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CNN Live Event/Special
Democratic National Convention; Harris Arrives At DNC Ahead Of Historic Speech. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired August 22, 2024 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: We see members of Congress there who are all United States veterans, Mikie Sherrill there in the white, if you noticed.
Here is the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I'm Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
In Lansing, they call me governor. But in Detroit, they call me Big Gretch.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WHITMER: Donald Trump called me, that woman from Michigan. As an insult. Being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor.
Like women across America, we just GSD. Get Stuff Done.
At 29, I joined the sandwich generation. Sandwiched between working and raising my new-born and caring for my mom, who was dying from brain cancer. It was hard, but not extraordinary. It's life. Those nights reminded me who I was fighting for. People just trying to make it. Kamala Harris knows who she's fighting for too.
She took care of her mom, who also battled cancer. As president, she'll fight to lower the cost of healthcare and elder care for every family. She's lived a life like ours. She knows us.
Donald Trump doesn't know you, at all. You think he understands that when your car breaks down, you can't get to work? No. His first word was probably chauffeur.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITMER: You think he's ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out? Hell. You think he's ever been to a grocery store? That's what the chauffeur is for. But Kamala Harris, she gets us. She sees us. She is us.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WHITMER: Look, we've all lived through a lot of history over the past few years, floods and fires, an attempted coup, a plot, and a pandemic. It's exhausting.
We don't know what the next four years will bring. But what we do know is this. Through it all, your life won't stop. You're going to have to get to work, pick up the kids, and pay your bills.
And then one day, when you're just trying to get everyone out the door, a news alert goes off. Something happened. Something hit the fan. You'll ask, is my family going to be okay? And then you'll ask, who the hell is in charge? What if it's him? What if it's that man from Mar-a-Lago?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WHITMER: I know, in a crisis, we need someone strong enough to come up with a plan, to tell the truth, and to bring people together.
Right now, before the crisis, is when we get to choose. Why wouldn't we choose the leader whose tough, tested, and a total badass?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WHITMER: I know who I want as our commander-in-chief. America, let's choose Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[22:05:00]
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome actress, director and philanthropist Eva Longoria.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS, DIRECTOR AND PHILANTHROPIST: Hello, Chicago.
(CHEERING)
LONGORIA: Yes. I am so excited to be here tonight. What an honor to be part of this historic moment, and y'all are part of it. (CHEERING)
LONGORIA: Look, I have known Kamala Harris for more than a decade. And she comes from a family a lot like mine, and I'm sure a lot like yours. We were both raised knowing that no one was going to hand us anything, especially as women, that we were going to have to touch every rung of the ladder to get ahead. We were going to have to work really hard.
Now, she worked at McDonald's, but I worked at Wendy's. And look at us now.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
LONGORIA: You see, Kamala and I were able to see beyond the horizon because our families supported our big dreams. Well, guess what? As Americans, we're all part of one big family, somos familia.
(CHEERING)
LONGORIA: And as familia, we have to have each other's back. We have to support each other's dreams, because Kamala success is our success. And she supports us to dream big, too.
So let me tell you, in the Latino community, in our community, we have a saying, "si, se puede," which means --
(CHEERING)
LONGORIA: Yes. It means, yes, we can. But tonight, I'm here to tell you, yes, she can. So we're going to say, she se puede. So when someone asks you, is she ready to lead this country forward? We're going to say, she se puede.
CROWD: She se puede.
When somebody says, is she qualified for the job? We're going to say, she se puede.
CROWD: She se puede.
LONGORIA: When somebody asks, is she going to be the first female president of the United States, we're going to say, she se puede.
CROWD: She se puede.
LONGORIA: Our voices, our vote, we're going to decide this election. And let me tell you, the energy tonight isn't just here in Chicago, it's all across the country. People are gathered at watch parties everywhere to celebrate Kamala Harris.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING) LONGORIA: Say, hello. Yes, all right. We know how to work, so let's get to work. Let's turn all of this enthusiasm and joy into action between now and November 5th.
