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Watch Live Now: You Really Want to See Tonight’s Democratic Convention – Here’s Why

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All-Star Lineup of Democratic, Civic, Social, Political Leaders and Celebrities

Wednesday night the Democratic National Convention will feature a stunning lineup of political and social leaders, not to mention tremendous celebrities. 

Starting now, you’ll hear from the mother of one of the victims of the terror attack/mass shooting/hate crime attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, and two survivors. The mayor of Flint, Michigan, Karen Weaver. Actress Sigourney Weaver. California Governor Jerry Brown and California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. TV and film director Lee Daniels. Anti-gun violence advocate Erica Smegielski, whose mother was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary School. Actress Angela Bassett. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly. Lenny Kravitz.

Also, Democratic Nominee for Vice President Tim Kaine. Vice President Joe Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

President Obama should begin his speech just after 10:30 PM EDT

How’s that for a lineup?

Watch live here:

Here’s the full schedule, via the Clinton Campaign:

4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (EDT)

 

Call to Order

U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge (Ohio)

 

Invocation

Rev. William Byron

 

Pledge of Allegiance

Monroe Handy

 

National Anthem

Sebastien De La Cruz

 

Vice Presidential Nomination

 

Remarks

Daniel Driffin

HIV/AIDS Activist from Georgia

 

Remarks

Neera Tanden

President of the Center for American Progress Action Fund

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas)

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Michelle Lujan Grisham (New Mexico)

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia)

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (California)

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Maxine Waters (California)

 

Remarks

President of NARAL Ilyse Hogue

 

Remarks

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum

 

Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Chair, U.S. Representative Judy Chu (California)

 

Remarks

Brooks Bell

Brooks is a young female tech entrepreneur from North Carolina

 

Remarks

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

In Memoriam

Introduced by Convention Chair U.S. Representative Marcia Fudge (Ohio)

 

6:00 – 10:00 PM (EDT)

 

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee

Chair, U.S. Representative Ben Ray Luján (New Mexico)

 

Our America Musical Performance

 

Remarks

Civil Rights Leader Reverend Jesse Jackson

 

Remarks

Actress Star Jones

 

Remarks

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver

 

Congressional Black Caucus

Chair, U.S. Representative GK Butterfield (NC)

 

Remarks

President of EMILY’s List Stephanie Schriock

 

Remarks

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (Nevada)

 

Remarks

California Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom

 

Remarks

U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego (Arizona)

 

Remarks

Jamie Dorff

Jamie’s husband was Patrick Dorff, an Army helicopter pilot from Minnesota who died while on a search and rescue mission in northern Iraq. As a senator, Hillary worked with Republicans and Democrats to increase the gratuity paid to family members of fallen veterans from $12,000 to $100,000.

 

Remarks

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan

 

Remarks

Former Governor of Maryland Martin O’Malley

 

Introduction of Film

Actress Sigourney Weaver

 

Remarks

California Governor Jerry Brown

 

Remarks

Director Lee Daniels

 

Remarks

Christine Leinonen, Brandon Wolf and Jose Arraigada

Christine Leinonen is the mother of Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, who was killed in the Pulse attack in Orlando. Brandon Wolf and Jose Arraigada are survivors of the attack at the nightclub in Orlando.

 

Remarks

U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (Connecticut)

 

Remarks

Erica Smegielski

Erica’s mother Dawn was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary and was killed while trying to protect her students. Since then, Erica has become an outspoken advocate for commonsense gun violence prevention measures.

Remarks

Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey

 

Remarks

Actress Angela Bassett

 

Remarks

Felicia Sanders & Polly Sheppard

Felicia and Polly are two of the three survivors of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, SC.

 

Remarks

Gabby Giffords & Mark Kelly

 

Musical Performance

 

Remarks

Rear Admiral John Hutson (Ret. USN)

 

Remarks

Kristen Kavanaugh

Kristen Kavanaugh is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a former Marine Corps Captain who deployed to Iraq. She later co-founded the Military Acceptance Project, a California-based social justice organization dedicated to promoting acceptance of marginalized populations within the military.

 

Remarks

Former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta

 

Remarks

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio)

 

Introduction of Speaker

Dr. Jill Biden

 

Remarks

Vice President Joe Biden

 

Remarks

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed

 

Remarks

Michael Bloomberg

 

Musical Performance

Lenny Kravitz

 

10:00 – 11:00 PM (EDT)

 

Remarks

Democratic Nominee for Vice President Tim Kaine

 

Introduction of Film

Sharon Belkofer

Sharon Belkofer is the mother of fallen Lt. Col. Thomas Belkofer. Her son was killed when a suicide bomber detonated a minibus in a convoy carrying Belkofer and three other high-ranking officers in Kabul, Afghanistan.

 

Remarks

President Barack Obama

 

Benediction

Rev. Gabriel Salguero

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COMMENTARY

‘I’m Broke’: One Day Before Shutdown and With No Plan McCarthy Says He Has ‘Nothing’ in His ‘Back Pocket’

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Just 30 hours before his own Republican conference likely will have succeeded in shutting down the federal government of the United States, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy candidly admitted to reporters he’s run out of ideas.

Earlier Friday in an “embarrassing failure,” 21 House Republicans killed legislation from their own party, a short-term continuing resolution, that would have kept the federal government open.

Later on Friday afternoon, swarmed by reporters, McCarthy was asked if he was going to tell them what his plans are. He sarcastically replied, “No, I’m going to keep it all a secret.”

When pressed, he said he would “keep working, and make sure we solve this problem.”

