What voters and uncommitted delegates expect from Harris as the DNC draws to a close

Democrats are gearing up for their convention’s grand finale in Chicago on Thursday, when Vice President Kamala Harris will take the stage to speak as she accepts her party’s nomination for president. White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López joins Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz to discuss what’s on voters’ minds.

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Geoff Bennett: All right, let’s go this evening to the convention floor, where our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, is standing by.

Laura, what can we expect to hear from Vice President Harris later this evening?

Laura Barron-Lopez: Geoff, a campaign official said that Vice President Harris is going to share her personal story, the story of being raised by a single mother in a middle-class neighborhood, and also share her story of her decision to become a prosecutor to protect others.

She’s also going to emphasize what Democrats call the dangers of Project 2025 and fundamentally underscore her patriotism and where she wants to take the country, striking a contrast with Donald Trump.

Amna Nawaz: Laura, as we have heard again and again from speakers, it’s just over two months to go until Election Day. I know you have been speaking with Democrats and with voters. What do they want to hear from Vice President Harris tonight?

Laura Barron-Lopez: Amna, many of the Democrats that I have spoken to, including lawmakers, don’t want detailed white papers from Vice President Harris. They don’t think that she needs to be putting out 10-point policy plans.

But I spoke to Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who said that he wants Harris to really emphasize her vision and direction for the country in an honest way for voters and do that over and over again, but not to box herself in, because you never know what the makeup of Congress is going to be if you’re trying to negotiate on legislation.

And, also, a number of voters have told me and Democrats that they want to hear her really lean in on border security and immigration. But some voters say that they also — Harris is still a bit undefined for them, and so they want to hear more from her on the economy and on abortion.

Geoff Bennett: And, Laura, there’s some lingering tension between the Harris campaign and DNC organizers and this so-called Uncommitted Movement. Where does all of that stand?

Laura Barron-Lopez: So, last night, the Democratic National Committee denied the uncommitted delegates’ request to have a Palestinian-American speaker on the main stage.

And delegates told us that they had been talking to the campaign for months about this. The campaign had been speaking to them every day this week and had ultimately tried to get them to stop a sit-in that they started after this request was denied.

And we spoke to some of the uncommitted delegates, and they told us that they felt as though the bar that they asked for was the bare minimum of having a Palestinian-American speaker take the stage. They weren’t asking necessarily for any major change in policy at the convention. Of course, they do want a change in policy, but not here, and that they said that they are Democrats.

They would like to be able to move towards Harris. But at this point, they’re very frustrated that their main request was denied.

Amna Nawaz: Laura, as we know, Kamala Harris will be the headliner tonight. But who else should we expect to hear from on the stage tonight?

Laura Barron-Lopez: So we’re going to be hearing from a number of Democrats, including Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona. His wife, a gun control activist, Gabby Giffords, is also expected to speak, as well as Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. She’s going to be talking.

And then Maya Harris, Kamala Harris’ sister, is going to be talking to the arena here ahead of the vice president’s acceptance speech. One thing I’d also like to add, Amna, is that when I was talking to lawmakers about the vibes here, they said that one big difference — there’s been a lot of comparisons between Kamala Harris and Barack Obama in 2008.

One big difference, some lawmakers told me, is that they feel as though this campaign is about all Democrats and people writ large. They felt like Obama’s campaign was much more about his persona and the celebrity of Obama.

Amna Nawaz: That’s our Laura Barron-Lopez down on the convention floor.

Laura, thank you.

Laura Barron-Lopez: Thank you.