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

DNC 2016, day three: emotional Obama passes baton to Clinton – as it happened

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

Summary

The sun has set on day three of the Democratic national convention in Philadelphia. Here’s what happened:

  • In a wildly applauded appearance interrupted a couple times by various people shouting “four more years!”, Barack Obama took the stage to ask the country to “do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me”.
  • At the end of the speech, Clinton joined the president onstage – her first appearance in person at the convention. The two hugged and audience cheered a lot.
  • Obama said he disagreed with a pessimistic vision of the country’s prospects laid out at the Republican convention last week. He framed Donald Trump as neither a Republican nor a conservative but as a throwback to political doomsayers of old.
  • In listing threats to the country, Obama put alongside fascists communists and jihadists “homegrown demagogues”, certainly a reference to Trump, whom the president said was “not really a facts guy”.
  • “Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?” Obama said.
  • Senator Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, introduced himself to the country and tried out a Trump impression with the refrain: “Believe me!” Everybody said it wasn’t that good but seemed to forgive him for it.
  • Vice president Joe Biden made a case that Trump wouldn’t look out for the middle class: “He’s trying to tell us he cares about the middle class. Give me a break. That’s a bunch of malarkey!”
  • A few unruly delegates remained. People chanted “no more war” as former defense secretary Leon Panetta spoke. But when Obama tipped his hat to Bernie Sanders, no hand was left unclapped.
  • The night saw wrenching testimony from families of victims of gun violence, from Newtown to Orlando. Gabby Giffords gave a heartily cheered speech.
  • The night featured Republican criticism of Trump – eg video of Mitt Romney – and a well-received speech from Republican-turned independent Michael Bloomberg, who told the world that Trump is a con man.
  • Multiple speakers hit Trump for asking earlier in the day for Russia to hack Clinton’s emails, in an extraordinary press conference summarized here.
  • Award for surprisingly strong performance goes to former candidate Martin O’Malley, who said: “It’s time to put a bully in his place, and a tough woman in hers [pause] - the White House!”
  • (He used to write them):

Updated

The top-tweeted moments of the night, courtesy of Twitter:

Top tweeted moments.
Top tweeted moments. Photograph: Twitter

Trump: 'a sad night'

Here’s a statement released by the Trump campaign:

Hugs.
Hugs. Photograph: J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Hugs.
Hugs. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Crowd likes it.
Crowd likes it. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

What’d everyone think of the speech? Here’s some Twitterati:

What did you think of the president’s speech? Clinton’s appearance? Biden’s turn onstage? Tim Kaine?

Was Biden better than Kaine? Was that a top-ten Obama speech?

The pastor says Amen. Representative Marcia Fudge comes back out. She entertains a motion to recess till 4.30pm tomorrow. Everybody likes the idea. She gavels. And then walks rather slowly backstage, considering who’s back there to hang out with.

Here was the Obama welcome:

A pastor comes out and the crowd figures out what to do. A lot of them start walking out. Many listen respectfully! Especially the ones parked upfront. But many are beating the parking lot traffic jam. Good luck, delegates – that thing is gnarly.

The pastor says “bedrock of love,” which reminds us we’ve failed to embed Signed Sealed Delivered. Apologies for the delay:

Clinton and Obama hug. It’s a bear hug. The crowd screams, it’s deafening. Arm-in-arm they walk to the front of he stage. Thumbs up. The crowd is high. It’s her first appearance on this stage of the week.

The crowd exceeds its maximum capacity to cheer and then ebbs a bit and then comes roaring back.

They walk around some more and wave some more. That was a lot of hugging. Then they head backstage.

The crowd is temporarily stunned-seeming, milling, turning in their seats. What do they do now? Just... leave?

Clinton appears onstage

Obama gets a lot, lot of applause. The DJ finds some Stevie Wonder, Signed sealed delivered. The crowd sings along. The president takes that stroll up to the far end of the stage.

And here comes Clinton.

Obama: 'the audacity of hope'

Obama rolls out a familiar phrase that is applauded with gusto:

Time and again, you’ve picked me up. I hope, sometimes, I picked you up, too. Tonight, I ask you to do for Hillary Clinton what you did for me. I ask you to carry her the same way you carried me. Because you’re who I was talking about twelve years ago, when I talked about hope – it’s been you who’ve fueled my dogged faith in our future, even when the odds are great; even when the road is long. Hope in the face of difficulty; hope in the face of uncertainty; the audacity of hope!

America, you have vindicated that hope these past eight years. And now I’m ready to pass the baton and do my part as a private citizen. This year, in this election, I’m asking you to join me – to reject cynicism, reject fear, to summon what’s best in us; to elect Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States, and show the world we still believe in the promise of this great nation.

Thank you for this incredible journey. Let’s keep it going. God bless the United States of America.

Obama winds toward a close:

And that’s why I have confidence, as I leave this stage tonight, that the Democratic Party is in good hands. My time in this office hasn’t fixed everything; as much as we’ve done, there’s still so much I want to do. But for all the tough lessons I’ve had to learn; for all the places I’ve fallen short; I’ve told Hillary, and I’ll tell you what’s picked me back up, every single time.

It’s been you. The American people.

It’s the letter I keep on my wall from a survivor in Ohio who twice almost lost everything to cancer, but urged me to keep fighting for health care reform, even when the battle seemed lost. Do not quit.

It’s the painting I keep in my private office, a big-eyed, green owl, made by a seven year-old girl who was taken from us in Newtown, given to me by her parents so I wouldn’t forget – a reminder of all the parents who have turned their grief into action.

It’s the small business owner in Colorado who cut most of his own salary so he wouldn’t have to lay off any of his workers in the recession – because, he said, “that wouldn’t have been in the spirit of America.”

It’s the conservative in Texas who said he disagreed with me on everything, but appreciated that, like him, I try to be a good dad.

It’s the courage of the young soldier from Arizona who nearly died on the battlefield in Afghanistan, but who’s learned to speak and walk again – and earlier this year, stepped through the door of the Oval Office on his own power, to salute and shake my hand.

It’s every American who believed we could change this country for the better, so many of you who’d never been involved in politics, who picked up phones, and hit the streets, and used the internet in amazing new ways to make change happen. You are the best organizers on the planet, and I’m so proud of all the change you’ve made possible.

Obama: 'homegrown demagogues will always fail'

Obama here seems to group Trump, a “homegrown demagogue,” perhaps, though not named, with threats to the country including “fascists or communists or jihadists”:

America has changed over the years. But these values my grandparents taught me – they haven’t gone anywhere. They’re as strong as ever; still cherished by people of every party, every race, and every faith. They live on in each of us. What makes us American, what makes us patriots, is what’s in here. That’s what matters. That’s why we can take the food and music and holidays and styles of other countries, and blend it into something uniquely our own. That’s why we can attract strivers and entrepreneurs from around the globe to build new factories and create new industries here. That’s why our military can look the way it does, every shade of humanity, forged into common service.

That’s why anyone who threatens our values, whether fascists or communists or jihadists or homegrown demagogues, will always fail in the end.

That is America. That is America. Those bonds of affection; that common creed. We don’t fear the future; we shape it, embrace it, as one people, stronger together than we are on our own. That’s what Hillary Clinton understands – this fighter, this stateswoman, this mother and grandmother, this public servant, this patriot – that’s the America she’s fighting for.

Obama: 'these values could travel'

Obama tells his granparents’ story:

And it’s got me thinking about the story I told you twelve years ago tonight, about my Kansas [Kansas delegation: YAY] grandparents and the things they taught me when I was growing up. They came from the heartland; their ancestors began settling there about 200 years ago.

Obama throws in a line for run:

I don’t know if they had their birth certificates”

Obama returns to his story:

They were Scotch-Irish mostly, farmers, teachers, ranch hands, pharmacists, oil rig workers. Hardy, small town folks. Some were Democrats, but a lot of them were Republicans. My grandparents explained that they didn’t like show-offs. They didn’t admire braggarts or bullies. They didn’t respect mean-spiritedness, or folks who were always looking for shortcuts in life. Instead, they valued traits like honesty and hard work. Kindness and courtesy. Humility; responsibility; helping each other out.

That’s what they believed in. True things. Things that last. The things we try to teach our kids.

And what my grandparents understood was that these values weren’t limited to Kansas. They weren’t limited to small towns. These values could travel to Hawaii; even the other side of the world, where my mother would end up working to help poor women get a better life. They knew these values weren’t reserved for one race; they could be passed down to a half-Kenyan grandson, or a half-Asian granddaughter; in fact, they were the same values Michelle’s parents, the descendants of slaves, taught their own kids living in a bungalow on the South Side of Chicago. They knew these values were exactly what drew immigrants here, and they believed that the children of those immigrants were just as American as their own, whether they wore a cowboy hat or a yarmulke; a baseball cap or a hijab.

Obama: 'yes we can'

The president acknowledges that Clinton has her critics. But we all make mistakes, he says:

Look, Hillary’s got her share of critics. She’s been caricatured by the right and by some folks on the left; accused of everything you can imagine – and some things you can’t. But she knows that’s what happens when you’re under a microscope for 40 years. She knows she’s made mistakes, just like I have; just like we all do. That’s what happens when we try. That’s what happens when you’re the kind of citizen Teddy Roosevelt once described – not the timid souls who criticize from the sidelines, but someone “who is actually in the arena…who strives valiantly; who errs…[but] who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement.”

That Teddy Roosevelt quote somehow gets a huge cheer.

“Hillary Clinton is that woman in the arena. She’s been there for us – even if we haven’t always noticed,” Obama says.

The crowd is outdoing themselves applauding. But they really flip when they hear Obama say “yes we can”:

America isn’t about “yes he will.” It’s about “yes we can.” And we’re going to carry Hillary to victory this fall, because that’s what the moment demands.

You know, there’s been a lot of talk in this campaign about what America’s lost – people who tell us that our way of life is being undermined by pernicious changes and dark forces beyond our control. They tell voters there’s a “real America” out there that must be restored. This isn’t an idea that started with Donald Trump. It’s been peddled by politicians for a long time – probably from the start of our Republic.