“What’s in your back pocket, Speaker?” another reporter asked, pressing him for an answer.

“Nothing right now. I’m broke,” he admitted, apparently referring to options and ideas to avoid a shutdown.

READ MORE: ‘Bad News’ for Sidney Powell as First Trump Co-Defendant in Georgia RICO Case Takes Plea Deal: Legal Expert

But another reporter asked Speaker McCarthy the main question: Would he partner with House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to put the Senate’s bill before the House.

He refused to answer.

Just before 5 PM CNN’s Manu Raju reported on the ongoing House Republicans’ closed-door meeting with the Speaker, a meeting where the 21 Republicans who will likely be effectively responsible for the shutdown reportedly did not attend.

“McCarthy is telling [Republicans] now there aren’t many options to avoid a shutdown, according to sources in room. He says they can approve GOP’s stop-gap plan that failed, accept Senate plan, put a ‘clean’ stop-gap on floor to dare Democrats to block it — or shut down the government.”

READ MORE: Will McConnell and Senate Republicans Use Feinstein’s Passing to Grind Biden’s Judicial Confirmations to a Halt?

He adds, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) largely responsible for the impending likely shutdown and the impending possible ouster of McCarthy said: “We will not pass a continuing resolution on terms that continue America’s decline.”

At midnight Saturday Republicans will likely have succeeded in furloughing 3.5 million million federal workers – two million of them service members in the U.S. Armed Forces – and countless contractors, while financially harming untold thousands of businesses that rely on income from all those workers to keep running – unless Speaker McCarthy puts a bipartisan continuing resolution approved by at least 75 U.S. Senators on the floor, legislation every House Democrat is likely to vote for.

Should he do so, many believe he will have also signed his own pink slip.

But whether or not the government shuts down, and whether or not McCarthy puts the Senate’s CR on the floor, according to The Washington Post the far right extremists in his party are already moving to oust him “as early as next week.”

The Biden campaign is making certain Americans realize the blame for the impending shutdown sits at McCarthy’s feet.

At 6:23 PM Friday evening, Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman wrote on social media: “HOUSE REPUBLICANS HAVE NO PLAN TO KEEP GOVERNMENT OPEN.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

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News

‘Bad News’ for Sidney Powell as First Trump Co-Defendant in Georgia RICO Case Takes Plea Deal: Legal Expert

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The first of 19 co-defendants in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ RICO and election interference case against Donald Trump has pleaded guilty in what is being described as a “plea deal.”

“Under the terms of an agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’s office, Hall pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit election fraud, conspiracy to commit computer theft, conspiracy to commit computer trespass, conspiracy to commit computer invasion of privacy, and conspiracy to defraud the state,” NBC News reports. “Under the terms of the deal, he’s being sentenced to five years probation.”

CNN previously reported “Hall, a bail bondsman and pro-Trump poll-watcher in Atlanta, spent hours inside a restricted area of the Coffee County elections office when voting systems were breached in January 2021. The breach was connected to efforts by pro-Trump conspiracy theorists to find voter fraud. Hall was captured on surveillance video at the office, on the day of the breach. He testified before the grand jury in Fulton County case and acknowledged that he gained access to a voting machine.”

READ MORE: Will McConnell and Senate Republicans Use Feinstein’s Passing to Grind Biden’s Judicial Confirmations to a Halt?

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, a professor of law and frequent MSNBC contributor, says Hall “was in the thick of things with Sidney Powell on Jan 7 for the Coffee County scheme involving voting machines. If he’s cooperating, it’s a bad sign for her.”

Hall’s plea deal “spells bad news for, among others, Sidney Powell,” says former Dept. of Defense Special Counsel Ryan Goodman, an NYU Law professor of law. Goodman posted a graphic showing the overlap in charges against Hall and Powell, which he called “alleged joint actions.”

See the graphic above or at this link.

 

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News

Far-Right Republicans Kill GOP Bill to Keep Government Running in ‘Embarrassing Failure’ for McCarthy: Report

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With a shutdown less than 36 hours away, far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives Friday afternoon voted against their party’s own legislation to kept the federal government running. Democrats opposed the content of the bill and voted against it. Just 21 far-right members of the GOP conference were able to effectively force what appears to be an all but inevitable shutdown at midnight on Saturday.

“HARDLINE HOUSE RS take down stopgap funding bill. 21 GOP no votes. 232-198,” reported Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman just before 2 PM Friday.

NBC News reported that a “band of conservative rebels on Friday revolted and blocked House Republicans’ short-term funding bill to keep the government open, delivering a political blow to Speaker Kevin McCarthy and likely cementing the chances of a painful government shutdown that is less than 48 hours away.”

READ MORE: Will McConnell and Senate Republicans Use Feinstein’s Passing to Grind Biden’s Judicial Confirmations to a Halt?

“Twenty-one rebels, led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a conservative bomb-thrower and a top Donald Trump ally, voted Friday afternoon to scuttle the 30-day funding bill, known as a continuing resolution or CR, leaving Republicans without a game plan to avert a shutdown. The vote failed,” NBC added. “The embarrassing failure of the GOP measure once again highlights the dilemma for McCarthy as his hard-liners strongly oppose a short-term bill even if it includes conservative priorities. It leaves Congress on a path to a shutdown, with no apparent offramp to avoiding it — or to quickly reopen the government.”

A bipartisan group of at least 75 U.S. Senators has passed two bills this week that would keep the government running. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has refused to allow it to come to the floor for a vote.

 

 

 

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