Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Madeline Halpert / BBC

Down on the floor of the arena, delegates from Minnesota are ready for their governor to take the stage.

Funlola Otukoya, a first-time delegate from Minneapolis, says Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has an opportunity to introduce himself to a crowded room full of Democrats tonight.

"I want the world to hear his story," Otukoya tells me.

"That he was a coach, he was a former congressman in the National Guard, but I want people to understand what we know in Minnesota as the beneficiaries of his policies."

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Reuters

After having largely avoided border issues, Democrats are now tackling the issue head-on, seeking to push back on criticisms which have been a key focus of the Trump campaign.

Among those who have so far spoken about the issue is Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiation in the team that brokered a bipartisan border security deal that fell apart amid pressure from Donald Trump.

"Trump killed that bill because he knew if we fixed the border, he'd lose his ability to divide us," Murphy says.

Harris, Murphy adds, has been "tough as nails" on immigration but welcomes those who come here legally.

That's a message we're likely to hear several times tonight.

"Kamala Harris knows we can be a nation of immigrants and immigration laws," he says. "That's why, when she's president, she will bring that border bill pack, and she'll pass it."

Mike Wendling
Reporting from the convention

Image source, BBC / Mike Wendling

Outside the convention, a small group of "uncommitted" delegates has just wrapped up a news conference, updating us about their request that a Palestinian-American be allowed on stage to talk about Gazan civilians who have been killed in the war.

The "uncommitted" were selected during Democratic primaries in various states, and number around 30 out of the more than 2,400 delegates on the floor.

But they say that they've collected the signatures of nearly 250 other Democratic delegates, pledged to Vice-President Harris, who also support calls for a ceasefire.

The uncommitted bloc says they're still talking to the Harris campaign about a speaking slot - and while they haven't had a "yes" yet, neither have they had a definitive "no".

"We want to hear if there is room in our party for those who are organising for Palestinian rights," says Michigan uncommitted delegate Abbas Alawieh. "It's a very simple request. We're very reasonable people."

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the convention

Image source, EPA

I was able to speak briefly with Mitch Landrieu, the national co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign.

He says that the convention is buoyed by "a lot of energy, a lot of excitement", but he warns that Democrats should not be lulled into a false sense of security by the week's good vibes.

"I feel really good about where we are. We are the underdog, though. It's going to be a close race."

He emphasises that another important component of the convention is the organising that is going on behind the scenes.

The Harris-Walz campaign launched a get out the vote campaign over the weekend in which they say they contacted more than one million voters.

That effort has continued with additional events each day. Today, for example, the campaign says it has held a phone banking event in nearly 400 locations across the US battleground states. About 4,000 volunteers are making calls throughout the night.

John Sudworth
North America correspondent, in Chicago

As the Goldberg-Polin family on stage at the DNC arena discuss their son Hersh who is being held hostage in Gaza, demonstrators are marching on the streets of Chicago for the fourth day running, in protest over US support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

Al Haj Abu Faris was born in East Jerusalem but moved to Chicago after the 1967 war. His wife Rkia is from Morocco.

Image source, John Sudworth / BBC

They tell me they voted for Joe Biden in 2020 but won't support Democrats again without a significant change of direction from Kamala Harris.

Martin Billheimer was born in Chicago. He says his faith is so broken nothing could persuade him to vote Democrat.

Image source, John Sudworth / BBC

"It's too late," he tells me. "I couldn't possibly vote for someone who's committed those kind of crimes."

The party leadership knows that concern over Gaza might cost it some support among its base in those crucial swing states.

But the big question is how much, and they may take some comfort from the fact that the protests this week have been small - with just a few hundred marching on the streets of Chicago today.

The parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American who is being held hostage in Gaza, are speaking now.

"Bring them home," the delegates in the audience chant as the parents begin to speak.

His mother, Rachel, begins by noting that 109 hostages are still being held by Hamas, including eight Americans. The rest hail from 22 different countries.

