Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

The crowd just erupted when Beyoncé came on the speakers - with people anxiously awaiting to see whether she does, in fact, perform later.

The Texas delegation is having a particularly good time with it. Most are on their feet, waving flags and yelling slightly louder than their neighbours in the arena, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

From my vantage point, I even think I see Congressman Joaquin Castro and his brother, former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro, with beaming smiles on their faces.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Shomari Figures, a congressman from Alabama, has been talking about civil rights, a high-ranking issue in the state.

There’s a long history of slavery and racism in Alabama, the effects of which black voters from the state told the BBC are still present.

Alabama delegate Sheila Tyson tells me the thing she hopes to hear most from Harris tonight is how she will protect voting rights.

“Give us the right to vote,” she says. “We want a permanent Voting Rights Act.”

Since the Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling removed certain voting protections within the act, many states, including Alabama, have passed laws that some have said make it harder to vote.

In state’s like Alabama, and swing state Georgia, Democrats believe vote suppression efforts could be one of their biggest obstacles this year.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is on the floor - with a small phalanx of security guards pushing their way through the crowd towards the exits.

As a burly guard shunted me to the side, I asked the Governor - and one-time contender for Harris's VP slot - what he made of the evening.

"I'm feeling real good," he said. "How about you?"

His guards pushed him along before I could get my second question in.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Back inside the arena, we are now hearing from a series of "everyday Americans" on the stage.

One is a woman who experienced a miscarriage and was denied adequate medical care because of her state's abortion ban.

"I miscarried in a bathroom," she tells the crowd. "I'll never forget my husband's face as he tried to stop the bleeding."

Another woman tells the crowd that support from the Biden administration helped her keep her business afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her business has expanded substantially since then, she says.

"That's the American story," she says.

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

While speeches continue inside the United Center, outside there are protesters numbering in the thousands. They have reached a park nearby.

The march appears to be about the same size as Monday’s, perhaps bigger.

Protesters chant “killer Kamala” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

It’s noisy - with loudspeakers competing for attention - but so far sticking to the agreed route.

How Kamala Harris is preparing for the momentpublished at 01:44 British Summer Time 23 August 2024

01:44 BST 23 August 2024

Courtney Subramanian
Reporting from the convention

For Harris, tonight's speech is a moment she's never doubted would happen. Though it may have come sooner than expected, the vice-president has been preparing for this moment long before she was named the party's nominee.

As she's prepared over the last few weeks, retooling different drafts of the high-stakes speech, there's been one person on her mind whose had the biggest effect on her life: Shyamala Gopalan Harris.

Harris has long described her late mother as the most influential person in her life, often citing her advice in speeches and sharing anecdotes about growing up being raised by an Indian immigrant and single mother. Gopalan Harris, a diminutive but fierce cancer researcher who moved from southern India to California for graduate school, instilled in Harris an unshakeable confidence that allies say has guided her in moments of doubt.

But expectations are high as Harris will both need to reintroduce herself to voters and lay out her vision for what her administration would look like.

A senior aide told the BBC that despite her longheld reluctance to lean into her personal story, Harris will highlight her biography more than her predecessors have.

Though Harris prefers talking about substantive issues and her record over her background, tonight, she'll tell the world who she is and how she got here.

Harris to talk about her 'unlikely journey' and 'new way forward'published at 01:41 British Summer Time 23 August 2024

01:41 BST 23 August 2024

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, reporting from the convention

According to the limited speech excerpts that have just been released, Kamala Harris will describe what she calls an “unlikely journey” – not just to the presidential nomination but from her upbringing in a working-class Oakland neighbourhood.

It’s not surprising that her speech leans heavily into her personal story, given that her background – and the contrast it presents with Donald Trump – has proven to be one of her electoral strengths.

The excerpts also illustrate how Harris will try to position herself as means to move the nation beyond the acrimony and divisions of the past – and, in her words, “chart a new way forward”.

That new course includes swipes at her Republican opponent, however, and what has become a favourite Democratic target, the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy blueprint for a Republican presidency. Donald Trump has disavowed Project 2025, but the Democrats seem to believe they’ve found a potent line of attack.

Basketball star and Olympic gold medallist Steph Curry has just received a loud applause in the arena, where he is appearing virtually.

"I believe that Kamala and her energy can bring our country back," he tells the crowd.

The Warriors point guard says he had the chance to meet Harris at the White House last year and urges Americans to go out and vote.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the convention

We've just heard from a series of speakers whose remarks are trying to create a stark contrast between Harris and Trump.

We've regularly heard about the vice-president's previous legal career in which she prosecuted for-profit colleges, sexual abusers, and corporate fraud.

