Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Image source, Reuters

Down on the convention floor among the Democratic delegates, it was both emotional and jubilant as President Biden took the stage at the DNC, as "we love Joe" chants rang out throughout the arena.

It was already loud in the room, but got even louder as Joe Biden wiped away tears and embraced his daughter before saying thank you.

"That's real love," the man next to me said to nobody in particular, adding: "There ain't no other way to describe it."

The most common sentiment among delegates down in the crowded floor is one of gratitude, as shown by the "thank you Joe" chants that broke out.

In a string of interviews over the course of the last 10 or so hours, most delegates and DNC attendees have gone to great lengths to point out that their only issue with Biden was cold and mathematical.

He couldn't win, and they needed a candidate that could.

Biden, for his part, seemed to acknowledge that.

"It's summer, and winter has passed," he says, a thinly veiled reference at Trump's presidency. "Democracy survived, democracy delivered and democracy must prevail."

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

"Democracy must be preserved. We are in a battle for the very soul of America," Biden says.

He talks about the riots in Charlottesville in August 2017 led by white Nationalists which led to the death of one woman.

They were "so emboldened by what they saw in the White House, they didn't even bother to wear their hoods", Biden says.

"I ran for president in 2020 because of what I saw."

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Reuters

"Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?" Biden asks the crowd.

A loud outburst in agreement follows.

He then moves on to talk about the 6 January riots in 2021.

"There is no place in America for political violence, none," he says.

"You can not only say you love this country when you win," he says, referring to Donald Trump.

During Biden's run for re-election, he painted Donald Trump as a threat to democracy and made it his party's main platform.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

The crowd is waving blue vertical banners that read "we love Joe" vigorously up and down. They stand and cheer for more than four minutes before he even speaks.

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz stand and clapped along with the crowd.

"Thank you Joe, thank you Joe," the audience repeatedly chants.

"America, I love you," he says.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

An emotional President Joe Biden has taken the stage, giving his daughter Ashley Biden a long hug as the crowd erupts in cheers. He wipes away a tear.

Ashley had just told the crowd her dad was "the OG girl dad".

"I could see that he valued and trusted women."

You can watch his speech live at the top of this page.

Image source, Reuters

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, reporting from the convention

Two months ago, Joe Biden was the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Now he’s the opening night speaker for a week that ends with Kamala Harris’s party coronation.

Biden’s aides are not billing this as a swan song, however. They promise that the president is going to give a forward-looking speech that is heavy on boosting his vice-president’s campaign.

The audience here may not view it that way, however. And the cheers he receives could be as much a sign of gratitude for his grudging decision to step aside as it is an honouring of a half-century political career.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

From where I am standing it is hard to see past the hundreds of green placards bearing Jill Biden's name as she takes the stage. "Thank you so much," she told the applauding crowd. "I love you too."

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

First Lady Jill Biden tells the crowd about Joe Biden's "humility", reflecting on when she says she "saw him dig deep into his soul and decide no longer to seek re-election and endorse Kamala Harris".

Democrats were riddled with anxiety and frustration in the weeks between Biden's disastrous debate and initial refusal to step aside, but have quickly overlooked that since he has chosen to exit the race.

Tonight, gratitude and praise have been the dominant expressions directed toward the president.

The first lady has just stepped up to the podium.

The crowd chants "Jill, Jill, Jill!"

Caitlin Wilson
Reporting from the convention

Image source, EPA

On the stage earlier we heard from reproductive rights advocates, who were touting Kamala Harris's support for a right to abortion in the United States.

Among them were Texans Amanda Zurawski and her husband Josh, who told their story about complications during pregnancy.

Amanda's life was put at risk when she was denied an abortion.

The BBC spoke to Amanda and Josh last year. You can read their story here.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock, the first black Senator to represent the state, begins his speech by mentioning the steep odds he faced to win the seat. It was sealed by a victory in a runoff election in 2021.

He mentions that his mother "used to pick somebody else's cotton and somebody's else tobacco" before becoming a woman who "picked her son" to become US senator.

"This is my America," Warnock says.

"Thank you mom, thank you Georgia."

Warnock's victory was critical to helping Democrats gain control of the Senate.

