47, dawn laf are tferty, deceas. cause of death, multiple gunshot wounds did i realize my mom didn't die. my mom was murdered, and that made me angry. and that made me act. hillary clinton is the only candidate that has what it takes to take on the gun lobby. no one is fighting harder to reform our gun laws than hillary. she reminds me of my mother. she isn't scared of anything. that's why i believe in her. that's why millions of other americans believe in her. there's finally someone who can change things. ♪ ♪ >> please welcome erica

smegielski from prospect, connecticut. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i should not be here tonight. i don't want to be here tonight. i should be home like so many americans watching on tv with my mother as we nominate the first woman to be president of the united states. but my mom was murdered. so i'm here. i'm here for the mothers and daughters who are planning weddings so that you get to watch your daughters walk down the aisle. i'm here for those lives cut short in a school, in a movie theater, in a church, at work,

in their neighborhoods or homes because those voices should never be silenced. >> i'm here alone without my mother while too many politicians cower behind the gun lobby instead of standing with american families. >> we don't need another charleston or san bernardino or dallas or countless other acts of everyday gun violence that don't make the headlines. we don't need our teachers and principals going to work in f r fear. what we need is another mother who is willing to do what's right, whose bravery can live up in equal measure to my mom's. what we need is to elect hillary clinton as the 45th president of

the united states of america so that no other daughter ever has to say i would give every single day that i have left for just one more day with my mom. >> charles ramsey, the former police commissioner of philadelphia is going to be speaking next. ♪ ♪ >> when i was philadelphia police commissioner we mourned eight -- we mourned eight police officers that were killed in the

line of duty. after the attacks on police in dallas and baton rouge an entire nation mourned eight more. after 47 years in law enforcement in chicago, washington, d.c., and philadelphia, i've mourned far too many officers killed by guns, and as a nation we've mourned far too many innocent people that have fallen victim to gun violence. i'm here to say we need more than grieving to protect our law enforcement officers and to serve -- and to serve the memory of those heroes who have fallen. we need commonsense measures to reduce gun violence.

>> police need these commonsense measures and a leader who will fight for them. i grew up in the inglewood neighborhood on the south side of chicago. the haze of gun violence hangs heavy there. my brother's best friend was murdered not 50 feet from our house. he had refused to join a gang. a few years later, in that same location a chicago police officer was shot dead in almost the same spot. he had been filling out a report in his patrol car when he was murdered by three gang members. gun violence isn't unique to inglewood. it continues to visit

neighborhoods across the united states. during my years in policing i've seen the crime scenes. i've seen the grieving families, including families of police officers that were killed. i've seen the cost of gun violence. now, more than ever, we need a strong, steady leader to stop the bloodshed. >> a leader that will protect our officers from being outgunned by weapons of war. and to rebuild the bonds between police and communities. that's why i'm with hillary clinton.

hillary clinton is a strong leader to protect our cops and communities from gun violence. she has stood with our first responders when we needed her most in the days after 9/11 to make sure they got the benefits they'd earned, and today she supports comprehensive background checks and the assault weapons ban. those who aim to do harm shouldn't get a handgun, let alone an assault rifle. hillary clinton is the steady leader to shepherd us through this critical time. the bonds between law enforcement and communities are frayed, but we can't play to america's worst fears. we need to champion our greatest

hopes. hillary will. she'll bring police and communities closer together. she'll support those who feel forgotten and challenge areas like the south side of chicago, southeast, d.c. and north philadelphia, and she'll support dedicated police officers working to improve their communities. important as ever, hillary clinton will build bridges between communities and police, and ladies and gentlemen, that's better than building walls. >> hillary clinton is the right person to become the 45th president of the united states of america. she will work to strengthen the bonds of trust between police and the communities they serve.

that's why she has my vote. may god bless all of you. may god bless the men and women of law enforcement, and may god bless the united states of america. thank you. >> the theme of gun violence continues. we're going to hear shortly from survivors of the attack in charleston, south carolina. angela bassett, the actress, is coming out now. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you. they were gathered to pray. he walked in, an outsider, a stranger and they welcomed him, but then he opened fire.

he stole their lives. reverend clementa pink me, cynthia herd, sharonda coleman singleton, tawanza sanders, ethel grant, daniel simmons, depayne middleton doctor, we say their name, but that is not enough, is it? since the massacre at charleston's emanuel ame church more lives have been taken by gun violence and hatred continues to tear us apart hillary clinton challenges us to turn our grief into action and we have to do that. still, there are days when it feels like our bodies and our minds are under too much pressure. then i remember that we have souls, too, and i thank god that our souls are on fire.

