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DNC apologizes for ‘inexcusable remarks’

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  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Work continued inside the convention hall before the Democratic National Convention, Saturday, in Philadelphia.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS

    Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake raised the gavel as she called the convention to order during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday.

PHILADELPHIA » The Latest on the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia (all times EDT):

4:45 p.m.

The Democratic National Committee is offering its “deep and sincere apology” to Bernie Sanders, his supporters and the entire party for what it calls “the inexcusable remarks made over email.”

The statement from incoming interim party leader, Donna Brazile, and six other officials says the comments in the emails “do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process.”

The statement says the party won’t tolerate disrespectful language.

The statement wasn’t signed by the outgoing DNC head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

She announced on Sunday that she’d step down from that job at the end of this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

The emails suggested party officials favored Clinton over rival Sanders during the primaries.

4:15 p.m.

Democrats have gaveled in their convention in Philadelphia — after a day of discord that sent the party chief into exile.

It was Baltimore’s mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who called the 47th Democratic convention to order. Her formal welcome was briefly held up a slight oversight — she forgot the gavel and had to retrieve it off stage.

Rawlings-Blake is a last-minute fill-in Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the ousted Democratic National Committee leader.

The Florida congresswoman was forced out of her post by a trove of leaked emails that appeared to show DNC officials favored Hillary Clinton over Sanders in their fierce primary fight. She’s set to step down from the party job after the convention.

Rawlings-Blake serves as secretary of the DNC.

4 p.m.

Donald Trump says the Democrats’ outgoing party head, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is “highly over-rated,” and he’s accusing Hillary Clinton of throwing Wasserman Schultz “under the bus.”

Trump tells supporters in Roanoke, Virginia, that Clinton’s “disloyalty was incredible” for allowing Wasserman Schultz to be pushed out.

Her exit comes after the release of hacked emails that suggest some Democratic National Committee staff members favored Clinton over primary rival Bernie Sanders.

Trump claims Wasserman Schultz “worked very hard to rig the system” in Clinton’s favor.

3:34 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says she opposes a Senate bill that would slow growth rates for housing and education benefits for veterans.

Some veterans groups call that a cut because benefits may not keep up with inflation.

Clinton tells the Veterans of Foreign Wars today that she’d fight against the cuts. They’re part of a bill to overhaul the Department of Veterans Affairs and make it easier to fire employees for wrongdoing.

Clinton faults Republicans for “chipping away” at veterans benefits.

Republicans point out that 28 Democrats have co-sponsored the Senate bill, including Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Clinton’s newly announced running mate.

3:31 p.m.

Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence, are holding their first campaign event since the GOP convention.

The setting is a town hall event in Roanoke, Virginia.

Trump is planning a busy week of events as the Democrats hold their convention in Philadelphia.

2:38 p.m.

The White House is pitching first lady Michelle Obama’s speech tonight as a barometer of party unity.

Democrats are trying to overcome anger from Bernie Sanders supporters to the leaked emails indicating staffers at the Democratic National Committee favored Hillary Clinton in the primary race.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest says he’s confident the first lady will be warmly received at the Democratic National Convention. He says the first lady will give voice to the values and agenda that the Obama administration has pursued over the past seven years.

2:33 p.m.

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has been chosen to gavel in the Democratic convention in place of the party’s chairwoman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Rawlings-Blake is secretary of the Democratic National Committee.

2:27 p.m.

Former Vice President Al Gore is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but says he’s “not able” to attend the Democratic National Convention this week.

Gore tweets that he’s voting for Clinton “given her qualifications and experience — and given the significant challenges facing our nation and the world.” He’s not saying why he’s not attending the convention.

2:23 p.m.

Delegates for Bernie Sanders say they don’t want to be taken for granted.

Amos Miers of St. Petersburg, Florida, says Sanders should do more explaining before instructing supporters to get behind Clinton. Miers says Sanders’ supporters are “not going to get steamrolled.”

Colorado delegate Anita Lynch says she “had to boo” and wants to take some type of action later on the convention floor.

1:50 p.m.

Bernie Sanders drew boos and angry chants from his delegates as he urged Hillary Clinton’s election.

Many in the crowd chanted, “We want Bernie” as Democrats gathered in Philadelphia to nominate Clinton.

Sanders says electing Clinton is the way to stop Republican Donald Trump from becoming president. Sanders calls the GOP nominee “a bully and a demagogue.”

1:36 p.m.

The outgoing head of the Democratic Party says she won’t gavel her party’s national convention to order.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz tells the Sun Sentinel newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, that she made the decision “in the interest of making sure that we can start the Democratic convention on a high note.”

1:23 p.m.

Bernie Sanders says Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s departure from the Democratic National Committee will “open the doors of the party to people who want real change.”

