‘Do not boo – vote’: Obama warns sequel ‘usually worse’ than first movie as he rounds on Trump
Barack Obama has warned the sequel is “usually worse” than the first movie as he and Michelle Obama tried to rally their party in the race against Donald Trump.
Speaking on the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Mr Obama said the country does not need another four years of “bluster” and “chaos”.
“We have seen that movie before – and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” he said.
Latest from Democratic convention
“It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually been getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” he added.
“There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes… it just goes on and on and on.”
Criticising Mr Trump’s record while he was in office, the crowd booed loudly, to which Mr Obama said in an unscripted moment: “Do not boo – vote.”
Pic: Reuters
“We have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her,” he had told the crowd, with Ms Harris confirmed as the party’s pick for November’s election.
In tribute to outgoing President Joe Biden, who beat Mr Trump in the last election, he said history will remember him for having “defended democracy at a moment of great danger”.
‘Hope is making a comeback’
Barack Obama embraced Michelle Obama after she introduced him. Pic: Reuters
Mr Obama was introduced by his wife, Michelle, who tops the party’s wish list as a future president.
Greeted with a long and loud ovation, Mrs Obama told the convention: “America, hope is making a comeback.”
She described Ms Harris as one of the “most qualified” people to ever seek the office.
Taking aim at Mr Trump, she said: “Who is going to tell him the job he is currently seeking might just be one of those black jobs?”
She was referring to Mr Trump’s unsubstantiated claim made earlier this summer that immigrants are taking “black jobs”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Do something,’ Michelle Obama says
While Ms Harris was not at the convention to respond to the Obamas’ backing, she spoke at a campaign rally in Milwaukee, where she said the election will be a “tight race until the very end”.
“We have some hard work ahead of us, but we like hard work – hard work is good work,” she said.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Kamala Harris: ‘We’re fighting for the future’
Former Trump fans turn
Meanwhile, Mr Trump repeated unsupported claims Ms Harris took a permissive approach to law enforcement at a campaign stop in Howell, Michigan.
“You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread,” he said. “You get shot, you get mugged, you get raped.”
He spoke one month after white supremacists rallied in the small town, where about a dozen chanted “Heil Hitler” and carried “White Lives Matter” signs.
Donald Trump speaking in Howell. Pic: AP
‘Basement dwellers’
Former Republicans who became disillusioned with Mr Trump’s leadership addressed the Democratic convention, including former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.
She became a member of Mr Trump’s family, she said, and wasn’t just a supporter but a “true believer”.
Behind closed doors, however, she says he mocks his supporters – calling them “basement dwellers”.
She recalled a hospital visit where he “got mad that the cameras were not watching him”.
“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” she added. “He used to tell me ‘it doesn’t matter what you say Stephanie, say it enough and people will believe you’.”
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Read more:
‘There’ll be a revolution if Trump loses’
How this state could shape US election
Ms Harris “tells the truth”, she said – a view shared by John F Kennedy’s grandson, who said she has the same “energy, vision and optimism for the future” as his grandfather.
Celebrities also turned out, with rapper Lil Jon launching into Turn Down for What to introduce delegates from Georgia, while actress Eva Longoria spoke for Texas.
Beyond the convention, dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters charged a line of police outside the Israeli consulate in Chicago.
After the larger gathering began to disperse, splintering off into smaller groups, other clashes with police led to more than a dozen arrests.
There are 161 people still missing in Texas in the aftermath of last weekend’s deadly flash floods, the state’s governor has said.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, governor Gregg Abbot said the number of missing had risen markedly.
He said among the missing were five children and one counsellor from Camp Mystic – where at least 27 people were killed in the flash flooding.
At least 109 people are confirmed to have died in the floods, which took place on the 4 July weekend, but this figure has been steadily climbing ever since.
People comforted each other in Kerville. Pic: Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via AP
The bulk of deaths, and the main search for additional bodies, have been concentrated in Kerr County and the city of Kerrville.
The area was transformed into a disaster zone when torrential rains struck the region early last Friday, unleashing deadly flooding along the Guadalupe River.
Travis County, Kendall County, Burnett County, Williamson County, and Tom Green County were also hit.
Mr Abbot said many of those who were unaccounted for were in the Texas Hill Country area, but had not registered at a camp or hotel, posing further challenges for authorities.
