The Latest: DNC expects release of more hacked documents

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Published September 13, 2016 10:15PM (EDT)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):

5:57 p.m.

The Democratic National Committee says it expects the release of more party documents "stolen by Russian agents" and says there's one person who stands to benefit: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

DNC interim chair Donna Brazile says in a statement that it has been anticipating an additional batch of documents to be released soon. She says the party's legal team is reviewing the private documents and attempting to confirm their authenticity.

Forbes.com reported Tuesday that hacker Guccifer 2.0 told a security conference in London that new information from the DNC was being leaked.

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3:25 p.m.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid says the news media should look into Donald Trump's fondness for fast food instead of continuing to focus on Hillary Clinton's health.

Reid told reporters Tuesday that Clinton's is being treated unfairly as reporters rehash stories about an episode Sunday in which Clinton abruptly left a 9/11 anniversary ceremony and stumbled before being helped into a van. Her campaign later revealed she was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.

Reid urged reporters to look at Trump, saying of the GOP presidential nominee: "He's 70 years old. He's not slim and trim. He brags about eating fast food every day. Look at his health."

Reid, 76, is retiring after representing Nevada for 30 years in the Senate.

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2:56 p.m.

Sen. Bob Corker says Mike Pence gave out his cell number in the Republican senators' weekly meeting.

The Tennessee Republican told reporters Tuesday that Donald Trump's vice presidential running mate at the closed-door session was, "very, very positive."

That's a big contrast to Trump's visit with the same group of Republicans in July, when the presidential nominee clashed with several GOP senators.

The Indiana governor left the noontime meeting without commenting. But Corker and other Republicans who spoke to reporters after the gathering say Pence left a good impression.

Corker says senators offered "constructive suggestions" but the meeting was not confrontational.

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2:25 p.m.

Ted Cruz has left a meeting with Mike Pence without saying whether he will endorse or even vote for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.

The Texas Republican senator and onetime rival of Trump's has refused to endorse the billionaire. Cruz met privately with Pence in Washington and attended a lunch with the Indiana governor and a number of other Republican senators.

Cruz says he had a "good and productive conversation" and a "very good meeting." He calls Pence a "good man, a friend" and a "strong conservative."

But Cruz left without answering questions about whether he will vote for Trump, endorse him or whether Pence asked him to publicly back Trump.

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2:13 p.m.

President Barack Obama is scoffing at the idea that Donald Trump is favored by working-class voters.

Obama told thousands of supporters in Philadelphia on Tuesday that the GOP presidential nominee "wouldn't let you all on his golf course. And now suddenly this guy is going to be your champion?

The president also noted that Trump has lived a secluded life and mocked the billionaire's owners hip of elite properties. Obama said, "Really? This is the guy you want to be championing working people?"

He says the billionaire businessman struggles with policy and facts.

Obama says of Trump: "He's not really a plans guy. He's not really a facts guy."

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2:02 p.m.

Donald Trump is pledging to be, "the president of everyone."

The Republican presidential nominee's approach in Clive, Iowa, Tuesday is part of a strategy to capitalize on Hillary Clinton's declaration that half of the Republican's supporters belong in "a basket of deplorables." She later said she regrets saying that half were in that basket and that many of Trump's supporters are hardworking Americans.

But Trump is hammering the theme that Clinton's remarks slanders his supporters and comes from the same "arrogance and entitlement" that prompted Clinton to use a private email server while she was secretary of state.

He suggested that the email scandal was "worse than Watergate." The FBI declined to refer the case for prosecution.

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1:57 p.m.

President Barack Obama says the Republican presidential ticket led by Donald Trump is fanning hate.

Obama is telling a crowd of thousands near the Philadelphia Art Museum, "This isn't Abraham Lincoln's Republican Party. This isn't even the vision of freedom of Ronald Reagan. This is a dark vision."

Obama is campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for the second time, with the exception of his speech endorsing her at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in July. He says he "really, really, really want(s) to elect Hillary Clinton."

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1:55 p.m.

Tim Kaine says Donald Trump's campaign is not taking a tough enough line on bigotry and that "chumming around" with white supremacist David Duke is deplorable.

Addressing hundreds on the University of Michigan campus Tuesday, the Democratic vice presidential nominee said, "If you are chumming around with the head of the Klu Klux Klan, people who have that title, that's deplorable." He did not say who was "chumming around" with Duke.

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence has denounced Duke, but has refused to call him "deplorable."

Hillary Clinton on Friday described half of Trump supporters as a "basket of deplorables." Kaine defended that sentiment, saying, "If you cannot call out bigotry, racism, xenophobia, you're allowing it to grow."

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1:20 p.m.

