In a presidential campaign like no other -- and just four weeks after President Joe Biden bowed out of the race -- Democrats are gathering in Chicago this week to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as their candidate to take on former President Donald Trump.
Mickey Guyton, a Black country music artist, is the first entertainer of the night.
Guyton is performing her song "All American" on stage.
Other performers to come this convention include Jason Isbell and James Taylor.
Mickey Guyton performs during Day 1 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aug. 19, 2024.
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10 hours and 5 minutes ago
'Union yes!' chant breaks out
A chant of "Union yes!" broke out as AFSCME President Lee Saunders took to the podium while joined by other union leaders on the stage.
Delegates and attendees cheer as they hold "Union Yes!" signs on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aug. 19, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
10 hours and 5 minutes ago
Sen. Dick Durbin lauds Democrats' policies to help working class Americans
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin chastised former President Donald Trump's economic policies citing what he said were the millions of jobs lost during his term.
Durbin touted the Biden-Harris administration's work to bring back more manufacturing jobs to several parts of the country.
"These investments mean a strong economy, growing public schools and well-funded well-staffed first responders," he said. "These investments mean hope. That's what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are fighting for."
Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat from Illinois, speaks on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Aug. 19, 2024.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Durbin talked about his parents and how they were helped by a union.
"We worked not just to get by, but to get ahead," he said.
10 hours and 12 minutes ago
COVID-19 response continues to be talking point
Trump's COVID-19 response continues to be a talking point throughout the night.
California Rep. Robert Garcia recounted how, as mayor of Long Beach at the start of the pandemic, he fought for more tests and to make masks more accessible.
"What we needed at that moment was national leadership. But instead, we got Donald Trump," Garcia said. "While schools closed and dead bodies filled morgues, Donald Trump downplayed the virus. He told us to inject bleach into our bodies. He peddled conspiracy theories across the country. We lost hundreds of thousands of Americans, and our economy collapsed."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) speaks onstage during the first day of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024 in Chicago.
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Among those lost were Garcia's mother and stepfather, who both died from COVID-19 in the summer of 2020, he said.
"I miss them every single day," Garcia said, adding that when Trump and his MAGA extremists "downplayed the horror of the pandemic, it should make us all furious."
In her remarks, Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood said Trump "took the COVID crisis and turned it into a catastrophe."
"We can never let him be our president again," she said.
By contrast, Underwood said Harris and Biden worked to make health care more affordable and that Harris "championed" the so-called Momnibus Act, which Underwood introduced to address maternal mortality disparities in the U.S.
"Because she protects the people who are most vulnerable," Underwood said.