This group of speakers took their brief moments on stage to praise those efforts, and swipe at Trump for his numerous legal troubles.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

It's becoming even more chaotic down on the arena, and there are occasionally slightly tense scenes.

A few minutes ago, an usher walked through a walkway on right side of the arena, near the New Jersey delegation.

"You gotta move guys," he said. "Let's go."

A young man, festooned in metal Harris-Walz badges, turned around angrily.

"Where do you want me to go dude," he snapped. "I'm getting real tired of you yelling in my ear."

Caitlin Wilson
Reporting from the convention

We have just gotten from Harris's team a few excerpts of the speech she is expected to give later tonight.

She will call on Americans to use the election as "a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness" and "chart a new way forward" regardless of party.

Stick with us, we'll have more for you shortly.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the convention

The DNC programme has consistently run late this week. Tonight, it is remarkable that things have remained fairly on track so far.

It seems organisers wanted to go out with a bang on the final day. They've packed a huge number of speakers onto the schedule tonight, so many people had grumbled that the timeline would surely spiral.

But, now that we're nearly at the halfway point, I am happy to report that the DNC has kept - for the most part - to its schedule.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Merika Coleman, the state senator from Alabama, isn't just looking forward to Harris's speech. She's heard rumours that Beyoncé might be taking the stage tonight.

"We are hoping that Beyoncé is coming to us," she says. "I love her. She's my number one."

But her daughter has also made her a Swiftie - or a Taylor Swift fan - and she's heard rumours the mega pop star could appear tonight too.

"My daughter loves her," she says.

Caitlin Wilson
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Caitlin Wilson / BBC

As my colleague Caitriona reported earlier, lots of the women at the DNC tonight are wearing white as an homage to the outfits worn during the early 1900s US women's suffrage movement.

I talked to two delegates waiting to order some food. Luz Bay from New Hampshire and Heather Hutt from California are wearing white pant suits, and they've added pearl necklaces and Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers - in honour of two accessories Kamala Harris is known to sport.

"We understood the assignment," says Bay, who is also a state representative in New Hampshire.

She says her suit is also a nod to Hillary Clinton's white outfit the night she accepted the Democratic nomination in 2016.

Hutt, who worked for Harris in California, even had her custom Chucks decked out in a patriotic pro-Kamala motif.

"There's joy, there's energy, but we're not going to let our guard down" ahead of the election, she says.

Image source, Caitlin Wilson / BBC

Mike Wendling
Reporting from Chicago

The last of a series of protests against US support for Israel has set off from Union Park near the convention site.

Hundreds of protesters - perhaps into the low thousands - have listened to speeches and will now march towards the United Center.

But they will be on the other side of a large security barrier and are being closely watched by police. The mood right now is fairly relaxed as the marchers set off.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr / BBC

Earlier I spoke to Adam Kinzinger, the Illinois Republican and former congressman who is an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump.

Kinzinger - one of very few Republicans to vote to impeach Trump - tells me he's concerned about what might happen if Trump refuses to accept the results of the election.

"He doesn't have the instruments of state this time, but he can convince a lot of people an election is stolen," he says. "This is why we need to be having this discussion now."

"I don't think it'll be like January 6 at the US Capitol, but I think the concern is at different state capitols," Kinzinger adds. "What happens if one of the legislature simply decides to not certify the results?"

Asked what he wants to hear from Harris tonight, he says: "The only thing I need to hear is that she's not Trump," he responds with a smile.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Image source, Bernd Debusman / BBC

Matthew Rothschild, a California delegate whose district includes San Francisco, wants Kamala Harris to tell the crowd tonight how she’s going to “restore the middle class”.

“We’ve had everything benefit the most wealthy in our country and we’ve created an underclass."

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the convention

Reverend Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader and founder of the National Action Network, says that he has known Donald Trump for 40 years - and the man has never changed.

He says that the only thing that Trump has done is put a full-page ad in the New York Times calling for the death penalty of the Central Park Five - five young men who were wrongly accused of a rape and murder in New York City.

Four of them are now speaking: Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise, Raymond Santana and Kevin Richardson.

"Now they're the exonerated five," Sharpton says.

New York delegate Jessica Garcia is on the convention floor and told my colleagues: “I’m personally very moved that they’ve come to share their story and call out the racism on the other side”.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention floor

Rumours of a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift performance at the DNC are unconfirmed. But security has definitely ramped up.

The press passes and credentials that have worked all week to allow us access to the arena’s floor are being denied.

It feels like trying to get into the most exclusive club.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

The crowd got up and started dancing the second they heard the DJ play Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off". As we've been reporting all night - the entire floor is wondering who tonight's surprise appearances will be. "God I hope it's Taylor," a young Georgia delegate told me earlier. "I'm a real hardcore Swiftie."