"He is a civilian," she says, as photos of her son are shown on the giant screen behind her on stage. She goes on to say that 45 Americans were killed in Hamas's surprise attack.

Image source, Reuters

Trump's nominating convention also featured the families of Israeli hostages, as well as one young freed hostage and Israeli soldiers.

Hersh's father, Jon, praises Congress for showing bipartisan support for the hostages' return, and notes the Goldberg-Polin family have met "several" times with Biden and Harris.

"They're both working tirelessly for the hostages and for a ceasefire deal that will bring home our precious children, fathers, grandparents and grandchildren home. And stop the despair in Gaza," he adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Former President Bill Clinton has been chosen to give a primetime speech tonight.

The Democrat served two terms in the White House from 1993 to 2001 after his time as governor in Arkansas.

Clinton, who entered office as the third-youngest ever president, turned 78 on the first day of this convention.

Tonight, he will be giving his 12th speech to a Democratic convention.

Clinton became the first president to be impeached by Congress in about 130 years after he was accused of lying about a White House sex scandal.

The next presidential impeachments came much more quickly after that - Donald Trump was impeached twice in 2019 and 2021.

Image source, Getty Images

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is one of the big names speaking tonight.

The 84-year-old Democrat can point to a long list of accomplishments during her 37 years representing the people of San Francisco in Congress.

But there is another more recent moment that has thrust her into the spotlight tonight - she was reportedly one of the key players who helped convince Joe Biden to drop out of the race.

The decision by Biden to step aside has re-energised Democrats and renewed their hopes of defeating Donald Trump in November.

Earlier today, she refused to discuss the conversation that led Biden to quit.

“I wanted very much to protect his legacy,” Pelosi said, according to the Associated Press.

“So my point was only: We need a better campaign.”

Katty Kay
US special correspondent, in Chicago

I just bumped into Mitch Landrieu, one of the co-chairs of the Harris campaign.

When I asked him how it's all going, he gave me a broad grin. "So much fun,” he said.

Conventions can be long hours. It’s good to see people still managing to crack a smile.

Madeline Halpert
Reporting from the convention

Appearances can be deceiving.

Wandering the halls of the DNC, decked out in pro-Trump gear from head to toe, Walter Masterson is not a typical Trump fan. In fact, he isn't one at all.

He makes a living making videos mocking Trump and his followers, he tells me.

"I'm here at the DNC because I want Kamala to get elected," he says. "I also want a ceasefire" in Gaza, he adds.

Masterson's videos have garnered millions of followers on TikTok and other social media sites. He is one of the hundreds of creators and influencers the DNC invited to help promote Harris and Walz's campaign.

It's another huge night of speakers and musical guests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

You can follow along by pressing watch live at the top of this page.

And we'll continue to bring you text updates and photos from our team at the convention.

The Democrats on stage have tried to put their best foot forward by talking about Kamala Harris’s qualifications and character, her plan for the economy and issues on which the party has broad public support, like abortion rights and healthcare.

But what they don’t talk about - the issues and areas they have largely tried to avoid - says as much about their electoral strategies and weakness as what they choose to highlight. Here are three notable omissions:

• Identity politics
• Internal strife
• Immigration policy

You can read BBC North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's analysis on these three topics, why Democrats have avoided and them, and if we could see any of them brought up tonight.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention floor

Image source, Bernd Debusman Jr / BBC

I've just stepped down onto the floor of the United Center arena, where proceedings are just getting under way.

The delegates just wrapped up a prayer; and said the pledge of allegiance in unison.

That was followed by singer Jess Davis singing the national anthem.

It's still fairly quiet down here, with delegates still trickling in. There are quite a few empty chairs in the stands.

That's all going to change later on, when Bill Clinton and Tim Walz take the stage.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Getty Images

As we head into tonight's DNC, the United Center in Chicago is a hub of lawmakers and former officials speaking to journalists on behalf of the Harris-Walz campaign.