Let's go, she se puede. She se puede.
CROWD: She se puede.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome former Illinois Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(MUSIC)
ADAM KINZINGER, (D) FORMER ILLINOIS REPRESENTATIVE: Hey, good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I'm Adam Kinzinger, and I am proud to be in the trenches with you as part of this sometimes awkward alliance that we have, to defend truth, defend democracy and decency.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
KINZINGER: I was just a kid when I was drawn to the party of Ronald Reagan, to his vision of a strong America, the shining city on a hill. I was a Republican for 12 years in Congress, and I still hold on to the label. I never thought I'd be here.
But, listen, you never thought you would see me here, did you?
(CHEERING)
KINZINGER: But I've learned something about the Democratic Party, and I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret, the Democrats are as patriotic as us.
[22:10:01]
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
KINZINGER: They love this country just as much as we do.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING) (CROWD chanting USA!)
KINZINGER: And they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: I was relieved to discover that because I have learned something about my party, too. Something I couldn't ignore. The Republican Party is no longer conservative. It has switched its allegiance from the principles that gave it purpose to a man whose only purpose is himself.
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: Donald Trump is a weak man pretending to be strong.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: He is a small man pretending to be big.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: He is a faithless man pretending to be righteous.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: He's a perpetrator who can't stop playing the victim.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: He puts on -- listen, he puts on quite a show, but there is no real strength there. As a conservative and a veteran, I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable. It's in protecting your family. It's in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy. That, that is the soul of being a conservative.
It used to be the soul of being a Republican. But Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness, sapping our strength, softening our spine, whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values.
Our democracy was frayed by the events of January 6th as Donald Trump's deceit and dishonor led to a siege on the United States capital. That day I stood witness to a profound sorrow, the desecration of our sacred tradition, a peaceful transition of power, tarnished by a man too fragile, too vain, in two week to accept defeat.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: How can a party claim to be patriotic if it idolizes a man who tried to overthrow a free and fair election? How can a party claim to stand for liberty if it sees a fight for freedom in Ukraine, an attack on tyranny against democracy a challenge to everything our nation claims to be. And it retreats, it equivocates, it nominates a man who is weirdly obsessed with Putin.
And his running mate who said, quote, "I don't care what happens in Ukraine."
(BOOING)
KINZINGER: Yes, and he wants to be vice president. Yes. How could a party claim to be conservative when it tarnishes the gifts that what our forebearers fought for? Men like my grandfather who served in World War II, who believed in a cause bigger than himself and he risked his life for it behind enemy lines.
To preserve American democracy, his generation found the courage to face down armies. Listen, all we're asked to do is to summon the courage to stand up to one weak man.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: Some have questioned why I have taken the stand I have. The answer is really simple, ladies and gentlemen. We must put country first.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: And tonight, as a Republican speaking before you, I am putting our country first.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: Because the fact is I do belong here. I know Kamala Harris shares my allegiance to the rule of law, the Constitution and democracy. And she is dedicated to upholding all three in service to our country.
Whatever policies we disagree on pale in comparison with those fundamental matters of principle, of decency and a fidelity to this nation.
[22:15:07]
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: Listen. To my fellow Republicans, if you still pledge allegiance to those principles, I suspect you belong here, too.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: Because democracy knows no party. It's a living, breathing ideal that defines us as a nation. It's the bedrock that separates us from tyranny. And when that foundation is fractured, we must all stand together united to strengthen it.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
KINZINGER: If you think those principles are worth defending, then I urge you, make the right choice. Vote, vote for our bedrock values, and vote for Kamala Harris. God bless you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome lawyer, policy advocate, and sister of the vice president, Maya Harris. Hello, Chicago.
(APPLAUSE)
MAYA HARRIS, SISTER OF VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: Hello, Chicago!
CROWD: Hello!