Obama praises Sanders supporters

The president uses the old trick of saying the magic words “Bernie Sanders” and, sure enough, the entire arena freaks out:

So if you agree that there’s too much inequality in our economy, and too much money in our politics, we all need to be as vocal and as organized and as persistent as Bernie Sanders’ supporters have been.

[Pause for applause]

We all need to get out and vote for Democrats up and down the ticket, and then hold them accountable until they get the job done.

If you want more justice in the justice system, then we’ve all got to vote – not just for a President, but for mayors, and sheriffs, and state’s attorneys, and state legislators. And we’ve got to work with police and protesters until laws and practices are changed.

Another applause line from Obama: “”the American Dream is something no wall will ever contain”:

Hillary knows we can insist on a lawful and orderly immigration system while still seeing striving students and their toiling parents as loving families, not criminals or rapists; families that came here for the same reasons our forebears came – to work, and study, and make a better life, in a place where we can talk and worship and love as we please. She knows their dream is quintessentially American, and the American Dream is something no wall will ever contain.

Scanning ahead in Obama’s prepared remarks (we have them now), he appears to be done with Trump. All Clinton praise from here on out.

Obama says that acknowledging racial tension isn’t making it worse – “it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better”:

She knows that this is a big, diverse country, and that most issues are rarely black and white. That even when you’re 100 percent right, getting things done requires compromise. That democracy doesn’t work if we constantly demonize each other. She knows that for progress to happen, we have to listen to each other, see ourselves in each other, fight for our principles but also fight to find common ground, no matter how elusive that may seem.

Hillary knows we can work through racial divides in this country when we realize the worry black parents feel when their son leaves the house isn’t so different than what a brave cop’s family feels when he puts on the blue and goes to work; that we can honor police and treat every community fairly. She knows that acknowledging problems that have festered for decades isn’t making race relations worse – it’s creating the possibility for people of good will to join and make things better.

Obama: 'we don't look to be ruled'

Obama has a nice short sentence that connects big with the audience:

We are not a fragile or frightful people. Our power doesn’t come from some self-declared savior promising that he alone can restore order. We don’t look to be ruled. Our power comes from those immortal declarations first put to paper right here in Philadelphia all those years ago; We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that together, We, the People, can form a more perfect union.

From Obama’s mouth, the declaration of independence is applauded wildly.

That’s who we are. That’s our birthright – the capacity to shape our own destiny. That’s what drove patriots to choose revolution over tyranny and our GIs to liberate a continent. It’s what gave women the courage to reach for the ballot, and marchers to cross a bridge in Selma, and workers to organize and fight for better wages.

America has never been about what one person says he’ll do for us. It’s always been about what can be achieved by us, together, through the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but ultimately enduring work of self-government.

And that’s what Hillary Clinton understands.

Now Obama brandishes Reagan against Trump:

In fact, it doesn’t depend on any one person. And that, in the end, may be the biggest difference in this election – the meaning of our democracy.

Ronald Reagan called America “a shining city on a hill.” Donald Trump calls it “a divided crime scene” that only he can fix. 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. 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. And the reason he’ll lose it is because he’s selling the American people short.

Obama says Clinton is going to keep the country safe:

And if you’re concerned about who’s going to keep you and your family safe in a dangerous world – well, the choice is even clearer. Hillary Clinton is respected around the world not just by leaders, but by the people they serve.

Then Obama adds an ad-libbed line, not in the teleprompter:

I have to say this. People outside the United States don’t understand what’s going on with this election.

The line gets a laugh. He continues:

She’s worked closely with our intelligence teams, our diplomats, our military. And she has the judgment, the experience, and the temperament to meet the threat from terrorism. It’s not new to her. Our troops have pounded ISIL without mercy, taking out leaders, taking back territory. I know Hillary won’t relent until ISIL is destroyed. She’ll finish the job – and she’ll do it without resorting to torture, or banning entire religions from entering our country. She is fit to be the next Commander-in-Chief.

Back to Trump:

Meanwhile, Donald Trump calls our military a disaster. Apparently, he doesn’t know the men and women who make up the strongest fighting force the world has ever known. He suggests America is weak. He must not hear the billions of men, women, and children, from the Baltics to Burma, who still look to America to be the light of freedom, dignity, and human rights. He cozies up to Putin, praises Saddam Hussein, and tells the NATO allies that stood by our side after 9/11 that they have to pay up if they want our protection. Well, America’s promises do not come with a price tag. We meet our commitments. And that’s one reason why almost every country on Earth sees America as stronger and more respected today than they did eight years ago.

“Four more years,” somebody in the crowd yells, drawing more laughs.

America is already great. America is already strong. And I promise you, our strength, our greatness, does not depend on Donald Trump.

Obama on Trump: 'not really a facts guy'

The president now turns his attention to Clinton’s opponent. He says Trump left people feeling they were cheated, and asks, “Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion?”

And then there’s Donald Trump.”

Boooo!

“Don’t boo,” Obama says. “Vote!”

Applause. Obama:

The Donald not really a plans guy. Not really a facts guy, either. He calls himself a business guy, which is true, but I have to say, I know plenty of businessmen and women who’ve achieved success without leaving a trail of lawsuits, and unpaid workers, and people feeling like they got cheated.

Does anyone really believe that a guy who’s spent his 70 years on this Earth showing no regard for working people is suddenly going to be your champion? Your voice? If so, you should vote for him. But if you’re someone who’s truly concerned about paying your bills, if you’re really concerned about pocketbook issues, and seeing the economy grow, and creating more opportunity for everybody, then the choice isn’t even close. If you want someone with a lifelong track record of fighting for higher wages, better benefits, a fairer tax code, a bigger voice for workers, and stronger regulations on Wall Street, then you should vote for Hillary Clinton.

Updated

Here Obama moves into a section that was released earlier: “Hillary’s been in the room” (ad-lib bold):

You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis, or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions. She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, the soldier, and the veteran. Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.

That’s the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman – not me, not Bill, nobody - more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.

Updated

Obama:

“Now, eight years ago, Hillary and I were rivals for the Democratic nomination.”

Somebody yells out: “Four more years!” People laugh. Obama continues:

We battled for a year and a half. Let me tell you, it was tough, because Hillary’s tough. She was doing everything I was doing, but just like Ginger Rogers, backwards and in heels. Every time I thought I might have that race won, Hillary just came back stronger.

But after it was all over, I asked Hillary to join my team. She was a little surprised, but ultimately said yes – because she knew that what was at stake was bigger than either of us. And for four years, I had a front-row seat to her intelligence, her judgment, and her discipline. I came to realize that her unbelievable work ethic wasn’t for praise or attention – that she was in this for everyone who needs a champion. I understood that after all these years, she has never forgotten just who she’s fighting for.

Obama says “we are stronger together.” Is that the line he was up till 3am writing?

But he gets the crowd on its feet and cheering a lot, by listing all the different American groups who come together in his vision of unity.

Then this part gets a Hillary! chant going:

That’s the America I know. And there is only one candidate in this race who believes in that future, and has devoted her life to it; a mother and grandmother who’d do anything to help our children thrive; a leader with real plans to break down barriers, blast through glass ceilings, and widen the circle of opportunity to every single American – the next President of the United States, Hillary Clinton.

Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!

Obama: 'not your typical election'

“We’re not done perfecting our union,” Obama says. Or living up to the creed, we’re all created equal.

“I think it’s fair to say, this is not your typical election,” Obama says. People laugh. He says there’s a “fundamental choice about who we are as a people.”

The parties have always had differences, he says, but there’s nothing wrong with that. “But what we heard in Cleveland last week wasn’t particularly Republican, and it sure wasn’t conservative. What we heard was a deeply pessimistic vision...there were no solutions. Just the fanning of resentment and anger and hate. And that is not the America I know.. the America I know is decent and generous.

“Sure we have real anxieties about caring for sick parents... racial divisions.. the madness in Orlando or Nice. There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures.”

Here a delegate stands up and starts yelling about TPP.

“We are challenged to do better,” Obama says. “To be better.”

As he travels the country, he says, what he sees more than anything is “what is right with America.”

Obama says change is never easy.

Texas is standing up and maybe it’s someone in Texas who is trying to say something.

No Hillary No? Is that what the Texas person is saying?

Obama: 'I am more optimistic' than ever

Obama says back in 2004 in Boston, when he made his name at the DNC, he was filled with faith in the country.

Somebody is yelling something but they are shushed.

Obama continues: “I am more optimistic about the future of America than ever before.”

He is, he explains, because the economy has recovered, job creation is healthy, health care is now an American right, because we’re weaning from foreign oil, troops are coming home, and “we delivered justice to Osama bin Laden.”

The “success” – in his opinion – list continues: Iran, Cuba, Paris climate deal, student loans, consumer protection, combat veteran homelessness, and marriage equality.

Marriage equality gets a big cheer.

“By so many measures, our country is stronger and more prosperous than it was when we started.”

Obama says his girls were young then, now “amazing young women.” And he mentions “my brilliant wife and partner Michelle,” and the crowd cheers like crazy. She “somehow hasn’t aged a day,” Obama says. “I know, the same cannot be changed for me. My girls remind me all the time. ‘Wow you’ve changed so much daddy.’ Then they try to clean it up. ‘Not young, but more mature.’”

The crowd all has stick signs reading Obama.

He’s announced. He walks out. He waves. Must be some Democrats in here by the sound of it. The president’s looking casual. Strides over to the lectern. Forgoes the trip up to the far end that Kaine and Biden took. Dang is that Coldplay? There’s all kinds of clapping and cheering. In addition to the Obama signs there are rainbow flags and some TPP signs.

Thank you, Obama says. A few times.

The clapping continues. We’ll have video of this for you shortly.

“Thank you so much everybody.”

The crowd chants:

Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

“Thank you so much everybody!”

Person: I love you!

President: I love you back!

They’s darn excited. Here now they let him start. So “twelve years ago tonight...”

Any second now...

The crowd here in the DNC is singing along to the video of Obama singing Amazing Grace after Charleston.

This is true.

Pressure’s on, Obama:

Trump’s doing his best to distract from the president, revving up his Twitter account and coming up with a country full of “poverty, violence and despair.”

Belkofer is still introducing. “I wish every American could hug president Obama, so they could see the good in his eyes and the warm in his heart. This is our president!”

