miracle for me because my father died before I was born. And the absolute conviction that my daughter had the best mother in the whole world.

Updated

Rodham mentioned she liked a house. He bought the house and told her she had to marry him then. “The third time was a charm.” They were married 11 October 1975. “I married my best friend.”

I was still in awe at how smart and strong and loving and caring she was, and I really hoped that her choosing me... was a decision she would never regret.

Clinton: “I was still trying to get her to marry me. The second time I tried a different tack. I said, I really want you to marry me, but you shouldn’t do it.

She said, that isn’t much of a sales pitch.

I said, I know but it’s true. And it was true.”

Because of the young Democrats our age, Clinton explained to her, none of them “is as good as you are at actually doing things.” He said she should go home to run for office.

He finally got her to come to Arkansas. The people at the law school were so impressed they offered her a teaching position. She moved. And she was a stranger. It was more rural and conservative than what she knew.

Clinton continues. “Then she went down to south Texas.”

The Texas delegation is really excited about the shout-out.

Rodham registered Mexican-American voters. “Then in our last year of law school, Hillary kept up this work. She went to South Carolina to see why so many African American boys were being jailed as adults.

Always makin’ things better.

Meanwhile, let’s get back to business. I was trying to convince her to marry me. I first proposed to her on a trip to Great Britain [on Ennerdale Water]... I asked her to marry me and she said I can’t.

I went home to law school. Hillary moved to Massachusetts to keep working on children’s issues.

Clinton remembers meeting Rodham’s crotchety, conservative father. Her mother was different, he recalls. She was more liberal. “Knowing her was one of the greatest gifts Hillary ever gave me.”

Clinton describes Rodham’s evolution of her social conscience. The civil rights movement, he says, convinced her to become a Democrat. He talks about Rodham’s summer internship interviewing workers in migrant camps for senator Walter Mondale’s subcommittee.

She got so involved with children’s issues that she actually took an extra year in law school ... working to determine what more could be done for children.

Hillary opened my eyes to a whole new world of public service by private citizens.

Updated

Clinton describes standing in line with Rodham to register for classes:

I thought I was doing pretty well, until we got to the front of the line and the registrar looked up and said Bill, what are you doing here, you registered this morning?..

He says he asked her on a walk.

We’ve been walking and talking, laughing together, ever since. We’ve done it in good times and bad, through joy and heartbreak. We cried together this morning” at a friend’s death.

We built up a lifetime of memories.

Move the scene to the law library. Rodham catches Clinton staring. She walks over and says:

Look, if you’re going to keep staring at me, and now I’m staring back, we at least ought to know each other’s names. I’m Hillary Rodham, who are you?

I was so impressed and surprised, that whether you believe it or not, that momentarily, I was speechless.

Wow they love Bill Clinton. There he is. Skinny as a rail. Tasteful dark suit and electric blue tie. Is that the Charlie’s Angels theme? Some instrumental disco.

Clinton kind of jogs over to the lectern. But the crowd is not going to let him start. All those sticklike signs make the crowd look huge and very dynamic. It’s rather disorienting.

He says thank you a bunch of times. Then he starts.

In the spring of 1971 I met a girl. The first time I saw her, we were appropriately enough in a class on political and civil rights. She had big blond hair. Big glasses. She wore no makeup. And this sense of strength.

After this class I followed her out, intending to introduce myself. I got close enough to touch her back, but I couldn’t do it... I might be starting something I couldn’t stop.

Updated

All the delegates, and a lot of the crowd, have tall narrow white signs on sticks they are getting ready to wave like crazy. They say “America.”

The tribute video to Bill Clinton is still running. He just might win this election.

What song will he come out to? Any bets? Fleetwood Mac?

Now we get a Bill Clinton sizzle reel.

Clinton is applauded wildly when he first appears on the video screen. What do they say – “there’s an air of expectation in the hall”?

Indeed there’s an air of expectation in the hall with the imminent appearance of the former president.

Albright: 'Putin would be eager to see Trump win'

Albright praises Clinton – backhanding Trump:

She knows that safeguarding freedom and security is not like hosting a TV reality show. It is a complex round the clock job that requires not only a ... steady hand but a big heart.

Albright says Clinton has the essential qualities, but “last week in Cleveland, we were reminded that her opponent possesses none of them”:

Many have argued that Donald Trump would harm American security if he were elected president. The fact is that he has already done damage just by running for president....

Donald Trump also has a strange admiration for dictators: Hussein.. Kim... PUtin...

A Trump victory in November would be a gift to Vladimir Putin, and given what we’ve learned about Russia’s actions, Putin would be eager to see Trump win.

She says, “Take it from someone who fled the Iron Curtain, I know what happens when you give Russia the green light.”

Whew. That was a handful of pretty serious charges against Trump. Already hurt the country, loves dictators, Putin wants him.

Albright describes her travels with Clinton:

We went to Prague, where I showed her the city of my birth and made her eat Czech cabbage, which she didn’t like very much. And introduced her to Vaclav Havel, which she did like very much.

Albright says that as secretary of state, Clinton helped “restore our reputation around the world.”

“I’m reminded how important it is that the person who represents our nation is trusted by our allies and who listens more than she talks.”

Here’s former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. Only three names on the program after her: Bill Clinton, Meryl Streep, Alicia Keys.

“Tonight in Philadelphia we nominated someone with Truman’s fighting spirit to be our next president, Hillary Clinton,” Albright says.

“In this era, with these threats, we need a leader who has the experience and judgment to keep America strong, secure and safe.”

Now here is Ima Matul, sex trafficking victim and advocate.

She thanks Klobuchar. She says she never could have imagined sharing such a stage. She grew up in Indonesia. When she was 17 she was promised a nanny job in Los Angeles. Instead she spent three years being abused. When she finally escaped, she found a home with an advocacy group. Then “I found the strength to organize survivors from across the country,” she says.

Kind of a lot of people in the arena are talking through this testimony. It’s ... rude?

Matul says that Clinton had fought to end the slavery, which “is happening right here in our backyard. Every day I hear stories just like my own. Still I have hope.”

Matul says there’s growing awareness of the problem and a commitment to finding a solution.

Klobuchar stands next to her as she speaks.

Here’s Senator Amy Klobuchar, from Minnesota. “We are all more secure when women and girls have the opportunity to lead with their heads high and their strides strong, Klobuchar says. “That leader is Hillary Clinton!”

That’s applauded, but the singsong bit that comes next is a bit clumsy:

She sees a world where girls are not captured and sold but are fearless and bold.

Then she tells the story of a victim of sex trafficking. We’re about to hear in person from another victim.

Klobuchar on Clinton:

When she said women’s rights are human rights, she made sex trafficking a violation of those rights. She didn’t just say it anywhere. She said it in China…

When women are held back, democracies falter. When women are held and treated as sex slave, tyrants rule.

And if that means playing the woman card, Donald Trump, let me tell you, there are hundreds of millions of women around the world who are ready to play that card. And in the United States of America it’s called the voting card.

Updated

Final section of this truly extensive look at Hillary Clinton’s truly lengthy record in public life. This section is titled:

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: SECRETARY OF STATE

Scheduled to talk are senator Amy Klobuchar; Ima Matul, sex trafficking survivor and advocate; and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.

It will be interesting to follow this section in the hall – and then on Twitter:

Updated

Dean was totally sandbagging us. Was he being deliberately dull before that joke, which had the arena in stitches? Here’s what he said:

Go to HillaryClinton.com to donate right now and help make history. And volunteer, because this race is going to be won on the ground.

In Colorado, and Iowa, and North Carolina and Michigan, and Florida, and Ohio and Pennsylvania, and then we’re going all the way to Washington, DC!

Good times.

Updated

Dean re-enacts famous scream

We’re trying to resist posting this 2004 footage but in our defense the present-day Dean onstage, with this dutifully dull (it seems to us) speech, isn’t giving us much reason to...

Oh wow. He did it.

He just did this again. Brilliant:

Updated

Now here’s former Vermont governor and party bigwig Howard Dean.

He looks great. Hasn’t aged a day. Where’s Vermont? There they are, looking happy.

