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Tom McCarthy (now) and Scott Bixby (earlier) in Philadelphia

'We are not afraid': Hillary Clinton accepts nomination at Democratic convention – as it happened

Watch live coverage of the Democratic national convention.

Summary

The fourth and final day of the 2016 Democratic national convention has ended, if you don’t count the ongoing balloon-related activity on the floor, where dozens of delegates continue to linger.

Here’s what happened:

  • Hillary Clinton accepted the Democratic presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the country’s highest office.
  • Clinton delivered an hourlong speech that was part biography, part profession of faith, part political prospectus, part job application and part attack on Donald Trump.
  • “He’s offering empty promises,” Clinton said. “What are we offering? A bold agenda to improve the lives of people across our country - to keep you safe, to get you good jobs, and to give your kids the opportunities they deserve.
    The choice is clear.”
  • Clinton: “Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.”
  • The night was programmed to highlight the historic nature of Clinton’s nomination, with speaker after speaker calling for a first female president. However the rest of the country felt, the cheering room agreed that it was participating in history.
  • Clinton ignored attempts by scattered protesters to interrupt her speech, and sometimes the crowd helped her by chanting “Hillary! Hillary!”
  • The show was almost stolen by Khizr Khan, the father of a Muslim soldier killed into Iraq, who tore into Trump, his veiled wife standing beside him. “Donald Trump ... Let me ask you, have you even read the United States constitution?” Khan asked, pulling a copy from his pocket. “I will gladly lend you my copy.”
  • Introducing her mother, Chelsea Clinton delivered a personal speech about feeling supported as a child. “That feeling – being valued and loved – that’s something my mom wants for every child,” she said.
  • Sanders congratulated Clinton “on this historic achievement” in a tweet. “We are stronger together,” he wrote.
  • “Great speech,” the president thought:
  • Clinton managed some lighter moments in her attacks on Trump, as when she described his convention speech: “He spoke for 70-odd minutes – and I do mean odd.”
  • The Trump campaign replied that the Clinton speech was “an insulting collection of cliches and recycled rhetoric.”

The four days of convening are over. Just more than 100 days left until the election now (!). Here’s how the week began:

And this is how it ended:

Updated

Some people are wondering whether it would have hurt Trump so much to show a little graciousness in deference to the historic quality of Clinton’s win.

The Internet remembers that John McCain congratulated Barack Obama in an ad:

Too often the achievements of our opponents go unnoticed. So I wanted to stop and say, congratulations.”

Updated

Hm. That sounds kind of like she might be with her? Sort of?

Via Fox News host and Ailes-slayer (and Trump slayer?) Megyn Kelly:

The Trump camp calls the speech “an insulting collection of cliches and recycled rhetoric”:

Rubio was right, and further reaction to the speeches and big finale:

Trump: “needed more radical Islam”

Updated

Reaction: current and former presidents edition

Sanders congratulates Clinton

Back for the last time is convention chairwoman Marcia Fudge. She asks for a motion to adjourn. The ayes have it.

“We are adjourned! Thank you Philadelphia.”

That’s it. Now everybody squeezes into the human traffic jam to get to the car traffic jam that will take them away, painfully slowly, from this quadrant of sports infrastructure in South Philly to the celebratory destinations of their choices.

There’s a pit area between the glass retaining wall that hems the delegates on the floor and the stage. The pit has become a giant balloon receptacle, a giant life-sized basket for thousands of balloons.

There are secret service guys walking through there batting as many balloons as they can out of the pit, wading one way batting balloons over the glass and into the crowd, then turning and wading the opposite direction, serious men with close haircuts and ties, undoubtedly questioning their professional trajectory.

The pastor who will deliver the convocation comes out. His stole is pretty liberal.

“Good evening everyone,” he says. “I don’t know how I’m going to pray in this chaos. But it is an amazing historic night, is it not?

I want you to hold hands this evening. Let’s hold the balloons for a minute too.

We can see a lot of people in the crowd definitely not holding the hands of the person next to them.

Updated

The delegates are bouncing the beach ball-big balloons around. The stage is now a traffic jam of people and ballons. We’re looknig for the grumpiest delegation, and it’s Washington, although maybe that’s because we can’t see California that well.

That was the convention. What did everyone think of the speech?

The Wells Fargo Center awash with red, white and blue.
The Wells Fargo Center awash with red, white and blue. Photograph: Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images
Clinton and Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine celebrate at the end of the convention.
Clinton and Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Kaine celebrate at the end of the convention. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Updated

Yes that was a fireworks waterfall right there. And now the balloons begin to fall. That is a lot of balloons. The beach ball ones come down too. The stage is already thick with balloons. It looks kind of dangerous to walk. There’s Bill Clinton, getting eaten alive by a balloon blizzard. In the press box can be heard expressions of concern. “They’re going to drown them all, with all the balloons.” That’d probably be how Bill Clinton would like to go, not that we’ve checked with him. Anyway there’s confetti too. The balloon assault appears to have subsided – the nets up at the ceiling are empty – and we would say that it was not too many boons after all, but they drifted badly – too many went right toward the stage instead of straight down to the crowd. You can smell the sulfur from whatever carbon-based flammable they used to make those fireworks happen.

Clinton: 'let's be stronger together'

Clinton winds to an end:

They were drawn together by love of country, and the selfless passion to build something better for all who follow.

That is the story of America. And we begin a new chapter tonight.

Yes, the world is watching what we do.

Yes, America’s destiny is ours to choose.So let’s be stronger together.

Looking to the future with courage and confidence.

Building a better tomorrow for our beloved children and our beloved country.

When we do, America will be greater than ever.

Thank you and may God bless the United States of America!

It’s a whole bunch of applause. Clinton stands and waves to the various corners of the auditorium.

And look there’s Tim Kaine. Who almost surprised her?

They clasp and raise hands and lift them to the sky.

Where are the balloons?

Oh here’s why the balloons aren’t there yet – they’re doing the card trick.

And it’s hard to tell what this spells... it’s .. OK it’s coming together a bit...

The upper deck spells Stronger Together.

Whoa fireworks! Those were kind of close!

Clinton:

Every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer, and stronger. None of us can do it alone.

I know that at a time when so much seems to be pulling us apart, it can be hard to imagine how we’ll ever pull together again.

But I’m here to tell you tonight – progress is possible.

I know because I’ve seen it in the lives of people across America who get knocked down and get right back up.

And I know it from my own life. More than a few times, I’ve had to pick myself up and get back in the game.

This line is applauded. Over the last week this crowd has been pounded with the theme of Clinton as a resilient fighter:

Like so much else, I got this from my mother. She never let me back down from any challenge. When I tried to hide from a neighborhood bully, she literally blocked the door. “Go back out there,” she said.

And she was right. You have to stand up to bullies.

You have to keep working to make things better, even when the odds are long and the opposition is fierce.

We lost my mother a few years ago. I miss her every day. And I still hear her voice urging me to keep working, keep fighting for right, no matter what.

That’s what we need to do together as a nation

Though “we may not live to see the glory,” as the song from the musical Hamilton goes, “let us gladly join the fight.”

Let our legacy be about “planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”

That’s why we’re here...not just in this hall, but on this Earth.

The Founders showed us that.

And so have many others since.

Clinton: 'At first, I admit, I couldn’t believe he meant it either'

Clinton says “here’s the sad truth: There is no other Donald Trump...This is it”:

For the past year, many people made the mistake of laughing off Donald Trump’s comments – excusing him as an entertainer just putting on a show.

They think he couldn’t possibly mean all the horrible things he says – like when he called women “pigs.” Or said that an American judge couldn’t be fair because of his Mexican heritage. Or when he mocks and mimics a reporter with a disability.

Or insults prisoners of war like John McCain –a true hero and patriot who deserves our respect.

[McCain is applauded.]

At first, I admit, I couldn’t believe he meant it either.

It was just too hard to fathom – that someone who wants to lead our nation could say those things. Could be like that.

But here’s the sad truth: There is no other Donald Trump...This is it.

And in the end, it comes down to what Donald Trump doesn’t get: that America is great – because America is good. So enough with the bigotry and bombast. Donald Trump’s not offering real change.

He’s offering empty promises. What are we offering? A bold agenda to improve the lives of people across our country - to keep you safe, to get you good jobs, and to give your kids the opportunities they deserve.

The choice is clear.

Clinton calls for a solution to “systemic racism” and vows to “defend all our rights”:

That starts with listening to each other. Hearing each other. Trying, as best we can, to walk in each other’s shoes.

So let’s put ourselves in the shoes of young black and Latino men and women who face the effects of systemic racism, and are made to feel like their lives are disposable.

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of police officers, kissing their kids and spouses goodbye every day and heading off to do a dangerous and necessary job.

We will reform our criminal justice system from end-to-end, and rebuild trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

We will defend all our rights – civil rights, human rights and voting rights… women’s rights and workers’ rights… LGBT rights and the rights of people with disabilities!

And we will stand up against mean and divisive rhetoric wherever it comes from.

Updated

Clinton: Trump 'in the pocket of the gun lobby'

America’s strength doesn’t come from lashing out.

Strength relies on smarts, judgment, cool resolve, and the precise and strategic application of power.

That’s the kind of Commander-in-Chief I pledge to be.

And if we’re serious about keeping our country safe, we also can’t afford to have a President who’s in the pocket of the gun lobby.

I’m not here to repeal the 2nd Amendment.

I’m not here to take away your guns.

I just don’t want you to be shot by someone who shouldn’t have a gun in the first place.

We should be working with responsible gun owners to pass common-sense reforms and keep guns out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and all others who would do us harm.

For decades, people have said this issue was too hard to solve and the politics were too hot to touch.

But I ask you: how can we just stand by and do nothing?

You heard, you saw, family members of people killed by gun violence.

You heard, you saw, family members of police officers killed in the line of duty because they were outgunned by criminals.

I refuse to believe we can’t find common ground here.

We have to heal the divides in our country.

Not just on guns. But on race. Immigration. And more.

‘How can we just stand by and do nothing?’ – Clinton takes on the gun lobby.
‘How can we just stand by and do nothing?’ – Clinton takes on the gun lobby. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Updated

Clinton: if Twitter angers you you should not have nukes

Clinton:

Imagine him in the Oval Office facing a real crisis. A man you can bait with a tweet is not a man we can trust with nuclear weapons.

Clinton implies that Trump is among the “little men”:

I can’t put it any better than Jackie Kennedy did after the Cuban Missile Crisis. She said that what worried President Kennedy during that very dangerous time was that a war might be started – not by big men with self-control and restraint, but by little men – the ones moved by fear and pride.

Clinton: Trump 'loses his cool at the slightest provocation'

Clinton:

Ask yourself: Does Donald Trump have the temperament to be Commander-in-Chief?

Donald Trump can’t even handle the rough-and-tumble of a presidential campaign.

He loses his cool at the slightest provocation. When he’s gotten a tough question from a reporter. When he’s challenged in a debate. When he sees a protestor at a rally.

Very resonant section with the crowd.