A campaign official says Donald Trump is planning to visit Flint, Michigan, on Wednesday.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the plans before a public announcement.

The visit comes as the Senate is considering a sweeping water bill which includes money for Flint.

Flint's drinking water became tainted when the city switched from the Detroit water system and began drawing from the Flint River in April 2014. Lead from aging pipes leached into the water supply. Elevated lead levels have been found in at least 325 people, including 221 children.

Trump told the Detroit News this month that the situation never would have happened had he been president at the time.

—By Jonathan Lemire in Des Moines, Iowa

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12:25 p.m.

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz isn't rushing to endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump, even after a meeting with Trump's running mate.

Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence met with Cruz Tuesday. The Indiana governor had endorsed Cruz in his bid for the White House. Since dropping out, Cruz has declined to endorse Trump, citing personal attacks the billionaire businessman has made against him and his family.

Cruz's spokesman Jeff Roe said Tuesday that Cruz's meeting with Pence was about "two fiscal conservatives hanging out."

He declined to answer questions on whether Cruz would endorse Trump.

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11:30 a.m.

Hillary Clinton's campaign is rolling out two online ads in an effort to once again cast rival Donald Trump in a negative light.

The first ad, set to be released Tuesday, depicts Trump bragging about big political contributions he's given with the expectation that he would receive favors down the line from recipients.

That follows revelations that his charitable foundation made a $25,000 donation to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, now a prominent backer. The donation came days after her office reportedly said it was considering joining a proposed multi-state lawsuit against Trump University and the Trump Institute.

A second web video features a man named Danny Williams, who paid to enroll in Trump University. He says in the ad that all he ever got "was lies."

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11:25 a.m.

A House Republican has questioned vice presidential nominee Mike Pence about Donald Trump's standing among women — and what can be done to improve it.

During the exchange in a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska asked the Indiana governor what to say to his own daughter when she expresses concerns about Trump's views on women.

New York congressman Peter King said Pence responded that he has seen polling that shows Trump ahead with married women. Pence also noted Trump's speech later Tuesday in Philadelphia, where Trump plans to roll out proposals to make child care more affordable for working families.

Asked after the meeting about Trump's standing with women, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said: "There's always room for improvement."

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11:20 a.m.

A Democratic congressman says Democrats have "no concern" about the health of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Rep. Joe Crowley of New York said there was "not a single question or reverberation" about Clinton's health at a meeting Tuesday of House Democrats.

Clinton abruptly left a 9/11 anniversary ceremony Sunday and needed to be helped into a van. Hours later, her campaign revealed she had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.

Crowley, who stood near Clinton at Sunday's ceremony, says the episode merely proves that "she is a human being" who is susceptible to colds, the flu and pneumonia.

Crowley called questions about whether Clinton should have revealed her diagnosis earlier unfair. He noted that Clinton's Republican opponent, Donald Trump, has not revealed his medical or tax records.

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11 a.m.

Donald Trump's running mate Mike Pence is standing by his refusal to describe white supremacist David Duke as "deplorable."

Pence was asked at a news conference Tuesday with House Republican leaders whether he wanted to amend his statement from an interview Monday in which he denounced Duke, but declined to call him "deplorable." Hillary Clinton has used the term "basket of deplorables" to describe half of Trump's supporters.

Pence said he was "not going to validate the language Hillary Clinton used to describe the American people." He called the issue a distraction.

Pence repeated his repudiation of Duke and said "I'm not in the name-calling business."

Clinton tweeted on Monday: "If you won't say the KKK is deplorable, you have no business running the country."

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8:45 a.m.

Donald Trump is rolling out proposals to make child care more affordable for working families.

At a speech in a Philadelphia suburb Tuesday, the Republican nominee will call for guaranteeing new mothers six weeks of paid maternity leave. He will also lay out plans to create new "Dependent Care Savings Accounts" that would allow families to set aside money to look after their children or elderly parents.

And Trump plans to provide details of his plan to allow parents to deduct child-care spending from their taxes.

Trump's daughter, Ivanka, is expected to introduce her father. She used her Republican National Convention speech to talk about child care issues, though her father has barely mentioned it on the campaign trail.

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3:15 a.m.

When Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia late last week, she informed a handful of her closest advisers, but pressed on with a busy campaign schedule and did not inform the public that she was sick.

Clinton said: "I just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal."

Her first comments about her health condition came in a CNN interview late Monday, a day after a dizzy spell caught on video forced her to disclose the illness and cancel a West Coast campaign trip.

The incident reinforced Clinton's reputation as a public figure with a predisposition for privacy. While her top campaign aides conceded they were too slow in providing the public with information about Clinton's condition, it was unclear how quickly they themselves had been informed.


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