It’s just after the 9.30pm hour, so Dean is getting into the big primetime audience. But landing squarely in the middle of that audience will be former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who is scheduled to talk about Clinton’s record in that role.

Speaking now is Ryan Moore, who according to the DNC flier “has spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia dwarfism and has known Hillary Clinton since 1994 when they met during the fight for health care reform.”

He’s from South Sioux City, Nebraska. He goes back 20 years with Clinton, too. “Hillary asked to hear our story,” he says. “For me, quality affordable health care was more than a privilege and even more than a right. It was an absolute necessity...

Here’s what I can tell you from my years knowing Hillary Clinton. She’s compassionate. She remembers details about my life from years earlier. ...

Every time I have a big operation coming up, I always receive a note from Hillary, full of … kindness. ...

Most of all, she’s genuine.

Updated

Next section: FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: HEALTHCARE

We’re watching the video now. Lots of good retro footage of Clinton and her Arkansas accent.

Actress Erika Alexander of The Cosby Show (?) and Living Single will introduce this section.

Updated

Congressman accuses Trump of cashing in on 9/11

Representative Joseph Crowley of New York has just said that Donald Trump “cashed in” on 9/11, “collecting 150,000 in federal funds ...even though in the days after the attack he said his properties” were fine.

Crowley:

Donald Trump saw a little payday for his empire. It was one of our nation’s darkest days. But for Trump, it was just another opportunity to make a quick buck.

Sweeney:

“When we needed someone to speak for us, to stand with us, to fight on our behalf, Hillary Clinton was there every step of the way.”

Next up is Lauren Manning, a former Cantor Fitzgerald employee who spent more than six months in the hospital after 9/11 recovering from severe burns.

I fought in tribute to my friends and colleagues at Cantor Fitzgerald that I loss that day.. and all who were killed. To honor our troops on the front line... and I fought to return to my young son, 10 months old at the time.

I fought as hard as I could so that the terrorists would not get one more. Hillary Clinton stood with me through that fight. And in the darkest of days and the hardest of times, the people that show up in your life are the ones that mean everything...

As a woman working in business for years I know you have to be tough. In that woman is a hell of a tough person....

When New York needed her, she was there. I trusted her when my life was on the line, and she came through.. because that’s who she is. Kind, caring loyal. She had my back.

She was there for me, and that’s why I’m with her.

Manning’s account is powerful, and she’s applauded earnestly.

Updated

New section. It’s “FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: STANDING UP FOR 9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS & SURVIVORS.”

Here onstage to introduce it is actress Debra Messing, of Will & Grace fame. She’s talking about how New York City endured 9/11 and its aftermath. The crowd is talking right along. A bit of an awkward disconnect now between the easy move of the crowd and the pictures – here are the pictures and videos – of running people covered in dust and the wreckage of the buildings.

The video uses a clip of then-mayor Rudy Giuliani saying “the health department is not concerned.”

Then it cuts to Clinton saying, “The government didn’t tell the truth. They told people the air was safe. It wasn’t safe.”

Then onscreen is Joe Sweeney, who was a detective with the NYPD on September 11, 2001, and who dug through the rubble for survivors. He says, “she got the hospitals onboard, she got us care... she had our back, we knew that. And that’s what you want in a president.”

The video wraps and Sweeney walks out to speak.

Senator Barbara Boxer now. She’s known Hillary Clinton for more than 20 years. Which is in this crowd doesn’t even really count as a long time. “And my daughter was married to her brother so my beloved grandson is her beloved nephew,” Boxer adds, which puts her indeed closer than most.

Boxer says Clinton is a mom who knew her daughter well.

The crowd is kind of loud as Boxer speaks, wavering in its attention and very chatty. The ledge behind this press filing section is lined with emptying beers, which compete for space with the feet of reclining attendees (not delegates, mind you – these comfortable folks have no business to conduct, probably). The room is full again, and still filling – the flow is incoming. Someone must’ve gotten ahold of the playbill for the 10 o’clock hour, which bears the names Bill Clinton, Meryl Streep and Alicia Keys.

But the crowd does applaud Boxer when she says, “she’s still standing!”

And she’s applauded for a pointed defense of abortion rights:

Well I have a message for Donald Trump and Michael Pence. WE are not going back to the dark days, when women died in back alleys. We are never, ever, ever going back. Ever.

We realize we neglected to list what the six sections are, of this part of the program.

They are:


FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: KIDS AND FAMILIES

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: SOCIAL JUSTICE

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: WOMEN AND FAMILIES

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: STANDING UP FOR 9/11 FIRST RESPONDERS & SURVIVORS

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: HEALTH CARE

FIGHTS OF HER LIFE: SECRETARY OF STATE

We are in the “women and families” section. There’s still plenty of Clinton experience to sort through. The night is young, from a policy perspective.

Lena Dunham: 'deal us in'

Next up are actresses Lena Dunham and America Ferrera.

“Hi, I’m Lena Dunham, and according to Donald Trump, my body is like a 2.”

“And I’m America Ferrera, and according to Donald Trump, I’m probably a rapist.”

[Ferrera has Honduran roots.]

They continue:

“We now what you’re thinking, why should we care what some celebrity says about politics? And we agree. But he is the Republican nominee...”

They say they are “proud to say, ‘we’re with Hillary.’”

Dunham: ‘As Hillary Clinton says, deal us in.”

They announce a program in which people can text the campaign and get official women cards in return.

They end by saying “Love Trumps hate!” and walk off arm-in-arm.

Richards: Women will beat Trump

Cecile Richards, the Planned Parenthood president:

“Make no mistake about it. Women’s health and rights are on the line and on the ballot this election.”

Then she gets a big applause by vowing that women will win the election for Clinton, which in fact is almost positively how it will happen if it happens:

Donald Trump “says pregnancy is an ‘inconvenience’ for a woman’s employer,” Richards says.

Well Mr Trump, come this November, women are going to be more than an inconvenience. Women are going to be the reason you’re not elected.

Updated

Elizabeth Banks asks whether there are any women in the house.

They applaud.

“Yeah. No duh. We’re half the population! We’re everywhere! And Hillary Clinton knows this.”

The “fight of her life” this section focuses on is “women and families”.

Banks introduces a video of Donald Trump saying nasty things about women. It’s ugly enough that it actually wins some boos from a crowd that hasn’t seem particularly interested in conducting one-minute-hates targeting Trump.

Then Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood action fund, taes the stage.

Next up are America Fererra and Lena Dunham.

Now here’s Andra Day singing Rise Up.

Updated

Crowd chants: Black Lives Matter

First to speak is Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland, who died in a jail cell after an unlawful traffic stop and arrest.

“So many of our children are gone, but they are not forgotten. I am here with Hillary Clinton tonight, because she is a leader and a mother who will save our children’s lives. She knows that when a young black live is cut short, it’s not just a loss, it’s a personal loss, it’s a national loss, it’s a loss that diminishes all of us. What a blessing tonight to be standing here so that Sandy can still speak through her momma.”

She gets a standing ovation. It’s a moment charged with emotion in the hall. Reed-Veal is crying.

To address the problem, she says “we’ve got to cast our votes for a president who will help lead us down a path to restoration and change.”

Next is Lucy McBath, Jordan Davis’ mother. “He was shot and killed for playing loud music,” she says, but she still wakes up every day thinking about how to parent him. How to protect his legacy.

She shares memories of her son. He wouldn’t buy a popsicle if there wasn’t some to share with friends. She warned him that because he was a young black man he would meet people who didn’t value him for his life. “That is a conversation that no parent should ever have with their child. Hillary Clinton isn’t afraid to say that Black Lives Matter... she doesn’t build walls around her heart.

She invited us to become part of the solution, and that’s what we’re going to do. ...

The majority of police officers are good people doing a good job. And we’re also going to keep using our voices and our votes to support people like Hillary Clinton... so that this club of heartbroken mothers stops growing.

Now Sybrina Fulton, Travyon Martin’s mother, the 17-year-old shot dead by George Zimmerman in Florida*. “I am here today for my son, Trayvon Martin, who is in heaven,” she says, and for his brother who is still here on Earth.