Clinton, back to Trump:

Now Donald Trump says, and this is a quote, “I know more about ISIS than the generals do….”

No, Donald, you don’t.

He thinks that he knows more than our military because he claimed our armed forces are “a disaster.”

Well, I’ve had the privilege to work closely with our troops and our veterans for many years, including as a Senator on the Armed Services Committee.

I know how wrong he is. Our military is a national treasure.

We entrust our commander-in-chief to make the hardest decisions our nation faces.

Decisions about war and peace. Life and death.

A president should respect the men and women who risk their lives to serve our country – including Captain Khan, and the sons of Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, both Marines.

The choice we face is just as stark when it comes to our national security.

Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face.

From Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando, we’re dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated.

No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance. Looking for steady leadership.

You want a leader who understands we are stronger when we work with our allies around the world and care for our veterans here at home. Keeping our nation safe and honoring the people who do it will be my highest priority.

I’m proud that we put a lid on Iran’s nuclear program without firing a single shot – now we have to enforce it, and keep supporting Israel’s security.

I’m proud that we shaped a global climate agreement – now we have to hold every country accountable to their commitments, including ourselves.

I’m proud to stand by our allies in NATO against any threat they face, including from Russia.

I’ve laid out my strategy for defeating ISIS.

We will strike their sanctuaries from the air, and support local forces taking them out on the ground. We will surge our intelligence so that we detect and prevent attacks before they happen.

We will disrupt their efforts online to reach and radicalize young people in our country.

It won’t be easy or quick, but make no mistake – we will prevail.

Clinton speaks on stage in Philadelphia as her supporters show their allegiance.
Clinton speaks on stage in Philadelphia as her supporters show their allegiance. Photograph: Tannen Maury/EPA

Updated

Clinton: 'Don't boo. Vote'

A Hillary! Hillary! chant flows through the crowd to silence a protest.

As Clinton turns on Trump:

But Trump, he’s a businessman. He must know something about the economy.

Well, let’s take a closer look.

In Atlantic City, 60 miles from here, you’ll find contractors and small businesses who lost everything because Donald Trump refused to pay his bills.

There are boos, and Clinton goes off-prompter: “Now remember what the president said last night: Don’t boo, vote!”

She continues:

People who did the work and needed the money, and didn’t get it – not because he couldn’t pay them, but because he wouldn’t pay them.

That sales pitch he’s making to be your president? Put your faith in him – and you’ll win big? That’s the same sales pitch he made to all those small businesses. Then Trump walked away, and left working people holding the bag.

He also talks a big game about putting America First. Please explain to me what part of America First leads him to make Trump ties in China, not Colorado.

Trump suits in Mexico, not Michigan. Trump furniture in Turkey, not Ohio. Trump picture frames in India, not Wisconsin.

This line has been used before, but the crowd treats it like a delicious new one:

Donald Trump says he wants to make America great again – well, he could start by actually making things in America again.

Clinton has a head of steam. It’s going well and she knows it:

Now, here’s the thing, we’re not only going to make all these investments, we’re going to pay for every single one of them.

And here’s how: Wall Street, corporations, and the super-rich are going to start paying their fair share of taxes.

Not because we resent success. Because when more than 90% of the gains have gone to the top 1%, that’s where the money is.

And if companies take tax breaks and then ship jobs overseas, we’ll make them pay us back. And we’ll put that money to work where it belongs … creating jobs here at home!

Now I know some of you are sitting at home thinking, well that all sounds pretty good.

But how are you going to get it done? How are you going to break through the gridlock in Washington? Look at my record. I’ve worked across the aisle to pass laws and treaties and to launch new programs that help millions of people. And if you give me the chance, that’s what I’ll do as President.

Clinton:

And he offered zero solutions. But we already know he doesn’t believe these things.

No wonder he doesn’t like talking about his plans. You might have noticed, I love talking about mine.

In my first 100 days, we will work with both parties to pass the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.

Jobs in manufacturing, clean energy, technology and innovation, small business, and infrastructure.

If we invest in infrastructure now, we’ll not only create jobs today, but lay the foundation for the jobs of the future.

And we will transform the way we prepare our young people for those jobs.

Bernie Sanders and I will work together to make college tuition-free for the middle class and debt-free for all!

We will also liberate millions of people who already have student debt.

It’s just not right that Donald Trump can ignore his debts, but students and families can’t refinance theirs.

And here’s something we don’t say often enough: College is crucial, but a four-year degree should not be the only path to a good job.

We’re going to help more people learn a skill or practice a trade and make a good living doing it.

We’re going to give small businesses a boost. Make it easier to get credit. Way too many dreams die in the parking lots of banks.

In America, if you can dream it, you should be able to build it.

We’re going to help you balance family and work. And you know what, if fighting for affordable child care and paid family leave is playing the “woman card,” then Deal Me In!

The crowd, of course, chants along: Deal me in! Then they congratulate themselves happily for the moment.

And they chant it: Deal me in!

Clinton: Trump odd

Clinton takes a break from policy promises to take a dig at Trump. Pretty good line that gets a big cheer from the crowd.

Now, you didn’t hear any of this from Donald Trump at his convention.

He spoke for 70-odd minutes – and I do mean odd.

As Clinton continues to speak, it does sound as if, between cheers, as if someone is having their fingernails pulled out over in California. But the protester is unidentifiable from where we sit, and the room is so loud otherwise (s)he is shouted down, drowned out.

Clinton has just invited many groups of people to “join us”:

Whatever party you belong to, or if you belong to no party at all, if you share these beliefs, this is your campaign.

If you believe that companies should share profits with their workers, not pad executive bonuses, join us.

If you believe the minimum wage should be a living wage… and no one working full time should have to raise their children in poverty… join us.

If you believe that every man, woman, and child in America has the right to affordable health care…join us.

If you believe that we should say “no” to unfair trade deals... that we should stand up to China... that we should support our steelworkers and autoworkers and homegrown manufacturers…join us.

If you believe we should expand Social Security and protect a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions… join us.

And yes, if you believe that your working mother, wife, sister, or daughter deserves equal pay… join us...

Let’s make sure this economy works for everyone, not just those at the top

Clinton: 'I believe in science'

Also popular with this crowd: science. Here’s her simple line that sets them roaring:

I believe in science.

Cheers!

She adds: “I believe that climate change is real and that we can save our planet while creating millions of good-paying clean energy jobs.”

Clinton greets those waving the stars and stripes.
Clinton greets those waving the stars and stripes. Photograph: Justin Lane/EPA

Updated

Clinton calls for a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United:

That’s why we need to appoint Supreme Court justices who will get money out of politics and expand voting rights, not restrict them. And we’ll pass a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United!

I believe American corporations that have gotten so much from our country should be just as patriotic in return. Many of them are. But too many aren’t.

It’s wrong to take tax breaks with one hand and give out pink slips with the other.

And I believe Wall Street can never, ever be allowed to wreck Main Street again.


Clinton: 'our democracy isn't working'

Clinton:

Democrats are the party of working people. But we haven’t done a good enough job showing that we get what you’re going through, and that we’re going to do something about it.

So I want to tell you tonight how we will empower Americans to live better lives. My primary mission as President will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States... From my first day in office to my last!

Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind.

From our inner cities to our small towns, from Indian Country to Coal Country.

From communities ravaged by addiction to regions hollowed out by plant closures.

And here’s what I believe.

I believe America thrives when the middle class thrives.

I believe that our economy isn’t working the way it should because our democracy isn’t working the way it should.

The system is rigged?

Clinton says to 'furious' people: 'you're right'

But even more important than the history we make tonight, is the history we will write together in the years ahead.

Let’s begin with what we’re going to do to help working people in our country get ahead and stay ahead.

Now, I don’t think President Obama and Vice President Biden get the credit they deserve for saving us from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes.

Our economy is so much stronger than when they took office. Nearly 15 million new private-sector jobs. Twenty million more Americans with health insurance. And an auto industry that just had its best year ever. That’s real progress.

But none of us can be satisfied with the status quo. Not by a long shot. We’re still facing deep-seated problems that developed long before the recession and have stayed with us through the recovery.

I’ve gone around our country talking to working families. And I’ve heard from so many of you who feel like the economy just isn’t working.

Some of you are frustrated – even furious. And you know what??? You’re right.

It’s not yet working the way it should.

Americans are willing to work – and work hard.

But right now, an awful lot of people feel there is less and less respect for the work they do.

And less respect for them, period.

‘Some of you are frustrated – even furious. And you know what? You’re right’ – Clinton makes a sobering point about the economy.
‘Some of you are frustrated – even furious. And you know what? You’re right’ – Clinton makes a sobering point about the economy. Photograph: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

Clinton nods at history

The crowd like this part with extreme prejudice, especially her acknowledgement of “the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for President”:

I will be a President for Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.

For the struggling, the striving and the successful.

For those who vote for me and those who don’t.

For all Americans.

Tonight, we’ve reached a milestone in our nation’s march toward a more perfect union: the first time that a major party has nominated a woman for President.

Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come.

Happy for grandmothers and little girls and everyone in between. Happy for boys and men, too – because when any barrier falls in America, for anyone, it clears the way for everyone. When there are no ceilings, the sky’s the limit.

So let’s keep going, until every one of the 161 million women and girls across America has the opportunity she deserves.

Clinton describes young and vulnerable lives in which she has become involved:

Over the last three days, you’ve seen some of the people who’ve inspired me.

People who let me into their lives, and became a part of mine.

People like Ryan Moore and Lauren Manning.

They told their stories Tuesday night.

I first met Ryan as a seven-year old.

He was wearing a full body brace that must have weighed forty pounds.

Children like Ryan kept me going when our plan for universal health care failed…and kept me working with leaders of both parties to help create the Children’s Health Insurance Program that covers 8 million kids every year.

Lauren was gravely injured on 9/11. It was the thought of her, and Debbie St. John, and John Dolan and Joe Sweeney, and all the victims and survivors, that kept me working as hard as I could in the Senate on behalf of 9/11 families, and our first responders who got sick from their time at Ground Zero.

I was still thinking of Lauren, Debbie and all the others ten years later in the White House Situation Room when President Obama made the courageous decision that finally brought Osama bin Laden to justice.

In this campaign, I’ve met so many people who motivate me to keep fighting for change.

And, with your help, I will carry all of your voices and stories with me to the White House.

At the end of that section, somebody in California tried to start a chant, but it blended to the big cheer at that last line.

The crowd now is rapt, quiet, listening to Clinton describe her early social work. Is she making her story new? People are listening closely anyway:

I went to work for the Children’s Defense Fund, going door-to-door in New Bedford, Massachusetts on behalf of children with disabilities who were denied the chance to go to school.

I remember meeting a young girl in a wheelchair on the small back porch of her house.

She told me how badly she wanted to go to school – it just didn’t seem possible.

And I couldn’t stop thinking of my mother and what she went through as a child.

It became clear to me that simply caring is not enough.

To drive real progress, you have to change both hearts and laws.

You need both understanding and action.