She cruises away from the podium and the crowd has to stand up quickly to get their standing ovation in before he gets offstage.

Now the video rolls.

Obama to speak

Here’s what’s left:

Sharon Belkofer, to introduce a film about the president. “You’re all probably wondering, who the heck is this sweet little old lady.”

The crowd laughs. She says she’s a mom to three who served in the military, a retired nurse, grandma of 10 and now a great grandma. The DNC bio has this:

Sharon Belkofer is the mother of fallen Lt. Col. Thomas Belkofer. Her son was killed when a suicide bomber detonated a minibus in a convoy carrying Belkofer and three other high-ranking officers in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Here’s the film:

The president is next. In fact he is in the building, according to the White House press pool.

Updated

Kaine: 'Hillary is ready'

Kaine is nearing the finish line. He says Clinton is ready. “And when I say ready, I use ready for a very specific reason. When I lived in Honduras I learned that the best compliment you could give someone was to say they were “listo” ... prepared, battle-tested, rock-solid, up for anything... and friends, Hillary Clinton is lista!”

He closes:

Hillary is ready. She’s ready to fight, she’s ready to win. And she is ready to lead. God bless.

Happy cheering for that. The podium disappears again. Kaine walks around and says hi to everyone. His wife Anne comes out and waves to. The camera goes to Chelsea Clinton who’s clapping. he delegates all wave their Clinton-Kaine signs. There’s syncopated clapping. The Kaines are still wandering about the stage and waving. Now they wind down and exit.

Updated

Kaine points out that Ohio governor John Kasich refused to attend the Cleveland convention “because he thinks that Donald Trump is such a moral disaster.”

“Is there anyone in this building who believes him?”

No!

Kaine keeps it up hitting Trump. “Folks, you cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth.”

It becomes a chant:

Not one word!

Not one word!

Not one word!

Kaine: “To me it seems like our nation it’s just too great to put in the hands of a slick-talking, empty-promising, self-promoting, one-man wrecking crew.

“Don’t take it from me. Take it from former first lady Barbara Bush. She said she didn’t know how any woman could vote for him after his offensive comments.”

Kaine unveils Trump impression

Kaine says Clinton was not afraid to step up against thugs and dictators.

Kaine says Americans trust Clinton to protect them and to help solve their problems, “and on a personal level, as he’s serving our nation abroad, I trust Hillary Clinton with our son’s life.”

That’s a pretty dramatic line that gets good cheers. He continues:

“You know who I don’t trust? I wonder? Donald Trump! DOnald Trump. Trump is a guy who promises a lot. But you might have noticed. He has a habit of saying the same two words right after he makes his biggest promises. You guys know the words I mean? “Believe me.”

Now Kaine rolls out a Trump impression, listing promises Trump has made – the wall that Mexico will pay for, the fast destruction of Isis, “there’s nothing suspicious in my tax returns” – believe me!

Kaine’s Trump impression boils down to making himself sound stupid when he says Believe Me.

Kaine: Does anybody in this massive auditorium believe that Donald Trump’s been paying his fair share of taxes?

Crowd: NO!

Kaine: “Hey Donald, what are you hiding? And yet, Donald still says, ‘believe me.’ Believe me. Believe me? Believe me? Most people, when they’re running for president, they don’t just say “believe me.” They respect you enough to tell you how they’ll get things done.

Kaine now takes a dig at Trump.

“Hillary has a passion for kids and families. Donald Lump – Donald Trump has a passion too. It’s himself!”

Kaine says that “I spend a time with a lot of Republican senators who, once the’ve made sure nobody’s listening, will tell you how fantastic a senator Hillary Clinton was.”

How many times has that happened?

Kaine keeps going. And then he gets his first real big applause of the speech.

“We must love our neighbors as ourselves,” he says. Sounds plagiarized. “Hillary Clinton and I are compañeros de alma,” he says. “We share this belief: Do all the good you can. Serve one another. That’s what I’m about. That’s what you’re about. That’s what Bernie Sanders is about. That’s what Joe Biden is about. That’s what Barack and Michelle Obama are about. And that’s what Hillary Clinton is about.”

¡Si se puede! someone yells.

Kaine repeats the phrase, and it turns into a big chant.

Kaine describes his work as a civil rights lawyer. We’re at the top of page two now. He describes winning a Richmond city council race “by a landslide margin of 94 votes.”

He started in politics at the local level. (Who’s that in contrast to?) Then he became mayor, lieutenant governor and governor.

“I was a hard-times governor,” he says. “But hey, tough times don’t last, and tough people do.”

Who’s that standing to cheer down front? Virginia, of course.

Kaine turns to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting. “We shed tears and held each other up, but afterwards we rolled up our sleeves, and fixed a loophole in our background check system to make us safer.”

Kaine is now a senator on the armed services and foreign relations committees, and on the budget committee with... Vermont’s Bernie Sanders.

Saying “Bernie Sanders” is all it takes to get this crowd to cheer their heads off. The camera moves to Sanders, in the audience. He smiles a bit.

Kaine: “WE all should feel the Bern, and we all should not want to get burned by the other guy.”

Kaine continues his biography, making some political points along the way. He describes himself in the 1970s as “this goofy guy who had been off teaching kids in Honduras.... Well, Anne and i have now been married for almost 32 years.”

The camera now moves to Anne’s parents, Lin and Jinks, “90-plus and going strong.”

“Lin’s still a Republican. But he’s voting for a lot of Democrats these days,” Kaine says.

“If any of you are looking for that party of Lincoln, we’ve got a home right here for you in the Democratic party.”

Kaine speaks Spanish

“I humbly accept my party’s nomination to be vice president.”

He was born in Minnesota. Grew up in KC. His dad ran a union ironworking shop. His mom was dad’s bes salesman. He learned about hard work and faith.

Jesuit boys’ school. “Men for others.” Where his “faith became vital.” Then he went to Honduras.

He switches to Spanish.

The crowd cheers that. A standing ovation even, for some.

¡Somos Americanos todos!

Updated

There’s a big anti-TPP chant breaking out in Missouri. Those rabble-rousers are recognizable as some of the strongest Bernie-backers.

Kaine has committed the mortal trespass, for the Sanders wing of the Democratic party, of supporting free trade.

Adding to the distraction is some strange mic business, where we hear someone talking technical talk. That goes away.

The lectern that pops up and down does not pop up for Kaine. We spoke too soon, there it is.

Kaine walks the lip of the stage as they play some exciting 70s cop drama theme music and the delegates stand and clap.

Kaine thanks his family. Notes his son Nat deployed with his Marine battalion two days ago “to protect and defend the very NATO allies that Donald Trump says he now wants to abandon. Semper Fi, Nat!”

Updated

We have an advance copy of Tim Kaine’s remarks and they’re three full pages, when most speeches have been running one page or less.

Get comfortable, America. You’re about to meet Tim Kaine.

Scott announces Tim Kaine, and everyone claps for Tim Kaine, but it turns out they’re just clapping for a video, because no essential points are entrusted simply to speakers anymore, because the way people intake information is by watching TV. It’s a tribute video to Tim Kaine. “They still live in the same house they moved into 24 years ago.” Stuff like that. “Virginia was named the best state in the country to raise a child.”

Instead of more Kravitz we’re going to watch that Fight Song video we saw last night again.

Now here’s Rep Bobby Scott from Virginia. He’s not on the speaker’s list. But he’s here to introduce the running mate.

Wikileaks released its latest disclosures on Wednesday – 29 voicemails mined from the emails it leaked over the weekend, writes Adam Gabbatt:

But whereas the Democratic National Committee emails rocked the Democratic party, revealing bias against Bernie Sanders and forcing DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz to quit, the voicemails are much, much, much less interesting.

The voicemail with the most potential to be juicy is from the film producer husband of a Democratic operative. But there is no juice. The film producer leaves a message saying he and his wife could speak to the recipient later that day.

The voicemails appear to have been sent as audio files to recipients’ email addresses, which is likely how they were obtained by Wikileaks.

Three of the messages relate to a reception for ambassadors at the White House. But there is nothing scandalous. The messages are essentially RSVPs.

Four of the leaked voicemails are from the same female voter. The woman, who identifies herself as a Democratic party member, leaves a series of angry messages regarding the party apparently being too soft with Bernie Sanders.

The Vermont senator is “getting way too much influence” in the party, she says. “I don’t understand it. You guys are losing me,” she warns.

Many of the other voicemails are very short – people leaving a phone number and requesting a callback.

Among the longer messages is an invite to a parents’ meeting at a school.

“All parents are invited Friday morning at 8.50am,” the message leaver says. “We’ll be discussing ways to help students navigating change. Specifically around change to our buildings.”

The woman leaving the voicemail mentions the name of a school in Washington DC, before urging parents to attend the meeting.

“There’s also free babysitting available,” she says.

Updated

Kravitz starts out with a slow jam version of Let Love Rule. The crowd seems into it. But all anybody does at concerts anymore is stand there and film it on their iPhone so they can not watch it later. Kravitz plays his guitar a bit and someone in the band knows their way around the saxophone.

Updated

“Please welcome Lenny Kravitz.”

The crowd complies. Wow that’s a lot of backup singers.

Here’s the Daily News front page tomorrow:

The Twitterati liked the Biden speech:

Bloomberg aks independents to back Clinton

No matter what you might think of Clinton, Bloomberg says, she understands that “this is not reality TV - this is reality!”

The presidency is the most powerful office on earth, he says. “And so I say to my fellow Independents: your vote matters now. Your vote will determine the future...

Tonight, as an Independent, I am asking you to join with me – not out of party loyalty, but out of love of country...

Together, let’s elect a sane, competent person with international experience.. let’s elect Hillary Clinton!

Bloomberg is just wildly applauded. What a scene.

Updated

Bloomberg: 'I'm a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one'

More from Bloomberg:

I’m a New Yorker, and I know a con when I see one! Trump says he’ll punish manufacturere sthat move to exico or China, but the clothers he sells are made overseas in low-wage factories. ...

Truth be told, the richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy. He wants you to believe that we can solve our biggest problems by deporting Mexicans and shutting out Muslims...

I understand the appeal of a businessman president. But Trump’s business plan is a disaster in the making....