“I will do everything I can to focus this light on the pain of a path out of darkness. Hillary Clinton has the compassion to support grieving mothers. She has the courage to support common-sense gun legislation.

“This isn’t about being politically correct. This is about saving our children. That’s why we’re here, tonight, with Hillary Clinton, and that’s why, in memory of our children, we are employing you, all of you, to vote this election day. Hillary is one mother who can ensure our movement will succeed.

“We’d like to leave with you what god has given us: strength, love, and peace. Thank you.”

The group walks off. The crowd stands and they are applauded heartily.

There’s a chant in the hall: Black Lives Matter! Black Lives Matter!

The Republicans, by contrast, chanted All Lives Matter! All Lives Matter!

[Edit: an earlier version of this post referred to Trayvon Martin as “the 12-year-old killed in a park in Cleveland”. Tamir Rice was the 12-year-old; Trayvon Martin was the 17-year-old shot dead by George Zimmerman in Florida. This has now been corrected.]

Updated

Mothers of victims of police violence

Actor Tony Goldwyn comes out to introduce the “Mothers of the Movement” who have lost children to gun violence.

First there is a video in which the mothers talk about how an initially planned 30-minute meeting with Clinton went for two hours. They are:

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin’s mother

Geneva Reed-Veal, Sandra Bland’s mother

Lucy McBath, Jordan Davis’ mother

Gwen Carr, Eric Garner’s mother

Cleopatra Pendelton, Hadiya Pendleton’s mother

Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton

Lezley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s mother

Wanda Johnson, mother of Michael Grant

The protest at the media tents has dissipated, our sources tell us.

Hillary Clinton has tweeted footage of Sanders calling for a suspension of the rules and her nomination by acclamation:

Holder: voter suppression 'echoes of Jim Crow'

Violent crime has gone down since president Obama took office,” Holder says, in tacit pushback against the Republican – the Trumpian – narrative.

Then Holder decries attacks on the right to vote:

“At a time when the right to vote is under siege – when Republicans brazenly assault the most fundamental right of our democracy – passing laws designed to stop people from voting, while closing locations in minority neighborhoods, where people get the documents they need to vote - we need a president sensitive to these echoes of Jim Crow.”

Hillary Clinton will be that president, he says.

Up now is former attorney general Eric Holder.

We have his prepared remarks here, which he reads faithfully – “I am proud to say ‘I’m with Her!’” – but then he departs from the text a bit to take a jab at Donald Trump.

Clinton, says Holder, has “the strength to lead our already great nation – did you hear what I just said? Already great nation. Donald did you hear me? Already great nation – in this hour of challenge and consequence.”

Actress Elizabeth Banks is back. She introduces a new video. “This is next fight of Hillary Clinton’s life: social justice,” she says.

The videos summarize Clinton’s life and work. They highlight her work with the children’s defense fund, as Arkansas first lady, as a health care reform advocate and CHIPs achiever, and (separately) as senator and secretary of state. The current video makes the case for Clinton as socially conscience leader.

Media tent protesters demand talks with DNC

Guardian reporter Adam Gabbatt is interviewing protesters inside the media tents. He writes:

Michele Horne, a South Carolina delegate, was among those sitting on the floor. She was not wearing a gag.

Horne said she had started a Facebook group for delegates over the summer and there had been discussion about action at the DNC. She had only heard of a firm plan this afternoon.

“There’s been talk of some kind of walk out sit in on the table from the get go,” she said.

“Then the Wikileaks happened and the way the the party handled that was so beyond the pail,” she said.

Horne said the delegates were demanding discussions with high level Democratic National Committee members.

“There is a specific negotiating point but I’m not going to discuss that because it’s not a strategic option for negotiating,” she said.

“There is an issue on the table for the organisers [of the convention],” she said. Horne wasn’t clear how or where the negotiation would take place.

Impressively, Horne had made it into the media tent despite having sprained her ankle this morning. Her leg was in a protective cast and she had hobbled over from the Wells Fargo Arena on crutches.

“It hurts like a son of a bitch,” she said.

Here now is interim DNC chairwoman Donna Brazile. That’s a lot of applause for her. She’s a well-known, longtime and popular presence.

“Growing up I was told that a lady should never reveal her age,” she begins. “So I will simply say this. I’m no spring chicken. I seen some things.”

She talks about memories running from the Jim Crow south to the election of the first black president.

“But I have never ever in all of my years seen a leader so committed to delivering a better future for America’s children as Hillary Clinton.”

Scott Bixby updates us on the takeover of media tent space by Sanders backers protesting the nomination of Clinton.

Speaking with the Guardian, Philadelphia Police Department captain Deborah Francis downplayed the protestors’ presence, Scott writes:

“They’re in the media tent - you guys are happy these guys are here,” Francis said. “They are a peaceful group, just exercising their First Amendment rights peacefully. If y’all would stop taking pictures, they’d go away.”

Francis said that law enforcement was in a holding pattern until they could reach the “owner of this venue” - likely the DNC - to determine whether they were “an unwelcome presence here.”

At that moment, Jessica Jennings, deputy director of media logistics for the DNC, arrived at Francis’ side to discuss next steps.

Updated

'The fights of her life'

A group of people take the stage who represent fights in Clinton’s life as a public servant. They are, according to a DNC flier:

Thaddeus Desmond –Thaddeus is a child advocate social worker in Philadelphia

Dynah Haubert – Dynah is a lawyer who works for a disability rights organization

Kate Burdick – Kate is a staff attorney at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia

Anton Moore – Anton founded and runs a non-profit community group that strives to bring awareness and educate youth on gun violence

Dustin Parsons – Dustin is a 5th grade teacher in Arkansas

Daniele Mellott – Daniele and Mark Mellott’s adoption of their son was made possible through the 1997 Adoption and Safe Families Act that Hillary championed as First Lady.

Jelani Freeman – Jelani grew up in foster care and is a former intern in Hillary Clinton’s Senate office. Since receiving his law degree, he has worked to bring opportunity to kids at risk.

Actress Elizabeth Banks, well known for The Hunger Games, comes out to Queen’s We are the Champions.

The Republicans used the song last week too – and were reproached by the band for doing so. Did the Democrats ask permission?

Banks is telling the story of her blue-collar roots. She worked her way through the University of Pennsylvania. And in 1992 she and her future husband went to a rally for Bill Clinton – where she was struck, she says, not by Bill but by Hillary Clinton.

Banks calls the candidate “a smart, committed, successful woman.. .a fighter for children, cops, first responders...And that is what tonight is all about. The fights of her life.”

Banks doesn’t win much applause – a lot of people still aren’t paying attention after the long roll call process. But on the other hand a lot of people have their cameras out too.

Upset Sanders supporters converge on media tents

Hundreds of disgruntled supporters of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders stormed the media tents after former secretary of state Hillary Clinton officially clinched the Democratic presidential nomination, immediately staging a sit-in in the central media filing center as local and state law-enforcement officials appeared unsure what to do.

The protest began a few minutes after Sanders nominated Clinton by acclamation, with dissatisfied supporters of the runner-up candidate leaving Wells Fargo Arena in droves. The exits of the arena are less than 100 feet from the entry to the tents.

It was several minutes after the initial entrance of protestors until the pounding of state troopers could be heard outside the stalls reserved for members of the press, by which time more than roughly 300 protestors had taken up shop in the B Tent, the central tent home to foreign press, USA Today and other outlets.

Asked whether there had been a plan in place in case the unguarded media tents were used as a protest venue by frustrated convention attendees, Jeffrey Rabinovitch, a lieutenant with the Philadelphia Police Department, told the Guardian that “the plan is in progress.” Other uniformed officers declined the question.

Contrary to pre-convention expectations that had numerous media outlets putting reporters through hostile-environment training, protests at the Republican national convention in Cleveland amounted to little more than a carnival atmosphere, while the Democratic National Committee has struggled with logistics as simple as conveying delegates from one venue to another, much less crowd control.

Here’s the Jimmy Carter video. He’s dressed in a dark suit with a dark tie. At 91 and after a bout with cancer last year, he looks relatively robust.