M. HARRIS: In 1958, a 19-year-old from India left the only country she'd ever known to chart her own path in America. She came here to pursue an education, but she stayed here to build a life. Her name was Dr. Shyamala Gopalan-Harris.
(CHEERING)
M. HARRIS: But we called her mommy. Mommy was so many things to so many people, a civil rights activist, a scientist, a devoted mother to her two little girls, but most of all, mommy was a trailblazer who defied the odds and defined herself. M. HARRIS: And when it came to Kamala and me, mommy had great expectations for us, but she had even greater expectations of us. She raised us to believe that we could be and do anything, and we believed her.
(CHEERING)
M. HARRIS: You see, mommy understood the power and the possibility that come with knowing and showing who you truly are. She knew we could be the authors of our own stories, just as she'd been the author of her own. Mommy's journey and the opportunity that she wanted for Kamala and me, that's a distinctly American story.
(CHEERING)
M. HARRIS: We may all have different histories, different struggles, or different perspectives, but what binds us together is the fervent desire to be free, to fulfill our God-given potential. Kamala's entire life has been about fighting for each of us to have that freedom. And like so many Americans, Kamala knows what it's like to be underestimated and be counted out.
She knows what it's like to be the underdog and yet still beat the odds. And now, she has created so much electricity, so much optimism, so much joy throughout the nation, and it is why we need her leadership in this historic moment.
(CHEERING)
M. HARRIS: We are living in a time when some are trying to divide us, to separate us in ways that make it difficult for us to come together. Well, look, my sister rejects that view. Where others push darkness, Kamala sees promise. Where others feel detachment, Kamala fosters connection. Where others want to drag us back to the past, my sister says, "Hold up now, we are not going back."
[22:20:01]
(CHEERING)
M. HARRIS: Because Kamala understands we have so much more in common than what separates us. She knows the measure of our success isn't just winning an election. It's about who we bring along and lift up in the process.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
M. HARRIS: And so, as I look out at all of you today and take in this incredible moment, I so wish that mommy could be here tonight. I can just see her smiling, saying how proud she is of Kamala.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) M. HARRIS: And then without missing a beat, she'd say, "That's enough, you've got work to do."
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
M. HARRIS: She would tell all of us to roll up our sleeves and get to work, to elect a leader who sees the potential in each of us, a leader who cares for all of us. A leader who fights for every one of us. Our Democratic nominee, my big sister, the next President of the United States, Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MUSIC)
ROY COOPER, D-NORTH CAROLINA: Hello, America. I'm Roy Cooper. The last guy standing between you and the moment we're all waiting for.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: So, I'm going to get right to it. All week, you've heard stories about my friend Kamala. I want to take you behind the scenes of one of them. 2011 was a rough time for American homeowners. Hundreds of thousands were losing their homes to illegal foreclosure.
I was attorney general in North Carolina, while Kamala had just become California's.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: All the AGs were close to a settlement with the big banks, and it was a pretty good deal, would have meant $4 billion for California families who'd been ripped off. I know that sounds like a lot, but Kamala said, "Hang on a minute. I've met these families. I know what they've been through, and they deserve more."
She went toe to toe with some of the world's most powerful executives, and she refused to give in. Let me tell you, this was a huge risk, but she knew it was a risk worth taking. That's Kamala. And we all know what happened, the banks caved. That $4 billion for California families became $20 billion.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: That was the first time I witnessed Kamala in action. And what I saw was a leader who does exactly what she says she's going to do, who never will settle for less. America, we got a lot of big fights ahead of us. And we've got one hell of a fighter ready to take them on.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: I know that. I know that because I know her. And tonight, I want the American people to know. Even if you don't agree with her on everything, Kamala Harris will fight for you to the very end.
For families who need better health care or a safer place to live, Kamala will fight for you. For parents who want better schools for their kids, for workers worried about a secure retirement for themselves, Kamala will fight for you. For any one of our allies anywhere in the world wondering if America still has your back, remember this, Kamala will fight for you. And when she fights, we win.