i visited charleston this year, and i can tell you that that city's soul is on fire. that soul burns with resilience. it fuels the resistance. it brought down the confederate flag, and it brings -- and it brings the charleston community together, closer together every day. now we are honored to have charleston survivors felicia sanders and polly sheppard here with us tonight. please join me in welcoming them. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> good evening. my we mean you no harm. tawanza, my hero. two days later, i forgave the shooter who murdered him. hate destroys those who harbor it. i refuse to let hate destroy me. though i have asked how was he able to purchase the gun he used to kill so many? after that fateful day, hillary clinton called on lawmakers to close the charleston loophole.

because of the loophole, even though the shooter had an arrest record, when it didn't surface, as three days passed he could still buy that gun. no one should feel what i've seen. no one should feel how we feel, how we suffered. the bible tells us that be humble ourselves, pray and turn from our wicked ways. god will forgive us and heal our land. let us heed god's word and in turn, may god heal our nation. >> amen. to heal we must forgive. that's what i've learned this past year. the shooting in charleston has

hate in his heart. the shooter in orlando had hate in his heart and the shooter in dallas did, too. so much hate. too much. but as scripture says, love never fails. so i choose love, and in this election i choose hillary clinton. hillary was in south carolina the day before the shooting, and in the days that followed she talked about the hatred in our nation, the racism, the injustice. she said that we can't hide from these truths. she called on us to name them and own them and then change them. together we can fight for that change. together we can heal. together we can love. thank you.

>> survivors of the attack at the church in charleston, south carolina. coming up next, angela bassett will introduce gabby giffords and mark kelly. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you, everyone. it is so great to be here in the great city of philadelphia, and i speak to you tonight as the proud son of two new jersey police officers. as a veteran of 39 combat missions during operation desert storm, and of 25 years in the united states navy, and as a

former nasa astronaut who flew four missions into space. you know, my decades as a pilot military officer and astronaut gave me a unique perspective on our world. i saw our country at its best. i also saw humanity at its worst. from a cockpit of my a6 intruder, i saw america leave the international coalition that defeated saddam hussein. i also saw the devastating effects of war itself. from orbit i saw our planet as a perfect blue marble just

floating there in the blackness of space, but i also saw receding glaciers and shrinking rain forests. at war and in space i saw the awesome extent of american power and capability, but it was so frustrating to return home and see how we struggle to address some of our greatest challenges. just as hillary is prepared to defeat isis, advance our values and protect our freedoms, hillary is ready to take on one of our country's greatest moral failures here at home, and that is the gun violence that is tearing so many of our communities apart.

we have to do better and hillary knows we can. hillary knows that we can save lives by doing more to keep guns out of the wrong hands, and we know that as president, she will do what is right for our nation not what is politically expedient. she'll stand up to the washington gun lobby that works to protect the shameful status quo. so if we want to leave our kids and grandkids a country with less gun violence, not more, then we need to make sure that hillary clinton is our next president. now i want to introduce you to

somebody who is working to do just that, someone who has taught me each and every single day to deny the acceptance of failure, somebody who doesn't give up and someone who believes like hillary does, that we are all stronger together. my wife, my wife, the awesome congresswoman gabby giffords! ♪ ♪ ♪

>> hello fellow democrats! what a crowd! i'm honored to be here today. we have important work ahead of us, work that will determine the future of our country. are you ready? are you ready? are you ready?

i'm ready. in congress i learned a powerful lesson, strong women get things done! hillary is tough. hillary is courageous. she will fight to make our family safer. in the white house she will stand up to the gun lobby, that's why i'm voting for hillary. >> speaking is difficult for me, but come january i want to say

these two words, madam president! thank you very much. >> gabby giffords and her husband mark kelly. it is incredible just to see how far she has come since being shot. >> i remember the day she was shot and the first reports that she was dead. i remember talking to the president when he came back from visiting her and really had grave doubts whether she would make it and whether she would be able to speak again and to think about the effort that that required to get to the point where she could make this speech is inspiring. >> and what a great partner she has in mark kelly. i mean, really, who has been with her every step of the way and they've, you know, they've made the issue of gun control such an issue in their life, but

