Politics and views in the United States.

VP Harris asks Americans to write the next chapter, and accepts nomination. A former GOP congressman endorses her in order to defend democracy and a Black, female delegate says it is time for the first woman, mixed-race president

TRANSCRIPT

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Welcome to 2024 Talks.

We'll revive from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and are tracking the 2024 election process.

In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.

Kamala Harris used her nomination acceptance to lay out a vision of genuine American freedom but to also call out former President Donald Trump as a threat to it.

The vice president, still little known by many viewers, sketched her early life and time as a prosecutor, motivated, she said, by a desire to protect the innocent.

But her most passionate words were aimed at what she called Trump's authoritarian ambitions, made more dangerous by the lack of guardrails in a second term.

The convention featured several Republicans who turned against Trump for similar reasons.

Like many, former GOP Illinois Representative Adam Kinzinger spoke about the January 6th insurrection.

He said he's endorsing Harris to defend truth and decency.

And I want to let my fellow Republicans in on the secret.

The Democrats are as patriotic as us.

Kinzinger described Trump as a threat to American democracy, who was suffocating the soul of the Republican Party.

While the convention was happening, Trump visited the southern border of Cochise County, Arizona.

He teased an expected endorsement by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's also in the state.

Trump said the endorsement would be a great honor.

I can't say that, but I know we're in the same state, so we're not very far away, but I can't tell you that yet.

No plans have been made at this moment.

In her speech, Harris talked about the war in Gaza, a painful issue mostly ignored by other speakers.

She reaffirmed Israel's right to defend itself from terrorist attacks, but she also called for a ceasefire to end the terrible suffering of civilians and so the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination.

The secretary of New Mexico's Democratic Party, Isaac "Dakota" Casados, says he trusts a Harris presidency to make peace.

When we have innocent individuals on both sides getting brutalized and murdered and killed, and those are things that I think we're always trying to find solutions, but solution always requires diplomacy.

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy made a surprise appearance.

He said to talk with folks at the DNC about immigration and the economy.

He also met with Gaza war protesters, but wasn't welcome.

Racists go home!

Racists go home!

Racists go home!

Many at the convention say they're ready for Harris to make history as the first mixed-race woman to be president.

Sherri Brown is a black South Carolina delegate who says the issue is deeply personal for her.

White males go ahead of high school education, but not of college.

I have a master's to make more money than me.

I've observed all throughout men take positions that women were qualified for but did not get.

I'm Alex Gonzalez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

Find our trust indicators at publicnewsservice.org.