Among them is Illinois Democrat Jonathan Jackson, the son of famed civil rights activist Jesse Jackson. He's served in the House of Representatives since last year.

Asked what he believes a Harris administration's priorities would be on day one, Jackson says that she would "inherit a hot world" and would immediately need to address foreign policy concerns in the Middle East, and "migrant issues coming up on our doorstep".

"We're going to have to deal with these migrant issues," he explains. "People don't like to leave their dwellings without clothes or water or cash. But if the conditions are unbearable, they have to leave."

"I think she has to deal with (it on) day one," he adds.

Katty Kay
US special correspondent, in Chicago

Jimmy Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, tells me the former president - who has been in hospice care for 18 months - is alert and following the race, and is excited about the changes in the Democratic ticket.

He says his grandfather intends to cast his ballot for Kamala Harris "as soon as early voting starts".

Image source, Getty Images

Things are getting under way for night three of the Democratic National Convention. The theme tonight is "A Fight for Our Freedom".

Here's who is on the agenda to speak:

• Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz
• Former US President Bill Clinton
• House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and former speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi of California
• Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
• Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Maryland Governor Wes Moore
• Democratic senators including: Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota
• Olivia Troye, a Republican who served as a former Trump White House national security official
• Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

Image source, Brandon Drenon/ BBC

Nancy Pelosi, who was reportedly the orchestrator behind Joe Biden's exit, will soon take the stage at the DNC.

Many will be watching to see how she treads the line between honouring Biden's legacy and stirring enthusiasm for his replacement, Kamala Harris.

It will be Pelosi's biggest public address since Biden announced he was standing down from his campaign in July, and US media has reported they have not spoken since.

I've been speaking to delegates at the DNC, and some say they saw Pelosi's actions as difficult but "necessary".

Kenneth Koenig, a Texas delegate, says he cried when Biden announced his exit. But his sorrows were replaced, he says, after Harris became the nominee.

"It was like Obama the sequel," he says, his southern drawl fully on display.

"It was great and the energy is still going on now. The vibe is just - it's incredible."

Indiana delegate Erin Collins thanked Pelosi.

"She has always been a boss lady," Collins says.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

Among the main topics of discussion at tonight's DNC will be immigration, with several scheduled speakers expected to address what is widely seen as a significant political vulnerability for the Harris-Walz campaign.

Donald Trump and his Republican allies have made the border a focal point of their criticism of Kamala Harris, calling her a "failed border czar".

While record numbers of migrants were detained at the border during the Biden administration, the number of unlawful crossings has now fallen for five consecutive months.

In July, US Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 57,000 migrants along the border, the lowest figure recorded since September 2020.

The numbers are down significantly from December, when around 250,000 migrants were caught crossing the border.

Trump, however, has continued to discuss border issues and "migrant crime" - and tonight we're likely to hear Democrats address some of those criticisms.

Image source, Getty Images

Former President Bill Clinton will take the stage tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the same city where he was re-nominated as the party's candidate nearly 30 years ago.

His speech will mark his 12th consecutive address at the party's convention. His first dated back to 1980 in New York City when he was just 33 years old.

Clinton's speech tonight will in part highlight the differences between Vice-President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, according to one of his aides.

He is expected to speak to Harris’s life story and the promise of her candidacy for the country, the aide said.

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from the convention

One of the issues voters commonly rank Trump and Republicans better on is immigration. It's a frequent subject in the key battleground state of Arizona, which shares a border with Mexico.

But for Judy Green, a delegate from Phoenix, Arizona, it's not such a major an issue.

"We don't really see a lot of people that are migrants," she says. "I see more in New York, to tell you the truth, on the streets selling candy, things like that."

There is a large migrant presence in Chicago, too, not very far away from the site of the DNC. Many were bused here from Texas, another border state.

Although immigration is a key national election issue, for many Democrats I spoke to, they do not see it that way.