The bottom line is: Trump is a risky, reckless and radical choice. And we can’t afford to make that choice!...

Bloomberg: Trump a 'dangerous demagogue'

Bloomberg says whatever his disagreements with Clinton may be, “we must unite around the candidate who can defeat a dangerous demagogue.”

He continues:

I believe we need a president who is a problem-solver, not a bomb thrower...

Most of us who have our names on the door know that we are only as good as our word, but not Donald Trump.

Throughout his career, Trump has left behind a well-documented record of bankruptcies, thousands of lawsuits, angry shareholders and contractors who feel cheated, and disillusioned customers who feel ripped off. Trump says he wants to run the nations like he’s run his business. God help us.

Bloomberg: 'imperative' to elect Clinton

Here now is Bloomberg. We have a copy of his prepared remarks here. He thanks the crowd for welcoming an outsider – “I am not here as a member of any party.”

“I am here for one reason. To explain why I believe that it is imperative that we elect Hillary Clinton the next president.”

Here now is Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed. After him, in case you need to plan around an impossible-to-delay-because-it’s-already-been-awhile transfer of laundry to the dryer, it’s Michael Bloomberg, Lenny Kravitz and Tim Kaine. Then Obama.

Biden: 'Come on. We're America'

Biden is hot now. “Americans have never ever ever let this country down,” he says, by electing someone who sows fear.

We do not scare easily. We never bow, we never bend,... no, we endure, we overcome, and we always move forward.

He says he has “absolute conviction” that the 21st century is going to be the American century.

“We are America. Second to none. And we own the finish line. Don’t forget it.

‘Protect our troops. Come on. We’re America.”

Biden steps away from the lectern as every hand in the hall, it seems, flies up with its Joe sign, and Biden might as well pump his fist, for how well that went, although he does not.

Jill Biden comes out to retrieve him. They make a tour of the stage. Biden stops to blow the crowd a kiss. And there he goes, he’s out.

Bet that moment looked good on TV.

Biden says that the country had never considered a candidate with so little knowledge as Trump, who stokes fear and “has no plan whatsoever to make us safer.”

Biden says Trump “seeks to sow division in America for his own gain.”

“We simply cannot let that happen as Americans. Period.”

Meanwhile, the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs captured this footage today in Biden’s hometown of Scranton:

Biden: notion of Trump middle-class sympathy 'malarkey'

Biden attacks Trump:

His cynicism is unbounded. His lack of empathy and compassion can be summed up in the phrase he made famous: you’re fired.

Think about that. Think about that. ... How can there be pleasure..?

He’s trying to tell us he cares about the middle class/ Give me a break. That’s a bunch of malarkey!

That sets off an immense cheer.

Biden:

Whatever he thinks, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart.. I know why we’re strong.. why we are united.. it’s because there’s always been a growing middle class. This guy doesn’t have a clue about the middle class. Not a clue.

“He has no clue about what makes America great. Actually he has no clue, period.

The crowd chants:

Not a clue!

Not a clue!

Biden has the crowd in thralls. “If you live in the neighborhoods like the one Jill and I grew up in... then there’s only person in this election who will help you... who’s always been there for you.

“And that’s Hillary Clinton’s life story! She always there. And so is Tim Kaine.”

He says thanks. Eight years ago, he says, he was onstage in Denver to accept the veep nomination.

“And every single day since then has been the honor of our lives for Jill and me. Every day we’ve been grateful to Barack and Michelle.”

“We’ve become friends,” Biden says of the Obamas. “We’re now family. Folks, you’ve all seen... what president Obama means to this country. he is the embodiment of honor, resolve and character. One of the finest presidents we have ever had.”

Big applause.

And Michelle? I don’t know where you are, kid. But you’re incredible. I was talking to Barack today. It’s no longer who can give the best speech. We already know who did that.

As they say in Delaware, Barack and I married way up. Way up.

Biden comes out to the Rocky thing. Good times. Everybody now has red Joe signs. The veep paces the staged like an uncaged tiger (whatever). He walks the length of the stage to say Hi to everyone.

The crowd – the whooole crowd – chants Joe! Joe! Joe!

It’s a truly effusive Biden tribute video.

Now here’s Dr Jill Biden, introducing her husband.

Who is then introduced by a tribute video.

Now the chant becomes USA! USA! USA!

They’ve turned the lights down on the section where most of the chanting was coming from – but the delegates, some of them, have turned on their phone flashlights.

Panetta leaves and they turn the lights back on. That was Washington state and Oregon, mostly, it appears.

Updated

Panetta interrupted by chant: 'No more war!'

Here’s Leon Panetta, the former defense secretary and CIA director:

In this election, there is only one candidate for president who has the experience, temperament and judgment to be commander-in-chief, and that is Hillary Clinton.

Panetta credits Clinton with supporting the decision to go after Osama bin Laden. “Hillary was clear: we have to go after Bin Laden.”

That’s applauded.

Panetta says Clinton is determined to defeat “Isis al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab, terrorists who pervert the teachings of Islam to kill innocent people.”

“Meanwhile, Donald Trump says he gets his foreign policy experience from watching TV and running the Miss Universe pageant. If only it were funny. It is deadly serious. Donald Trump asks our troops to commit war crimes, endorses torture, spurns allies from Europe to Asia, suggests more countries to have nuclear weapons, and praises dictators from Saddam Hussein to Vladimir Putin.”

Panetta refers to Trump’s call for a Russian hack on Clinton.

Panetta is interrupted by a chant:

No more war!

No more war!

He pauses and smiles.

There’s general noise and confusion.

Then Panetta continues, saying Trump “took Russia’s side.” The line is booed.

“Think about that for a moment. Donald Trump, who wants to be president of the United States, is asking one of our adversaries to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the United States to affect our election.”

Panetta calls it irresponsible.

The No MOreWar! chant continues, but it’s temporarily drowned out when Panetta says, “Donald Trump cannot become commander-in-chief.”

“We cannot put an erratic finger on our nuclear weapons,” he says. “This is no time to roll the dice and gamble.”

Here’s the lineup of speakers on deck:

Remarks
Kristen Kavanaugh

Kristen Kavanaugh is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps Captain who deployed to Iraq. She later co-founded the Military Acceptance Project, a California-based social justice organization dedicated to promoting acceptance of marginalized populations within the military.

Remarks
Former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta

Remarks
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio)

Introduction of Speaker
Dr. Jill Biden

Remarks
Vice President Joe Biden

Hutson s interrupted – is that the California delegation? – it’s a chant.

“I can’t hear what they’re saying,” Hutson says.

We can’t either, they’re on the other side of this big arena.

He goes back to his speech, which now concludes:

“When you’re a citizen you have the responsibility to choose the commander-in-chief who will keep us safe, strong and secure. Choose Hillary.”

And now the 2016 Democratic convention is applauding the 2008 Republican nominee. Hutson on Trump:

He even mocks our POWs, like John McCain. I served in the same navy as John McCain. I used to vote in the same party as John McCain. Donald, you’re not fit to polish John McCain’s boots!

They like the line.

Next up is retired Admiral John Hutson. “Unlike Donald Trump there are two things I know an awful lot about: law and order,” he begins. He was 30 years in the navy and a judge advocate general.

“Donald Trump calls himself the ‘law and order candidate’ but he’ll violate international law... this morning, this very morning, he personally invited Russia to hack us! That’s not law and order. That’s criminal intent.”

Hutson isn’t an electrifying speaker, but he enjoys a crowd deeply sympathetic to the argument he’s making:

The real disaster is what would happen if we let Donald Trump become the face of the country we love.

Now they’re screening a video titled Solemn Responsibility, featuring a great number of national security figures, from right and left, saying Trump is not fit to be commander in chief and definitely not to have the nuclear codes. Here’s the video:

Updated

Onstage is unfolding an extraordinary musical number. A tremendous line of recording artists doing a rendition of What the World Needs Now Is Love – lyrics by Hal David, composed by Burt Bacharach.

The crowd is overwhelmed with the vibe. When they wrap, the cheer exceeds any yet on the night – maybe the whole convention. Long lines of delegates were clasping raised hands and swaying.

Now they chant:

Love trumps hate!

Love trumps hate!

Love trumps hate!

NRA releases new ad attacking Clinton

As survivors and family members of victims from four different mass shootings speak in support of Hillary Clinton tonight, the National Rifle Association is preparing to release a new Clinton attack ad claiming that “you right to own a gun for self-defense is at risk in this election.”

The ad features Kimberly Corban, a rape survivor and gun rights advocate.

“The thought of owning a handgun terrified me, until one morning, a stranger broke into my apartment, and raped me. He had evil in his eyes, and I was helpless,” Corban says in the ad.

“My fear of firearms disappeared when I got my second chance at life.”

“Self defense is your right. Don’t let it be taken away,” Corban says.

The NRA ad will air starting on Thursday on national cable, and will also run digitally in battleground states.

Corban was one of the gun rights advocates who questioned the president during Obama’s CNN town hall on guns in January.

“As a survivor of rape, and now a mother to two small children -- you know, it seems like being able to purchase a firearm of my choosing, and being able to carry that wherever my -- me and my family are -- it seems like my basic responsibility as a parent at this point,” she told Obama.

“Why can’t your administration see that these restrictions that you’re putting to make it harder for me to own a gun, or harder for me to take that where I need to be is actually just making my kids and I less safe?”

“Well, Kimberly, first of all, obviously -- you know, your story is horrific. The strength you’ve shown in telling your story and, you know, being here tonight is remarkable, and so -- really proud of you for that,” Obama responded.

“I just want to repeat that there’s nothing that we’ve proposed that would make it harder for you to purchase a firearm.”

More Giffords:

In Congress I learned a powerful weapon. Strong women get things done....

In the White House she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hilary.

Speaking is difficult for me. But come January, I want to say these two words: Madam president.

Thank you very much.

The crowd can’t clap enthusiastically enough. And Giffords walks off and waves the whole way. The audience applauds until she disappears.

Kelly introduces Giffords, “someone who has taught me to deny the acceptance of failure. Someone who doesn’t give up. And someone who believes, like Hillary does, that we are all Stronger Together.”

My wife, my wife, the awesome congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

The delegates are on their feet. Giffords walks out slowly, unaided. She smiles and waves, smiles and waves.