To roaring cheers from delegates in Philadelphia, Sanders also is promoting progressive victories in the Democratic party platform and over future nominating rules.

Sanders says his supporters should continue to push for the “transformation of American society.”

1:17 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is thanking his delegates at a meeting before the Democratic National Convention, saying “make no mistake about it, we have made history.”

Sanders addressed over a thousand delegates packed into a ballroom at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, in advance of the Democratic National Convention.

Sanders says his candidacy proved that “the American people want a bold progressive agenda that takes on the billionaire class.”

12:08 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is offering a scathing critique of Donald Trump’s foreign policy.

Clinton is slamming many of Trump’s positions without mentioning his name. She is pledging to stand by American allies, fight dictators and listen to the advice of military officials.

Clinton is speaking at the annual conference of the Veterans of Foreign Wars during a campaign swing through Charlotte, North Carolina.

11:40 a.m.

Tim Kaine is getting another chance to show off his Spanish skills in an interview with Spanish-language network Telemundo.

The network says Hillary Clinton’s pick for her running mate will discuss immigration, the leak of Democratic National Committee emails and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, among other topics.

The interview will air this evening.

Kaine is fluent in Spanish thanks in part to a year in Honduras as a Catholic missionary before graduating from law school.

11:37 a.m.

The FBI has confirmed that agents are investigating a cyberattack involving the Democratic National Committee that resulted in the release this weekend in embarrassing emails.

The FBI says it will “continue to investigate and hold accountable those who pose a threat in cyberspace.”

Emails arising from the hack were posted over the weekend to WikiLeaks. Their release led party leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz to announce her resignation.

A cybersecurity firm that looked into the DNC breach found traces of at least two sophisticated hacking groups on the Democrats’ network — both of which have ties to the Russian government.

10:57 a.m.

Donald Trump will take questions from the public on a web forum during the third night of the Democratic National Convention.

The Republican presidential nominee will participate in an “Ask Me Anything” event Wednesday night on Reddit. Users can begin asking questions at 6:30 p.m. and Trump will start responding at 7 p.m.

No topics are off limits on the forums, which have become a popular Internet staple.

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  • called to order by the baltimore mayor who ordered police to give protesters room to protest and destroy.

    schultz steps down, replaced by brazile who continues the democrat party hate against sanders.

    al gore not going to speak in favor of the female felon at the democrat convention, says the felon is qualified and experienced but doesn’t mention any qualifications or any experience.

    not too late for biden to swing low and steal this nomination.

        • In their bizarre showcase of illegal aliens on the first day of their convention, Democrats not only shamelessly used a little girl for crass political reasons, they also managed to break federal immigration law – twice.

          Karla Ortiz has appeared on television and in commercials telling Hillary Clinton how scared she is that her illegal immigrant mom will be deported. In the ad – and again Monday night – we hear that Hillary told her that she would do the worrying for Karla. Aww.

        • The Dems dragged this nice little girl on stage. They showcase the minorities, don’t mention Isis or the brave cops. The Majority has got to save America. Unite. Vote like you’ve never voted before. Your life depends upon it. No BS.

    • Did you guys notice any American flags displayed at the convention?
      Outside shots I saw communist and palestinian flags.
      I never heard any of the speakers mention Islamic terror or Isis once. All I heard was what a rotten sob Trump is.

      • THE DEMOCRATS ARE IN PHILADELPHIA, MARXISM IS ON THE RISE IN AMERICA AND ISIS ARE THE WOLVES AT THE DOOR.

        ‪#‎Marxism‬ is the root cause of much of what ‪#‎America‬ is experiencing right now. Based on the writings of Karl Marx in the ‪#‎Communist‬ Manifesto and Saul Alinsky in Rules for Radicals, what we are seeing in the streets of our US cities is fundamental to establishing a Marxist society.

  • It took Wasserman Schultz, Hillary, and the rest of the Dems this long to figure out that she’d be lustily booed if she appeared at the DNC, duh! Casts more doubt on Hillary’s leadership and integrity for not ousting Debbie immediately.

    Nevertheless, anyone is better than that rabble rouser Trump. Only poor thinkers like Trump–and there are a lot of poor thinkers put there. But what a sorry, worrisome choice we have in 2016!

    • Million Monkeys, you call Trump a rabble rouser. What do you call the actions of someone, a former Secretary of State, who throws Libya into utter chaos? More than just poor thinking, perhaps?

        • You ought to know. Like I said what you know I forgot. Stop flattering yourself.

        • How can these Democrats have the unmitigated gall to even show their hypocrite faces. Have they no shame ridiculing the Republicans when they wrote the book on graft & corruption. They can lie with a straight face.