He has been a key player in drumming up enthusiasm among black voters. Prior to Kamala Harris stepping up as presidential nominee, polls had shown shrinking Democratic support from black voters.

Warnock went on to quote the Bible, a tactic prevalent in Republican circles.

Donald Trump was photographed holding a bible, Warnock, a pastor, says, "he should try reading it".

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear - who was once being considered as a possible vice president pick for Kamala Harris - entered the stage to chants of "Andy".

The Democrat is the highest elected official in a deeply Republican state.

"All women should have the freedom to make their own decisions," he says.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett is a firebrand Democrat who made news headlines earlier this year for a viral dispute with Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Since then, she has earned a reputation for not pulling any punches. And she's not pulling any tonight.

"One candidate worked at McDonald's while she was in college at an HBCU," Crockett says.

"The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and helped his daddy in the family business."

"She became a career prosecutor," Crockett continues. "While he became a career criminal", adding "with one porn star to prove it".

Alluding to Trump's reality TV show, the Apprentice, Crockett asks the crowd: "Who would you hire, Donald trump?"

"No," the crowd yelled back.

Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the convention

As Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton and other Democratic luminaries paid tribute to him at the convention, Biden and First Lady Jilly Biden met behind-the-scenes with 2024 Democratic National Convention Leadership, according to the campaign.

Biden is meeting with convention chair Minyon Moore - a close Harris ally - as well as executive director Alex Hornbrook and Michael Sacks, chair of the Chicago 2024 Host Committee. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, who both serve in roles on the campaign, also met with the president and first lady.

It's a bittersweet moment for both Biden and those who planned the convention, which until a few weeks ago was designed around his bid for a second and final term.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr / BBC

It's gotten slightly tricky to operate down here on the convention floor.

It's extremely crowded, with everyone - delegates and journalists alike - standing shoulder to shoulder. Cell signal is spotty at best.

Any attempt to stop and talk to people in the asking areas is quickly thwarted by exasperated security guards.

It is however, an extremely festive atmosphere. From where I've been cornered, I can see the Arizona and Louisiana delegations smiling, before pivoting to "boos" at mentions of Donald Trump's criminal convictions.

As has been the case all night, his name - or even mentions of his perceived faults - elicits a strong reaction from the crowd.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

The South Carolina delegates have made their voices heard by welcoming Representative James Clyburn on stage.

"Clyburn, Clyburn," the crowd yells.

Clyburn's endorsement of Joe Biden in 2020 handed him his first primary victory, injecting a fresh - and desperate - dose of momentum into his then-lagging campaign.

Clyburn also symbolises Biden and the Democrat Party's deep connection with older black voters.

"United is our common purpose," Clyburn says. "And emboldened in our resolve to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as the next president and vice president of these United States of America."

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

In the final remarks of her speech which electrified this crowd, Hillary Clinton says: "I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know that I was here in this moment."

"This is our time, America," she says.

"This is when we stand up. This is when we break through.

"The future is here. It's in our grasp"

Hillary Clinton also called back to her glass ceiling imagery from 2016, a metaphor she often used to talk about women rising to the highest levels in politics.

"Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Clinton said.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

The crowd has risen to their feet and started chanting "lock him up", a phrase frequently used by Republicans directed at Clinton back in 2016 when she was facing off against Donald Trump.

At the time, she was accused of improperly storing official emails.

Now, Democrats are using the chant to highlight Donald Trump's historic fraud conviction.

Clinton tells the crowd Trump couldn't even stay awake during his own trial (the former president was spotted by journalists with his eyes closed multiple times during his New York fraud trial).

Clinton tells the crowd that "we have him on the run now", which gets a giant cheer.

Caitlin Wilson
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

Hillary Clinton has appeared on stage wearing a white pantsuit in an echo of what she wore eight years ago, when she became the first woman to accept a major party's nomination for US president.

Women in American politics - and Clinton especially - often wear white as a nod to the white outfits of the suffrage movement which fought for women's right to vote in the United States.

Clinton lost the 2016 election to Donald Trump. Now, with their second woman presidential nominee Kamala Harris, Democrats are hoping they can change that outcome in November.

"I wish my mother and Kamala's mother could see us - they would say 'Keep going,'" Clinton says.