personally to see how they've managed to get here, so far is really, really remarkable. >> and you see the democrats making a different law and order argument here, right? they're talking about gun control. they had the victims or survivors of the charleston massacre. they had the daughter of one of the victims of the sandy hook shooting. so it's a very different argument that we're seeing from democrats this time than we saw from the republicans last week. >> i'm sorvery surprised to see a local to see chief charles ramsey because we know him in a nonpolitical chance, former chief in d.c. and cochair of policing and this is a departure for him to get this involved in a presidential race. >> interesting to see him connect the gun issue with the safety of police officers. >> correct. for the first time effectively here at this convention. >> we will be hearing a performance of "what the world needs now" by a number of broadway performers that will be

coming up in a matter of moments and have they been addressing law and order, and also to your point last night and isis, i think we'll be hearing more about that and faire finthey're making that turn and what a beautiful way, the grace and dignity, often when we talk about religion now is the conflict between islam and christianity. i want to be very clear. those african-american mothers were christians and they were trying to speak from their faith and there is a great well of grace and good will in our community's faith and we can rely on those in times like these to help us find a better way forward, and i think you found the best. when you have a breakdown or breakthrough in a crisis and we can turn to each other or on each other in a crisis and on this stage, people say let's turn to each other. >> let's listen. >> >> to seng in tribute to the lives affected by gun violence,

a live performance of the song "what the world needs now is love." ♪ ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ it's the only thing that there's just too little of ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ no, not just for some, but for everyone ♪ ♪ lord, we don't need another mountain ♪ ♪ there are mountains and hillsides enough to climb ♪ ♪ there are oceans and rivers enough to cross ♪ ♪ enough to last

♪ enough to last until the end of time ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ it's the only thing that there's just too little of ♪ ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ no, not just for some, but for everyone ♪ ♪ lord, we don't need another meadow ♪ ♪ there are cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow ♪ ♪ there are sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine ♪ ♪ oh, listen, lord, if you want to know ♪ ♪ if you want to know ♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ what the world needs now is

love, sweet love ♪ ♪ oh, it's the only thing that there's too little of ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ no, not just for some, but for everyone ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is

love, sweet love ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ love, sweet love ♪ love, sweet love ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ what the world needs now is love, sweet love ♪ ♪ love, sweet love ♪ ♪ >> not sure who is actually performing on broadway tonight. those were the stars of broadway, up next, former cia chief leon panetta. we are told he changed his convention speech in direct response to donald trump. also in this hour, vice president biden and later,

president obama arguing that hillary clinton has what it takes to do the job. we'll be right back. i approve this message.

donald trump: i could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose any voters, okay? and you can tell them to go f--- themselves! you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever... you gotta see this guy. ahh, i don't know what i said, ahh. "i don't remember." he's going like "i don't remember!" safety doesn't come in a box. it's not a banner that goes on a wall. it's not something you do now and then. or when it's convenient. it's using state-of-the-art simulators

to better prepare for any situation. it's giving offshore teams onshore support. and it's empowering anyone to stop a job if something doesn't seem right. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. jen stops working, but her aleve doesn't. hey mom! because aleve can last 4 hours longer than tylenol 8 hour. what will you do with your aleve hours?

>> and welcome back.

the -- turning now to the issue of national security. in a moment we will be hearing from admiral john hutson who is a retired rear admiral and he was the top lawyer and he was a lifelong republican in 2008 when he switched parties and endorsed then candidate barack obama. after that, we are also going to hear from leon panetta who, we are told, has already changed his remarks to reflect some of what donald trump said today on the issue of russia, and then also in this hour we are going to hear from vice president joe biden. this is one of those questions, paul, that they have received criticism for for not really addressing isis. it seems like this is an area -- >> a very hard pivot, i suspect. leon panetta, the former military officers need now are drone, sweet drones. he'll hunt down terrorists and kill them. i was moved by the real strength, though, the real

strength that was shown in the previous segment, not the singer, but those mothers. >> admiral john hutson. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. good evening. my name is john hutson, and unlike donald trump, there are two things that i know an awful lot about, law and order. >> for 11 years i was a law school dean. for 30 years i served proudly in the united states navy including as the judge advocate general. thank you. go navy. donald trump calls himself the

law and order candidate, but he will violate international law. in his words, he endorses torture at a minimum. he'll order our troops to commit war crimes like killing civilians, and he actually said you have to take out their families. and what did he say when he was told that was illegal? he said, our troops won't refuse, believe me. this morning, this very morning he personally invited russia to hack us. >> that's not law and order. that's criminal intent.