  • “DNC apologizes for ‘inexcusable remarks”

    Talk about missing the point!

    If I robbed a bank, and emailed my buddy about a good place to hide the money and got caught, I wouldn’t get away with, “I apologize for my careless use of language.”

    The issue isn’t that the Clinton campaign and the DNC emailed back and forth about their conspiracy against Bernie Sanders it’s that THERE WAS A CONSPIRACY AGAINST BERNIE BETWEEN THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN AND THE DNC!!!

    • Wrong, there was no evidence of emails between Clinton’s camp and the DNC regarding the horrific emails against Bernie and the high end supporters. The emails were between the employees of the DNC. Even Trump’s communication chief confirmed that fact. Get it straight.

    • Hackers are the ISIS terrorist of cyberspace. When Americans glorify Russian hackers ,,wow. Same people who hack identities and victimize Americans everyday. Telephone and emails are private affairs. This is why WE THE PEOPLE constitution protect these rights.

      • 68% of WE THE PEOPLE think HiLIARy is dishonest. Now let’s talk about her classified emails. Holy moly the Russians may just have them. Trump 2016 by a country mile. Lock her up.

      • What difference at this point does it matter. Nobody got tortured, their bodies mutilated and dragged through the streets. Let’s just move on.

      • Nanakuli, maybe it’s time you woke up. Sure, the Russians did the hacking; but whose words did they hack? The DNC operatives are pretty disgusting. I particularly enjoy hearing Donna Brazile’s solution: “We need to better secure our emails.” Don’t clean up the corruption, cover it better. Wake up gruber.

  • The comments in the emails were made by DNC officials. How can Donna Brazile and six other DNC officials say the comments “do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process?” That is the biggest crock pf BS I have read today.

  • It is utter nonsense for the Associated Press, aka Clinton’s PR firm, to say that the leaked emails “appeared” or “suggested” to show that the DNC favored Clinton over Sanders. Appeared? Suggested? The emails showed absolutely, positively and without doubt that the DNC was not just biased against Sanders but that it was actively and secretly working to defeat him in the primary.

  • This election could be made into one HUGE cartoon! Dumb and Dumber would have been an easier choice to choose from! Its amazing how our democratic process has turned into a circus of fools. This is the first time in my life that I am not proud to be a part of the zoo that is our right as citizens to be a part of!

  • No apology can undue the damage the DNC did to the Sander’s campaign. We will never know if he would have won had the campaign been waged on a level playing field. His supporters certainly believe so. This is something that will be debated for years to come.

    • Watch the DNC Michelle Obama is hitting it out of the ball park and I mean a major league ballpark. You are seeing what is true unity. Not the kind of comical farce that we saw last week. This line up is muderers row for the repubublicans. We don’t have to go to family or business partners to sing our praises. You can say whatever you want about Hilllary but no one can say that her convention lineup is awesome and most impressive. Last week was a jv preseason game and this week, well all I can say is that welcome to the big leagues. They’re going to to kick the sh-t out of him. He’ll be so battered and bruised that he’ll need a cane to walk to the voting booth come November.

      • Bernie Sanders just came up to the stage as the clean up batter. Grand slam guaranteed. This is what responsible, respectful and mature people do. At the end of the day we put our differences aside and move forward to a common and desired goal.

        • Three strikes and he struck out. The wimp didn’t even swing at a pitch. The crowd was divided and didn’t know whether to cry or cheer.

      • All she did was the same race baiting they’ve been doing ever since he was a Community Planner in Chicago. They both played the race card same as Trump playing the Outsider card.
        Her speech about slaves building the White House is hardly true. They helped but local artisans and workers from Europe did most of the skilled work.
        Don’t believe everything you hear.

  • Bernie Sanders supporters looked a tad rough. They believed in him so they hocked whatever they owned so they could send the $27. They begged, borrowed and maybe stole the train money to Philly. Slept in parks while the Establishment spent their nights in posh hotels. They should lock him up.

  • “Bernie Sanders says Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s departure from the Democratic National Committee will “open the doors of the party to people who want real change.” No, Bernie it won’t…and helping to elect a power hungry puppet of globalists won’t exactly help either.

  • Clinton has a problem with email. The RNC was hacked but kicked out the hackers. The DNC was extremely careless. They should just suck it up and stop blaming others.

  • So Bernies a sellout.. big surprise.. All you have to do is look at spain to see where he would have taken the US. Clintons a crook, but shes bribable.. better for business, the true wall st candidate.. Obama.. worst president in history..

  • The statement from incoming interim party leader, Donna Brazile, and six other officials says the comments in the emails “do not reflect the values of the DNC or our steadfast commitment to neutrality during the nominating process.”
    Really? so who typed those emails?

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