So we gathered facts. We built a coalition. And our work helped convince Congress to ensure access to education for all students with disabilities.

It’s a big idea, isn’t it?

Every kid with a disability has the right to go to school.

But how do you make an idea like that real? You do it step-by-step, year-by-year… sometimes even door-by-door.

And my heart just swelled when I saw Anastasia Somoza on this stage, representing millions of young people who – because of those changes to our laws – are able to get an education.

It’s true... I sweat the details of policy – whether we’re talking about the exact level of lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, the number of mental health facilities in Iowa, or the cost of your prescription drugs.

Because it’s not just a detail if it’s your kid - if it’s your family.

It’s a big deal. And it should be a big deal to your president, too.

Bracing cheer.

A delegate cries as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton makes a passionate speech.
A delegate cries as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton makes a passionate speech. Photograph: Charles Mostoller/Reuters

Updated

Clinton continues the narration of her biography, invoking her Methodist faith:

And he did. My mother, Dorothy, was abandoned by her parents as a young girl. She ended up on her own at 14, working as a house maid.

She was saved by the kindness of others.

Her first grade teacher saw she had nothing to eat at lunch, and brought extra food to share.

The lesson she passed on to me years later stuck with me:

No one gets through life alone.

We have to look out for each other and lift each other up.

She made sure I learned the words of our Methodist faith:

“Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.”

Applause.

Clinton: 'no one had their name on big buildings'

Clinton:

The family I’m from . . . well, no one had their name on big buildings.

My family were builders of a different kind.

Builders in the way most American families are.

They used whatever tools they had – whatever God gave them – and whatever life in America provided – and built better lives and better futures for their kids.

My grandfather worked in the same Scranton lace mill for 50 years.

Scranton! holler! And Pennsylvania does.

Because he believed that if he gave everything he had, his children would have a better life than he did.

And he was right.

My dad, Hugh, made it to college. He played football at Penn State and enlisted in the Navy after Pearl Harbor.

When the war was over he started his own small business, printing fabric for draperies.

I remember watching him stand for hours over silk screens.

He wanted to give my brothers and me opportunities he never had.

The protests have died down, the boos, the interjections.

And exactly zero people appear to have acted on a rumor of a walkout. It’s packed.

Clinton:

Now, sometimes the people at this podium are new to the national stage.

As you know, I’m not one of those people.

I’ve been your First Lady. Served 8 years as a Senator from the great State of New York.

I ran for President and lost.

Then I represented all of you as Secretary of State.

But my job titles only tell you what I’ve done.

They don’t tell you why.

The truth is, through all these years of public service, the “service” part has always come easier to me than the “public” part.

I get it that some people just don’t know what to make of me.

So let me tell you.

Clinton: 'I accept your nomination'

And so it is with humility. . . determination . . . and boundless confidence in America’s promise… that I accept your nomination for President of the United!

The whole room returns to the exuberant clapping and cheering that was happening when she first came out.

This part inspires a great roar and a Hillary! chant: “Love trumps hate.”

A country where the economy works for everyone, not just those at the top.

Where you can get a good job and send your kids to a good school, no matter what zip code you live in.

A country where all our children can dream, and those dreams are within reach.

Where families are strong… communities are safe…

And yes, love trumps hate.

And here is probably the only time that mention of Clinton’s 1996 book has been giddily applauded by thousands of people:

Clinton:

20 years ago I wrote a book called “It Takes a Village.” A lot of people looked at the title and asked, what the heck do you mean by that?

This is what I mean.

None of us can raise a family, build a business, heal a community or lift a country totally alone.

America needs every one of us to lend our energy, our talents, our ambition to making our nation better and stronger.

I believe that with all my heart.

That’s why “Stronger Together” is not just a lesson from our history.

It’s not just a slogan for our campaign.

It’s a guiding principle for the country we’ve always been and the future we’re going to build.

Clinton: 'we'll fix it together'

Those were actually Donald Trump’s words in Cleveland.

And they should set off alarm bells for all of us.

Really?

I alone can fix it?

Isn’t he forgetting?

Troops on the front lines.

Police officers and fire fighters who run toward danger.

Doctors and nurses who care for us.

Teachers who change lives.

Entrepreneurs who see possibilities in every problem.Mothers who lost children to violence and are building a movement to keep other kids safe.

He’s forgetting every last one of us.

Americans don’t say: “I alone can fix it.”

We say: “We’ll fix it together.”

Clinton on stage in front of the huge crowd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Clinton on stage in front of the huge crowd at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

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Clinton:

There’s a lot of work to do.

Too many people haven’t had a pay raise since the crash.

There’s too much inequality.

Too little social mobility.

Too much paralysis in Washington.

Too many threats at home and abroad.

But just look at the strengths we bring to meet these challenges.

We have the most dynamic and diverse people in the world.

We have the most tolerant and generous young people we’ve ever had.

We have the most powerful military.

The most innovative entrepreneurs.

The most enduring values.Freedom and equality, justice and opportunity.

We should be so proud that these words are associated with us.

Here a Hillary Hillary! Hillary! chant breaks out to drown out some sour grapes members of the audience.

Clinton keeps talking:

That when people hear those words – they hear… America.

So don’t let anyone tell you that our country is weak.

We’re not.

Don’t let anyone tell you we don’t have what it takes.

We do.

And most of all, don’t believe anyone who says: “I alone can fix it.”

Clinton:

Now we are clear-eyed about what our country is up against.

But we are not afraid.

We will rise to the challenge, just as we always have.

We will not build a wall.

Instead, we will build an economy where everyone who wants a good paying job can get one.

[Applause]

And we’ll build a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are already contributing to our economy!

We will not ban a religion.

We will work with all Americans and our allies to fight terrorism.

Clinton: 'only thing we have to fear is fear itself'

Clinton:

Well, a great Democratic President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, came up with the perfect rebuke to Trump more than eighty years ago, during a much more perilous time.

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

The crowd says the line aloud and then applauds the moment, and the sentiment.

Clinton now hits Trump:

Our country’s motto is e pluribus unum: out of many, we are one.

Will we stay true to that motto?

Well, we heard Donald Trump’s answer last week at his convention.

He wants to divide us - from the rest of the world, and from each other.

He’s betting that the perils of today’s world will blind us to its unlimited promise.

He’s taken the Republican Party a long way...

from “Morning in America” to “Midnight in America.”

He wants us to fear the future and fear each other.

Clinton: 'moment of reckoning'

Clinton holds up the founding fathers as a model of people who disagreed but found a way to compromise.

“Our founders embraced the enduring truth that we are stronger together.”

Cheers.

“Now, America is once again at a moment of reckoning. Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart...

Clinton delivers her speech, referencing the founding fathers.
Clinton delivers her speech, referencing the founding fathers. Photograph: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

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Clinton says that unifying is the “only way we can turn our progressive plan into reality.”

She refers to the Democratic platform joined by Sanders:

We wrote it together. Now let’s go out and make it happen together.”

But when the clapping dies down, there is yelling again. Someone up there, high up and out of view, is very angry.

Clinton: 'I want to thank Bernie Sanders'

Clinton:

“I want to thank Bernie Sanders.”

That’s applauded. By everyone... and then a Bernie! chant kind of starts, but Clinton talks through it.

Washington did not join that chant. They are spent, it seems.

“He put economic and social justice issues front and center where they belong,” Clinton says.

“I’ve heard you. Your cause is our cause.”

Clinton reminds the crowd they’ve heard from Joe Biden, and from Michelle Obama, and from Barack Obama.

“And for those of you out there who are just getting to know Tim Kaine, you will soon understand why the people of Virginia keep promoting him. ... He will make our whole country proud.”

Clinton approaches the lectern. There are a million flags in the crowd. We get through almost the whole song with clapping. Then the song is turned off and there’s still clapping. “Hillary, Hillary Hillary!” the chant.

With all the flags it really feels like a convention. Bet this looks cool in black-and-white.

CLinton:

“Thank you for the great convention that we’ve had. And Chelsea thank you. I am so proud to be your mother. I am so proud of the woman you’ve become. Thank you for bringing Mark into our family... and Bill, that conversation we started in a law library 45 years ago...”

But there are a few protesters in the high rise nosebleed area, and a Hillary Hillary! chant goes up.

But a loud guy gets out a “boo!” Boo!”

He’s almost managing to interrupt her.

She says: “Thank you. What a remarkable week it’s been.” And there are cheers.

“We heard the man from Hope, Bill Clinton, and the man of Hope, Barack Obama.”

The Democratic presidential nominee takes to the stage.
The Democratic presidential nominee takes to the stage. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
The convention center crowd embrace their nominee.
The convention center crowd embrace their nominee. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters
Chelsea Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton applaud Hillary.
Chelsea Clinton and former US President Bill Clinton applaud Hillary. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Photographers capture shots from close range as the speech begins.
Photographers capture shots from close range as the speech begins. Photograph: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

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Chelsea Clinton is back out.

The crowd is on its feet already. There are a million flags.

Here’s Hillary Clinton. (They play Platten’s Fight Song).

Big hug for Chelsea from Hillary. They hold each other a bit. And Clinton turns to the crowd. Who are cheering continuously, warving flags, cheering. Except for Washington.

But even Texas is onboard. Well there are some California holdouts.

At the refrain, “This is y fight song,” the room wells to a previously untouched apex of volume. Like, it’s loud.

Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton embrace.
Hillary Clinton and her daughter Chelsea Clinton embrace. Photograph: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock

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Here’s the video the delegates are still watching:

Could Clinton encounter some hecklers? There are counter-chants planned:

While we still have time before Clinton comes out, here’s a clip of the Roar moment:

Here’s footage of the aftermath of the September 11 attacks.

“President Bush looked at me and he said, ‘what do you need.’ And I said we need $20bn and Chuck Schumer said we need $20bn, and we got it.”

Here’s footage now of the 1995 conference on women in Beijing. Of her delivering the much-repeated line this week: “women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.”

The video is a biopic. It tells the story of Clinton’s mother, Dorothy Rodham. The video switches from Freeman’s narration to Clinton herself, at a kitchen table, talking about her life.

Now here’s Bill Clinton. “I remember watching her in class, and I just thought she was fascinating.”

We heard that side of the story on Tuesday. But now we get Hillary’s side:

I said to the person I was with, who is that. And she said that’s Bill Clinton, he’s from Arkansas and that’s all he ever talks about. And right after that I heard him say, ‘we grow the biggest watermelons in the world.’

The video, which is nominated narrated by who else, Morgan Freeman, begins with testimony by the president.

“She’s got this wonderful infectious that carries quite far,” he says. “Sometimes it surprises you.”

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Clinton closes: “This November, I’m voting for a woman who’s a role model as a mother and an advocate... the progressive who will protect our planet from climate change, and our communities from gun violence.. who knows that women’s rights are human rights. And who knows that LGBT rights are human rights... I’m voting for a fighter who never ever gives up and who believes that we can always do better when we come together.

She makes me proud every single day.

And Mom – Grandma would be so, so proud of you tonight.