CROWD: We win!
COOPER: Kamala is ready. Kamala is ready. The question is, are we?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: Are we going to stand up and fight for Kamala like she'll stand up and fight for us?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: All right. If you're ready, my home state of North Carolina, stand up. Stand up, Pennsylvania. Stand up, Michigan. Stand up, Wisconsin. Stand up, Georgia. Stand up, Nevada. Stand up, Arizona. Stand up, America.
Are we going to stand up? Are we going to fight? Are we going to vote? Are we going to win?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: You bet we are. Let's go get them.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) (MUSIC)
ROY COOPER, D-NORTH CAROLINA: Hello, America. I'm Roy Cooper. The last guy standing between you and the moment we're all waiting for.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: So, I'm going to get right to it. All week, you've heard stories about my friend Kamala. I want to take you behind the scenes of one of them. 2011 was a rough time for American homeowners. Hundreds of thousands were losing their homes to illegal foreclosure.
I was attorney general in North Carolina, while Kamala had just become California's.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: All the AGs were close to a settlement with the big banks, and it was a pretty good deal, would have meant $4 billion for California families who'd been ripped off. I know that sounds like a lot, but Kamala said, "Hang on a minute. I've met these families. I know what they've been through, and they deserve more."
She went toe to toe with some of the world's most powerful executives, and she refused to give in. Let me tell you, this was a huge risk, but she knew it was a risk worth taking. That's Kamala. And we all know what happened, the banks caved. That $4 billion for California families became $20 billion.
(CHEERING)
COOPER: That was the first time I witnessed Kamala in action. And what I saw was a leader who does exactly what she says she's going to do, who never will settle for less. America, we got a lot of big fights ahead of us. And we've got one hell of a fighter ready to take them on.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: I know that. I know that because I know her. And tonight, I want the American people to know. Even if you don't agree with her on everything, Kamala Harris will fight for you to the very end.
For families who need better health care or a safer place to live, Kamala will fight for you. For parents who want better schools for their kids, for workers worried about a secure retirement for themselves, Kamala will fight for you. For any one of our allies anywhere in the world wondering if America still has your back, remember this, Kamala will fight for you.
[22:25:10]
And when she fights, we win.
CROWD: We win!
COOPER: Kamala is ready. Kamala is ready. The question is, are we?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: Are we going to stand up and fight for Kamala like she'll stand up and fight for us?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: All right. If you're ready, my home state of North Carolina, stand up. Stand up, Pennsylvania. Stand up, Michigan. Stand up, Wisconsin. Stand up, Georgia. Stand up, Nevada. Stand up, Arizona. Stand up, America.
Are we going to stand up? Are we going to fight? Are we going to vote? Are we going to win?
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
COOPER: You bet we are. Let's go get them.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She grew up in a tight-knit neighborhood. It was the kind of place where your neighbor would look after you when school let out.
Where your first grade teacher would show up at your law school graduation. It's where Kamala Harris learned what it means to be in the middle class. Making every paycheck count. She was raised by a working mom.
We taught her about standing up for what's right and protecting the people you love.
M. HARRIS: Kamala carries the lessons of our mother, the fighting spirit of our mother, the compassion.
KAMALA HARRIS, (D) VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: She was all a five feet tall. If you met her, you would have thought she was seven feet tall.
And our mother, if I'd ever come home complaining about anything, she wouldn't have it. The first thing she'd say is, well, just stop the complaining. Just tell me what you're going to do about it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And since she was a young girl, Kamala Harris has been fighting for families like the ones she grew up with.
M. HARRIS: That is Kamala. She can't help herself from standing up for people and standing up for what she thinks is right. She has been that way our whole lives. Being a protector is what led her to become a prosecutor.
Looking back now, I could say it was her calling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a courtroom prosecutor, she went after predators who targeted women and children, and fraudsters who ripped off working families. And she put dangerous gang members and human traffickers behind bars.
