Image source, Reuters

There are 100,000 balloons dropping at the DNC right now - and it takes a small army to inflate them.

A convention official tells us more than 100 people - including volunteers, skilled staff members and stagehands - to get the balloons prepped. They rely on a "specialized system" that was created in 1988 to handle such a large quantity.

All of the balloons were inflated behind-the-scenes at the convention centre starting Wednesday and Thursday before the convention's start, the DNC official says.

They are all red, white and blue but vary in size.

Image source, Caitlin Wilson / BBC

Harris calls voters to be "guided by optimism" as the election approaches.

She calls the "privilege and pride of being an American" the "greatest privilege on earth".

"Let's fight for it," she says, before ending the speech

Image source, Reuters

Harris says that countries led by autocrats and authoritarians are "rooting for Trump" because they believe "he is easy to manipulate with flattery and favours".

"They know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself," she says to a cheering crowd.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Harris is getting back to her ideas for the future of America.

"I love our country with all my heart. Everywhere I go and everyone I meet, I see a nation that is ready to move forward, ready for the next step and the incredible journey that is America," she says.

She says Americans have much more in common than what divides them.

"None of us has to fail for all of us to succeed," she says. She contrasts this with the Trump campaign, who she says is "out there denigrating America".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Several people to my right and behind me are shouting "free Palestine" as Harris speaks.

It's unclear if they are hoping to interrupt her or agreeing with what she's saying about the Palestinian people.

It caught my eye that nobody in my immediate vicinity was clapping as Harris commented on Israel's right to defend itself - but they all did when Palestinian civilians were mentioned.

Harris says she will always defend key US ally Israel, and also calls for an end the war in Gaza.

"Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done," she says, touching on a topic that has become deeply divisive within the Democratic Party, as pro-Palestinian protesters have demonstrated outside for every day of this convention.

She blasts the "unspeakable" violence that took place in Israel on 7 October, and also adds "what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating".

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

After border security, Harris is turning to national security.

She's talking about the war in Ukraine - and helping "mobilise a global response" to defend the country against Russia.

She says she will continue "to stand strong with Ukraine and our NATO allies".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Fairly muted applause here at the Texas section as Harris discusses bringing back the bipartisan border deal.

It's not a tremendously important issue to many delegates I've spoken to over the last few days - even those from states where it's an immediate concern.

Some members of the crowd seem to be getting a bit tired - some yawning even as "USA, USA" chants ring out.

Image source, Reuters

Harris notes the importance of voting rights in the US, and she promises to pass legislation that would protect those rights.

"This election we finally have the opportunity to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act."

The John Lewis Voting Rights Act was proposed last year. It would bring back aspects of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and require states to seek federal approval before making changes to voting laws.

Advocates say the other bill would protect voting rights, end partisan gerrymandering, improve campaign finance laws, and safeguard the electoral process.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

We're hearing from Harris on border security, an issue that Republicans have been using to attack the Democratic candidate.

She brings up the bipartisan border security bill that fell apart in Congress this year after Trump urged Republicans to vote against it.

"Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign, so he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal," Harris says.

"Well I refuse to play politics with our security."

Harris says she plans to bring back the bill and sign it into law.

Record numbers of migrants were detained at the border during the Biden-Harris administration but the number of unlawful crossings has now fallen for five consecutive months.

The Trump campaign is furiously sending out email appeals to supporters during Harris's speech. Each one is timed to address specific themes such as crime and immigration.

One email subject line says "Kamala owns the Harris-Biden economic failure".

Another email says she "destroyed San Francisco" and another says she plans to raise taxes.

Meanwhile, Trump himself has been live-blogging about Harris's speech on his social media platform, Truth Social.

"Why didn’t she do something about the things of which she complains?" Trump asked in one post.

Another rhetorical question, in all capital letters, asks: "Is she talking about me?"

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

Harris is in the middle of her remarks, but outside of the venue the protests continue.

About two dozen protesters have sat down in the middle of Ashland Avenue, blocking the road in one direction.

They are vastly outnumbered by press and police. That’s about all that’s left of the protest.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

Harris is turning to one of her key issues from her vice-presidency: reproductive rights.

She starts by attacking Trump for appointing a conservative justice to the Supreme Court, which later overturned Roe v Wade, which had protected the federal right to abortion for decades.

"Now he brags about it," Harris says.

"Simply put, they are out of their minds," she says to a loud applause.

Abortion is an issue strategists are eager to see Harris capitalise on, one that has galvanised Democratic voters to the polls.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Kamala Harris has spent the last few minutes laying into Donald Trump and the Democratic delegates here are eating it up.

When she said: “The only client he has ever had to serve”, the crowd finished her sentence before she could by yelling - “himself!”

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Harris is continuing to lay out her policy vision in a broad sense.

She says that "building that middle-class will be a defining role of my presidency".

It's language we heard often from Biden, who talked about building out the economy "from the bottom up".

Harris adds a personal touch to the conversation.

"The middle class is where I come from," she says. "My mother kept a strict budget."

Aspirational but still 'realistic'?published at 03:55 British Summer Time 23 August 2024

03:55 BST 23 August 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent

Kamala Harris said she would be a president who “unites us around our highest aspirations” – and that has been a central component of her speech so far.

It’s something that Joe Biden promised, as well, but American politics hasn’t exactly been healed.

That may be why she added, in the next line, that she would be “realistic” and “practical”.

Harris invokes a line that has become a motto of her campaign - "we are not going back" - which the crowd immediately begins chanting.

She notes numerous Trump policies that she alleges will draw the country into the past, from abortion bans to tax cuts for the very wealthy.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Harris is continuing her attacks on Trump, coming after his criminal history.

Trump was convicted of 34 counts of fraud in the state of New York earlier this year related to hush-money payments made to an adult-film star.

Harris's campaign has framed the 2024 race as a choice between Harris, the prosecutor, and Trump, the felon.

Harris says that "in many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man".

She talks of "the chaos and calamity" of his time in the White House, but she says what he has done since the last election may even be worse.

"He tried to throw away your votes," she said, noting his legal efforts to overturn the election results in numerous states in 2020.

And when he failed in that effort, she says to the crowd, "he sent an armed mob to the Capitol".

Republican challenger Donald Trump is watching Kamala Harris's speech tonight and offering his thoughts on social media.

He's posting rapidly on his Truth Social media platform.

So far, Trump has criticised Harris for saying "thank you" too many times and talking too much about her upbringing instead of election issues.

"A lot of talk about childhood, we’ve got to get to the Border, Inflation, and Crime!" he writes in one post.