“Rosa and I wish we could be there with you tonight,” Carter says. “Hillary Clinton has my support. I know she will have yours.”

Here’s Jimmy Carter grandson Jason Carter, who’s a member of the Georgia state senate.

The room hasn’t fully recovered from the roll call vote, with a lot of people still out of the room, and many inside the room chattering away.

We’re to have a video straight from former president Carter here shortly.

Updated

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts got a snap of the nomination moment earlier:

Obama: Trump likes Putin

As congresswomen onstage talk about what they describe as the House Republicans’ benighted views on women’s health, Donald Trump has taken to Twitter to ensure the public that he does not stand personally to gain from any interests tied to the country tied to the leak of emails that this week created a giant headache for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party.

“Zero investments in Russia” seems like a good corollary campaign slogan?

President Obama himself weighed in on the topic Tuesday, in an interview with NBC”s Savannah Guthrie. He said the source and motive of the DNC emails hack is unclear, but, “What I do know is that-- Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for-- Vladimir Putin”:

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Do you believe the Russians are, number one, behind that hack and the release, and that they’re actually trying to interfere with the U.S. political elections?

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Well-- I think the F.B.I.’s still investigating-- what happened. I know that experts have attributed this to the Russians. What we do know is is that the Russians hack our systems. Not just government systems, but private systems. But-- you know, what the motives were in terms of the leaks, all that-- I can’t say directly. What I do know is that-- Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for-- Vladimir Putin.

Updated

Here now is House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, onstage with a few dozen women leaders, public officials, advocates and activists.

Updated

Here’s video of that moment earlier in which Larry Sanders, speaking with the Democrats Abroad delegation, talked about how proud his parents would have been of his brother Bernie:

McAuliffe wraps, and gets solidly perfunctory applause.

Now, coming off that immense high, here’s... Virginia govenor Terry McAuliffe.

We have a copy of his prepared remarks. They begin “This is an extraordinary day.” He says that.

He also makes the convention’s first mention of Isis, which the Republicans had decried – the Democrats’ failure to dwell on Isis on day 1.

Delegates are walking out of the arena, going out for a snack break or what have you.

McAuliffe is saying, “you can support this effort by going to hillaryclinton.com.”

It’s as if he’s been recruited not as the speaker who could retain all that energy, but as the speaker who would be willing to speak as everybody took five.

Sanders moves to suspend rules, nominate Clinton

Sanders :

Madam chair, I move that the convention suspend the procedural rules, [not to record the vote], I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic party.

A few scattered, dying, lonely “Nos!” can be heard as Sanders says this.

The crowd explodes in the biggest cheer yet, of the week. And everybody waves new Hillary Clinton signs they’ve distributed. Even Texas and Utah seem to wave them.

Then Sanders turns and kisses his wife.

Fudge takes the stage:

Senator Sanders has moved in the spirit of unity to suspend the rules and to nominate Hillary Clinton by acclamation as the presidential candidate of the Democratic party.

Is there a second?

Everybody seconds.

Fudge: All those in favor say Aye!

Everbody: AYE

Fudge: No?

[There are some scattered nos but Fudge quickly moves on] and...

Then somebody puts on a Pharrell Williams track, there’s something funny happening with the lights, everyone is waving their signs and suddenly we’re at a Phish show.

Sanders addresses crowd

Vermont Democratic party chair is speaking. “A state that helped fight in the revolution... in the beloved revolution of 2016 thanks to our senator Bernie Sanders (cheers!), a state whose leaders (drowned in cheers because the monitors show Sanders), ... on behalf of the home state of senator Bernie Sanders who has changed the trajectory of this country in a way that will make the lives of working Americans better or generations to come (applause), Vermont casts our votes - 22 votes for our beloved senator Sanders, and 4 for the next president Hillary Clinton. It is now my honor to present our senator, Bernie Sanders.

Here comes Sanders, as soon as the chants die down.

The roll call continues:

Tennessee: The state that ratified the 19th amendment to give women the right to vote. 23 Sanders; 50 Clinton

Texas: LBJ, Ann Richards and the Castro twins. Skinny bearded boyfriend 72 Sanders; 179 Clinton

Utah: The industrious and beautiful beehive state. Adventure’s first stop. The greatest snow on Earth. The #1 state for volunteerism. 29 Sanders; 8 Clinton

Vermont: passes. With an earnest and slightly embarrassed smile.

Virgin Islands: Home of Alexander Hamilton. A unanimous vote for Hillary Clinton. 12 votes.

Virginia: “Where it all began in 1607 in Jamestown. Home to eight presidents, founding fathers and a big naval base. Home to Tim Kaine. 33 Sanders, 75 Clinton

Washington: Here are many coy aphorisms. And: home to 29 tribes. 2 abstentions, 74 votes “for inspiring and transformative” Sanders, and 42 Clinton

West Virginia: Almost heaven. People to call on when natural disaster strikes. 19 Clinton, 18 Sanders

Wisconsin: Hi I’m Tammy Baldwin. Where workers still make things. Home to Bucks, Brewers and Packers, and Russ Feingold. 49 Sanders, 47 Clinton

Wyoming: First state to guarantee women the right to vote and to elect a woman governor. 7 votes for Sanders and 11 Clinton

Just a reminder of those crucial numbers that were emblazoned on all our brains for so many months ...

Democratic delegate count

Clinton passes delegates threshold

Clinton has passed 2,382 delegates needed to claim the nomination.

The roll call continues:

North Carolina: Tarheels and BBQ. Universities and military. We’ll repeal HB2 (transgender bathroom law). 48 Sanders; 70 Clinton

North Dakota: We’ll be brief. 7 Clinton, 14 Sanders

Northern Marianas: We are wearing beautiful flowers on our heads and stand here before you for the first time in our history. 2 Sanders, 9 Clinton

Ohio: Did we mention the Cavaliers won. James Obergefell: “This Ohio boy helped love win last summer... know this: love trumps hate.” 62 Sanders, 98 Clinton

Oklahoma: Greetings. I was born in 1929 only 9 years after women’s suffrage. I never thought I’d live to see this day. I’m honored. 22 Sanders; 20 Clinton

Oregon: Many loud Bernie fans live here, as you can hear. Look there’s Ron Wyden. 34 Clinton; “Oregon, feeling the Bern, casts 38 votes” for Sanders

Pennsylvania: I’m governor Tom Wolf. Welcome to our state. 82 Sanders, 126 Clinton

Puerto Rico: “The only all-Latino delegation at this convention.” Sonia Sotomayor, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez “and many more.” 23 Sanders 44 Clinton

Rhode Island: Proud home of Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse. CBS, Extra, Hasbro and now GE. The smalles state in the union with one of the biggest hearts. Home of the best restaurants in the country. 13 Sanders, 19 Clinton

South Carolina: Home of the African-American Ellis Island. “From Denmark Vesey... to the Charleston nine.” 13 Sanders, 46 Clinton

South Dakota: Lakota language. Mt Rushmore, George McGovern. 10 Sanders; 15 Clinton.

The roll call continues:

Minnesota: Hi, I’m senator Amy Klobuchar. “The state of Prince’s Purple Rain and the birthplace of Tim Kaine.” 47 Sanders; 42 Clinton

Mississippi: Home of the blues. BB King, Elvis Presley “and so on.” 33 votes Clinton, 7 Sanders

Missouri: Hi, I’m senator Claire McCaskill. Tim Kaine went to Mizzou. 35 Sanders, and “for the first woman president in the USA”: 49 votes for Clinton.

Montana: Home of the only farmer in the senate, Jon Tester. 12 Sanders 14 Clinton

Nebraska: Parts of Nebraska will once again go blue in the sea of red. 13 “for the honest, hardworking Hillary Clinton” and 16 for Sanders

Nevada: Silver state. With a population as diverse as the landscape. “With a spirit as wild and free as our mustangs.” 16 Sanders, 20 Clinton

New Hampshire: We are going to elect Maggie Hassan to the senate. 16 Sanders 16 Clinton

New Jersey: “We are the state that started the revolution and we want to be the state to continue the revolution again.” 45 Sanders 90 Clinton

NM: Hi I’m Tom Udall, intro’ing first Native American state party chair. “Our state question is red or green. Chile that is.” “& Breaking Bad, the show!” 16 Sanders, 27 Clinton

NY: Hi I’m Andrew Cuomo. Birthplace of women’s rights at Seneca Falls. The proud home of a former great president & the next president. 108 Sanders, 181 Clinton

The roll call continues:

Washington DC: We are ready to be the 51st state. Clinton will do this. 5 Sanders, 39 Clinton

Florida: The great sunshine state. Blue for Obama, blue for Clinton, get it? 72 Sanders; 163 for “the first woman president,” Hillary Clinton.