[big applause]

And to everyone watching tonight, I know with all my eart that my mother will make us proud as our next president. This is the story of my mother Hillary Clinton.

That’s an introduction for a video.

Chelsea Clinton:

“There’s something else my mother taught me: Public service is about service.”

...

“There have also been low points, like summer of 1994” when she lost the fight for health care legislation.

“My mother – she was amazing. She took a little time to replenish her spirits. Family movie nights definitely helped. Dad, as all of you now know, liked Police Academy my mom and I loved Pride and Prejudice. And then she got right back to work.

“People ask me all the time, how does she do it? How does she keep going? Here’s how. It’s because she never ever forgets who she’s fighting for.”

Chelsea Clinton is speaking as we’ve not heard her before. It’s a very personal speech in which she talks about the emotional support her parents gave her growing up. How they listened to her and respected her opinion.

“That feeling – being valued and loved – that’s someting my mom wants for every child. It is the calling of her life.”

It’s an impressive speech. Her poise is perfect. Her thoughtfulness is manifest.

Clinton says she’s speaking as a proud Democrat, mother and especially daughter.

She describes scenes between her own daughter, Charlotte, and her mother.

“Charlotte loves Elmo, blueberry and Facetime-ing grandma,” Chelsea says.

Aidan is only 5-1/2 weeks old. “We think he’s just about the cutest baby in the world.”

“My wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother.”

She says her earliest memory is her mother reading her Goodnight Moon.

“Regardless of what happened in my life, she was always, always there for me.”

Katy Perry killed our Internet, as she slayed the crowd with her performance of her hit song Roar.

She’s gone now, and it’s Chelsea Clinton, who was applauded uproariously when she came on.

Perry: 'use your voice'

Perry starts with a speech:

Both of my parents are pastors and staunch Republicans... I didn’t finish high school, and unfortunately I don’t have a formal education. But I have an open mind - and a voice.

She asks people to use their voices:

“You’ll have as much say as any billionaire. Or you can just cancel out your weird cousin’s voice if you like.

She says she’s going to vote for Hillary Clinton. She says she has saved some “HRC” voicemails. She has an HRC wardrobe. She asks people to go to HillaryClinton.com.

“And maybe I’ll let you borrow one of my outfits.”

She sings Rise.

Katy Perry is next

Now the crowd is advised about a card stunt they’re all supposed to do. Each card is assigned to each specific seat. Audience leaders will hold up signs that say “ready card stunt.”

The stage is being arranged for Katy Perry, by the way.

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Becerra comes to a finish:

“There’s a saying in Spanish,” Becerra says. “Dime con quien andas y te dire quien eres – Tell me with whom you walk and I’ll tell you who you are. Hillary Clinton has walked with us all her life. ... the question is, Are we going to walk with her? Are we going to fight for a nation where love trumps hate?

He’s cheered fulsomely, but nothing close to Reverend Barber.

Up now: Representative Xavier Becerra of California. He’s chairman of the House Democratic caucus and longtime representative of downtown Los Angeles.

He’s talking about his parents’ hard work. “My parents didn’t go to college. But they encouraged us...”

He has a section attacking Trump as out of touch:

At every stage in his life, Donald Trump has exploited America’s laws to put himself first. He uses lawsuits the way my mom uses coupons to drive down prices. He uses bankruptcies – six of them – like a wealthy man’s get-out-of-jail-free card. I can’t tell you if this man has ever had a callous on his hands. Does he know the price of a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread? And why won’t he release his tax returns? What is he hiding? Why won’t he show the American people who he is?

Fun times last night.

Brown rejects Trump’s narrative of widespread national decay:

Donald Trump thinks people in states like mine will choose his counterfeit campaign... he is wrong.”

We reject that term Rust Belt...

“That’s why Hillary Clinton will win Ohio. Because as everyone in this great hall knows, as Ohio goes, so goes the nation.

Then Brown mentions Sanders, but the restive factions don’t react this time:

When our longtime friend Bernie Sanders moved to nominate Hillary Clinton to victory...

Brown says “My granddaughters will see themselves in the face of president Hillary Rodham Clinton.” And he’s done.

Next up is senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio. He says his suit is made in Ohio, unlike Trump suits made in Mexico:

Donald Trump’s hat may be stamped with ‘Make America Great Again,’ but his ties are stamped “Made in China.”

Brown says he’s never seen Donald Trump in his years of trying to craft trade policy to boost workers. “All I’ve seen him do is run his mouth and line his pockets.”

Brown says “Donald Trump only looks out for Donald Trump no matter who he steps on along the way.”

This section, by the way, is “supporting our military.”

The crowd remains so restive after the appearance of Allen and friends that they chant and continue to interrupt as the next speaker, Florent Groberg, a retired army captain and medal of honor recipient, describes grabbing a suicide bomber and throwing him, losing part of his leg - and then names four who died – the protesters, a small but audible pocket, chant as he recites the names, even as they are shushed.

Groberg seems a little miffed at the treatment.

They’re not going to beat up on the next speaker though, Chloe Grace Moretz, a self-described millennial who must be an actress – Googled it yes that’s true. She’s very sweet and unboo-able.

Updated

General Allen delivers fierce endorsement over persistent protests

Now retired four-star general John Allen comes out, joined by enough brass to decorate a Trump apartment.

And we find out why all those flags have been passed out to the crowd. They are swaying now.

Allen call it a consequential election. “We must choose hope. Every American in uniform...”

But he’s interrupted by a USA! USA! chant.

Where are the people in the Washington delegation who interrupted Panetta with anti-war chants yesterday?

Oh, that’s why they’re chanting USA! USA! To interrupt the anti-war chants.

It was kind of risky to roll out so many military types in front of the Bernie-or busters. But Allen keeps countrol – and says “we are the greatest country on this planet – and “We stand before you tonight to endorse Hillary Clinton for president... we trust in her judgment, we believe in her vision.”

We’re looking at the Washington delegation, and the California delegation, and they have not been clapping.

Allen says Clinton will be “exactly the kind of commander-in-chief America needs. “With her as commander in chief America will continue to lead... we will oppose and resist tyranny and we will defeat evil. America will defeat Isis and protect the homeland. America will honor our treaty obligations...”

The pacifists are piping up again. But watching Allen, this imaginably is effective on TV – to a wavering middle that wants military might – he looks somewhat fierce, bellicose, determined, hawkish.

“The American military will continue to be the shining example of America at our very best.”

This is politics before our eyes though. A big disagreement in this room about American military might. Allen:

Our international relations will not be reduced to a business transaction. I also know that our armed forces will not become an instrument of torture. ... with Hilary Clinton as our commander in chief the United States will continue to be that indispensable, transformation power...

Listen closely: We are with you, America will not abandon you. To those acting against peace... we will oppose you. And to our enemies, we will pursue you as only America can, you will fear us, and to Isis and others, we will defeat you.

He’s giving them the full pissed-off general treatment. And he stabs the air with a finger and the speech ends. Most people clap and cheer.

But they must have gotten just a bit more nervous about what the reception will be like for Clinton.

Updated

Father of fallen Muslim soldier offers Trump copy of constitution

Now Khan is describing the family’s “undivided loyalty to the country” – and then a remarkable scene develops that will culminate with Khan, standing next to his veiled wife, pulling a constitution out of his pocket and offering it to Trump to borrow.

We haven’t narrated crowd reaction throughout the following, but we’d summarize it as “cheering throughout except when Trump is mentioned in which case boos.”

Khan recalls that Clinton called his son “the best of America.”

If it was up to Donald Trump he never would have been in America. Donald Trump consistently smears the character of Muslims. He disrespects other minorities, woman, judges, even his own party leadership. HE vows to build walls and ban us from this country.

Donald Trump, you’re asking Americans to trust us with our future. Let me ask you, have you even read the United States constitution.

I will-- I will gladly lend you my copy. In this document, look for the words liberty, and equal protection of law. Have you ever been to Arlington cemetery. Go and look at the graves... you will see all faiths, genders and ethnicities You have sacrificed nothing, and no one. We cannot solve our problems by building walls and sowing division. We are stronger together. We will keep getting stronger when Hillary Clinton becomes our president.

In conclusion I ask every patriot American, all Muslim immigrants, and all immigrants, do not take this election lightly. This is a historic election. And I request to honor the sacrifice of my son. And on election day, vote for the leader, Hillary Clinton, not the divider.

Abdul-Jabbar introduces a video in which Clinton tells the story of Humayun SM Khan, an army soldier who died in a car bombing in Iraq..

Now out stop Khizr Khan, the soldier’s father, and his wife, unintroduced.

Khan says they stand as parents of Khan “and as patriotic American Muslims.” They are fervently applauded.

This don’t look like Cleveland.

Updated

Abdul-Jabbar: 'I'm Michael Jordan'

Now here is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to tell the story of a Muslim soldier killed in Afghanistan and awarded a Bronze star and Purple heart.

“I’m Michael Jordan,” he jokes.

“I said that because I don’t think that Donald Trump could tell the difference.”

Updated

Preach.

Reverend Barber has them really going. We must be getting closer to primetime. But that doesn’t capture what he manages to do here. He just turned the switch on, in an unlikely way – with an extended, way extended, analogy about the national heart and the need to defibrillate it.

At the end, he has a call and response going with the entire house, which basically has become his church.

“The heart of our democracy is on the line this November and beyond,” he says. “They tell me that when the heart is in danger, somebody has to call an emergency code for somebody to bring an emergency defibrillator...

“We are called like our foremothers and fathers to be the moral defibrillator of our time. We must shock thi nation with the power of love. We must shock this nation with the power of mercy... We cannot give up on the heart of our democracy. Not now, not ever.

“Is there a heart in this house?

“Is there a heart in America?

“A heart for the poor?

“A heat for the vulnerable

“Stand up!”

They stand up. He hits them with an “Hallelujah!” and the rafters ring with the word.

We’ve just seen a new campaign video stronger then most. It uses a mashup of scenes of bullies from different movies – Christmas Story, Back to the Future, Karate Kid, Weird Science – interspersed with clips of Trump saying exactly what the bullies in the movie said. It’s rather uncanny.

It culminates in a scene in which a girl at a rally tells Clinton that she wishes people would be nicer. Clinton asks her to tell her more about that. She says she has asthma and people make fun of her. Clinton says we have to stand up to bullies and can’t let someone bully his way to the White House.

How did Ted Cruz, the movie maniac, not come up with that?

Thematic Transition Alert: up next is Stronger Together: An Inclusive America. But first we hear a cover of Curtis Mayfield’s People Get Ready:

People get ready, there’s a train comin’
You don’t need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith to hear the diesels hummin’
You don’t need no ticket you just thank the lord

Speaking in this next section will be:


Remarks
Reverend William Barber
Introduction of Film
Kareem Abdul-Jabaar
Remarks
Khizr Khan
Khizr Khan’s son, Humayun S. M. Khan was a University of Virginia graduate and enlisted in the U.S. Army. Khan was one of 14 American Muslims who died serving the United States in the ten years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Wayne Walker is mother to fallen officer Moses Walker, a 19-year veteran of the Philadelphia police force killed in 2012. She describes finding presents he kept wrapped to give out to children who had none.