>> donald trump would abandon our allies and let more countries get nuclear weapons. he lies about donating to veterans, and he called the military that i served in a disaster. it's embarrassing enough that he's the face of one of our political parties. the real disaster would be if we let donald trump become the face of the country that we love. >> more than 120 republican national security leaders, republican national security leaders recently warned that donald trump would, in their words, make america less safe. he even mocks our s our p.o.w.

john mccain. i served in the same navy as john mccain. i used to vote in the same party as john mccain. donald, you're not fit to polish john mccain's boots. >> thank you. but -- but america, we have a better choice. hillary clinton is the only candidate who knows how to work with our allies, who has a specific plan to defeat isis.

she's smart and she's steady. she has the experience, temperament and spine. it's not our abundant natural resources or our resilient economy or even that we have the strongest military on earth. our strength comes from who we are and who we've always been, our humanity. if we lose if we lose our humanity we lose the battle and we lose the war. isis and other radical groups have no humanity. that's their weakness. victory for them won't be found

on the battlefield. for them, victory is to make us more like them, people who torture, who destabilize the international order, who target innocents because they don't look like them and don't pray like them. donald trump is a walking, talking, recruiting poster for terrorists, and that's not -- that's not hyperbole. that's not hyperbole. isis literally used trump in a commercial. you know, you can tell a lot about a person by whom they admire. eleanor roosevelt, nelson mandela, dorothy rodham, these are hillary clinton's heroes. donald trump, well, donald trump admires donald trump.

and saddam hussein and kim jong-un and of vladimir putin, he said and i quote, in terms of leadership, he's getting an a. i taught national security law praising dictators was an automatic f in my class. >> let me tell you something, in 2008 as the dean of the new hampshire school of law, i invited each presidential candidate to talk about terrorism -- [ audience chanting ] >> i'm not sure what they're saying. to talk about terrorism with me and other retired admirals and generals.

of all the candidates that we met with, hillary clinton was by far, by far the best prepared and the most knowledgeable. she listened carefully to our arguments. she tested us. we had more than 500 years of collective experience, and we learned from her. and this is before she served as our secretary of state, before she brokered a cease-fire in gaza, before she rallied the world to sanction iran and advised president obama to take out bin laden, and she restored our reputation in the world.

anyone who has served with the men and women of our armed forces know how serious it is to send them in harm's way. when you're a soldier, sailor, airman or marine, you don't get to choose your commanders, but when you're a citizen, you have the responsibility to choose a commander in chief who will keep us safe, strong and secure. choose hillary. thank you all. >> coming up next is kristen kavanagh who graduated from the united states naval academy and served in iraq. former marine and co-founder of the military acceptance project and promotes acceptance of marginalized groups in the military.

>> at the age of 24 i deployed to iraq on a base where we regularly received indirect fire. after each attack everything would fall silent and then i would hear the sounds of the artillery battery returning fire and the quick reaction force helicopters taking off in the enemy's direction. as a young marine corps lieutenant in a non-combat position, these units along with special operations teams and marine infantry battalions stationed with us were our first line of defense. i trusted them with my life. i trusted that my commanders had the right strategy. i trusted that we were abiding by the rules of engagement even when our enemy chose not to.

that trust starts at the top of the chain of command. and i trust hillary clinton to be commander in chief. >> she understands the importance of a strong military and diplomacy. she knows we're stronger when we work with our allies to keep us safe. she has the experience, temperament and steady hand to lead. i do not trust donald trump.

the military is defined by discipline, leadership, integrity. those are the qualities that drew me to serve, and those are the very qualities that donald trump lacks. he suggests abandoning our closest allies. he praises dictators who have killed americans. he says we should allow more countries to get nuclear weapons. his recklessness means more deployments for my friends, more families separated and more young heroes never coming home. when he says he would expand torture, kill civilians or force the military to commit war

crimes he's defying the values that every service member is taught on day one. >> he's defying the values we risk our lives to defend. this election isn't just about donald trump's judgment. it's about our own. >> our troops, our nation, our world cannot afford for us to get this wrong. thank you. >> leon panetta is coming out

next. he's the -- he first served as cia director from 2009 to 2011 and secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> at this hour in some very dangerous corners of the world, young americans are standing guard. our brave military and intelligence professionals are on the front lines far from home, risking their lives for us, for our freedom, for our way of life. a president, a commander in chief has no greater responsibility, no greater

responsibility than the decision to send our troops into harm's way. i have worked alongside nine presidents, republican and democrat, all experienced, all believing in the u.s. role and world leadership, and i can tell you this, that in this election there is only one candidate for president who has the experience, the temperament and the judgment to be commander in chief and that's hillary clinton. >> this is no time -- this is no time to gamble with our future. america faces flashpoints and

threats from around the globe. we need a president who is strong and smart and courageous, who enters the oval office with the respect of the generals and admirals who lead our military, with the confidence of diplomats who represent america and with the trust of our troops who know that she will always have their back. >> that president is hillary clinton. during my time as cia director and secretary of defense hillary was a strong supporter of our efforts to protect our homeland, to decimate al qaeda and to bring osama bin laden to justice.

