DNC: Tim Walz formally accepts vice president nomination

Winfrey was not the only celebrity at the DNC on Wednesday night. Actress Mindy Kaling hosted part of the evening, and Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Marren Morris all performed songs.

Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson made fun of "Project 2025", the conservative blueprint for Trump's second term.

Holding the more than 900-page manifesto, Thompson asked: "You ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?"

Amanda Gorman, the country's first ever youth poet laureate who gained fame for reading a poem at Biden's inauguration, read a new piece titled "This Sacred Scene."

Legendary TV host and public figure Oprah Winfrey started her speech by echoing a call from former First Lady Michelle Obama that it was time for Americans to "do something."

She cast voting for Harris and Walz as a vote against divisiveness.

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

She then quoted civil rights icon John Lewis, saying: "no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on, we are all in the same boat now."

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz formally accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for vice president in a keynote speech at the convention, calling it "the honor of my life."

An emotional Walz used his Democratic National Convention address to thank the packed arena for "bringing the joy" to an election transformed by the elevation of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.

"It's the honor of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States. We're all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason — we love this country," Walz said in Chicago.

Walz talked about his upbringing in a small town in Nebraska as the son of a Korean War Veteran who died relatively young of lung cancer. He discussed his years in the National Guard and his career as a high school teacher and sports coach.

"It was those players and my students who inspired me to run for Congress. They saw in me what I hoped to instill in them — a commitment to the common good, an understanding that we’re all in this together. And the belief that a single person can make a real difference for their neighbors," he said.

He also highlighted key policy proposals, such as middle and working class tax cuts and housing infrastructure.

Vice President Kamala Harris will address the gathering on its final night on Thursday.

Nancy Pelosi began her speech at the DNC by thanking Joe Biden despite her role in his decision to drop out of the presidential race.

"Thank you, Joe," she said after listing Biden's achievements during his term as the president.

When asked about her conversation with Biden before he quit the presidential race, Pelosi initially tried stalling the answer but later said that it Biden's own decision.

The former House speaker said what she did what was necessary to stop Trump from returning to the White House.

"I wanted very much to protect his legacy," Pelosi said of the president. "So my point was only: We need a better campaign."

At the DNC, Pelosi also showed her support for Kamala Harris and said, "I know that Vice President Harris is ready to take us to new heights."

Former President Bill Clinton denounced Donald Trump as selfish while addressing the third day of the DNC.

"We've got a pretty clear choice it seems to me. Kamala Harris, for the people. And the other guy who has proved, even more than the first go-around, that he's about me, myself and I," Clinton said. 

In his 27 minutes-long speech, Clinton urged Democrats to support Harris.

"What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself," Clinton said. "So the next time you hear him, don't count the lies, count the I's."

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak Friday "about the present historical moment and his path forward," his campaign announced Wednesday. 

The announcement fueled growing speculation that Kennedy might drop out and endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The move would once have seemed unthinkable for Kennedy, a Democrat for most of his life. He is a member of a beloved Democratic dynasty: the nephew of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Robert F. Kennedy.

According to a super PAC supporting Kennedy, the independent presidential candidate wants a deal with Donald Trump in which he endorses the Republican rival in exchange for a job in a potential Trump administration.

Trump told CNN this week he would "certainly be open" to Kennedy playing a role in his administration if the independent candidate drops out of the race and endorses him.

Donald Trump held his first outdoor campaign event since his assassination attempt.

Speaking against a backdrop of vintage warplanes at an aviation museum in North Carolina, Trump called his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris the "most radical left person" ever to run for the White House. He claimed millions of jobs would "vanish overnight" if she wins in November.

"Your life savings will be totally wiped out," the Republican candidate told the crowd, one of several apocalyptic scenarios he painted during his speech.

"All over the world, our adversaries knew that America was not to be trifled with when I was your commander in chief," Trump said. "If comrade Kamala wins this November, World War III is virtually guaranteed to happen."