Wayne and Barbara Owens describe the life of their son, Derek Owens, of the Cleveland police force. She says he has left a legacy of love and “we don’t want their sacrifice to ever be forgotten.

Now Jennifer Loudon, wife of Thor Soderberg of the Chicago police force. She tells the story of her husband buying a belt for a boy accused of stealing one. “When I lost Thor I never knew it was possible to lose so much... and I know in light of recent events, some of us lost faith. But I want every American to remember Moses, Derek, Thor and all the officers who risk their lives to protect us.

She asks for community and peace.

Another standing ovation, and the quartet leaves the stage. No mention of Hillary Clinton there.

Thematic Transition Alert. Off we go now under the banner of Stronger Together: Tribute to Fallen Law Enforcement Officers

Dallas sheriff Lupe Valdez comes out. She says “it’s been a tough time” with officers losing lives to violence. “Violence is not the answer,” she says, and neither is yelling and screaming. “We have to start listening to each other.”

She says she was in a restaurant earlier this month with fellow cops and no fewer than four tables offered to pay for her meal. “Please help me, in honor of all fallen American officers, with a moment of silence.”

The arena falls silent.

Valdez introduces family members of officers killed on duty: Jennifer Loudon, Wayne Walker, Wayne Owens, Barbara Owens.

They walk out, somberly, and are given a standing ovation, a slow, earnest standing ovation that blends into a cheer, and then back to an ovation that sounds like steady rain.

Here’s Wayne Walker to speak.

Updated

For your information, we are making another theme transition. This next section is called Stronger Together: Americans for Hillary.

This section features two Republicans who are, for the first time this year, saying goodbye to all that.
First is Doug Elmets, a former Reagan administration official, who gets a cheer for saying “Donald Trump, you’re no Ronald Reagan.

“This year, I will vote for a Democrat for the first time,” he says. “For my fellow Republicans, if you believe.. that loyalty to country is more important than loyalty to party... I ask you, join me in voting for Hillary Clinton as president of the United States.”

Next is Jennifer Pierotti Lim, director of health policy at the US Chamber of Commerce and co-founder of Republican Women for Hillary. She says:

“Trump’s loathsome comments about women and our appearances are too many to repeat and too crass to repeat.

She says that Trump can discount the accomplishment of women but this November he can’t avoid women’s votes.

Updated

'You're so vain, I bet you think this speech is about you'

Wolf closes. He’s applauded, distractedly. Up next is former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm, who’s popular with the Michigan delegation.

She is talking about what Obama did for the auto industry. “He saved the American auto industry. That renewed auto industry paid America back in full. And that is what we can do together.”

I know there are Democrats and Republicans all across this country who want to create jobs in America,... because we are not in this alone... one candidate gets that, and one candidate, as Joe Biden said last night, doesn’t have a clue.

Some people are worried, I get that. But the answer is not to tear our country down. It is to build our country up...

Hillary Clinton gets it.

Granholm is a more dynamic speaker and has a few more people tuning in... and then she scores real applause, with a pretty daring rhetorical venture, calling on Carly Simon:

Donald, Donald, you’re so vain. You probably think this speech is about you. We have got to stop Donald Trump!

By the end of it she has them shouting:

Together!

Together!

Together!

First electricity in the room for awhile.

Here now is the Pennsylvania governor, Tom Wolf.

At their morning presser, the Clinton camp was making a big deal about Wolf’s presence here, which they contrasted with John Kasich’s non-presence at the Cleveland convention last week.

Wolf is applauded but then a lot of the crowd goes back to talking as he speaks. It appears that we’re in last-night-let’s-party mode.

Wolf describes his family business, a building materials company.

“When we contracted with a vendor, we paid them,” Wolf says. “Donald Trump? He stiffed hundreds of small businesses, from plumbers and painters, ruining their companies as he sought to enrich himself.”

Clinton to declare 'moment of reckoning'

The Clinton campaign has released extracts of her speech. “America is once again at a moment of reckoning,” she plans to say:

Powerful forces are threatening to pull us apart. Bonds of trust and respect are fraying. And just as with our founders there are no guarantees. It’s truly is up to us. We have to decide whether we’re going to work together so we can all rise together.

Here are the additional extracts provided by the campaign:

We are clear-eyed about what our country is up against. But we are not afraid. We will rise to the challenge, just as we always have.

So I want to tell you tonight how we’re going to empower all Americans to live better lives. My primary mission as President will be to create more opportunity and more good jobs with rising wages right here in the United States. From my first day in office to my last. Especially in places that for too long have been left out and left behind. From our inner cities to our small towns, Indian Country to Coal Country. From the industrial Midwest to the Mississippi Delta to the Rio Grande Valley.

The choice we face is just as stark when it comes to our national security. Anyone reading the news can see the threats and turbulence we face. From Baghdad and Kabul, to Nice and Paris and Brussels, to San Bernardino and Orlando, we’re dealing with determined enemies that must be defeated. No wonder people are anxious and looking for reassurance -- looking for steady leadership.

Every generation of Americans has come together to make our country freer, fairer, and stronger. None of us can do it alone. That’s why we are stronger together.”

It is loud back there!

Now here is Danson and Mary Steenburgen, an actress and old friend of Clinton.

“If she is knocked down seven times she’ll get up eight,” Steenburgen says, which makes no sense.

They introduce five people who will talk about their work to find a forward course in the economy, and how Clinton’s policy initiatives have helped.

Henrietta Ivey leads the Fight for $15 in Michigan. She’s warmly applauded.

Dave Wills teaches middle school in North Carolina and has student debt – he writes a $300 check every month, he says. He’s speaking in support of Clinton’s efforts at student debt relief.

Meanwhile we’ve heard from John Hickenlooper, the Colorado governor who was another contender for Clinton running mate.

The most memorable part of his speech was an attack on Trump:

Now I’ve never hosted a reality TV show, but I know that the true mark of a successful businessman is not the number of times you say, ‘You’re fired’; it’s the number of times you say, ‘You’re hired’. That’s right, I’m a business guy. But unlike that other candidate’s businesses, my business didn’t go bankrupt six times.

Politics divides 'Cheers' family

Ted Danson, the actor who played retired Red Sox pitched turned tavernmaster Sam on Cheers, the sitcom that captured that magic and hilarity of spending every night at the bar, is about to take the stage in Philadelphia.

That’s what Sam’s up to. Waitress Carla, Rhea Perlman, was wedded to Danny Devito, a big Sanders guy.

But you’ll remember, as Ben Jacobs does, that John Ratzenberger appeared at the Republican convention last week, to address the Pennsylvania delegation.

Everybody knows your name, and thinks your politics stink.

[This post has been updated to fix an inexplicable Cheers messup.]

Updated

Here’s the upcoming speakers list, which includes actor Ted Danson, so that you may plan your next half hour or so:

Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper

Remarks
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper
Introduction of Speakers
Ted Danson & Mary Steenburgen
Remarks
Henrietta Ivey
Henrietta is a home care worker Hillary met while campaigning in Michigan who is helping to lead the Fight for $15.
Remarks
Dave Wills
Dave is an 8th grade social studies teacher in Guilford County, NC and has over $35,000 in student debt.
Remarks
Beth Mathias
Beth works two jobs and her husband works the nightshift at a factory in Ohio. Hillary met Beth at a roundtable in Marion.
Remarks
Jensen Walcott & Jake Reed
Jensen was fired from her job at a pizza restaurant for asking her boss why she was paid 25 cents less than her male co-worker and friend, Jake. After Jensen and Jake’s story came to light, Hillary tweeted “Good for you, Jensen. Every woman deserves equal pay, no matter what her age. Keep up the hard work—and courage!”

We’ve entered a new portion of the evening, crossed a thematic threshold. This part is titled, Stronger Together: An Economy That Works For All.

Up first is Representative Tim Ryan from Ohio, who’s trying to persuade Ohio voters that Trump is a bad idea.

“He’s been stabbing working people in the back for years... and now he says he’s going to bring our jobs back. Hey Ohio, we ain’t buying it!”

Ryan points out that Trump manufactures products overseas and not in Ohio towns, a bunch of which Ryan names, plus Pittsburgh.

“We’ll end up holding the bag, again,” if we elect Trump, Ryan says.

“Donald Trump is not on our side. But you know who is? Hillary Clinton.”

As Pelosi continues, somewhat flatly – the crowd is talking, a lot, as she speaks – here’s Dan’s scout’s guide to the party talent we’ve seen this week, and how they performed:

Here now is House minority leader Nancy Pelosi. She gets an introductory video.

And after a few paragraphs she seems to encounter a teleprompter malfunction, or a Pelosi malfunction. Not sure what happened there. It looks for some reason like she had trouble seeing the prompter.

She’s says the Democratic gathering is “a contrast with the narrow and restricted club that met in convention in Cleveland last week.”

She says these lines accurately from the prompter: “not to trumpet darkness, but to fight a way for forward for our country,” but then she adds a phrase, “a bright light forward,” and stumbles forward into “We come here conscious that we are approaching a milestone...”

Now she’s back on track though.

Cuomo gets to Clinton. He says that she is the person to make the goal of E pluribus unum a reality.

Cuomo notes that he worked in the Bill Clinton administration (as housing secretary) and has seen Clinton in the good times and bad times.

“And my friends, she won’t she shatter the glass ceiling for my daughters and your daughters... she will unify, not divide this nation, she will move us forward together as one.”

He closes with an allusion to his father’s vaunted 1984 keynote speech at the Democratic national convention, credited with focusing the progressive agenda.

He was the keynote speaker for this nation’s better angels, and he was beautiful.

Here’s the speech:

As governor Cuomo continues not to talk about Clinton, we want to get in this selfie of the Democratic women senators:

We have a hard copy of Cuomo’s prepared remarks here. The speech is longer than most. One point five stapled pages.

On Trump:

“I want to know what good old days they want to take us back too.”

Before the civil rights act? Pre-minimum wage? Pre-Roe v Wade?
“Well we have a different vision. We’re not going back. We’re moving forward.”

The words aren’t much different from what we’ve heard but Cuomo shows how to command an audience, he has them cheering and clapping and tuned in, except for some people behind us in the seats beneath the skybox bar and grill - the food is going down and the drink is flowing here in the WFC.

Cuomo says the “strongest four-letter word is not hate, but love.” Hard to argue with that, and the crowd does not but applauds.

He’s been speaking for quite a few minutes. Is he going to mention Clinton at all? Scanning ahead in his prepared remarks, we see one paragraph, right at the end.

Cuomo:

The Trump campaign is marketing a great distraction, using people’s fear and anxiety to drive his ratings. Their message comes down to this: be afraid of people who are different.

“It’s not right, it’s divisive, it’s delusional and we must expose the truth.

Republicans are suffering from short-term memory loss. Unless Republicans are all Native Americans, then they are immigrants too.