TORI VERBER SALAZAR, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY, REPUBLICAN: We didn't have partnerships with DOJ or FBI or DEA or any of those law enforcement agencies. Now, we all work collaboratively.
She was the person who built the foundation in how we do criminal justice in America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As attorney general of California, she held the big Wall Street banks accountable for fraud, winning $20 billion for California families.
She took on one of the largest for-profit colleges that was scamming students. And in the Senate, she fought for her constituents with a determination of the prosecutor, standing up for reproductive freedom.
K. HARRIS: Can you think of any laws that gives the government the power to make decisions about the male body?
BRETT KAVANAUGH, ASSOCIATE JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not thinking of any right now, Senator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She fought to keep our children safe from the terror of gun violence.
K. HARRIS: How many of you guys had to have a drill where you learned about how you need to hide in a closet or crouch in a corner in the event that there was a mass shooter? Look at that. Look at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the intelligence committee, she defended our nation against foreign adversaries.
And in 2020, she made history. She was the first woman to be elected vice president of the United States. She cast a tie-breaking vote to deliver urgent relief to the American people during the pandemic. She beat big pharma to lower prescription drug costs and capped the cost of insulin. And led the fight to restore reproductive rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
K. HARRIS: We have worked too hard and fought too long to see our daughters grow up in a world with fewer rights than our mothers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she's never been afraid to stand up to powerful interests.
K. HARRIS: Sometimes people will open the door for you and leave it open, sometimes they won't. And then you need to kick that (BLEEP) door down.
(LAUGHTER)
Excuse my language.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, she's running for president, still fighting for families like the ones she grew up with.
K. HARRIS: Our campaign is about saying we trust the people.
[22:30:02]
We're saying we just want fairness. We want dignity for all people. And we are a work in progress. We haven't yet quite reached all of those ideals, but we will die trying because we love our country. We believe in our country. We're not falling for these folks who are trying to divide us, trying to pull us apart.
We know what we stand for. And we stand for the people. And we stand for the dignity of work. And we stand for freedom. We stand for justice. We stand for equality. And so, we will fight for all of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's who Kamala Harris is. That's what she believes. That's what she'll fight for every day.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Please welcome the Democratic nominee for President, Vice President of the United States of America, Kamala Harris.
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Good evening.
(CHEERING)
CROWD: Kamala! Kamala! Kamala!
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Oh, my goodness.
(CHEERING)
Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERING)
Good evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all.
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
HARRIS: Thank you all. OK. We got to get to some business. We got to get to some business. OK, thank you all. OK. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
(CHEERING)
Please. Thank you. Please. Thank you so very much. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. OK. Let's get to business. Let's get to business. All right.
(CHEERING)
So, let me start by thanking my most incredible husband, Doug --
(CHEERING)
-- for being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella, and Happy anniversary, Dougie --
(CHEERING)
-- I love you so very much. To our President, Joe Biden --
(CHEERING)
-- when I think about the path that we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude.
[22:35:07]
Your record is extraordinary, as history will show, and your character is inspiring, and Doug and I love you and Jill and are forever thankful to you both.
(CHEERING)
And to coach Tim Walz --
(CHEERING)
-- you are going to be an incredible vice president.
(CHEERING)
And to the delegates, and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign, your support is humbling. So America, the path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected, but I'm no stranger to unlikely journeys.
So my mother, our mother, Shyamala Harris, had one of her own, and I miss her every day, and especially right now. And I know she's looking down smiling. I know that.
(APPLAUSE)
So my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with an unshakable dream to be these scientist who would cure breast cancer. When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional arranged marriage.
But as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica.
(CHEERING)
They fell in love and got married, and that act of self determination made my sister, Maya, and me.