North Carolina is one of a handful of swing states that are expected to determine the outcome of the November 5 election.

Kamala Harris' main campaign fundraising group raised four times as much money in July as Donald Trump's campaign did, according to a federal disclosure filed late Tuesday.

Democratic Vice President Harris' campaign told the Federal Election Commission it raised $204 million (€183 million) last month, compared to $48 million reported to the body by Republican former President Trump's main fundraising group.

Harris' figures include money raised during the month before she launched her candidacy on July 21, when President Joe Biden folded his flagging reelection effort.

Biden endorsed Harris, who took over control of his fundraising group. The records show the group raised more than $60 million in the first three days of Harris' candidacy. Harris also outspent Trump during the month, $81 million to $24 million, according to their FEC reports.

While the candidates and their parties work together, the sums raised are important because the campaigns are, by law, given steep discounts on television ads, while the parties and other allied groups must pay full price.

Tim Walz is a relative unknown to American voters. On Wednesday, he is slated to introduce himself.

Despite Republican attempts to brand him a "radical Socialist" who "is worse than Bernie [Sanders]," Walz is often seen as a straight-talking — at times folksy — down-to-earth, middle-class Midwesterner.

Minnesotans regularly rank among the happiest Americans and Walz seems to embody that. His message is one of conviction and determination.

Walz will likely speak of his childhood in Nebraska, his years in the National Guard, his work as a high school teacher and football coach, in the US House of Representatives and as governor of Minnesota.

That down-to-earth reputation could be key to Harris and Walz securing victory in Midwestern swing states and when it comes to connecting with working-class voters, providing a balance to Harris' West Coast background. 

Besides Walz, key speakers to take the stage on Wednesday are former President Bill Clinton and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a fellow Midwesterner. 

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and numerous swing-state governors and senators are also set to address the DNC.

Chicago police remained busy in their attempt to keep a lid on public order as protesters continue to descend on the city. Tuesday night saw 55 arrests made as a result of violent clashes between pro-Palestinian protesters and police.

The arrests were made near the Israeli Consulate in Chicago, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away from the United Center, where the DNC is being held.

Police Superintendent Larry Snelling described the situation as "a danger to our city."

"As the Chicago Police Department, we did everything that we could to de-escalate that situation," said Snelling during a news conference, "But there's only so much de-escalation that you can attempt before it becomes excessive repetition."

Snelling said some protesters at the consulate, many dressed in black and with their faces covered, charged at a line of police who had blocked their march. He said protesters showed up to, "fight with the police. We were not the initiators of violence, but we responded to it."

After a raucous send-off of President Joe Biden on day one of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Monday, and a message of rekindled hope for America's future as told by Michelle and Barack Obama on day two, day three will see vice-presidential candidate Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota step into the limelight.

The prime-time slot will give Walz — who is expected to formally accept the party's vice-presidential nomination on Wednesday — the opportunity to introduce himself, a relative unknown, to a national audience.

On day two, the Obamas delivered a message of rejuvenated political hope amid a party-like atmosphere, often poking fun at the narrow-minded privilege and strange racial obsessions behind the rantings and policies of Kamala Harris' Republican challenger, Donald Trump. They also urged Democrats to prepare for the political battle facing them in their effort to get Harris elected president.

Though day three may see Walz jokingly refer to his labeling of Trump Republicans as "weird" — which has clearly struck a nerve — he will also seek to highlight just how a second Donald Trump term would imperil American liberties.

The tenor of the evening is expected to highlight individual freedoms that Democrats say would be under threat should Republicans win back the White House.

Reproductive rights will be front and center as an example of what can happen to long-accepted rights when Republicans are in control. It is a visceral example of personal freedoms — revoked by GOP lawmakers and a conservative Supreme Court — that hits very close to home for millions of Americans. It also happens to be an election-swaying issue for the party and one that can be pinned directly on Donald Trump.

js,dh/fb (AP, Reuters)