Here’s New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who didn’t run for president this year. “Is this a great convention or what!?” he says. Again, the New York delegation is doing more than its share to reflect the sense of entertaining good times back to the onstage speakers trying to exude / inspire that.

Updated

Here’s a video with former council of economic advisers chair Austan Goolsbee and comedian Cameron Esposito. They’re making a point about Trump’s tax returns, and the elusive nature of his wealth.

“Donald likes to claim that he’s worth $10bn, but just about everybody who looks into that thinks there’s a problem with his math,” Goolsbee says.

Goolsbee also suggests that Trump’s taxes may contain all manner of sketchy shenanigans such as writing off golf trips to Scotland or just not making much money.

Hey, look down there, it’s Sheila E and family.

It took them a long time to set up all those cymbals and congas and bongos. What do they have for a base down there, can anyone see? But the band starts and it’s worth the wait. Is the crowd dancing? Some of those New York delegates appear to be fans. Damn Sheila E can play a trap set, not that the entire world didn’t know that already, but just for those of you who haven’t seen her live...

Here’s Representative Joaquin Castro of Texas, brother of Julián, the housing secretary said to have made Clinton’s running mate shortlist.

“In 1922,” Castro begins, “my grandmother came to Texas from Mexico. She wasn’t a rapist or a murderer. She was a 6-year-old orphan.”

Castro says that “prosperity is not a zero-sum game. We can create millions of new jobs and still raise the minimum wage...Do you know how many plans Donald Trump has to accomplish these things? Zero!”

While Donald Trump is talking about building walls, Hillary Clinton is working to build an infrastructure of opportunity.

The crowd’s not super-attentive. The applause lines aren’t really landing. In fact Castro keeps pausing for applause and then there isn’t applause. There he’s done. It wasn’t a disaster, the crowd just doesn’t feel like hearing a straightforward political speech right now from a congressman they may never have heard of.

It does underscore the intensely personal and dramatic quality of the stories we’ve heard today and tonight – and this whole week – that have really captured the crowd, outside of the big primetime star appearances. War heroes, courageous mothers who have lost children to police violence or terrorism, a sex trafficking victim, immigrant children living in fear – the incredible life stories that have crossed the stage.

Castro.
Castro. Photograph: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Now here’s Hillary for America Latino vote director Lorella Praeli, a Peruvian-American and a DREAMer who’s now a citizen.

She tells a dramatic story:

Good evening, my name is Lorella Praeli, and I am an American. She says for 14 years she was undocumented. When she was two she was hit by a car and lost a leg. The accident galvanized her parents to head for America to pursue their dreams for her, she says. “Because this is a country that was made for people with the courage to believe in their dreams.”

Her mother, a psychologist, cleaned houses for 17 years. “It was my undocumented mother who taught me what it is to be an American,” she says.

She appeals to the crowd in Spanish to turn out in November and make some history.

Now here’s Hillary for America director of states and political engagement Marlon Marshall. He’s in charge of voter registration and local coordination. He takes the convention crowd on a tour of watch parties happening right now around the country. We go out to Colorado, to Delaware, to New York, and end in Virginia, where a star kid, Elijah Coles-Brown, 12, is holding the mic, with a crowd of Hillary backers holding signs behind him.

He’s dressed in a suit and packs about a kilometer of charisma in his four-foot-tall body. He says something about making Hillary Clinton president. He’s excited and the crowd cheers him loudly.

More on Bernie’s firefly army:

Warren: Clinton is 'battle-tested'

Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts gets big applause. She

“Trump is willing to step on anyone who gets in his way. Hillary Clinton knows how to fight back against loudmouth bullies... she doesn’t whine, she doesn’t run to Twitter... That’s who Hillary is. She’s battle-tested and she’s the fighter working families need in the White House.”

Barbara Boxer of California also gets big cheers. She says when Clinton joined the senate she was not seeking the spotlight. “She was a workhorse. Humble. Steady. Ready to learn.” Boxer says that Clinton showed her true character after 9/11, consoling the city and supporting victims’ families. ... This election is about gender, it’s about an agenda, one that includes every single American, and we, the Democratic women of the senate.. stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hillary... ready to make her the next president of the United States of America!

Then they all stand together with hands held and lifted, to cheers. We’ll grab a picture of that shortly.

Democratic women senators (not all pictured).
Democratic women senators (not all pictured). Photograph: Scott Audette/Reuters

Updated

It appear all the senators will speak. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is next.

She recalls Hillary Clinton speaking about injustices suffered by women around the world at a world conference on women in 1995.

“She was... absolutely fearless as she declared that women’s rights are human rights and human rights are women’s rights.... In Beijing she broke the silence, and this November, she’ll break the glass ceiling once and for all.”

Maria Cantwell, from Washington, goes. Next is Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, in her second turn on the convention stage. She called Hillary Clinton for help getting some kids home from Haiti after the earthquake, which Clinton pulled off.

That’s Hillary, the friend who takes the call, the mom who gets it done right.

Claire McCaskill of Missouri:

Earlier this year, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, Hillary called me to check in. Not once, not twice but several times. ..

Her words gave me strength during one of the toughest tests of my life. And let me tell you she didn’t do it because I was a senator. There are thousands of people across this country who could tell you the exact same story. ...

She has the intelligence, she has the work ethic, but most importantly she has the heart to lead this country.

Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire tells a story about Clinton helping out a state company: “When you need a champion, there is no one better to have in your corners.”

Kirsten Gillibrand of New York gets a lot of cheers and also whistles: “After four decades of public service she is still fighting to make a difference.

Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin: “I entered public service to fight for health care service for all. Hillary Clinton has led that fight for decades... when I got to Congress I continued Hillary’s work. ... That’s Hillary. As president she’ll fight for healthier famlies and a fair shot for all.”

Mazie Hirono of Hawaii: “Hillary is a policymaker with an activist’s heart. ... wherever people are getting a raw deal, she’s with them, fighting to make it right.”

Democratic women senators take stage

An excited reception now for the Democratic women of the senate. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland, who put Clinton’s name in for nomination on Monday, speaks first.

Mikulski notes she was the first woman elected to the senate in her own right. And that was only 30 years ago, in 1987.

Yes, the history of the senate is that short. It’s like 4 foot 11!

Mikulski says Clinton will be “our next president,” but she needs help:

Women, put your lipstick on. Men, polish those shoes. Our shoulders are square. We’re ready to fight to put Hillary in the White House, because we know she’ll carry the torch for all of us.

Meanwhile we’ve heard from another candidate who Democrats hope will pick up a vulnerable Republican senate seat, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who lost both legs in an attack on her helicopter in Iraq. She’s running against incumbent Mark Kirk, who has opposed Trump’s candidacy in an effort not to be rejected outright by the middle:

Representative Duckworth.
Representative Duckworth. Photograph: Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Duckworth says Trump’s not fit to be commander-in-chief:

It’s a story about why this is the greatest nation on earth — a nation that so many are willing to die defending. A nation that says if you keep working hard, we won’t abandon you.

Of course, in Donald Trump’s America, if you get knocked down, you stay down.

By the way, Donald Trump, I didn’t put my life on the line to defend our democracy so you could invite Russia to interfere in it.

You are not fit to be Commander-in-Chief.

My fellow Americans: We can choose a different path.

Here is Carole King. She is going to sing You’ve Got a Friend. She wrote this song in 1971. She sounds great.

Before the last refrain, she pauses and says, “Everybody! Everybody, sing with me!”

A lot of the crowd does.

You just call out my name, and you know where ever I am

I’ll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall,

all you have to do is call and I’ll be there, yeah, yeah,

you’ve got a friend.

At the end King sings, as her backup singers massage the mantra “you’ve got a friend,” “Hillary’s got so many friends, and Bernie too, and all of us together!”

And the whole floor’s swaying and cheering.

Guardian Washington bureau chief Dan Roberts is fast with the video cam:

The number finishes. “Thank you!” King says. “We’re gonna do it, thank you!”

Here’s the Tapestry version:

Updated

Here is US senate candidate Katie McGinty, who would like to send Republican Pat Toomey packing in Pennsylvania.

McGinty is slamming Trump and Toomey. There’s a slight thespian deficiency in her presentation, but it’s hard to pinpoint. Maybe she seems like a good actor acting like a bad actor. She smiles a lot without every time achieving a total semblance of sincerity.

Uppercut.
Uppercut. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

But the Pennsylvania delegation is equipped with a lot of Kate signs – they would like that senate seat.

“Pat Toomey made his money on Wall Street, and he’s still trying to sell us the same old trickle-down. We’re not buying it!” McGinty says, and smiles, and holds it...

Updated

Scanning the crowd, a few dozen delegates are wearing glow-in-the dark fluorescent shirts, with the words “Enough is enough” on the back, in a font evoking the Bernie Sanders campaign.

They are Sanders supporters, one tells the Guardian, and they are wearing the shirts to demonstrate solidarity. It’s unclear whether they’ll protest audibly.

Clinton camp evades questions about press conference

The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple cornered Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook to ask why the candidate has not given a news conference since 4 December, 2015 – that’s 237 days ago.

He responded: “We’re working on her schedule on a rolling basis, and we’ve been really proud that she’s done quite a number of interviews. Thanks so much.

Palmieri, Abedin, Mook.
Palmieri, Abedin, Mook. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

Donald Trump’s eldest son cites a report from the wingnut conspiracy site InfoWars claiming that there’s a conspiracy to create fake unity in the convention hall by paying seat fillers.

Does the charge warrant rebuttal? We’re here, and if these people are paid, they sure are doing a good job of pretending to be enthusiastic Democrats – and they hired too many of the, judging by the bottleneck at every entry and exit to the arena as people squeeze in and out. Factcheck: dumb.

More than a candidate – a nominee.

About an hour ago the Trump camp released a “DONALD J. TRUMP STATEMENT ON AMERICA’S FUTURE.” The memo says that the Democrats are weaving a “fantasy world” of American prosperity. Democrats made the same charge against Trump last week, except they said his was a dark fantasy instead of a happy one.

Trump spends the first two paragraphs of his memo insisting on his vision of mass unemployment, terrorism, crime, etc:

At Hillary Clinton’s convention this week, Democrats have been speaking about a world that doesn’t exist. A world where America has full employment, where there’s no such thing as radical Islamic terrorism, where the border is totally secured, and where thousands of innocent Americans have not suffered from rising crime in cities like Baltimore and Chicago.

In the Democrats’ fantasy world, there is no problem with Hillary Clinton maintaining an illegal, exposed server full of classified information that could have been hacked by any foreign enemy, and in which Hillary Clinton risked prison time to delete 33,000 emails that were simply about yoga and wedding planning. In this world, there is no Hillary Clinton disaster in Syria, Libya and Egypt, ISIS doesn’t merit a mention, Iran isn’t on the path to nukes, convention stages don’t need American flags, and our great men and women of law enforcement, our police, do not need to be honored.

Updated

Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney introduces Sarah McBride, the first transgender person ever to address a national convention.

McBride speaks:

My name is Sarah McBride and I am a proud transgender American.