Growing up, we moved a lot. I will always remember that big Mayflower truck packed with all our belongings ready to go, to Illinois, to Wisconsin --
(CHEERING)
-- and wherever our parents' jobs took us. My early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones, a home filled with laughter and music, Aretha, Coltrane and Miles.
At the park, my mother would say, stay close. But my father would say, as he smiled, run, Kamala, run. Don't be afraid. Don't let anything stop you.
(CHEERING)
From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless. But the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up, and it was mostly my mother who raised us.
Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay. In the Bay --
(APPLAUSE)
-- in the Bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands, we lived in the flats. A beautiful working class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers --
(CHEERING)
-- all who tended their lawns with pride.
My mother, she worked long hours, and like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us. Mrs. Shelton, who ran the daycare below us and became a second mother, Uncle Sherman, Aunt Mary, Uncle Freddy, Auntie Chris, none of them family by blood, and all of them family by love.
(APPLAUSE)
A family who taught us how to make gumbo, how to play chess and sometimes even let us win. A family who loved us, believed in us, and told us we could be anything and do anything.
(CHEERING)
They instilled in us the values they personified, community, faith and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated --
(APPLAUSE)
-- with kindness, respect and compassion.
[22:40:03]
My mother was a brilliant, five foot tall, brown woman with an accent. And as the eldest child -- as the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But my mother never lost her cool. She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women's health, and she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it.
(CHEERING)
That was my mother. And she taught us -- and she also taught us, she also taught us, and never do anything half-assed.
(LAUGHTER)
And that is a direct quote.
(APPLAUSE)
A direct quote. I grew up immersed in the ideas of the Civil Rights Movement. My parents had met at a civil rights gathering and they made sure that we learned about civil rights leaders, including the lawyers like Thurgood Marshall and Constance Baker Motley. Those who battled in the courtroom to make real the promise of America.
So at a young age I decided I wanted to do that work. I wanted to be a lawyer. And when it came time to choose the type of law I would pursue, I reflected on a pivotal moment in my life. You see, when I was in high school, I started to notice something about my best friend Wanda. She was sad at school, and there were times she didn't want to go home. So one day I asked if everything was all right and she confided in me that she was being sexually abused by her stepfather.
And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us, and she did.
(APPLAUSE)
This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor, to protect people like Wanda because I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice.
(CHEERING)
As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim, but in the name of the people, for a simple reason: In our system of justice, a harm against anyone of us is a harm against all of us.
(CHEERING)
And I would often explain this to console survivors of crime. To remind them, no one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together.
(CHEERING)
And every day, in the courtroom, I stood proudly before a judge and I said five words -- Kamala Harris, for the people.
(CHEERING)
And to be clear, and to be clear, my entire career I've only had one client -- the people.
(CHEERING)
And, so, on behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks, on behalf of my mother, and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey, on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another.
On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination to be the president of the United States of America.
(CHEERING)
[22:45:00]
And with this election --
(CHEERING)
HARRIS: And with this election -- our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.
(APPLAUSE)
Not, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
And let me say, I know there are people of various political views watching tonight, and I want you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self. To hold sacred America's fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power. (APPLAUSE)
I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations, a president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical, and has common sense, and always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life's work.
(APPLAUSE)
As a young courtroom prosecutor in Oakland, California, I stood up for women and children against predators who abused them. As attorney general of California, I took on the big banks, delivered $20 billion for middle class families who faced foreclosure, and helped pass a homeowner bill of rights, one of the first of its kind in the nation.
(APPLAUSE)
I stood up for veterans and students being scammed by big for-profit colleges, for workers who were being cheated out of their wages, the wages they were due, for seniors facing elder abuse. I fought against the cartels who traffic in guns and drugs and human beings, who threatened the security of our border and the safety of our communities.
And I will tell you, these fights were not easy, and neither were the elections that put me in those offices. We were underestimated at practically every turn. But we never gave up. Because the future is always worth fighting for.
