to march on th dnc dcussing plans of mobilization and issues inalestine. watch our live coverage of the rally at 1:00 eastern on c-span, c-span now, or online at c-span.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more including charter communications. >> charter is proud to be recognized as one of the best internet providers and we are just getting started, building 100,000 miles of new infrastructure to reach those who need it most. >> charter communications supports c-span as a public service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> our campaign 2024 coverage continues on c-span2 today.

republican ve presidential nominee jd vance speaks to supporters in philadelphia, focusing on the state of the city's economy and nation at large. that is live at 1:00 eastern. later donald trumpol a rally in york, pennsylvania. yocan see that live at 3:00 eastern and watch both of these events on c-span now, our free mobile video app and online at c-span.org. >> a view of the united center in chicago ahead of the democratic national convention getting underway today. this morning the harris walz campaign chris coons and former congress member chris richmond went dnc officials to outline what to ask -- joined dnc officials to outline what to expect.

>> good morning. this is exciting. i am honored to be with you for the first press briefing for harris for president at the democratic convention in chicago. you will hear from our executive director of the convention, you will hear from senator chris coons and congressman cedric richmond. both senator coons and cedric richmond are cochairs to the harris for president campaign. before we get into the business of this briefing i want to give you a brief rundown of some of the voices you will hear from tonight. every day we will give you a preview of some of the voices we will hear from and later today

we will provide you with the full program and a few surprises along the way. these are voices that represent are voices that represent our broad and diverse coalition and the issues that matter most to voters. the same issues vice president harris has spent her entire career fighting on behalf of. this is not an exhaustive list, but we will have uaw president sean fain, congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. tillery rodham clinton. jamie raskin. congresswoman grace means. the men and women subjected to cruel and dangerous abortion bands under donald trump and have bravely told their stories. everyday americans. and elected officials like governor andy beshear who has the courage to stand up or what is right. you'll also hear from senator

warnock and senator chris coons before we hear from president biden later in the evening. these are some of the voices you will hear from later tonight and throughout the week and our convention is so much bigger. this convention is about who we are fighting for and what we are fighting for. we will talk about freedom. you will hear that from the speakers, which is a perfect introduction to the executive director of the convention. alex has worked tirelessly to put this convention together. we are all seeing the fruits of their labor and excited about what we will see tonight. with that i will turn it over to >> welcome to chicago and thank you for joining us for the first day of the 2024 democratic national convention. over the last year-plus as quinton referenced we've been building the stage literally and figuratively here in chicago for democrats to tell our story directly to the american people. tonight's theme for the people will showcase kamala harris'

commitment to fighting for everyday americans. because at its core the harris-walz ticket is a ticket for the people. we'll also be honoring of course president joe biden. we would not be here without him. his historic record of accomplishment with vice president harris by his side is unmatched by any presidential administration in modern history. and it's going to be our honor to spotlight and showcase the commitment -- excuse me, the accomplishments of the biden-harris administration, as well as the bold vision for the future that kamala harris and tim walz and democrats up and down the ticket will be fighting for this november. so with that i'm going to turn it over to senator chris coons. >> when we gathered for or last convention four years ago, it was virtual because we were in the middle of a terrible pandemic. caused by the mishandling of the previous president. we were in the middle of an economic crisis caused by that badly mishandled pandemic.

and then just two weeks before vice president harris and president biden were sworn in, there was an assault on our democracy at the capitol. so it's important to look back for a moment and realize that when joe biden and kamala harris came into office, they inherited one of the worst possible situations. public health, economics, democracy. joe biden made it clear that he was running for president to restore the soul of our nation. and tonight, four years later, it's worth our taking a few minutes to reflect on just how much progress joe biden and kamala harris made. as someone who spent 36 years in the united states senate, joe biden understood how to build coalitions, how to work across the aisle, how to deliver for the american people. and he and his trusted vice president, kamala harris, got passed and he signed into law more consequential legislation than any president in my lifetime. i could take 10, maybe 20, maybe 30 minutes and go over the whole list.

but rebuilding bridges and broadband, restoring manufacturing, showing our competitors around the world that our democracy can work, passing the most consequential legislation about gun violence, go community mental health, about sreufpbting in our veterans -- about investing in our veterans and in reducing prescription drug prices. just this past week there was a great event where joe and kamala announced the specific reductions, i don't know if you watch the evening news, i do, these ads for drugs constantly. 500 a month to 200 a month. it's going to save $6 billion for the american taxpayers, it's going to save $1.5 billion out of pocket for seniors. $35 a month for insulin which diabetics like members of my family rely on critically and have cost so much for decades. $2,000 a year out of pocket cap. joe biden and kamala harris have fought tirelessly for the american middle class. to reduce costs.

and his trusted vice president, kamala harris, is the right person to carry forward that fight and this week is about celebrating what it means to be for the people. vice president harris has chosen in tim walz a runningmate who was a coach, a congressman, a sergeant, a veteran, a governor, has a record of fighting for the middle class. and i'm excited that we're kicking off our campaign by celebrating just how much joe biden got done at home and abroad. standing up to putin's aggression in ukraine. not just strengthening but expanding nato. rebuilding incredible, creative partnerships throughout the indo-pacific. and with the global south to make us safer and stronger. he's got a longer record of accomplishment than we could possibly celebrate tonight. but i'm grateful to play some small part in doing that. the contrast couldn't be sharper. donald trump as president talked about rebuilding our infrastructure. joe biden and kamala harris actually got it done. joe biden talked about restoring

manufacturing and got it done. where donald trump just talked. reducing prescription drug prices and strengthening and defending our nation's access to affordable health care, donald trump said he would get it done. joe biden and kamala harris did it. it's an incredible record given how tight the margins were. on our best days we had 50 folks in our caucus willing to vote for joe biden's in the senate. i think it was a five-seat margin in the house. and as someone who led the office of public engagement, former chairman of the congressional black caucus, and the best congressional pitcher in our history, i'ming. going to hand it over to congressman cedric richmond to further expound on how we've got a lot to celebrate tonight and we've laid a great foundation for not just a successful convention, but for a campaign that is going to move kamala harris and tim walz forward as our next president and vice president. thank you.

>> thank you, senator. i'm actually going to try to stay on script. but like the senator said, there's so much we could talk about. there's so many accomplishments we could talk about in the biden-harris administration. but today i want to focus on why we're here. and that's for this convention. and that is to highlight the contrast between the harris-walz agenda and the donald trump agenda. one agenda is about the people, one agenda is about one person. and so tonight you will also hear from the 46th president of the united states, joe biden, who accomplished more in four years than most presidents do in a full term. like he has through his entire 50-plus years in service to this country as a public servant, every step of the way during his presidency president biden put the people first.

and vice president harris. it was never about politics. it was never about profit. it was never about party. it was always about the people. how do we wake up every day and make the people's lives better? and i think that that is the common thread that ran throughout the white house. ran throughout the senate. ran throughout the house. and that's the key. and so if there's any stark difference we take away today texas that everything we do -- we take away today, it is that everything we do is for the people and you'll hear that common thread consistently through the night. you'll also hear the president tonight talk about the successes of the biden-harris administration. and i think it's important for him to answer those age-old questions of, what you have done for me lately? why bother to actually go out and vote? and so he has to remind people

of the successes that the biden-harris agenda had. the fact that so many people came out, in historic numbers the last election, and put them into office. but what did they get for it? and that's what you'll hear tonight. and he'll go down the list and i think you will see a very proud president that throughout his entire career has always made sure that he was thinking about the people. and we're going -- we're excited about that. the last thing i'll say about the president and what he'll say tonight and what he will show tonight is one of my favorite quotes about politics. politicians worry about the next election. statesmen worry about the next generation. and it was a statesman who came off the sidelines four years ago to beat the worst president in the history of the united

states, a person who posed the biggest threat to the united states, and it was a statesman who passed and who will pass the baton on to vice president kamala harris to continue to put this country first. and so here in chicago we're united. we're ready to answer the divisive backwards vision of donald trump. with the positive, joyful vision for the future. now, vice president harris and tim walz stands ready to carry the torch forward. as we look forward the future and fight against those who would divide us. and drag us into the past. this is about tomorrow. this is about making sure that tomorrow is better than yesterday. and that all the tomorrows to come are better than the yesterdays that we've had. and so if you look at where we were four years ago, and the

senator touched on it, 54% of schools closed, businesses shuttered, people died. you couldn't even go to funerals. you couldn't celebrate the lives of your loved ones. you couldn't visit them in the hospital to say good-bye. that's what the country was four years ago, before we had a president that came and a vice president that came in very intentional about righting those wrongs. but under president biden, let's go back to trump. i'm going to spend just another second on what we inherited. crime and unemployment were up. trump cut taxes for billionaires and corporations. and made those in the middle class and those aspiring to be iniddlass pay for it. we saw an insurrection at the capitol led and encouraged by that same unhinged former president. and i want you all to remember, the senator and i, we were in the building.

it wasn't peaceful protesters. it was an insurrection. and if you have any doubts of how it started, go to the debate when president trump said to the proud boys, stand by, stand back and stand by. then he summoned them to d.c. on january 6. then spoke that morning and said, we're going to go to the capitol and you need to stop the steal. which cost us the lives of law enforcement agents and made us the mockery of the world, that we no longer had peaceful transition of power. but, and now he wants us to hand him back the reins of this nation, as he runs on a project 2025 agenda to ban abortion nationwide, jack up costs on the middle class by thousands of dollars, and fire civil servants and replace them with trump loyalists. but the american people know better.

they elected president biden and sent donald trump packing in 2020. and they will reject him again in 2024. and they will send vice president kamala harris and tim walz to the white house. the american people want a leader who will bring us forward, not back. who will lead us into the future instead of trafficking in the politics of division. america is ready for president harris and vice president walz. joe biden showed this country what real leadership looks like. it's about getting things done for the american people. results. progress. doing the right thing simply because it's the right thing. and now kamala harris and tim walz have united our party around their vision to lead us into the future. and to a bright future. i know vice president harris. i know when joe biden was choosing her to be his runningmate. i've been by her side as she fought for the american people from the white house. i've had the honor of seeing her

work up close and what i've seen from her isn't just a candidate who is prepared to lead. but a candidate who is prepared to win. with kamala harris leading the ticket and governor waldz as her -- walz as her runningmate, they will do just that. they will win this election, but more importantly, they will bring this country together and bring us towards better days. with that, i will turn it over and we'll have a little q&a. >> we do have a surprise. so we're going to welcome our convention chair. [applause] >> the one and only. >> good morning, everybody. and i will say, i apologize for the delay. i think we all are going in different directions. thank you, senator coons, for being here. thank you, sir.

thank you, mr. cedric. i was listening to cedric behind the stage and i said i was going to start off by saying i want to say everything that cedric said. because he said it all. and i tell you, i can't think of a better partner to have had in this journey than cedric. so thank you so much for all you're doing. alex, of course, i'm sure everybody has heard from him this morning. but he has been the executive director and we have pioneered this journey in many ways. i mean, we started out, as you know, with president biden who we all love, we all adore, we look forward to seeing him tonight. we are going to celebrate him, celebrate all the accomplishments that he has given us so we thank you for being here to even just report on that. i am here to just welcome you, welcome you to the convention, welcome you to all that we're going to be doing this week. it's going to be exciting. it is going to be -- some of the kinks are still being worked out so we hope that you will give us

grace and patience but we know that this is a good time for america. and as cedric has already said, the contrast between the democrats and the republicans will be very stark and you will hear from some incredible speakers this week. they will tell you their stories but they're also going to tell you the story of the harris-walz new ticket and they're going to be dynamic, they're going to talk about the future, but they're also going to build on what the biden-harris administration has already accomplished. i look forward to the week. i mean, i look forward -- i even look forward to hearing all the spectacular speakers tonight. you'll hear from secretary clinton, as you know, she was a pioneer for senator harris -- for senator harris now, vice president harris, now the nominee. and so she's broke a lot of glass and we stand on her shoulders and she will bring us her vision of what it means to run as a nominee and she will

certainly embrace the vision of the biden-harris administration. so with that, i will stop -- quinton, welcome. we see all our friends, they have arrived and we're happy to see you all. with that, i know you all are going to take some questions. >> we have time for a few questions. the press came over to this side. [indiscernible] -- we'll go to chicago's own first. >> thank you, good morning. any of you, could you please -- let me do this quick. i would like if you could, expand on -- preview a little more of what hillary rodham clinton will say at this historic moment, where we may be electing the first female president that hasn't been discussed much, but this was something that was so much a part of the clinton campaign. perhaps senator coons, i know we had a lot, tell us how biden is reflecting on his mood at this

point in history, what led to him, don't mean to rehash anything, but there's a lot going on. if you could sum it up. and then is it really right that he's speaking at 10:00 and if so, isn't that a little bit past primetime? thank you. >> as you know, in 2016 secretary clinton won the popular vote. she ran an incredible race. and she shattered a lot of glass for many people and i would even go back further than even secretary clinton. i will start with hamer who was denied a seat at a democratic convention. so you propel that forward and you look at a hillary rodham clinton, she has paved the way and i want to also -- she has been an incredible partner to vice president harris. they have a great friendship. they're on speed dial with each other. and i suspect -- i have not read her speech, i should save that for the record, but i do know

that she probably will talk a lot about what it means at this moment to have the first -- the second female and a female of color running but what our responsibility is to that as well, because it's not easy, and i say this all the time. we're trying to change and shift the mindset of people to see a woman as commander in chief. and hillary clinton has served as secretary of state, she has served as our first nominee. so she has a world view of this and i believe that -- i don't know why i want could team calling her senator harris because she's so many things, but vice president harris also has a world view what have that means and i think you'll see that coming together this week. >> i'll just say briefly, the last few times i've had a chance to be with him, to speak with him, president biden and first lady jill biden are optimistic. they're focused on the future. on things that matter greatly to the american people, that they're determined to get done

in the remaining five months. the cancer moon shot, there was a wonderful event at tulane that cedric was at with them. i had a chance to be with the president in austin as he was talking about the 60th anniversary of the voting rights act. he made some bold proposals about court reform. there's work to do abroad and at home. he's not just the leader of the free world, he's actually leading the free world. there's a war in ukraine and a determination on his part and many of us to make sure that ukraine gets the resources to win this fight. so whether it's the celebratory and positive event he just did with the vice president about prescription drug price reduction, or it's campaigning no, one loves to campaign like joe biden. will you see him campaigning with some joy and some lift in pennsylvania and around the country and focusing on the job that's yet to be done. both for the remaining five months and then going forward.

>> it will be in primetime. [indiscernible] >> hello. i'm a correspondent in siberia. i wonder if there are any talks or what is the part of the agenda that will be dedicated to the war in ukraine? and to fighting with russia during this d.n.c. and if yes, then when should we expect such kind of conversations? thank you. >> you will see on the program woven through the entire four days -- obviously the president will probably have -- cover a lot of that tonight in his speech. i'm sure the vice president will cover it in her speech.

we have -- on thursday i believe, wednesday or thursday, we have a full foreign policy section and you will hear a lot about ukraine, you'll hear a lot about all the things that we are working towards, finding solutions. gaza will be a part of those conversations as well. >> very wendy williams of you. thank you very much for doing, this guys. i want to dig in more to the preview of biden's speech. i know we're going to hear about the biden record. can you detail a little bit more about how he plans to pass the torch, more endorse harris. what will that part of the speech look like, sound like? >> i won't give away the speech. the president and i, we may look-a-like but i can't go that

far. what i will tell you is that i think what he's going to say in part is that he picked kamala harris to be his runningmate because she was brilliant, because she had experience as a prosecutor. experience as an attorney general. she was an effective and forceful u.s. senator. so when he picked her, he picked her to be a real governing partner. and then through the years, she was that governing partner. she cast, like the senator said, so many tie-breaking votes, but she was also a person who held the senate together. in terms of that small minority, small majority so that they could get historic things done. and so i think he's going to make sure that people understands he picked her because she was great, she was a great partner. and that she's going to be a great next president of the united states.

[indiscernible] >> thanks. when will we have the schedule just for broadcasting purposes for the biden speech and then also, will we see the vice president in the hall listening to the president's speech and then onstage as well after? >> i was going to say the same thing that kevin did which is i think we have a slightly more detailed schedule coming out shortly after this. but there are also some elements that will be released day by day for your planning purposes. >> [indiscernible] >> i think the team right behind you can fill new on that after we wrap up here. >> good-bye, everybody. >> we will try our best. every day. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its

caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> that is the hope. bye, guys. ♪ >> a live picture this afternoon from union park in chicago where a number of activists, including

the group code pink, and leaders of the u.s. palestinian community network are holding a rally in chicago on this first day of the democratic national convention. following their rally this afternoon, they plan to march on the d.n.c. which is taking place at the united center. we will have live coverage when it all gets under way here on c-span. you can watch on c-span now, our free mobile video app, or online at c-span.org. it's expected to start at about 1:00 p.m. eastern. ♪ on facebook, it is facebook.com/cspan. you can go ahead and start calling in now as we show you headlines from chicago area newspapers, starting with the chicago tribune. all eyes will be on chicago this week. the daily herald headline, illinois to take center stage at the democratic convention.