She says she came out as transgender four years ago, as college class president. She recalls fear, but has “seen that change is possible.” She interned at the White House. “Today I see this change in the work of the LGBT caucus and in my own job at the human rights campaign... but so much work remarks.”

She says the question in the election is whether we are a nation where we are free to love equally and openly, or one where we may love “only one way.”

“Hillary Clinton understands the urgency of our fight,” McBride says. She says Clinton will pass the equality act, defend LGBT rights and end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“I’m proud to stand here and say that I’m with her!”

LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride and co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York.
LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride and co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri echoes Tim Kaine from last night. He has a message for Republicans:

If your party is no longer coming to you, then you should be coming to us.

Former Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter tells the crowd he hopes they’ve had a great time in Philadelphia, and kind of waits for a cheer, which kind of doesn’t happen.

The crowd isn’t really focused on the stage at the moment. There’s milling, talking, lane-blocking, drinks-queue-ing, ushering, chilling and lots of journalizing going on in here. Spectating, not so much.

Here’s the schedule for the rest of the hour:

Nevada State Senator Ruben J. Kihuen

Former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter
U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver (Missouri)
Co-Chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (New York) and LGBT rights activist Sarah McBride
Civil Rights Leader Dolores Huerta
U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty (Ohio)
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
U.S. Senate Candidate Katie McGinty (Pennsylvania)
U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth (Illinois)

Representative Gwen Moore of Wisconsin gets a big cheer from her home state delegation, which chants, You go Gwen! You go Gwen!

Moore quotes Trump calling Rosie O’Donnell a “fat pig” and quotes other derogatory language Trump has applied to women.

“Too many women know where this language leads,” Moore says. “Too many women have experienced sexual violence. And I am one of them.

“..We are told to shut up. Well, my voice matters, and I will not shut up. Our voices matter, and we will not shut up.

“Everyday women make our communities better and stronger, and Hillary Clinton... has been fighting for us each and every day.”

The Wisconsin delegation cheers and chants.

The national anthem this afternoon was performed by Star Swain, whose impromptu performance of the song at the Lincoln Memorial this summer stopped every tourist within earshot in his or her tracks, drew happy applause and went viral on YouTube:

'Trump struggled to read the letters LGBTQ'

Hello from inside the Wells Fargo Center for the fourth and final evening of the Democratic national convention.

They’ve been going already for the better part of the hour, with South Carolina Democratic party chair Jamie Harrison currently speaking having just completed his speech.

Now here is Chad Griffin, president of the human rights campaign, who delivers a rousing message of LGBTQ solidarity, in defiance of Donald Trump. Griffin gets a standing, cheering O, which is pretty good for this early hour.

Griffin.
Griffin. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Griffin notes that Trump has invited voters to “ask the gays” about the support he has shown the community. “Well, since he asked, here goes,” says Griffin:

While Donald Trump threatened to destroy our rights, the Hillary Clinton I got to know as a closeted kid growing up in Arkansas... has promised to sign the Equality Act into law....

Long before Donald Trump struggled to read the letters LGBTQ off a TelePrompter last week, Hillary Clinton stood before the United Nations and boldly declared that gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights...

Griffin notes that the LGBTQ community comprises all races, walks of life, immigrants and not, all Americans.

“When you attack one of us, you are attacking all of us!” he says. Big cheers.

Updated

Video: Gabby Giffords, the former Arizona congresswoman who survived a 2011 gun attack, spoke to the third Democratic National Convention on Wednesday in Philadelphia. Giffords says Hillary Clinton will stand up to the gun lobby.

Gabby Giffords: I want to say ‘Madam President’ in January – video

Decades ago, Gretchen Lowe, was forced to leave her job as a telephone operator in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The reason?

Gretchen Lowe.
Gretchen Lowe. Photograph: Lauren Gambino for the Guardian

“I was 7 months pregnant,” said Lowe, a first-time delegate. “They would not allowed you to work anymore after that because they were afraid you might get hurt and sue the company or that they would have to be responsible for any complications. So you were shoved out the door at seven months.”

Much has changed since then, and Lowe attributes that progress to the work of leaders like Hillary Clinton. Lowe said she has followed Clinton closely since she was First Lady, and is particularly impressed by her work on behalf of women and children. With just hours to go before Clinton formally accepts the Democratic nomination, Lowe said she was already struggling to keep her eyes dry.

“I can hardly believe that finally, after waiting all these years, I get to thank someone who has worked so hard for me, for my daughters, for my granddaughters,” Lowe said. “Today I will have a chance to say ‘thank you Hillary.’”

Chris Christie email: 'Would you charge her?'

In an email from New Jersey governor Chris Christie, the Trump campaign once again rattled the saber of “lock her up!” that has become a popular chant at Donald Trump’s political rallies, asking Trump supporters whether they would consider Hillary Clinton “guilty or not guilty” of various crimes.

“You and I didn’t disqualify Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States, the facts of her life and career disqualify her,” Christie pens. “As Hillary Clinton gives her speech today at the Democrat Convention, four words come to mind . . . Guilty or Not Guilty? As a failure on the diplomatic stage – from Libya to Syria, from praising the Chinese government for buying our debt rather than encouraging American jobs, to negotiating the horrific Iran Nuclear Deal . . . . . would you consider her Guilty or Not Guilty?”

The email closes with a request for donations to Trump’s presidential campaign.

The Democratic National Committee has released a video it plans on playing during primetime at the Democratic National Convention tonight featuring the testimony of Khizr Khan, father of Army captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in action in Iraq.

Khan, was one of 14 American Muslims killed in action in the decade following the American invasion of Afghanistan and, later, Iraq.

Hillary Clinton will declare “a moment of reckoning for America” on Thursday night when she becomes the first woman to formally accept the Democratic presidential nomination, the Guardian’s Dan Roberts and Lauren Gambino report.

Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP

In a speech due to be introduced by her daughter Chelsea and after performances by Carole King and Katy Perry, the former secretary of state takes the stage in Philadelphia with the weight of world expectations on her shoulders.

Fifty-two countries have had a female head of state already and Clinton would join Britain’s second female prime minister, Theresa May, and German chancellor Angela Merkel at the top table of elected leaders were she to win the US general election in November.

But Clinton has fallen behind Donald Trump in opinion polls after a Republican convention last week that painted a dark vision of a world that only he could make safe again.

Initial division among Democrats has been overcome through barnstorming speeches from two presidents, another first lady and a vice-president, who raised the stakes for their candidate by warning that her opponent posed an unprecedented threat to American diplomacy.

“Tonight in her speech Hillary is going to stitch together each of these themes and talk about how this election is really a moment of reckoning for the voter,” Clinton’s campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters in advance of the long-awaited speech. “Are we going to succumb to some powerful forces that are tearing at our social fabric or are we going to come together to solve these problems … to build a nation that works for everyone?”

Melania Trump has posted a message explaining why her official website has been deleted after questions were raised about her claim that she graduated from university, which she did not:

The Seattle Times has apologized for being one of the many major daily newspapers to put Bill Clinton on the front page of its issue declaring Hillary Clinton to be the history-making first female presidential nominee of a major political party:

Has anyone seen former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski?

Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani has suggested the US government should put electronic monitoring bracelets on Muslims who are on the federal government’s terror watchlist.

Rudy Giuliani.
Rudy Giuliani. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images

“I would think that’s an excellent idea,” Giuliani told NJ.com. “If you’re on the terror watchlist, I should know you’re on the terror watchlist. You’re on there for a reason.”

At an “RNC at the DNC” event, Giuliani, who is currently acting as an informal adviser to Trump on terrorism and national security, said the Republican nominee could employ the same tactics used in France.

One of the attackers who killed a priest in Normandy, France, on Tuesday was wearing an electronic tag. He had reportedly been arrested and detained for 10 months after attempting to go to Syria. Upon his release, security services put an electronic tag on him and he was only allowed to leave his house between 8.30am and 12.30pm; the time frame during which time he committed the crime.

Electronic tags have been considered in various countries as a way to monitor potential terrorism suspects. A UK judge ruled last year that it was a violation of a the European Convention of Human Rights to ask a suspect to wear a tag.

Let’s assume that this is a joke.

Video: Vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine addressed Republicans during his acceptance speech at last night’s session of the Democratic National Convention, welcoming them to join the Democratic party.

Tim Kaine to Republicans: ‘We have a home for you in the Democratic party’

Republicans "correct" tweet mistaking Tim Kaine's Marine Corps lapel pin

The North Carolina state Republican party has “corrected its mistake” after falsely accusing Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine of wearing a Honduran flag lapel pin during his acceptance speech last night.

The tweet, since deleted, read: “.@timekaine wers a Honduras flag pin on his jacket but no American flaf. Shameful. #DemoConvention #DemsInPhilly #ncpol”

The account also retweeted responses calling Kaine a “traitor” and “simply disgusting.”

Kaine spent a year in Honduras as a missionary after graduating from college, where he picked up his fluent Spanish. But the pin in question was a Blue Star Service pin, which depicts the official Department of Defense banner for display by family members of American troops serving overseas in wartime. Kaine’s son, Nat, is a Marine reservist currently serving overseas.

Tim Kaine.
Tim Kaine. Photograph: ddp USA/REX/Shutterstock

Updated

The Guardian’s Lauren Gambino has more on the optimistic tenor of the programming in the final day of the Democratic National Convention:

Barack Obama.
Barack Obama. Photograph: Susan Walsh/AP

“What we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican — and it sure wasn’t conservative,” Barack Obama told the convention on Wednesday night. “What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision of a country where we turn against each other, and turn away from the rest of the world. There were no serious solutions to pressing problems — just the fanning of resentment, and blame, and anger, and hate.”

The president also compared Ronald Reagan’s view of America as a “City on a Hill” with the apocalyptic vision Trump laid out in Cleveland.
On Wednesday, Michael Bloomberg, a disaffected Republican who has shunted a party affiliation, made a powerful case for why Clinton was the best – and only – alternative to a Trump victory.
“There are times when I disagree with Hillary,” he said. “But whatever our disagreements may be, I’ve come here to say: we must put them aside for the good of our country. And we must unite around the candidate who can defeat a dangerous demagogue.”
For months, the Clinton campaign has actively courted moderate Republicans and conservatives. The former secretary of state has calibrated her economic vision to appeal to hard-hit blue collar workers who scorned her during the primary. Their efforts have resulted in a number of defections, including from former party officials and retired generals.
“We obviously welcome everyone who wants to be a part of a more inclusive campaign that embraces a more inclusive vision of America,” campaign communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, told reporters on Thursday.

The line-up of speakers on the final day of the convention includes Doug Elmets, a former Reagan administration official and Jennifer Pierotti Lim, a co-founder of Republican Women for Hillary. A video on Wednesday included a clip of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney denouncing the party’s current nominee, a stark example of the turmoil in the GOP caused by Trump’s ascent.

On Thursday, Tim Kaine used his debut at the convention to offer a personal version of this theme. During his speech, Clinton’s vice-presidential pick pointed to his wife’s parents sitting in the audience.