Georgia: Home to MLK Jr and Coretta Scott, and John Lewis. And to Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. And here’s John Lewis himself. 29 Sanders, 87 Clinton.

Guam: We have traveled over 8,000 miles and nine time zones to cast our votes. 2 Sanders, 1 abstention, 9 Clinton.

Hawaii: Aloha etc. “The prettiest place in the world. The home state of Barack Obama. And 100% clean energy. 19 “for the leader of our revolution which shall continue” Sanders. 15 Clinton

Idaho: the gem state, most mountain peaks, deepest gorge in North America, largest undammed river in the USA. 20 votes Sanders; 7 Clinton

Illinois: Home of Barack Obama, and Tammy Duckworth is going to win. 74 Sanders. An old Clinton friend: “This one’s for you, Hill.” 98 votes.

Indiana: “On this episode of the Apprentice...their bigotry is uninspired, so Mike Pence and Donald Trump: you are officially fired! 1 abstention, 43 Sanders, 48 Clinton

Iowa: A state of female firsts. We believe in equal pay and dignity for all workers. “Where it all started.” 21 for Sanders, 30 for Clinton

Kansas: Obama’s mom was born here. A rich history of Democratic activism. Go Jayhawks. Kathleen Sebelius! 23 Sanders, 14 Clinton

Kentucky: Bluegrass, Appalachians, Muhammad Ali. Kentucky Derby, and... bourbon. “In Kentucky we know what a winner looks like.” 27 Sanders 33 Clinton

Louisiana: We are ONE! Louisiana. We will not be defined by any national disaster or any act of senseless violence. Love Trumps hate. 14 Sanders 45 Clinton

Maine: rugged independence. Neighbors stand up for their neighbors. Acadia, Longfellow, LL Bean and Steven King. 18 Sanders. 12 Clinton

Maryland: Rep. Elijah Cummings does the honors. Thurgood Marshall, Francis Scott Key, Chesapeake Bay, Barbara Mikulski. 36 Sanders, 84 Clinton

Massachusetts: Columnists dumped tea. We are stronger together. From John Adams to John Kennedy and beyond. 46 Sanders 68 Clinton

Michigan: Great lakes. We make things and grow things for this country. 66 Sanders; 81 Clinton

Sanders' brother offers tearful tribute

Democrats abroad: Delegates include Larry Sanders, Bernie Sanders’ brother, who now offers a tearful tribute to the presidential candidate.

Larry Sanders says their parents, who died young, would be immensely proud “of their son’s accomplishments.

“They loved him.”

“It is with enormous pride that I cast my vote for Bernie Sanders.”

Larry Sanders is in tears, the crowd erupts, and it’s a moment of pure goodwill, it seems, an outpouring of enthusiasm and fellow-feeling.

They cast 10 votes for Sanders; and 7 votes for “the next great president of the United States, Hillary Clinton.”

Updated

For the roll call vote, a representative of each state delegation stands, says something nice about his/her state, then announces the final delegate allotment. Here they go:

Alabama: home of champions in football, civil rights, voting rights, equal pay. 50 “champion votes” for Clinton. 9 for Sanders.

Rawlings-Blake: “Don’t y’all have one more? I’ll count it as an abstention.”

She’s good on her feet!

Alaska: on the front line of climate change. Diverse native population with 229 tribes. Makes USA an arctic nation. 6 votes Clinton, 14 for “inspiring, progressive” Sanders.

Big applause for Sanders!

American Samoa: Home of America’s cleanest air and most military members per capita. 3 for Sanders and 8 for Clinton (“and if you’d give us more we’d cast those too.”)

Arizona: We have with us a 102-year-old woman who is about to make the crowd go nuts. 34 votes for Sanders and (now centenarian reads): 41 votes for the next president of the United States, HRC!

Arkansas: Where we first learned to believe in a place call Hope. We believe again. 10 for Sanders. 27 for Clinton.

California: the state that defies Trump on climate change, immigration and minimum wage. Sanders: 221; Clinton: 330.

Colorado: Home to Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, sand dunes and Gunnison Canyon. 41 Sanders; 46 Clinton; 1 abstention

Connecticut: The Constitution state, “the most aggressive and progressive delegation in the congress.” Home of the pizza and the hamburger. 27 Sanders; 44 Clinton

Delaware: Joe Biden is from here. (They mention it twice.) The state that brought you nylon and Gore-Tex. plus, George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers. 9 Sanders; 23 Clinton

Roll call vote begins

Here’s convention secretary Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, mayor of Baltimore, to conduct the roll call.

“Are we ready to make some history?!” she asks.

They are.

DNC Day 2 live video

Here’s a live video stream of the proceedings in the hall:

Lewis says he’s pleased to second the nomination of Hillary Clinton to be president. The crowd seems immensely pleased that he has done so.

Updated

Lewis:

We have come too far. We have made too much progress. And we are not going back. WE are all going forward. We must all go to the polls in November, and vote like we never voted before.

The vast majority of the crowd finds these lines, from one of the original Freedom Riders, impossible not to applaud. But Utah, part of Texas, California, some others are resisting. Most of Oregon is on its feet, with a mix of Hillary and Bernie signs.

Clinton nominated to be president

Biggest cheer yet, as Mikulski says, “I proudly nominate Hillary Clinton for president.”

The crowd claps so long they haven’t stopped when the announcer nominates the second, Representative John Lewis of Georgia, civil rights icon, and they cheer even louder. He’s popular!

Updated

Senator Barbara Mikulski of Maryland takes the stage to nominate Clinton. (Remember the wonderful Mikulski-Clinton emails?) She’s greeted with a Bernie! Bernie! chant. But she expertly gestures to New York, which then leads a Hillary! Hillary! cheer which is much louder.

Mikulski notes that she was the first Democratic woman elected to the senate in her own right. “It is with a full heart that I’m here today as we nominate secretary Clinton,” she says. More applause - just sustained applause all around in this peppy opening hour – although Utah is obstinately planted in their chairs.

Updated

Vermont delegate Shyla Nelson is up now. “I have never felt the Bern more than I do in this moment,” she says, smiling pleasantly.

She is here to second-second the Sanders nom. “I am so proud of us,” she says:

Together we have worked to take our country back from the millionaires and billionaires... end Citizens United and restore democracy to the people.

As she speaks, two people in the Mississippi stand in their seats with signs – sharpie-on-pillowcase, it looks like – that say “election fraud.”

“I am so proud of Bernie,” Nelson continues. “Our movement continues. Our revolution continues. We will never stop working for a future we believe in.”

“We will never stop fighting for the change we need. And we will never forget the man who leads us. So with pride, gratitude, optimism for the future we all build together I stand before you for the purposes of seconding the nomination for our friend and hero, Senator Bernie Sanders.”

What a lot of applause. And there’s Sanders himself, standing in his box, raising his arm in thanks and appreciation.

Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!

It’s now a full-on pep rally.

Fudge tries to break in.

“We will continue,” she says. “On behalf of secretary Clinton.”

And if you thought the cheers for Bernie were big – well it turns out most people are here to nominate Clinton. It’s a loud house.

Gabbard quotes Gandhi about a small band of determined spirits altering the course of history.

“Because this is a movement fueled by love, it can never be stopped or defeated,” she says.

“I am truly honored to nominate Bernie Sanders for president of the United States,” she concludes. And a fantastic cheer goes up.

We spoke a bit too soon, on the breakout of unity in the hall. Fudge walks out and says that two nominees have been entered for president. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

And the crowd goes nuts, and a Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! cheer breaks out. Apparently they’re not all reformed Clinton supporters in here after all.