The crowd cheers and cheers, it gets louder and louder when Giffords arrives at the lectern.

Fellow Democrats! she says.

Huge cheer.

What a crowd!

We have work ahead of us. Work that will determine the future of our country. Are you ready?

Yeah!

Are you ready?

Yeah!

Are you ready?

Yeah!

I’m ready.

Kelly notes he’s a son of two cops and a veteran of dozens of combat operations, and a former astronaut. He says from his unique perspective he has scene the country at its best and worst. “From orbit, I saw our planet as a perfect blue marble.. but I also saw expanding deserts and shrinking rain forests.”

Just as Hillary is prepared to defeat Isis... Hillary is ready to take on one of our country’s greatest moral failures here at home, and that is the gun violence that is tearing so many of our communities apart.

We have to do better. And Hillary knows we can.

Here’s Angela Bassett, the actress, who names the victims of the mass shooting inside Charleston AME church in South Carolina.

I visited Charleston this year, and I can tell you that city’s soul is on fire. It burns with resilience... it brought down the confederate flag and it brings the Charleston community closer together every day.”

Basset introduces Felicia Sanders & Polly Sheppard, survivors of the Charleston shooting.

Sanders says she rejects hate:

“It destroys those who harbor it. I refuse to let it destroy me.”

“No one should feel what I’ve seen. No one should feel how we feel. How we suffered. The Bible tells us... turn from our wicked ways. .. Let us heed God’s word, and in turn may God heal our nation.

Sheppard:

Amen. The shooter in Charleston had hate in his heart. Orlando and Dallas too. So much hate, too much. But as scripture says, love never fails. I choose love. And in this election, I choose Hillary Clinton.

Here now is astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Gabby Giffords.

Wikileaks releases DNC voicemails – Reuters

We haven’t heard the audio files yet. Developing...

Now here is former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, who served on the president’s special police reform commission, to talk about the need to stop violence against police officers.

The lineup to follow forges more and more deeply into the theme of the country’s failure to get gun violence under control:

Remarks
Actress Angela Bassett

Remarks
Felicia Sanders & Polly Sheppard

Felicia and Polly are two of the three survivors of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, SC.

Remarks
Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly

Updated

Smegielski says she should be watching at home on TV, with her mom.

“But, my mom was murdered, so I’m here.”

“I’m here alone, without my mother, while too many politicians cower behind the gun lobby instead of standing with American families.”

The crowd stands to applaud.

“What we need is another mother who’s willing to do what’s right, whose bravery can live up in equal measure to my mom’s. What we need is to elect Hillary Clinton... so that no other daughter ever has to say, I would give every single day that I have left for just one more day with my mom.”

The crowd applauds, but the speech is a gut-punch. There’s a downbeat muted quality to the clapping.

Updated

Murphy gives a pretty fired-up speech. Enough, he says. “We have had enough.” The crowd chants with him too.

Next up is Erica Smegielski, whose mother, Dawn Hochsprung, was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary and was killed while trying to protect her students.

There’s a video to introduce her:

“We waited and waited and waited. And they told us, if you’re in this room, it’s because your family member’s not coming out.”

“Hillary Clinton is the only candidate that has what it takes to take on the gun lobby” – the line is applauded. “There’s finally someone who can change things.”

Here’s Connecticut senator Chris Murphy to talk about the massacre in Newtown and efforts to advance gun safety legislation.

“I am furious,” he says. “I am furious that in three years in Sandy Hook... the Republican congress has done absolutely nothing to prevent the next massacre. It stokes inside me a sense of outage that I’ve never felt before. And that’s what drove me to stand on the floor of the United States senate for 15 hours to demand change.”

Murphy says that Clinton “held firm” against the gun lobby, “stood up to the NRA.”

Leinonen:

Christopher was a big Hilary supporter. That’s why I’m here. So I can tell you about the day he was born.

At the time she was a Michigan state trooper. When she went into labor, the hospital put her gun in a safe, she says.

I didn’t argue. I know that common sense gun policies save lies. The weapon that murdered my son fires 30 rounds in one minute... one minute for a gun to fire so man shots.

Five minutes for a bell to honor so many lives.

I’m glad common sense gun policy was in place when Christopher was born. But where was that common sense the day he died.

I never want you to ask that question about your child,” she says. “That’s why I support Hillary Clinton.

She’s hugged by her son’s friends. Lee Daniels is still onstage and hugs them. They leave the stage arm-in-arm to a great wave of applause.

Mother of Orlando victim appears

Now here is Christine Leinonen, Brandon Wolf and Jose Arraigada.

The crowd, which had been loud, is shushed.

Christine Leinonen is the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, who was killed in the Pulse attack in Orlando.

She is speaking on the verge of tears, with a hard twist in her life.

“Christopher was my only child. As I used to tell him, you can’t do better than perfect.”

Brandon Wolf and Jose Arraigada are survivors of the attack at the nightclub in Orlando.

Leinonen says that in high school, her son won the Anne Frank award for starting a gay-straight alliance.

His paternal grandparents met and fell in love in a Japanese internment camp, so it was in his DNA that love always trumps hate.

This line is applauded for a long time.

Director Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler) is next. He talks about a number of family members who have been to jail, and his father, a police officer shot dead in Philadelphia.

He says, in part:

Hillary has stood with families of people who have died due to gun violence... I wish she was around for me when my father died.

Hillary understands our right to bear guns, but wants to stop guns from getting into the wrong hands...

This is the most important election of our lifetime. Come November, vote for her.

Jerry Brown: Donald Trump is a lying 'fraud'

Now here’s Jerry Brown, the California governor.

What is it that the California delegation is chanting? We can’t quite make it out. Is that Jerry! Jerry! (?)

“That sounds good,” he says. “But I only got five minutes. I got to get going here.”

His remarks focus on climate change. He describes a “world imperative to take action.”

“But you wouldn’t know it by listening to Donald Trump,” Brown says. He notes that Trump never once mentioned climate change or global warming at the Republican convention.

Some strong lines:

Trump says global warming is a hoax. I say Trump is a fraud.

Trumps says there’s no drought in California. I say Trump lies.

So it’s not surprising that Trump chose as his running mate a man who denies evolution.

He says the Republicans and Trump “have strayed into sheer ignorance and dark fantasy.”

“While Trump talks and talks and talks,” Brown says, “Trump says stuff.”

For all the talk of unity in the hall and streets, the fact remains that there is an ugly undercurrent – at times it surfaces – of antipathy directed at the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party.

One example is right downstairs from the press risers, in a men’s restroom.

Sigourney Weaver is next, but the Hollywood actress simply cannot equal the undiluted star power of Martin O’Malley.

O'Malley kills

O’Malley:

Unlike that immigrant-bashing, carnival barker, Donald Trump... Hillary Clinton understands the enduring symbol of the United States of America is not the barbed wire fence... it is the Statue of Liberty!

And then O’Malley gets the biggest applause of the night so far, with a line about Trump being a bully:

It’s time to put a bully in his place, and a tough woman in hers (pause) -- The White House!

Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine --

Forward together -- Stronger Together!

The crowd roars and everybody waves whatever’s in their hands, in many cases Clinton signs. O’Malley positively gleams. Then he does a jig as he walks offstage! Make ’em laugh, knock ’em dead and dance ’em home. Who is this guy?

More yuks from O’Malley:

He says, and I quote: “The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese.”

I’ll tell you what: if the Chinese were really capable of designing some kind of diabolical farce to hurt America, they wouldn’t invent global warming … they’d invent Donald Trump!

O’Malley:

I say to hell with Trump’s American nightmare. We believe in the American Dream!

Then he scores a total cheer from the crowd with a joke about Trump, whom he quotes as having said that wages are too high:

Wages are too high???

I’ll tell you what’s too high:... College tuition is too high.

The cost of child care is too high.

The number of American children who live in poverty is too high.

Donald Trump’s opinion of himself... that’s way too high!!

They love the line.

Now here’s O’Malley. A nice warm welcome for him. He introduces himself “as a man who knows Hillary Clinton well.”

“I’ve worked alongside her,” he says. “And I’ve competed against her.”

Let’s be honest. Sort of competed. Filled out the debate stage threesome, at least.

A pretty solid line out of Detroit mayor Mike Duggan then:

Unlike Donald Trump, Detroit is only going to do bankruptcy once.

Here’s the next tranche of speakers, in case you need to plan around your dinner hour or water your plants or grab a snack or pick up the dry cleaning:

Remarks
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan

Remarks
Former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley

Introduction of Film
Actress Sigourney Weaver

Remarks
California Governor Jerry Brown

Remarks
Director Lee Daniels

Next to speak is Jamie Dorff, whose husband, Patrick Dorff, was an Army helicopter pilot from Minnesota who died while on a search and rescue mission in northern Iraq.

Dorff is speaking to highlight Clinton’s work to highlight the gratuity paid to family members of fallen veterans from $12,000 to $100,000.

She’s introduced by a video in which she talks about the pain and difficulty of losing her husband, and facing the challenge of raising her daughter.

“What Hillary has done for my family, and other military families, words can’t even describe it,” Dorff says on the video.

Sanders tweets footage of his brother, Larry Sanders, a UK resident, casting a vote for him Tuesday as a member of the Democrats abroad coalition:

Here now is Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California. As mayor of San Francisco, he issued licenses, contrary to the law, for same-sex couples to marry.

Newsom singles out Mike Pence as one of the country’s most regressive governors when it comes to LGBTQ issues. He says the Republican ticket is attempting a “hostile takeover of the American dream.”

Reid tells “new Americans” that the Democratic party supports them:

“New Americans risking everything to get here, and then fighting to make it here – we’re in your corner.

“You’re the ones fighting the hardest fights. You’re the ones who need leaders in your corner...

Reid concludes:

In a few months, I’ll be stepping out of the ring, one last time. But Democrats will always - always - be in your corner. So together, let’s keep fighting, together; fighting the good fight!

Reid is applauded appreciatively. He has to wait at the lectern for his wife to come out and walk him backstage. He’s limping a bit. He suffered debilitating injuries in January 2015 from an accident with an exercise band.