“Linwood Holton, he is still a Republican,” Kaine said of his father-in-law, the former GOP governor of Virginia. “But he is voting for an awful lot of Democrats these days. An awful lot of Democrats.”

Kaine then addressed the millions of Americans like his father-in-law, who, dismayed by their party’s standard-bearer, face an election day choice between Clinton and staying home.

“If any of you are looking for that party of Lincoln,” Kaine told them, “We have got a home for you right here in the Democratic party.”

Updated

DNC announces full lineup on final convention night

Hillary Clinton.
Hillary Clinton. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters

The Democratic National Committee has finally announced the full roster of speakers, performers and events for the closing night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia tonight, with the keynote acceptance speech by former secretary of state Hillary Clinton augmented by remarks by California congressman Xavier Becerra and performances by Carole King and Katy Perry.

  • 4pm EDT: After the convention is gaveled in, followed by an invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance and the national anthem, remarks will be given by Florida congressman Ted Deutch, former Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, California congresswoman Maxine Waters, HUman Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin and nearly a dozen other members of the Democratic congressional caucus.
  • 6:00 - 10:00pm EDT: Kicked off by a musical performance by Carole King - the second-greatest contributer to the American songbook after Dolly Parton, in this blog’s humble opinion - there will be remarks by - among many others - House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski, Texas congressman Joaquin Castro and New York governor Andrew Cuomo. Following these remarks, there will be a segment on the economy, anchored by stories from women who have faced wage discrimination, as well as remarks by Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm.
  • A few Republicans will offer their endorsement of Clinton, including former Reagan administration official Doug Elmets and Republican Women for Hillary co-founder Jennifer Pierotti Lim.
  • Following these endorsements will be a recognition of fallen law-enforcement officials, with remarks from Dallas sheriff Lupe Valdez and family members of police officers killed in the line of duty.
  • Basketball icon Kareem Abdul-Jabaar will introduce a film on inclusiveness, followed by an address from military parent Khizr Khan, retired Marine Corps general John Allen, Medal of Honor winner captain Florent “Flo” Groberg and Chloe Grace Moretz.
  • California congressman Xavier Becerra, Ohio senator Sherrod Brown and musician Katy Perry will close out the 9 o’clock hour.
  • 10:00 - 11:00pm EDT: Once-and-potentially-future first daughter Chelsea Clinton will introduce Hillary Clinton, who will address the nation for the first time as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Rumors of Barack Obama’s particular fondness for almonds has been greatly exaggerated.

Barack Obama cheats on his almond diet.
Barack Obama cheats on his almond diet. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

Politicos marveled at the president’s discipline after a New York Times article published earlier this month asserted that the commander-in-chief consumes only “seven lightly salted almonds” as a late-night snack, particularly in light of his tour de force speech at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday night.

The NYT piece reported:

To stay awake, the president does not turn to caffeine. He rarely drinks coffee or tea, and more often has a bottle of water next to him than a soda. His friends say his only snack at night is seven lightly salted almonds.

“Michelle and I would always joke: Not six. Not eight,” Mr. Kass said. “Always seven almonds.”

The paper sent out a memorable news alert to the piece reading: “After dark, President Obama spends hours alone, time he says is essential to think, write and have a snack – exactly 7 almonds.”

But although it is true that Obama spent nearly three weeks writing six different drafts of the address, he told NBC’s Savannah Guthrie in an interview aired on Thursday that he was running on more than just a handful of heart-healthy tree nuts.

“This is an example of the weird way that the press works,” Obama, when asked why he doesn’t ever cut loose and eat eight almonds.

“So, Michelle [Obama] and Sam Kass, who was our chef here, one night they were talking about me and teasing me about how disciplined I was, that I didn’t have potato chips or I didn’t have a piece of cake,” Obama explained.

“And this is when Michelle said, ‘Yes, and he just has seven almonds. That’s it.’ To really drive home the point that I needed to loosen up a little bit. And Sam relayed this joke to the New York Times in the article and somehow it was relayed as if I was counting out the seven almonds.”

In reality, Obama has a fondness for junk food, once telling a children’s state dinner meant to encourage healthy eating habits that his “big thing” is tortilla chips and guacamole.

When a bowl is in sight, “he loses it,” first lady Michelle Obama with a rueful head shake said at the event.

“I lose my mind,” Obama responded. “I lose my mind!”

Perhaps with the first lady’s nutrition platform in mind, Obama said that despite the exaggeration in the original report, “almonds are a good snack - I strongly recommend them.”

“I am so glad I had this opportunity,” Obama continued. “This has been really weighing on me.”

Updated

Donald Trump: I was being sarcastic about Russia hacking Hillary Clinton

Republican presidential nominee has come up with a new defense for comments made during a chaotic press conference yesterday, in which he encouraged the Russian Federation to hack into rival Hillary Clinton’s email servers.

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

After initially doubling down on the comments in the press conference, then later insisting that he only meant for Russia to turn the emails over to the FBI, Trump told Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade this morning that he was just being sarcastic in his suggestion.

“You have to be kidding,” Trump said when Kilmeade brought up Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook’s statement that the comments represented a national security threat. “His client, his person deleted 33,000 emails illegally. You look at that. And when I’m being sarcastic with something-”

“Are you being sarcastic?” Kilmeade asked.

“Of course I’m being sarcastic,” Trump responded. “But you have 33,000 emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said on those emails from the Democratic National Committee. You take look at what was said on those emails, it’s disgraceful.”

Clinton campaign troubled by Trump’s 'disturbing affinity' for Putin

In an uncharacteristically punctual morning press briefing, Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook told reporters at the Philadelphia Convention Center this morning that tonight’s history-making speech from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will be “a moment of reckoning” for voters, whose choice this November represents a nation-defining moment in American history.

The former secretary of state will “talk about how this election is really a moment of reckoning for the voters,” Mook said. “Are we going to succumb to some very powerful forces that are tearing at our social fabric, that are dividing us economically or socially, or are we going to come together to solve these problems?”

Mook also announced that Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf - not to be mistaken with the novelist - “will actually be attending our convention,” reminding reporters that another Rust Belt governor, John Kasich, “did not attend the Republican convention, and he certainly did not endorse Donald Trump.”

Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri elaborated on that point, saying: “Obviously we welcome everyone who wants to be part of a more inclusive campaign that embraces a more inclusive vision of America.”

Asked about Trump’s encouragement of the Russian government potentially hacking into Clinton’s emails, Palmieri called out Trump’s “disturbing affinity” for Vladimir Putin and declared that despite defenses from Newt Gingrich and Trump himself, “It’s not sarcastic - it’s never a joke and it’s something we should take seriously. We should hold him to account.”

“This if the first time in modern history that we’ve presumably had a foreign power seek to engage in influence in our election, and there’s a lot of questions that all of you should consider very seriously, such as Mr. Trump’s view that we should weaken our alliances against Russia,” Palmieri continued. “The RNC platform choosing to, in this year, take away language that is supportive of Ukraine and concern about Russia’s involvement there.”

Updated

Donald Trump’s campaign is urging his followers to avoid watching Hillary Clinton’s acceptance speech tonight - ostensibly to protect them from being “lied to, belittled, and attacked for [their] beliefs.”

“Instead,” a campaign email says, “help Donald Trump hold her accountable, call out her lies and fight back against her nasty attacks. Before Hillary takes the stage, we need to launch a fundraising blitz to show Crooked Hillary just how many people are on the Trump Train.”

The email closes with a request for donations.

French politician and potential Bond villain Jean-Marie Le Pen sent out this curious tweet about Donald Trump this morning, comparing the Republican presidential nominee to an elephant - presumably favorably.

The tweet is a reference to a popular children’s song:

Rep. Louie Gohmert to Sen. John McCain: Get out of Congress

In a withering Breitbart News editorial, Texas congressman Louie Gohmert encouraged Arizona senator and Republican icon John McCain to quit his run for reelection and return home to the Grand Canyon State to “take a rest, let Arizona, the nation and world recover.”

Acknowledging McCain’s decades of public service, including five years spend in a Vietnamese prison after his plane was shot down over Hanoi in 1967, but declared that his status as a war hero “does not give any one person the right to do harm to our country from a legislative position nor to put others in peril around the world by ill-conceived policy.”

Citing McCain’s support for immigration reform, interventionist foreign policy and requiring women to register for the Selective Service, Gohmert encourages Arizona voters to “rise up and stop John McCain from continuing to promote policies that are dangerous to the future of America and her allies.”

McCain is running for his sixth term this year, and the octogenarian senator and former presidential nominee is expected to face stiff competition both in the Republican primary on August 30 and, if he survives that, the general election in November.

Democratic national convention: day four

Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Democratic national convention’s fourth and final day, coming at you live from muggy Philadelphia.

In what is likely the last major address of his presidency, President Barack Obama passed the baton to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton last night in an emotional keynote speech that cast Donald Trump not as a typical Republican opponent, but as a threat to American values.

Obama tells Americans at DNC: ‘You carried me, now do the same for Hillary’

“It doesn’t matter to him that illegal immigration and the crime rate are as low as they’ve been in decades, because he’s not offering any real solutions to those issues,” Obama said, after breaking his self-imposed rule on not mentioning Trump by name. “He’s just offering slogans, and he’s offering fear. He’s betting that if he scares enough people, he might score just enough votes to win this election. That is another bet that Donald Trump will lose. Because he’s selling the American people short.”

But, Obama continued: “The American dream is something no wall will ever contain.”

The address, which drew tears from former president Bill Clinton and closed with the Democratic nominee’s appearance on the convention stage for the first time this week, was the capstone of a night geared at wooing independent and blue-collar voters who may be attracted to Trump’s populism. Speeches by vice-president Joe Biden and Virginia senator Tim Kaine emphasized their down-home avunicularity and everyman appeal, while largely ignoring the elephant in the room: Trump’s suggestion at a morning press conference that Russia hack Clinton’s emails and release them to the public.

That controversy, presumably, will be addressed tonight.

Today’s program: As we’ve become accustomed, the Democratic National Committee has not yet released the full program or slate of tonight’s speakers, but we do have a sketch. The convention gavels in to order at 4.30pm EDT, to be followed by speeches given by both major Democratic figures and newcomers to the national stage, including Henrietta Ivey, a Michigan home care worker who advocates for a $15 an hour minimum wage, Jensen Walcott, who was fired from her job for asking why her male coworker made more than she did for the same job and Khizr Khan, whose son is one of 14 American Muslims killed after 9/11 serving in the US armed forces.

The speeches will then turn over to progressively more well-known figures within the party and beyond: retired marine corps general John Allen, who commanded US forces in Afghanistan, New York congressman Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, co-chair of the congressional LGBT equality caucus, and Maryland senator Barbara Mikulski.

The night will be capped off, likely in the 10 o’clock hour, by an introduction by once-and-potentially-future first daughter Chelsea Clinton, and finally, an acceptance speech by Hillary Clinton herself.

We’ll have more on the full schedule once it’s released – until then, on with the show ...

Updated

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