Each candidate is entitled to have the nominating and seconding speeches on their behalf.

Representative Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii comes out to nominate Sanders. She is cheered and starts out be saying that people ask her how “a seventy-year old grumpy guy” wins so many followers.

She says “the answer lies in his Aloha,” which sounds nice. She is wearing a tasteful white lei.

Up next is Kentucky secretary of state Alison Lundergan Grimes, who made a failed bid to depose senator Mitch McConnell a couple years ago.

She wishes her fellow Americans good evening and introduces herself as “the youngest female secretary of state in the nation,” which is roundly applauded.

But she gets the scattered boo, too, because, as Dan Roberts here points out, the razor-thin Kentucky primary result was contested by the Sanders campaign, to no avail.

She is inviting people to stand up who condemn gridlock in Washington and to demonstrate their belief that the last person who belongs in the White House is an “unsteady... bully who points fingers rather than helping those who are defenseless.”

She gets a good cheer. And then... Is that a spontaneous Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! cheer?

Did they switch out the delegates from yesterday for new ones? Everyone is hoisting ‘Love Trumps Hate” signs and chanting the nominee’s name.

That is, except Oregon, which raises their Bernie signs.

Updated

Here’s US senator Tom Harkin of Iowa for the night’s first speech. He’s speaking on the 26th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities act, which he wrote and helped pass.

His speech is devoted to the legislation and its legacy. “We got this done because the disability community knew what Hillary Clinton knows: we are stronger together,” he says.

He teaches the crowd a bit of sign language:

“I learned sign language from my brother, Frank, who was deaf,” he says. “I want to teach you a beautiful sign which connects with the values of this campaign. Take your hands – come on, it’s audience participation time – intertwine the fingers and move them in a circle in front of your body. That my friends is the sign for ‘America’!”

“We’re all together! We’re all together,” he says. “No one is left out from this constant circle of life that is America.”

He says it’s the beautiful America that Hillary Clinton will fight for. He’s applauded quite generously.

As Harkin teaches the crowd sign language, a sign language interpreter next to him translates.

Updated

Singing the national anthem is Timmy Kelly, who does the same next door at Lincoln Financial Field sometimes when the Eagles, the local NFL team, play at home:

The invocation is delivered by Dr. Ima Sherman Jackson. He wins applause for the phrase “black lives matter.” He calls for protection and respect for law enforcement too. A second round of applause for a call for an end to bigotry: “whether it is anti-semitism or Islamophobia, let there be no place for such bigotry in this country.”

No booing during the invocation on Day 2. They’re off to a flawless start.

Day 2 gaveled to order

Representative Marcia Fudge, permanent chair of the convention, is back. She gavels it straightaway, and delivers a short speech, uninterrupted, after she was booed sonorously yesterday. Today she is greeted by applause.

The Republican nominee is candidly pro-Russia and has praised its authoritarian ruler – yet some think he is the candidate who will stand up to Putin, reports the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs:

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Chris Keane/Reuters

While the US political and media worlds have been abuzz with the latest details of the hack of Democratic National Committee emails apparently by Russian intelligence, and attendant speculation about Donald Trump’s links to Moscow and Vladimir Putin, the controversy has not yet filtered down to his supporters, if those attending a rally in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, are anything to go by.

Trump is by any measure the most pro-Russian presidential nominee in modern history. He has repeatedly praised Putin, even expressing the hope that the authoritarian Russian leader will be his best friend, while calling for a drastic rollback of the US’s role in the world and questioning American participation in Nato. Trump’s top campaign aide, Paul Manafort, has previously worked for pro-Russian politicians and oligarchs in Ukraine, and a watering down of the GOP position on the conflict there was reportedly the only big change the Trump campaign demanded to the platform last week in Cleveland.

But the DNC email scandal and Trump’s relationship with Russia barely penetrated a steamy fairground in Winston-Salem on Monday night, where Trump supporters in red hats lined up for hours in 100F (38C) heat to see the Republican nominee.

One of the more politically savvy attendees, Dr Ada Fisher, a longtime member of the Republican National Committee, saw political dirty tricks to undermine Trump. Fisher described the controversy to the Guardian as “a false flag to cover up [Clinton]’s transgressions” and “probably the biggest lie I’ve seen”.

There were mixed opinions on Putin. Madeline Kuettner of Winston-Salem was a fan. “I like him,” she said. “I think he’s doing the right thing … I just think he’s for the United States and I think he’s done a good job and I think if Trump [becomes] president they could work together.”

Democratic Party reveals official 2016 platform

Hours before former secretary of state will be officially nominated as the Democratic party’s presidential nominee, the Democratic National Committee has released the final draft of its platform.

Lauded by liberals as the most progressive party platform in American political history, the 55-page platform is a non-binding set of goals and principles for Democratic leaders and voters operating under a single principle, according to its preamble: “It’s a simple but powerful idea: we are stronger together.”

Scenes from the DNC.
Scenes from the DNC. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Key takeaways from the final draft:

  • $15 national minimum wage: “We should raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour 4 over time and index it, give all Americans the ability to join a union regardless of where they work, and create new ways for workers to have power in the economy so every worker can earn at least $15 an hour.” (Pages 3-4).
  • Paid family leave: “Democrats will make sure that the United States finally enacts national paid family and medical leave by passing a family and medical leave act that would provide all workers at least 12 weeks of paid leave.” (Pages 4-5).
  • Breakup of big banks: “Democrats will not hesitate to use and expand existing authorities as well as empower regulators to downsize or break apart financial institutions when necessary to protect the public and safeguard financial stability.” (Page 11).
  • Closure of “hedge-fund loophole”: “We will shut down the “private tax system” for those at the top, immediately close egregious loopholes like those enjoyed by hedge fund managers, restore fair taxation on multimillion dollar estates, and ensure millionaires can no longer pay a lower rate than their secretaries.” (Page 13).
  • Trans-Pacific Partnership reform: “Trade agreements should crack down on the unfair and illegal subsidies other countries grant their businesses at the expense of ours. It should promote innovation of and access to lifesaving medicines. And it should protect a free and open internet. We should never enter into a trade agreement that prevents our government, or other governments, from putting in place rules that protect the environment, food safety, or the health of American citizens or others around the world.” (Page 14).
  • Confederate flag: “Democrats support removing the Confederate battle flag from public properties, recognizing that it is a symbol of our nation’s racist past that has no place in our present or our future.” (Page 14).
  • Criminal-justice reform: “We will work with police chiefs to invest in training for officers on issues such as de-escalation and the creation of national guidelines for the appropriate use of force. We will encourage better police-community relations, require the use of body cameras, and stop the use of weapons of war that have no place in our communities. We will end racial profiling that targets individuals solely on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin, which is un-American and counterproductive.” (Page 15).
  • Abolition of the death penalty: “We will abolish the death penalty, which has proven to be a cruel and unusual form of punishment. It has no place in the United States of America.” (Page 16).
  • Immigration reform: “We will end raids and roundups of children and families, which unnecessarily sow fear in immigrant communities. We disfavor deportations of immigrants who served in our armed forces, and we want to create a faster path for such veterans to citizenship.” (Basically all pages 17-18).
  • Tribal rights: “We will strengthen tribal sovereignty and tribal jurisdiction by enacting laws and policies that enhance the ability of Indian nations to govern their territories, keep their communities safe, and prosecute crimes committed on tribal lands.” (Page 22).
  • Constitutional amendment repealing Citizens United: “Democrats support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court’s decisions in Citizens United and Buckley v. Valeo. We need to end secret, unaccountable money in politics by requiring, through executive order or legislation, significantly more disclosure and transparency.” (Page 25).
  • Expand gun-control laws: “We will expand and strengthen background checks and close dangerous loopholes in our current laws.” (Page 39).

There’s plenty more on climate change, LGBTQ rights, reproductive choice and more - check it out here.

Updated

Would-be convention spectators were kicked off of the Septa train to the Wells Fargo Center one stop earlier than those with credentials, leading to, well...