(APPLAUSE)
And that's the fight we are in right now. A fight for America's future.
(APPLAUSE)
Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives, it is one of the most important in the life of our nation.
(APPLAUSE)
In many ways, Donald Trump an unserious man.
(LAUGHTER)
But the consequences, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.
(APPLAUSE)
Consider, consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election. Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol where they assaulted law enforcement officers. When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help. He did the opposite. He fanned the flames.
[22:50:09]
And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans, and separately, and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse.
And consider, consider what he intends to do if we give him power again. Consider his explicit intent to set free violent extremists who assaulted those law enforcement officers at the Capitol.
(BOOING)
His explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents, and anyone he sees as the enemy. His explicit intent to deploy our active- duty military against our own citizens.
(BOOING)
Consider, consider the power he will have especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution.
(BOOING)
Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.
(BOOING)
And how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States. Not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had -- himself.
(CHEERING)
We know -- and we know what a second Trump term would look like. It's all laid out in Project 2025, written by his closest advisors, and its sum total is to pull our country back to the past. But America, we are not going back. We are not going back. We are not going back.
(CHEERING)
We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare. We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. When insurance companies could deny people with pre-existing conditions. We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education that funds our public schools.
(CHEERING)
We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and childcare for our children.
(CHEERING)
America, we are not going back.
CROWD: We are not going back! We are not going back! We are not going back!
HARRIS: And we are charting -- and we are charting a new way forward. Forward to a future with a strong and growing middle-class because we know a strong middle-class has always been critical to America's success. And building that middle-class will be a defining goal of my presidency.
(CHEERING)
And I'll tell you, this is personal for me, the middle-class is where I come from. My mother kept a strict budget. We lived within our means, yet we wanted for little. And she expected us to make the most of the opportunities that were available to us and to be grateful for them, because as she taught us, opportunity is not available to everyone. That's why we will create what I call an opportunity economy. An opportunity economy where everyone has the chance to compete and a chance to succeed.
(CHEERING)
Whether you live in a rural areas, small or big city -- and as president, I will bring together labor and workers and small business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs, to grow our economy, and to lower the cost of everyday needs like health care and housing and groceries.
[22:55:12]
We will provide access to capital for small business owners and entrepreneurs and founders. And we will end America's housing shortage and protect Social Security and Medicare.
(CHEERING)
Now compare that to Donald Trump because I think everyone here knows he doesn't actually fight for the middle class. Not -- he doesn't actually fight for the middle class. Instead, he fights for himself and his billionaire friends. And he will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt.
(BOOING)
And all the while, he intends to enact what in effect is a national sales tax, call it a Trump tax, that would raise prices on middle class families by almost $4,000 a year.
Well, instead of a Trump tax hike, we will pass a middle class tax cut that will benefit more than 100 million Americans.
(CHEERING)
Friends, I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions, about their own lives, especially on matters of heart and home.
But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions.
And let's be clear about how we got here. Donald Trump handpicked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom.
(BOOING)
And now he brags about it.
In his words, quote, "I did it and I'm proud to have done it," end quote.
(BOOING)
Well, I'll tell you, over the past two years, I've traveled across our country and women have told me their stories. Husbands and fathers have shared theirs. Stories of women miscarrying in a parking lot. Developing sepsis, losing the ability to ever again have children all because doctors are afraid they may go to jail for caring for their patients.
Couples just trying to grow their family, cut off in the middle of IVF treatments. Children who have survived sexual assault, potentially, being forced to carry a pregnancy to term.
(BOOING)
This is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress.
(BOOING)
And get this. Get this. He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator, and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions.
(BOOING)
Simply put, they are out of their minds.
(CHEERING)
And one must ask -- one must ask, why exactly is it that they don't trust women? Well, we trust women. We trust women.
(CHEERING)
And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will proudly sign it into law.
(CHEERING) In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake. The freedom to live safe from gun violence in our schools, communities and places of worship.
