--:-- Traci Mumford: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Traci Mumford. Today's Tuesday, August 20th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Well, good evening and welcome to the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
--:-- Traci Mumford: The Democratic National Convention kicked off last night in Chicago, where the party has made history with Kamala Harris as the first ever South Asian American and first Black woman to lead a major party ticket for president.
--:-- Traci Mumford: In speech after speech, Democratic officials, politicians, and union leaders cheered the Harris Walls ticket.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Taking the stage, Hillary Clinton made an emotional call for Harris to do something that she hadn't been able to do herself, smash the glass ceiling.
--:-- Traci Mumford: This is when we break through. The future is here. It's in our grasp. Let's go with it.
--:-- Traci Mumford: The convention ran late into the night, stretching until almost midnight, as the main speaker took the stage, President Joe Biden.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Thank you, thank you, thank you. The crowds roared for the president, who just a month ago was expected to be the nominee himself.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Listen, from the second that he walked out, he was greeted by just a wall of applause and shouts of, we love Joe. And it went on and on.
--:-- Traci Mumford: I think somebody counted it. It went on for like four minutes.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): The hall was packed. I mean, I didn't see a single empty seat there. And the word was the fire marshals were threatening to close down the place because there were so many people there.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): And there was a lot of excitement in the air. I think that people really realized that this was in a store-off moment.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): I made a commitment to you that I be a president for all Americans. whether you voted for me or not. We have done that.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): Biden was very much doing a victory lap. I think Biden was very much sort of like reviewing what he sees as a very very successful three and a half years as president taking through all his accomplishments right
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): Because of you and I not exaggerating because of you we've had one of the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): When I say we, I mean Kamala and me.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): At the same time, he was being very careful about sharing the credit for that with Kamala Harris.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): Kamala and I are proud. We beat the NRA when we passed the first major bipartisan gun safety around 30 years.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): And again and again, he talked about how the accomplishments that he had were the accomplishments that he made with his vice president.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): And he talked about choosing her as his vice president as being the best decision he ever made.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): And he gave her his complete endorsement. And that was the sort of subtext of everything that he was saying.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): Adam says that while Biden heaped praise on Harris and vowed to stay on the campaign trail to support her, his speech last night was also a kind of farewell address as he closes out his political career earlier than he'd planned.
--:-- Times Reporter (Adam Nagurney): Biden ended the night quoting from the song American Anthem.
--:-- Traci Mumford: What shall our legacy be? What will our children say? Let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, America, I gave my best to you.
--:-- Traci Mumford: For more about Biden's message to the Democratic Party, listen to today's episode of The Daily.
--:-- Traci Mumford: The Democratic National Convention will continue tonight, where former President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak.
--:-- Traci Mumford: This morning, Israel announced that it's recovered the bodies of six hostages from southern Gaza after an overnight military operation.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Five of the six were already known to have died in captivity
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): The recovery comes as U Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the Middle East to continue to push for progress towards a ceasefire deal and the release of the remaining hostages
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): In Jerusalem yesterday, Blinken said Israel has accepted a proposal to bridge some of the final remaining differences with Hamas on a ceasefire deal.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): And he publicly pressured Hamas to do the same.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): But there are still major disagreements between the two sides, including whether or not Israeli troops should be allowed to patrol the Gaza-Egypt border.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): Israel says that's necessary to prevent Hamas from rearming.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): Hamas says it won't agree to any deal that doesn't include the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
--:-- Traci Mumford: In Mexico, thousands of judges and court workers are now on an indefinite strike as they protest the president's attempt to overhaul the judicial system there.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Currently, many of Mexico's judges are appointed, based on their qualifications and specialized training.
--:-- Traci Mumford: But President Andres Manuel López Obrador wants them to be elected instead, in what would be the most significant change to the country's court system in decades.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): He says that the reforms would root out, quote, corruption and privileges in the judiciary.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): But his critics call it a power grab.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): They say it would let Obrador and his party use their political power to take control of the courts.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): And judicial experts have warned that the overhaul could threaten judicial independence and undermine the rule of law.
--:-- Times Reporter (unidentified): If the system is changed, all 11 of Mexico's Supreme Court justices could be forced to step down.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Obrador is hoping to get the measure passed next month.
--:-- Traci Mumford: In the meantime, as the strike goes into effect, hundreds of courthouses across Mexico are expected to close.
--:-- Traci Mumford: And some court workers have already locked the entrances to the buildings with chains
--:-- Traci Mumford: And finally can you imagine 10 30 in the morning turn on television, there's this Donahue guy with the most hated woman in America.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Phil Donahue, who is credited with reinventing the television talk show, died this week at 88 years old.
--:-- Traci Mumford: When he first went on TV in the 1960s, he pushed the boundaries for what you could show.
--:-- Traci Mumford: In his first episode, he interviewed an atheist, shocking at the time.
--:-- Traci Mumford: He went on to talk to strippers, he televised a live birth, and he was among the first TV hosts to discuss the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s.
--:-- Traci Mumford: A significant and serious disease has struck the gay community.
--:-- Traci Mumford: He also let the audience weigh in, walking the aisles and handing off the microphone for their questions, something that hadn't really been done before.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Well, my question is, if it doesn't seem to be directly tied to the gay community, could this be caused by a virus? And are we, in fact, maybe being exposed right now to the disease?
--:-- Traci Mumford: His show ran for more than 6,000 episodes and won 20 daytime Emmys.
--:-- Traci Mumford: But by the 1980s, he was overtaken by a new name in TV that built on his format but made it her own, Oprah Winfrey.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Other TV hosts like Jerry Springer, Geraldo Rivera, and Sally Jesse Raphael also came along and picked up the taboo topics that he'd put front and center on TV.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Donahue called them, quote, my illegitimate children.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Donahue went off the air in 1996, then attempted a brief comeback on MSNBC in the early 2000s.
--:-- Traci Mumford: The host once mused about what should go on his headstone after he died, and he said it should be, Here lies Phil. Occasionally, he went too far.
--:-- Traci Mumford: Those are the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.