Updated

Reid: Trump is 'a hateful con man'

We’re scanning Reid’s prepared remarks. He gives “never-ending tribute to our next president, Hillary Clinton.”

He plans to call majority leader Mitch McConnell “craven”: “I’ve never seen anything more craven... [than] what he has done to our democracy.”

Further:

His Republican Party decided that the answer to hard-working Americans’ dreams is to slander our African-American president, stoke fear of Muslims, sow hatred of Latinos, insult Asians and of course wage war against women. In other words, the only thing Republicans like Mitch McConnell have accomplished is setting the stage for a hateful con man, Donald Trump

Reid gets a good round of warm applause. Appreciative crowd. There’s even a cheer: Harry! Harry! Harry! Harry!

Here’s Reid. We have a copy of his prepared remarks here. He starts with a joke:

“I spend a lot of time in the Republican senate, so it’s nice to be in a room that respects reason and facts!”

Here now is a tribute video to Harry Reid, the senate minority leader. Bernie Sanders is one of the talking heads: “He is often criticized for being very blunt,” Sanders says. “I like that.”

Elizabeth Warren recalls Reid calling her at home and asking her to run for senate.

But the best anecdote is from Chuck Schumer, who says that Reid bugs him about not signing shoes. “He says, here, here’s $20, because he knew I was cheap,” Schumer says. “Go shine your shoes.”

Reid talks in the video, too. He gets choked up when he remembers how he took a job in a service station so he’d have enough money to buy his mother a set of false teeth.

“If I do nothing else in my life, I got my mother some teeth,” Reid says.

Here’s Emily’s list’s Stephanie Schriok of Emily’s List, which helps elect pro-choice women to government:

“Hillary Clinton may be our first woman president, but she may not be our last. Once that barrier falls it will never, ever, ever be put back up.”

Here are the next four speakers in case you need to step out for a workout or to grab some groceries or walk the dog:

Remarks
President of EMILY’s List Stephanie Schriock

Remarks
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nevada)

Remarks
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom

Remarks
U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego (Arizona)

Trump in reddit AMA

Donald Trump is about to begin a reddit Ask Me Anything. Scott Bixby is going to cover it. Something tells us he is going to be doing a lot of typing.

Start time is 7pm ET.

Congressional black caucus rejects Trump

Now comes to the stage the congressional black caucus. Caucus chairman GK Butterfield of North Caraolina to speak.

He’s greeted warmly.

“Donald J Trump, your words have been hostile” he says. “They’ve been bigoted and insulting... you are not qualified to serve as president of the United States. ... you use your celebrity status to paint a picture of gloom and doom...

“You want to know why your polling numbers are so dismal with African Americans? We know that your wealth has come at the expense of other people.”

Flint mayor: 'we need your help'

Weaver says in 2014 the state switched our water source to a polluted river to save a handful of dollars... poisoning a whole community and leading to health impacts that may last for more than a generation.

The problems in Flint aren’t over, she says. “There are many more Flints across the country where environmental issues are hurting our kids and families,” she says.

“I am a voice for Flint,” she says. And “we need your help.”

They’re now screening a new video about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

It features Flint residents praising Clinton for her advocacy on behalf of their city and residents.

Speaking next is Flint mayor Karen Weaver.

Updated

Star Jones, the View host, who appeared on a season of Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice and came in fifth, is next. “We are all with her, because she has always been with us,” she says.

Jones alludes to her time inside Trump-world, contrasting Democrats with “race-baiting folks on the other side that I also know. Shame, boy bye.”

Well that wasn’t in his prepared remarks. Jackson finishes by saying “it’s healing time, it’s hope time, it’s healing time, it’s hope time, it’s Hillary time” and permutations of orders of those three phrases for quite a while. The crowd joins in a bit but Jackson varies the order and confuses them.

Updated

Jackson: 'shooting of young black men must stop'

Here’s Jesse Jackson, the civil rights leader, pioneering African American politician, Rainbow / PUSH coalition founder and Barack Obama frenemy.

He gets a good hurrah there, especially from the New York delegation.

We have Jackson’s prepared remarks here. He endorses Clinton firmly right out of the box. He congratulates Bernie Sanders “for energizing this campaign season.”

“The Bern must never grow cold,” he says. That’s not in his prepared remarks.

Jackson, 74, recalls Clinton’s long fights on behalf of impoverished children, “the marginalized and defenseless.”

“Hillary understands the historic dimensions of the agony, hope and promise of Black Lives Matter,” Jackson plans to say. “The shooting of young black men must stop.”

“It’s Super Bowl time,” Jackson says of the general election.

Jackson concludes his speech by quoting himself from his 1984 presidential run, when he won primaries in four states and Washington, DC.

If blacks register and vote in great numbers, progressive whites win,” he says/said. “It’s the only way progressive whites win. If blacks vote in great numbers, Hispanics win. When blacks, Hispanics, and progressive whites vote, women win. When women win, children win. When women and children win, workers win. We must all come up together.”

“It’s healing time, it’s hope time, it’s Hillary time.”

Updated

Here’s a musical number, billed as “our America musical performance.” It’s extremely easy-listening; the backdrop of fluffy cumulonimbus is perfect. You’d take it for one of the lazier offerings from the Christian lite genre, if they didn’t sing “America” so many times. (You still might.)

Sample lyrics:

America

Let’s celebrate the good times.

America

I’ll honor and defend you

America

America

America

Bolo tie count so far this evening, by the way: two (2). Let’s hope that number climbs like Trump’s poll numbers.

(That’s not to say we wish for Trump’s poll numbers to climb, only to acknowledge that they have, steeply.)

Here’s the slate of upcoming speakers, if you’re trying to plan upcoming beer runs / bathroom breaks:

Remarks

Civil Rights Leader Reverend Jesse Jackson

Remarks
Actress Star Jones

Remarks
Flint Mayor Karen Weaver

Congressional Black Caucus
Chair, U.S. Representative GK Butterfield (NC)

Team Clinton: 'we're excited but not always as loud'

The Guardian’s Adam Gabbatt and Laurence Mathieu-Léger set out to gauge excitement among Clinton supporters for the Democrats’ historic nominee.

They say they’re very excited - if “not always as loud.”

Clinton supporters: ‘We’re very excited but not always as loud’

Obama speech excerpts: 'Hillary's been in the room'

The White House has released excerpts of the president’s speech tonight. From these passages it appears the president will seek to articulate an optimistic view of the national crossroads and prop Clinton up, as opposed to tearing Trump down.

The key lines from the excerpts are familiar:

You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions.

Obama also plans to say, as he has before, that “there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.”

Here are the excerpts in full:

As Prepared for Delivery

“The America I know is full of courage, and optimism, and ingenuity. The America I know is decent and generous. Sure, we have real anxieties – about paying the bills, protecting our kids, caring for a sick parent. We get frustrated with political gridlock, worry about racial divisions; are shocked and saddened by the madness of Orlando or Nice. There are pockets of America that never recovered from factory closures; men who took pride in hard work and providing for their families who now feel forgotten. Parents who wonder whether their kids will have the same opportunities we have.

“All that is real; we’re challenged to do better; to be better. But as I’ve traveled this country, through all fifty states; as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America. I see people working hard and starting businesses; people teaching kids and serving our country. I see a younger generation full of energy and new ideas, unconstrained by what is, and ready to seize what ought to be.”

---

“You know, nothing truly prepares you for the demands of the Oval Office. Until you’ve sat at that desk, you don’t know what it’s like to manage a global crisis or send young people to war. But Hillary’s been in the room; she’s been part of those decisions. She knows what’s at stake in the decisions our government makes for the working family, the senior citizen, the small business owner, the soldier, and the veteran. Even in the middle of crisis, she listens to people, and keeps her cool, and treats everybody with respect. And no matter how daunting the odds; no matter how much people try to knock her down, she never, ever quits.

“That’s the Hillary I know. That’s the Hillary I’ve come to admire. And that’s why I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States of America.”

Sounds like De Blasio’s speechwriting team included Dr Seuss:

Hillary Clinton: she’s smart, she’s steady, she’s right and she’s ready.

Donald Trump is reckless, he’s risky, he’s wrong and he’s scary.

De Blasio:

We know that Trump is one of the great pretenders. But how can he pretend to be for American workers when he didn’t even pay his own workers what he owed them?

He calls Trump a “truly little man.”

Hello from inside the Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s New York City mayor Bill de Blasio. Some members of the New York delegation, which is parked right at his feet, stand up to applaud. Quite a few stay seated, however, and a couple seem to glare.

As slow as de Blasio was to endorse Clinton, he’s speaking effusively about her now. He says her heart led her to public service instead of a lucrative law career. The contrast is with Trump, “one of the least generous billionaires our country has ever seen.”

The Democratic National Convention Committee will release a video tonight titled “Protect,” highlighting Hillary Clinton’s record of standing up for military families. The video features Jamie Dorff whose husband Patrick Dorff, an Army helicopter pilot from Minnesota, died while on a search and rescue mission in northern Iraq.

While Democrats rock out in Camden, New Jersey, tonight to the musical stylings of Lady Gaga, Lenny Kravitz and DJ Jazzy Jeff, members of the media will be stuck inside overheated tents in a South Philly parking lot.

According to Philly.com – and confirmed by Gaga-affinitive members of the Guardian staff – reporters are banned from attending tonight’s sold-out “Camden Rising” concert in an official capacity. Officially, the reason for the media blackout is that “the artists have requested that the concert be closed to media as part of their contracts,” but PhillyVoice – a local publication whose executive editor happens to be the daughter of the co-host of the concert – will be in attendance.

The likelihood of non-Gaga-related breaking news out of Camden remains unlikely, although the list of invitees includes the president and the first lady, as well as Hillary Clinton herself – although it’s uncertain whether she will attend on the eve of her big night.

Guess we’re viewed as nothing more than ... paparazzi.

Updated

Erica Smegielski, daughter of Sandy Hook elementary school principal Dawn Smegielski, is set to address the Democratic National Convention tonight, and will be accompanied by this video.

Titled “My Mother”, Smegielski describes finding out about her mother’s murder in a school shooting, and Clinton’s platform on gun issues.

Updated

Rudy Giuliani, on electronic tags for Muslim terror suspects:

I would think that’s an excellent idea. If you’re on the terror watch list, I should you know you’re on the terror watch list. You’re on there for a reason.

Updated

Center for American Progress CEO Neera Tanden addressed the afternoon session of the Democratic National Convention, speaking of the importance of Democratic commitment to welfare, and also speaking to Clinton’s character as an employer.

“I know firsthand that the decisions our leaders make, make all of the difference in peoples’ lives. That’s why I chose a career in public policy, and that’s why I am so very proud to support Hillary Clinton,” Tanden said.

While Tanden worked in Clinton’s Senate office, she ensured a climate where “childcare, paid leave [and] equal pay” were part of the office culture.

“She walks the walk,” Tanden continued. “I know because I worked for her as I was starting my own family.”

“No matter how busy Hillary got, she always made family flexibility a reality for her staff,” Tanden said. “Once, she flipped her entire travel schedule so I could make it to my daughter’s pre-K graduation. In fact, Hillary was the second person to call me in the hospital when my first child was born, and the first person to call me when my second child was born.”

“That matters in Washington. What you do - not just what you say - matters.”

DNC gavels in for third session

Never a dull moment in Philadelphia.

Video: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump had a terse exchange with a female reporter at a press conference in Florida this morning, during which he told NBC’s Katy Tur to “be quiet.”

Trump tells female reporter to ‘be quiet’ during press conference

Tur had been questioning Trump on his previous comments inviting Russia to hack rival Hillary Clinton’s emails in order to acquire and release thousands of exchanges which are said to have been deleted prior to an investigation

After the Trump campaign requested copies of Politico magazine with his face on it, editor Kristin Roberts was happy to oblige - although she did include a note requesting that the campaign reinstate the outlet’s press credentials:

We hope Mr. Trump enjoys reading it in his spare time. In the spirit of open communication, perhaps this would be an appropriate time to ask when you will deliver to our reporters the credentials that we have requested for his many events. I know they would greatly appreciate it.

Chelsea Clinton has launched an impassioned attack on Republicans who support conversion therapy for gay and lesbian people, describing it as tantamount to “child abuse”.

Chelsea Clinton.
Chelsea Clinton. Photograph: Matt Rourke/AP

Bill and Hillary Clinton’s daughter, now 36, told LGBTQ Democrats in Philadelphia that she feels this is the most important election in her lifetime, in part because it is the first in which she will vote as a mother.

“Everything I care most about is at risk in this election,” she said, citing last week’s Republican national convention in Cleveland. “I’ve thought about what I found most offensive last week. It’s hard to pick just one. The Republican rhetoric which was divisive, degrading, demeaning, or the Republican party platform that was the anthesis to all that Chad [Griffin of the Human Rights Campaign] has celebrated for us as Democrats here. It was the most regressive, least inclusive platform in modern political history.

“But I think what I actually found most offensive really again ties to me as a mom. The open embrace of conversion therapy in the Republican party platform – in other words, child abuse – to me is the clarion call for all us to do everything we can to elect my mom but also to elect Democrats up and down the ticket.”

Clinton, who will speak on behalf of her mother at the convention on Thursday, added: “We need to ensure we are electing people who reflect our values so that my mom can finally pass the Equality Act, so that my mom can finally federally ban conversion therapy, my mom can restore the military records of everyone who has served their country.”

Admiral: Donald Trump's comments on Russia 'shocking and dangerous'

James Stavridis.
James Stavridis. Photograph: Laura Boushnak/AFP/Getty Images

Retired US Navy admiral James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of Nato, told the Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman that Donald Trump’s comments regarding Russian hacking of DNC emails are “shocking and dangerous” and will undermine American efforts abroad.

“These comments are shocking and dangerous,” Stavridis said. “In addition to the obvious domestic political implications of essentially inviting interference in our election, they will further undermine European confidence in the reliability of the US as an ally - particularly in the face of Russian adventurism.”

Edit: This post originally suggested that Stavridis was planning on speaking at the DNC tonight. That was incorrect.

Updated

The Trump campaign’s senior communications adviser, Jason Miller, has declared on Twitter that the candidate “did not call on, or invite, Russia or anyone else to hack Hillary Clinton’s e-mails today,” despite widely recorded and disseminated comments made by the candidate at a morning press conference that stated exactly that.

Trump, speaking at a press conference in Florida this morning, incited Russia to hack into and release Hillary Clinton’s emails from the personal server she used whilst she was secretary of state.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing,” Trump said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next.”

The Republican nominee added: “They probably have her 33,000 e-mails that she lost and deleted ... I hope they do ... because you’d see some beauties there.”

Florida senator Marco Rubio floated the possibility that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will learn on the job once he is elected president in a radio interview today, saying that it was his “sense” that the Senate will act to curb his most kneejerk impulses.

“I view the Senate as a place that can always act as a check and balance on whoever the next president is,” Rubio told WGN Radio. “I also think there’s something to be said for - once you’re actually in that position, once you’re actually working at this thing, and you’re in there, and you start to have access to information that perhaps you didn’t have before, especially for someone that’s never been in politics - I think it starts to impact your views a little bit.”

“That’s my sense of it, as he settles into this role as the nominee and ultimately the president, access to these issues is going to begin to, in some ways, kind of shape some of the policy positions given reality versus perhaps what you might read about on a blog somewhere” Rubio continued.

“So I think that’s gonna be a real factor.”

During the Republican primary, Rubio called Trump “an embarrassment” to the Republican party and vowed that they would pay for his nomination in November.

As delegates mingle in downtown Philadelphia, four miles north a “shanty town” called Clintonville has been set up by activists in protest against the Democratic National Convention.

Cheri Honkala in Clintonville.
Cheri Honkala in Clintonville. Photograph: Adam Gabbatt for the Guardian

The community is set up on an empty plot of land in Kensington, a working class neighborhood heavily impacted by de-industrialisation in the middle of the last century. Clintonville was organised by local activist Cheri Honkala.

“The focus this week is on Hillary becoming the first woman as the candidate, and I’m supposed to be happy that there’s a first woman president but Hillary doesn’t represent any of the women I know,” Honkala said.

“[Because of] her policies around the poor, and the fact that women and children have been killed as a direct result of Hillary.”

Honkala said Clintonville was based on the Hoovervilles of the 1930s – shanty towns built during the Great Depression – and was also protest against “$60m being spent on a convention and parties and $43m on security”.

Ahead of the convention activists had promised Clintonville would be a “tent city”, buton Wednesday it appeared that the turnout had been disappointing. There were six tents – seven including a tipi – and three buses at the site.

Interestingly, there is actually a town called Clintonville in Pennsylvania. It is situated in the north-west of the state and had a population of 528 as of the 2000 census. The median income is $22,083.

In non-hacking news, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager told a group of reporters at a lunch sponsored by the Wall Street Journal that they campaign is more than happy with Donald Trump’s stated plan to win over traditionally blue states.

Robby Mook.
Robby Mook. Photograph: Brian Snyder/Reuters

“I absolutely encourage Donald Trump to spend time campaigning in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey,” Robby Mook told reporters, according to the Hill.

“I wholeheartedly endorse that strategy,” Mook continued. “I would be happy to support him if he wants itineraries or schedules. I will have staffers at his disposal to assist him campaigning in those markets.”

Trump has vowed to be competitive in traditionally left-leaning states, including California, Pennsylvania and his home state of New York.

Donald Trump’s suggestion that Russia hack Hillary Clinton’s email servers is not the first time he’s pushed for digital vigilantes to sabotage his political opponents:

The Guardian’s Dan Roberts and Sabrina Siddiqui have more on Donald Trump’s assertions that the Russian government should hack into opponent Hillary Clinton’s email servers to release her private communications:

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Asked if he would handle Putin as a friend or an adversary, Trump said he would treat the Russian president “firmly” but expressed a desire to improve relations.

“There’s nothing I can think of that I’d rather do than have Russia friendly, as opposed to the way we are now, so we can go and knock out Isis together with other people and with other countries. Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with people?”

Trump, who has faced questions about whether his business empire has been supported by funding from wealthy Russians also claimed he could not release his tax returns because they were under audit.

“I’ll release them when the order is completed,” he said, while insisting there was no evidence to support claims of his ties to Russia.

“But zero, I can tell you right now. I have nothing to do with Russia.”

Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort, asked directly whether Trump denied having any financial links to Russian oligarchs, said: “That’s what he said – that’s what I said – that’s, that’s obviously what our position is.”

As news of Trump’s apparent incitement reached the Clinton camp, Sullivan issued a statement denouncing his remarks, adding: “This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent. That’s not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”

John Kasich is trying to split the difference between Donald Trump’s comments on Russian state-sponsored hacking and Hillary Clinton’s email servers:

Video: The Republican nominee said allegations of Russia hacking the Democratic National Committee emails to help him are “ridiculous” at a press conference Wednesday morning. Referring to Hillary Clinton’s emails that underwent a federal investigation, Trump said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

Trump on claims that Russia hacked DNC emails for him: ‘far-fetched’

After Donald Trump’s comments at his press conference today, Hillary for America senior policy advisor Jake Sullivan following statement:

“This has to be the first time that a major presidential candidate has actively encouraged a foreign power to conduct espionage against his political opponent. That’s not hyperbole, those are just the facts. This has gone from being a matter of curiosity, and a matter of politics, to being a national security issue.”

Donald Trump, doubling down:

Bernie Sanders told delegates yesterday that Hillary Clinton “must become the next president” in his speech at the Democratic national convention. But away from the Wells Fargo Arena, his supporters have been holding anti-Clinton demonstrations. So has Sanders managed to convince diehard fans to vote for Clinton? The Guardian went to a #BernieOrBust rally to find out.

Sanders supporters on Clinton: ‘I’ll support Hillary if I have to’

Donald Trump encourages Russia to hack Hillary Clinton's emails

In a whirlwind press conference from Doral, Florida, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told reporters that he had a message for Vladimir Putin and the Russian government: Please hack into rival Hillary Clinton’s email servers.

“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing,” he said. “I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let’s see if that happens. That will be next.”

Mike Pence issues separate statement on Russian hacking

In an apparent bid to distance himself from Donald Trump’s assertion that Russia should hack Hillary Clinton’s private email servers, Indiana governor Mike Pence has issued a separate statement following Trump’s press conference this morning to “ensure there are serious consequences” for whoever hacked the Democratic National Committee’s email servers.

“The FBI will get to the bottom of who is behind the hacking,” Pence wrote. “If it is Russia and they are interfering in our elections, I can assure you both parties and the United States government will ensure there are serious consequences. That said, the Democrats singularly focusing on who might be behind it and not addressing the basic fact that they’ve been exposed as a party who not only rigs the government, but rigs elections while literally accepting cash for federal appointments is outrageous. The American people now have absolute and further proof of the corruption that exists around Hillary Clinton. It should disqualify her from office, if the media did their job.”

House speaker Paul Ryan’s chief communications adviser has distanced the speaker from Donald Trump’s comments encouraging Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails and release them.

“Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug. Putin should stay out of this election,” Brendan Buck told the Guardian.

Closing line of Donald Trump’s press conference:

“I think it’s time for Hillary Clinton to do a press conference.”

Donald Trump has cited Hillary Clinton’s close adviser, Huma Abedin, as a reason why it is not “safe” to brief Clinton on topics relating to national security.

“Uma,” Trump called her, is married to “Anthony Weiner, who’s a sleazeball and a pervert. Add that’s recorded history, right? I don’t like Uma going home at night and telling Anthony Weiner all of these secrets? How can Hillary Clinton be briefed on this unbelievably delicate information when it was just proven that she lied?”

Abedin has been targeted by conservatives who have accused her of being a Muslim Brotherhood fifth columnist, without evidence.

Trump also declared that his son, Donald Trump, Jr., has no interest in running for mayor of New York City, a prospect that prompted Weiner to declare that he would come out of political retirement to beat him.

Donald Trump, on President Barack Obama:

I think that President Obama has been our most ignorant president in our history. His views of the world, in his words, don’t jive.

Donald Trump has apparently endorsed the idea of Russian hackers targeting American citizens.

Trump, when press by NBC’s Katy Tur whether he has any qualms about a foreign government like Russia employing hackers to find opponent Hillary Clinton’s emails, he declared: “No.”

Video: Donald Trump's bizarre press conference

Watch it live:

Highlights from Donald Trump's press conference

Donald Trump.
Donald Trump. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
  • Advocated for a $10 federal minimum wage, and for states to push it even higher.
  • Declared that he had never met Vladimir Putin, despite previously winking at the possibility of meeting with him during a 60 Minutes interview.
  • “I am a person who believes in enhanced interrogation. And by the way - it works.”
  • Mistook the role of Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine, a former governor of Virginia, with that of Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey.
  • Instructed the Russian government to find the 30,000 “missing” emails from Hillary Clinton’s personal email servers.
  • Accused Putin of using “the N-word” against President Barack Obama but told reporters that Putin will respect him. (Trump is mistaken - the reference is apparently related to blogs that commented on Putin’s willingness to use nuclear weapons.)
  • Promised to release his tax returns once a federal audit is complete, and denied any business with Russia. “I’ll release them when the order is completed,” he said. “But zero, I can tell you right now. I have nothing to do are Russia.”
  • Noted the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy: “I would love to see a woman become president of the United States, but she would be so wrong.”

No words.

Video: Former president Bill Clinton portrayed his wife, Hillary, as a dynamic force for changeand a longtime fighter for social justice as he made a case on Tuesday for her historic 2016 bid for the White House. Clinton’s speech looked at both his wife’s personal and professional achievements, and touched on many stories about their life together.

Bill Clinton delivers deeply personal speech in support of Hillary

Donald Trump, on the minimum wage:

The minimum wage has to go up - at least $10, but probably more, but it has to go up.

Donald Trump calls Russia hacking allegation 'ridiculous'

Speaking near Miami, Florida, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump held a rare press conference, berating reporters for not forcing opponent Hillary Clinton to conduct more press conferences.

“It’s been 235 days since Crooked Hillary has had a press conference,” Trump said, his voice severe. “I put myself through your news conferences often - not that it’s fun.”

“Despite the police platitudes, she’s been a mess,” Trump said. “They don’t have an American flag on the dais until we started complaining... Her great disloyalty to the person that rigged the system for her - DWS - she totally rigged it. Bernie Sanders never had a chance. Total disloyalty.”

“Just ask yourself why she doesn’t have news conferences. And honestly, the reason is that there is no way that she can answer questions, because the job she has done is so bad.”

After opening up the floor to questions, Trump took numerous questions regarding his relationship with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“It is so farfetched, it’s ridiculous,” Trump said, of the notion that Russia hacked the Democratic National Committee’s email servers in a bid to aid his presidential run. “I’d love to have that power, but Russia has no respect for our country - if it is Russia, nobody knows, it could be China. It shows how weak we are, it shows how disrespected… it’s a total sign of disrespect for our country. Putin and the leaders throughout the world have no respect for our country anymore and they certainly have no respect for our leader.”

“I never met Putin,” Trump said, when asked about his relationship with the Russian strongman, something that he has deflected when asked previously.

“I would treat Vladimiar Putin firmly, but there’s nothing I can think of that I’d rather do than have Russia friendly,” Trump said. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we actually got along with people?… And let’s go get Isis!”

A North Korean propaganda outlet has officially endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential bid, calling Trump “a prescient presidential candidate” who can solve issues on the Korean peninsula through “negotiations and not war.”

Kim Jong-Un looking at stuff.
Kim Jong-Un looking at stuff. Photograph: KCNA/AFP/Getty Images

The piece, published in state-sponsored DPRK Today, characterized the United States as “living every minute and second on pins and needles in fear of a nuclear strike,” according to Reuters.

“It turns out that Trump is not the rough-talking, screwy, ignorant candidate they say he is, but is actually a wise politician and a prescient presidential candidate,” Korean scholar identified as Han Yong Muk wrote, before deriding “thick-headed Hillary” as unsuitable for the office.

The piece might just make the cut at the Democratic national convention this evening, where Turmp’s relationship with “dictators and strongmen” will be emphasized, according to Clinton advisor Jake Sullivan.

“Articulate.”

Morning press briefing

In a delayed press briefing at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia, senior Clinton campaign staffers told reporters that following last night’s history-making nomination of Hillary Clinton, tonight’s program at the Democratic National Convention will build on that momentum by highlighting Clinton’s strengths as a potential commander-in-chief.

Bill Clinton speaks on the second day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
Bill Clinton speaks on the second day of the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Photograph: Xinhua / Barcroft Images

“We were all struck by the history-making moment of her becoming the first female nominee of a major party,” Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon said. “We’re looking to build on that tonight.”

Campaign chair John Podesta, after taking credit for the Pitch Perfect video, said that tonight’s program “will focus and spotlight the different between Hillary Clinton’s strengths” compared to those of Republican nominee Donald Trump.

“The convention will also spotlight Clinton’s commitment to reduce gun violence,” Podesta said, including speakers who have survived mass shootings in Orlando and Newtown, and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords. “The evening will be topped off, of course, with speeches from Vice President Biden , from vice presidential designate Tim Kaine and, of course, from President Barack Obama,”

Jake Sullivan, Clinton’s foreign policy adviser, told reporters that national security issues will “really come into focus” during tonight’s program. “We will have a number of people who served in uniform... speaking about what it takes to be commander-in-chief and why Secretary Clinton has what it takes.”

That list includes former secretary of defense Leon Panetta and an Iraq combat veteran who has been on the front lines in “advancing change” in the Pentagon. “They will talk about why Hillary Clinton has the unique combination of attributes to successfully carry that job.”

At the same time, Sullivan said, the speakers will address Trump’s “bizarre and occasionally obsequious relationship with dictators and strongmen” to hammer down the point that “this person should not be placed in command of America’s armed forced, he should not be given the nuclear codes, and he should never be given the title of commander-in-chief.”

Donald Trump, criticizing the lack of flags at the Democratic National Convention:

Democratic national convention: day three

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

Bill Clinton.
Bill Clinton. Photograph: Xinhua / Barcroft Images

At 6:38pm EDT, Democrats officially crossed the roll-call vote threshold and nominated former secretary of state Hillary Clinton as their presidential pick last night, making Clinton the first female presidential candidate from a major party in American history. Moments later, former rival Bernie Sanders called for a nomination by acclamation, a bid towards party unity that prompted some of his supporters to walk out of the arena to occupy the nearby media tents.

Bernie Sanders moves to nominate Hillary Clinton in DNC unity move

The capstone of the evening - the theme of which revolved around Clinton’s long history of working with women, children and the disabled - was the keynote address by former president Bill Clinton, who made the case for his wife’s election in deeply personal terms framed around the arc of their long and storied relationship.

Beginning with the simple line, “In the spring of 1971, I met a girl...” the former president and would-be first gentleman spent nearly an hour humanizing the Democratic nominee, with the apparent goal of allowing American voters to see Clinton through his eyes.

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

Today’s program: The third day of the DNC will gavel in at 4:30pm EDT, and although the complete speakers’ list is still forthcoming, will include the daughter of the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary, two of the three survivors of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, and the widow of an Iraq War helicopter pilot.

The keynotes tonight will be delivered by Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama, who will seek to protect the legacy of their administration by citing their work with Clinton as proof of her suitability to assume the role of commander-in-chief.

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

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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Spider-Noir showrunner says the goal is "to make a version of Spider-Man that no one had seen before," clarifying it's the "same character, different universe" from the Spider-Verse variant
Spider-Noir showrunner says "It's not a continuation of Into the Spider-Verse"
Total Film
Total Film
Tracee Ellis Ross Gives the Ponytail a High-Fashion Upgrade
Three ponys are better than one.
Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Rachel Zegler reflects on ‘confusing time’ during Snow White backlash
There was a backlash on social media after Zegler, who is from a Colombian background, was cast as the character, who is described as ‘white as snow’.
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
More Evidence Tom Brady And Alix Earle Are Still Hanging Out Amid Romance Rumors
This can't be a coincidence, right?
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
5 Racy Photos of Dakota Johnson as Actress Strips Down in Calvin Klein Ad
Take a look back on some of Dakota Johnson's most stunning photos from TV appearances and magazine covers.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
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