It’s a small but vocal demographic:

Senator Barbara Mikulski, Rep. John Lewis, contest winner to nominate Hillary Clinton

Despite rumors today that Vermont senator Bernie Sanders would officially nominate Hillary Clinton as the Democratic presidential nominee, the Clinton campaign this afternoon has announced that she will officially be put into consideration by two members of Congress and the winner of an online contest.

Outgoing Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski will nominate Hillary Clinton, with delegates Rep. John Lewis of Georgia and Na’ilah Amaru, a Hillary for America contest winner, seconding the nomination.

Amaru is a New York state delegate and an adjunct professor and public policy consultant. In addition, she is an immigrant, a combat veteran of the Iraq War and the adopted daughter of two mothers.

Hillary Clinton’s historic confirmation as the first woman to become a major party’s presidential nominee gives her the chance to redefine her personal connection with the American people, Dan Roberts and Lauren Gambino report.

Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton Photograph: Rhona Wise/EPA

After a storm of bad news on a divided opening day in Philadelphia, and with Democratic delegates set to formally nominate her to lead their bid for the White House, Bill Clinton was at the centre of this new push to bring to life his wife’s sometimes flat campaign.

“She is the most famous, least-known person in the country,” her communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, told reporters in Philadelphia, 15 months into her second campaign. “People know her résumé … what we want people to know tonight is what’s that core value that has enabled her to do this.”

Former president Clinton was due to be joined on stage by singer Alicia Keys and a video tribute led by Meryl Streep in a night that intended to refocus attention on the winning candidate after 1,846 delegates take turns to cast their votes for her failed opponent Bernie Sanders.

Though Michelle Obama drew widespread praise for helping heal party wounds on Monday night, Democrats are increasingly worried that scenes of division may exacerbate a recent surge in support for Donald Trump.

“Poll after poll is showing that Trump has been eating away at our lead, and after his convention, he’s erased it entirely,” warned a campaign fundraising email to Clinton supporters on Monday as the Republican nominee took his biggest average lead yet.

Clinton’s campaign has downplayed the new polls, attributing Trump’s rise to an expected post-convention bounce. Before the Philadelphia convention began on Monday, Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, warned reporters that any analysis based on the polls is premature until after the Democrats have their chance to make their case to the American people.

But Palmieri acknowledged that Clinton had work to do to repair voters’ lack of trust in her. Just three in 10 Americans believe Clinton is “honest and trustworthy”, her lowest rating by this measure on the CNN poll, which was released on Monday ahead of the convention.

A team selling “Bill for First Lady” T-shirts is doing brisk business:

Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic national convention is being widely hailed as one for the ages and a defining moment for the first lady, the Guardian’s David Smith reports:

“It was spectacular,” said Bob Shrum, a Democratic consultant and strategist. “It had the gift of all really great speeches: authenticity. It wasn’t manufactured or pre-cooked. It had a wonderful narrative line.”

Michelle Obama.
Michelle Obama. Photograph: John Locher/AP

Obama did not mention Trump by name. But Anita McBride, former chief of staff to first lady Laura Bush, described the address as unusually politically charged for first ladies in general and Obama in particular. She said: “Of all the speeches I’ve seen her do, this was by far the most political. She has a clear view of how high the stakes are for the legacy of her husband.

“After eight years starting as a political novice, she has come full circle to a recognition of how important her voice is in the process. Most importantly, she’s a far cry from her first public statement [in 2008] that got such attention – “for the first time in my adult lifetime I’m really proud of my country,” – to saying this ‘is the greatest country on earth’. It’s been an education for her over eight years of what the country represents.”

Asked how Obama would be remembered, McBride, now executive-in-residence at the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University in Washington, said: “She’s taken advantage of the platform and put her personal stamp on it and followed her path while not compromising her personal life of family. She found her voice and used it the way she felt best.”

In the rapturously received speech, Obama outlined parallels between parenting and the presidency. Joshua Kendall, author of First Dads: Parenting and Politics from George Washington to Barack Obama, said: “Donald Trump can show off his kids, and they’re reasonably articulate, but the one thing that’s really missing is a vision of the future and what we’re going to leave our children. That’s what came through her speech: looking through the eyes of her daughters.

“She’s very aware that kids see her as a mother so she chooses her words carefully, drawing a contrast with Trump who uses language carelessly.”

Kendall added: “She and Hillary Clinton have had a frosty relationship. In 2008 it was kind of tough. The subtext from this is that like many Americans she’s really scared of Trump. It was a very passionate speech and whatever conflicts she’d had with Hillary, she’s putting that in the past.”

Back in 2008, Kendall said, Obama’s popularity was down at 22%. “People saw her as an ‘angry black woman’. But now she’s carved out this turf as nurturer-in-chief. People can see that her campaigns, like for children’s nutrition, really come from the heart.”

Former president Bill Clinton is reportedly still working on his keynote speech for tonight:

#NeverHillary actress Susan Sarandon has been having a hard time at the DNC:

Meanwhile, actress Debra Messing, with whom Sarandon has engaged in a months-long Twitter war, will be speaking at tonight’s DNC. Here’s hoping for plenty of cutaways to Sarandon by cable news cameras...

Report: Bernie Sanders in talks to formally nominate Hillary Clinton

Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders. Photograph: Earl Gibson III/Getty Images

Vermont senator and Democratic presidential runner-up Bernie Sanders is in talks to take an expanded role in the Democratic National Convention’s nominating process tonight, according to a report from the Washington Post, up to and including formally nominating Hillary Clinton for the party’s presidential nomination.

“I don’t want to give up all of the intrigue just yet,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said this morning, in response to questions about the possibility of Sanders nominating Clinton.

The move would be an echo of the 2008 presidential nomination, during which then-senator Hillary Clinton interrupted the roll-call vote to call for Barack Obama’s nomination by acclamation - that is, a voice vote of “ayes” and “nays” - in the “spirit of unity.”

Here’s video of that historic moment:

If you missed it: Singer Demi Lovato’s emotional remarks about living with mental illness, and how the Democratic party’s platform addresses the needs of those who share her experience.

Demi Lovato speaks about mental illness at DNC: ‘We can do better’

No more complaining from the press about the logistical failures of the Democratic National Convention:

Hillary Clinton is fundraising off of polls that show Donald Trump in the lead nationally:

As always, I’m going to tell you not to focus too much on one poll. But I’m pointing this out because it’s part of a broader trend. Poll after poll is showing that Trump has been eating away at our lead, and after his convention, he’s erased it entirely.

We expect some of that. Each candidate always gets a bounce after their convention. But that doesn’t make these next few weeks any less critical.

We need to let people know what we stand for, and we need to solidify the organization that can get them to the polls come November. With the polls leaning in the wrong direction, your contribution has never been more critical.

The email closes with a promise of a free sticker.

Add one more lawsuit to the long list of legal actions taken against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump - this time by one of his most visible superfans.

Jeff Popick, father of one of the musical act U.S.A. Freedom Kids children and author of their unexpectedly popular song “Freedom’s Call,” told the Washington Post that Trump and his campaign have failed to live up to the verbal promises made to the troupe, including a table for them to sell their album at Trump events and a failed bid to schedule a performance during Trump’s anti-debate event in January to putatively benefit US veterans.

“This is not a billion-dollar lawsuit,” Popick told the Washington Post. “I’m doing this because I think they have to do the right thing. And if this means having to go through the court system to enforce them doing the right thing, then that’s what I have to do. I’m not looking to do battle with the Trump campaign, but I have to show my girls that this is the right thing.”

In case this hasn’t already been set as your ringtone, here are the U.S.A. Freedom Kids singing their signature song:

DNC announces programming for second night

The Democratic National Committee has (finally) announced the full roster of speakers for the second night of programming.

Featuring a lineup of people who will “highlight Hillary Clinton’s lifetime of fighting for children and families,” tonight’s highlights will feature the roll-call vote officially naming Clinton as the first female Democratic presidential nominee, as well as a keynote address by former president Bill Clinton.

Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton. Photograph: Carlos Barria/Reuters

The full program:

  • 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm EDT: Call to order by convention chair Rep. Marcia Fudge, followed by an invocation by Dr. Ima Sherman Jackson, the presentation of colors, the pledge of allegiance, the singing of the national anthem by Timmy Kelly. Former senator Tom Harkin of Iowa will speak on the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law he wrote and helped pass, as will Kentucky secretary of state Alison Lundergan Grimes.
  • 5:00 - 7:00 pm EDT: An hour of nominating speeches, to be followed in the 6 pm hour by the roll-call vote. Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe will give at least one of the speeches, although Clinton campaign staff told reporters this morning that “we’ll see how it unfolds.”
  • 7:00 - 10:00 pm EDT: Speeches by House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, a video message from former president Jimmy Carter, remarks by Clinton’s former senate colleague and potential senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, and remarks by actress Elizabeth Banks.
  • Following the introductions, the DNC will feature remarks by people from Clinton’s career who have been affected or influenced by her work, including a Philadelphia social worker, a lawyer for a disability rights organization, a staff attorney at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a young man who educates youth about gun violence, a 5th grade teacher in Arkansas and others.
  • Speakers addressing Clinton’s work on “social justice,” including former US attorney general Eric Holder, Pittsburgh police chief Cameron McLay, actor and fake president Tony Goldwyn and anti-gun violence group Mothers of the Movement.
  • Speakers addressing Clinton’s work on women’s and children’s issues, including Planned Parenthood Action Fund president Cecile Richards - daughter of one of the greatest DNC speakers of all time - actresses America Fererra and Lena Dunham, and California senator Barbara Boxer.
  • A series of speeches by 9/11 survivors and first responders introduced by actress Debra Messing. The remarks include those from a detective with the NYPD, a survivor who spent more than 6 months in the hospital recovering from severe burns and Rep. Joseph Crowley.
  • Speeches from beneficiaries and colleagues on Clinton’s history of advocacy for healthcare expansion introduced by actress Erika Alexander. The remarks will include Ryan Moore Ryan, who has spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia dwarfism and has known Hillary Clinton since 1994, as well as former Vermont governor Howard Dean.
  • 10:00 pm EDT: Keynote addresses, including Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, followed by former president Bill Clinton, with a filmed introduction featuring Meryl Streep and a performance by Alicia Keys.

If you missed ’em, here are the highlights from last night’s keynote addresses from Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, first lady Michelle Obama and Vermont senator Bernie Sanders:

Elizabeth Warren: Trump is ‘a man who must never be president’
Michelle Obama’s DNC speech: ‘I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves’
Bernie Sanders: ‘Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president’

What did Donald Trump mean last night when he cryptically tweeted that he knew “more about Cory [Booker] than he knows about himself”?

Only the New Jersey senator may know.

In an interview on CNN’s New Day this morning, Booker was asked what Trump might possibly have on him, but deflected the question by telling the hosts that he wouldn’t “answer his hate with hate.”

“I answer it with love,” Booker said. “I’m not going to answer his darkness with darkness. I love him. I know his kids; I know his family. They’re good - the children especially - good people.”

Pressed on the tweet, Booker refused to entertain any theories.

“That’s what he wants - he wants us to be speculating. Ooh, it sounds so sinister.”

In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Donald Trump pledged to personally take care of any issues for veterans. The Republican presidential nominee pledged that he would set up private White House hotline and would have troublesome cases “brought to me, I will pick up the phone and have it work.”

The Republican nominee suggested “this will keep me real busy folks, take the place of Twitter.”

Trump also railed against the treatment of veterans and the VA scandal. “Widespread and totally inexcusable,” he described it. “A permanent stain on our government can you imagine the waste and corruption and I can tell you we will find it and find it, big league.”

Press briefing

In a slightly delayed press briefing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, senior Clinton campaign staff told reporters that tonight’s program at the Democratic National Convention will revolve around the historic nature of Hillary Clinton’s impending presidential nomination.

“Tonight, Hillary Clinton will become the first woman to be the major nominee of a major party,” said Karen Finney, senior adviser to Hillary for America, who said that the program will feature numerous people from Clinton’s past speaking to her work on behalf of others. “The contrast that you’re gonna hear tonight is while Hillary is someone who has worked on behalf of children and families and tried to get something done on behalf of the most vulnerable of us, you have Donald, who has tried to make money off of the most vulnerable of us.”

Finney also lauded last night’s convention kickoff speakers, particularly first lady Michelle Obama, who’s powerful, occasionally emotional address “may just go down in history as one of the most powerful speeches at a convention.”

Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign’s director of communications, spoke to the inevitable conflict between the Clinton and Bernie Sanders camps in the convention hall.

“In this room, here are Hillary Clinton’s most passionate supporters and Bernie Sanders’ most passionate supporters,” Palmieri said, “so they feel really strongly about that, and it is something we respect, and it is also something that has made our party’s nominating process much more substantive.”

Palmieri also spoke to the “remarkable” story of the Clinton family’s work with the Obama family. “The story of president and Hillary Clinton as former rivals that came together to be partners, and she’s seeking to succeed him, and him being such a gracious and aggressive supporter of hers.”

“It’s remarkable story that we may follow the first African-American president with the first woman president.”

Donald Trump speaks live, addressing US veterans:

Erick Erickson, the conservative blogger who has taken up the #NeverTrump cause with a fervor he once reserved for shooting up copies of the New York Times, has announced that he is voting for football player Peyton Manning in the November election.

“I’m voting for Peyton Manning for President of the United States in 2016,” Erickson announced on his blog, the Resurgent. “The odds are that he won’t win. But I’m voting for him.”

Declaring that he “won’t hold my nose for that jackass” - meaning Donald Trump - Erickson wrote that Manning, a “winner” with a “terrific comeback story,” is “everything we could hope for in a President of the United States.”

Bernie Sanders to return to senate as independent

Like a football recruit who drinks all your beer, flirts with your partner and wrecks your beer-pong table before deciding to sign with USC instead, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders has reportedly told reporters at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast this morning that he will return to the US Senate as an independent, rather than as a Democrat.

Sanders had long served as an independent who caucused with the Democratic party before jumping aboard to run for president.

Democratic national convention: day two

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Democratic national convention, coming at you live from steamy Philadelphia, where the onetime US capital has been turned into a hub for Democratic leaders, politicians, delegates and hangers-on – plus thousands of journalists and protesters, naturally.

Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The opening hours of yesterday’s first session of the DNC were tempestuous, both inside the Wells Fargo Center arena and outside. As heavy storms battered the venue and forced the evacuation of one of the media tents, many of Bernie Sanders’ 1,846 delegates in the arena booed, jeered and turned their backs at the mention of Hillary Clinton’s name, their anger over the nominating process intensified by leaked emails suggesting bias against the Sanders campaign by party officials.

But passionate primetime speeches, including a stirring address from first lady Michelle Obama that may stand as the most powerful remarks of her public life and a moment of unscripted irritation from comedian Sarah Silverman, seemed to move the needle. By the time Sanders himself mounted the stage, the audience had appeared to reach some approximate of catharsis - although today’s official nomination of Clinton as the Democratic party’s presidential nominee has the potential to bring the tension roaring back.

Michelle Obama’s DNC speech: ‘I wake up every morning in a house built by slaves’

Today’s program: The second day of the DNC will officially cement Hillary Clinton as the first female nominee of a major political party, and will therefore revolve in large part around Clinton’s biography.

But before Clinton is officially nominated between 6pm and 7pm EDT, the DNC will feature an afternoon program of “Fights of Her Life” speakers, people who were positively impacted by Clinton’s work as a lawyer, first lady, senator and secretary of state. The roster so far includes a 9/11 survivor, a former Clinton intern who grew up in foster care, students from a school for at-risk youth Clinton helped create and more.

In primetime, after Clinton’s formal accession to the nomination, husband and former president Bill Clinton will speak. The famously charismatic ex-president gave one of the greatest speeches of his life when Barack Obama was nominated in 2008, which means that, with the nomination of his wife and longtime partner, we can expect a barnburner.

That’s what’s happening today – now, on to the morning press briefing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where the Rev Leah D Daughtry, the DNC’s CEO, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon and DNC communications CEO April Mellody will brief the press on the news of the day, and the plans for the second day of the convention.

On with the show ...

Updated

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