it was a tough decision to go after bin laden, in long meetings in the white house situation room we debated that fateful decision. i presented the intelligence to the president and to others laying out the risks of that operation, and when the president went around the table to our country's national security leadership there were concerns, but hillary was clear. we have to go after bin laden. >> and our special operations forces, god bless them, did just that, and they sent a clear message to the world, that no one attacks the united states of america and gets away with it.

>> hillary is just as determined to defeat those who threaten us today. isis, al qaeda, boko haram, al shabaab, terrorists who pervert the teachings of islam to kill innocent people going about their daily lives, people traveling through airports in brussels and istanbul, families celebrating on the beach front in france, men and women shopping in a market in baghdad, and just this week an 85-year-old priest whose throat was slit by terrorists who stormed his church during mass. these murderers must be stopped!

>> hillary clinton is the only candidate who has laid out a comprehensive plan to defeat and to destroy isis and keep america safe. she is smart. she is principled. she is tough, and she is ready. hillary clinton is the single most experienced and prepared person who has ever run for president of the united states. >> and meanwhile -- meanwhile, donald trump says he gets his foreign policy experience from watching tv and running the miss universe pageant. if only -- if only it were

funny, but it is deadly serious. donald trump asks our troops to commit war crimes, endorses torture, spurns our allies from europe to asia, suggests that countries have nuclear weapons and he praises dictators from saddam hussein to vladimir putin. [ crowd chanting ] >> today -- [ crowd chanting ] >> today -- only today -- only today, let me point out

something that just happened today. donald trump today once again took russia's side. he asked the russians to interfere in american politics. think about that. think about that for a moment. donald trump, who wants to be president of the united states, is asking one of our adversaries to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the united states of america to affect an election. as someone who was responsible for protecting our nation from cyber attacks, it is inconceivable to me that any presidential candidate would be that irresponsible.

>> i say this out of a firm concern for the future of my children and my grandchildren, donald trump cannot become our commander in chief. >> in an unstable world, in an unstable world we cannot afford unstable leadership. we cannot afford someone who believes america should withdraw from the world, threatens our international treaties and violates our moral principles. we cannot afford an erratic finger on our nuclear weapons. this -- this is no time to roll

the dice and to gamble with america's national security or with the american dream. no time. i've lived -- i've lived that american dream. my parents were immigrants from italy. they came through ellis island. they made their way to california. they opened a restaurant in monter monterey. i can still remember standing on a chair in the back of that restaurant washing glasses. never could my immigrant parents have dreamed that their son would grow up to be secretary of defense of the most powerful military in the world. >> the american dream --

[ crowd chanting ] >> okay. [ crowd chanting ] >> the american dream -- the american dream, the american dream that we've all been a part of has been defended in every generation by the brave men and women willing to fight and die for america. they are our greatest national treasure. and they deserve a serious commander in chief. if we care about them, if we care about our security, if we care about our freedom, if we care about the american dream

there is only one choice, hillary clinton for president of the united states. god bless you, and god bless our nation. >> leon panetta, the former defense secretary speaking. jake, we kept hearing interruptions, people shouting no more war and then some shouting love trumps hate and usa and usa. what it appears is some sanders supporters are protesting leon panetta speaking. they were chanting no more war. at some point they were chanting lies, but the clinton people organized counter protests. >> here comes dr. jill biden. she'll introduce a video, a tribute to her husband, the vice president, who will speak immediately following the video tribute. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> thank you.

it's great to be back in philly! once again, we're making history. together we will elect the first woman president of the united states, hillary rodham clinton. let me start by thanking you for allowing me to serve as second lady of the united states for the past eight years. it's been an honor, and let me thank you for the love and support you have given our family. it has meant the world to us. over the past eight years

america has gotten to know the joe biden that i know and love. he's honest and strong, principled and compassionate. he was authentic long before it became a buzz word in politics. he understands that working people are the backbone of this nation, and he has tremendous empathy for those in need. he knows, as i do, that education is the great equalizer, and that community colleges are america's best-kept secret, and he believes, as i do, that we have a special obligation to our military and their families.