Camp Mystic
Mr Abbot planned to make another visit to Camp Mystic.
The century-old all-girls Christian summer camp was badly hit by the flash floods, with at least 27 campers and counsellors dying.
Hanna Lawrence, left, and Rebecca Lawrence, right. Pic: John Lawrence/AP
Lila Bonner (L) and Eloise Peck both died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
Chloe Childress. Pic: Debra Alexander Photography via AP
Some of the victims include Hanna and Rebecca Lawrence, both eight, Chloe Childress, 19, who was among the counsellors at Camp Mystic when the flood hit, and Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine.
There were scenes of devastation at the camp as the flood water receded.
Outside the cabins where the girls had slept, mud-splattered blankets and pillows were scattered.
Also in the debris were pink, purple and light blue luggage, decorated with stickers.
A view inside a cabin at Camp Mystic after the flooding. Pic: Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP via Getty Images
Camper’s belongings lie on the ground following flooding on the Guadalupe River, at Camp Mystic.
Pic: Reuters
‘Everything looked flooded and broken’
One of the campers, 10-year-old Lucy Kennedy, told Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, that she woke up to the sound of thunder at around midnight before the floods struck.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said. “I just had a feeling that something really bad was about to happen.”
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
She said the girls at the camp were told to grab blankets, pillows and water bottles and line up single file as the floodwater rose, before getting airlifted to safety.
Wynne Kennedy, Lucy’s mother, added: “When I saw her, she was wrapped up in a blanket, had a teddy bear.
“We just held each other tight, and I held her all night.”
Their home in Kerrville was also destroyed by the flash floods.
Lucy Kennedy, 10 who was rescued from Camp Mystic, and her mother Wynne. Pic: NBC
Political row
Meanwhile, a political row has unfolded parallel to the recovery efforts, with some questioning whether local authorities sent out warnings and alerts early enough.
Similarly, Democrats have criticised Donald Trump over cuts his Elon Musk-launched Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has made to the National Weather Service – but it isn’t clear whether these actually made any difference.
Read more:
Sisters killed in Texas flooding found holding hands
Why did deadly Texas floods catch people by surprise?
Wall of water
The flash floods erupted before daybreak on Friday, after massive amounts of rainfall caused the Guadalupe River to rise by eight metres in less than an hour.
The wall of water overwhelmed cabins, tents and trails along the river’s edge.
Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
Some of the campers had to swim out of their cabin windows to get to safety, while others clung to rope to make it to higher ground.
The date for Sean “Diddy” Combs’s sentencing hearing has been confirmed.
Following his high-profile trial, the hip-hop mogul was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution by jurors in Manhattan, New York, last week – but was cleared of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.
Defence lawyers argued Combs, who has been in prison in Brooklyn since his arrest in September last year, should be bailed ahead of sentencing given the not guilty verdicts for the more serious charges, but Judge Arun Subramanian denied this – citing, among other things, the rapper’s own admissions of previous violent behaviour.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs in court after the verdict was delivered. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy carried a potential life sentence. Combs still faces up to 20 years in prison for the prostitution-related offences, but is not expected to receive the maximum punishment.
After the verdict was delivered, the judge scheduled the sentencing hearing for 3 October. At a remote follow-up conference on Tuesday, with agreement from the defence and prosecution, the judge approved the date.
Combs joined the call but did not make any comment.
Any sentence will include credit for time already served – which will be just over a year by the time the hearing takes place.
During his trial, Combs was accused by prosecutors of abusing and coercing three alleged victims, including his former long-term partner, singer and model Cassie Ventura.
Jurors found the allegations did not amount to sex-trafficking or racketeering, or running a criminal enterprise – but they did find him guilty of transporting Cassie and another former girlfriend “Jane” for prostitution offences around the US, and paying male escorts to engage in sexual encounters.
Despite the guilty verdict on those charges, the 55-year-old’s team described it as “the victory of all victories”.
Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
In an interview over the weekend, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said Combs had received a standing ovation from fellow inmates when he returned to jail after being acquitted of the more serious charges.
“They all said, ‘We never get to see anyone who beats the government’,” he said.
Ahead of sentencing, Combs’s lawyers will file their recommendations by 19 September, with prosecutors likely to follow a week later.
Prosecutors previously said the rapper could face about four to five years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, while the defence has suggested a two-year sentence.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike