The Latest: Russian diplomat scoffs at DNC hack allegations

Lavrov was about the allegations as he began a meeting on Tuesday in Laos with Secretary of State John Kerry.

Lavrov answered in English: “Well, I don’t want to use four-letter words.”

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11:25 p.m.

Bernie Sanders says Hillary Clinton will make — in his words — “an outstanding president.”

Sanders, who battled Clinton in the Democratic primaries, says he’s known Clinton since she was first lady almost a quarter-century ago.

He credits Clinton with leading the fight for universal health care. He says Clinton, as a senator, was a “fierce advocate” for children’s rights.

And Sanders is ending his speech at the Democratic National Convention by saying: “I am proud to stand with her tonight.”

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11:23 p.m.

Many of Bernie Sanders’ have disrupted the Democratic National Convention on Monday.

But the Vermont senator says he’s going to “do all that I can” to ensure a Hillary Clinton presidency, along with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House of Representatives.

Both chambers of Congress are now held by Republicans.

He said that “it is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues” and that is what democracy is about.

But he said the two campaigns have produced together what is “by far, most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic party.”

He said the platform calls for several of his priorities, including opposition to the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

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11:20 p.m.

Bernie Sanders says the presidential election should be about bringing people together, “not dividing us up.”

He says presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton understands that diversity is one of her party’s greatest strengths.

Sanders says in his speech at the Democratic National Convention that the United States becomes stronger when “black and white, Latino, Asian-American, Native American — when all of us stand together.”

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11:10 p.m.

Bernie Sanders says the country has made much progress under President Barack Obama but there’s more work to be done.

He says the 2016 presidential election is about the candidate who understands the “real problems” the country is facing and can offer solutions.

Sanders tells the Democratic National Convention that “by these measures, any objective observer will conclude that — based on her ideas and her leadership — Hillary Clinton must become the next president of the United States. The choice is not even close.”

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10:50 p.m.

Bernie Sanders says no one is more disappointed than he is over not being the Democratic presidential nominee.

But the Vermont senator is urging his supporters to take “enormous pride” in the political revolution to transform America that they’ve started.

Sanders says in his speech at the Democratic National Convention that election days come and go.

But, he says, “the struggle of the people to create a government which represents all of us and not just the 1 per cent – a government based on the principles economic, social, racial and environmental justice – that struggle continues.”

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10:45 p.m.

Bernie Sanders is thanking his supporters and political donors whose contributions averaged what he says were $27 apiece.

Sanders is telling the Democratic National Convention that he’s looking forward to receiving his 1,900 delegates’ votes during Tuesday night’s roll call.

The Vermont senator is underscoring his tough campaign against Hillary Clinton by recounting that he received 13 million votes, 46 per cent of the total cast in Democratic primaries and caucuses.

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10:45 p.m.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren says Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has excited Americans who are rightfully angry. But she says he’s offering no solutions for their problems.

She tells the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia that Trump can see voter anger “from the top of Trump Tower” and tells voters that “he and he alone can fixed the rigged system.”

Warren says the only actual clear policy proposal Trump offered in his own nomination acceptance last week was “a stupid wall” that “will never get built.” Trump wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

But she says there was nothing in his speech about improving children’s education, increasing incomes or creating

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10:43 p.m.

Elizabeth Warren is taking aim at Donald Trump’s business record, and she says he’s never “lifted a finger to help working people.”

The Massachusetts senator is using her speech at the Democratic National Convention to highlight Trump’s comments about benefiting from the 2008 housing crash — and she’s noting his business bankruptcies.

Warren is asking: “What kind of a man acts like this? What kind of a man roots for an economic crash?”

She adds, “What kind of a man cheats students, cheats investors, cheats workers? A man who must never be president of the United States.”

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10:40 p.m.

Elizabeth Warren is offering a harsh assessment of an American economy that she says is tilted against working people.

The liberal favourite and Massachusetts senator says “there’s lots of wealth in America” but “it isn’t trickling down to families like yours.”

Instead, she tells delegates at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, the “system is rigged” as “Americans bust their tails” while “wages stay flat.”

Warren rejects those who say such an economy is a result of a Congress that isn’t working. She says Congress works fine when corporations and the wealthy seek tax breaks and favourable regulations.

But she says, “try to do something for working people,” and the “gridlock” ensues.

Warren says GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “whole life has been about taking advantage of that rigged system.”

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10:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Warren says the choice in the presidential election is clear, and she says Republican nominee Donald Trump “cares about himself every minute of every day.”

The Massachusetts senator is a favourite among liberals, and she’s speaking at the Democrat National Convention on Monday night as the party tries to unite around Hillary Clinton after a divisive primary.

Warren tells the crowd: “I’m with Hillary. This choice is personal. It’s about who we are as a people.”

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10:20 p.m.

Michelle Obama says she wants a president who knows issues “cannot be boiled down to 140 characters.”

Once again she’s not mentioning Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump by name in her speech at the Democratic National Convention.

But she is citing his penchant for communicating on Twitter and says she wants someone who understands that issues aren’t always clear.

And, she adds, “That’s why in this election. I’m with her.”

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10:15 p.m.

Michelle Obama says Hillary Clinton is advancing the cause for women so “all our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States.”

The first lady also is linking Clinton’s quest to be the first woman elected president and Barack Obama’s historic tenure in the White as the first black president.

Michelle Obama recalls the history of black Americans who “felt the lash of bondage” and the “sting of segregation.”

Michelle Obama says that now, she gets to “watch my daughters, two intelligent black young women, play with their dog on the White House lawn.”

The first lady also is pushing back on Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s slogan to “make America great again.”

She says, “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that this country isn’t great. That somehow we need to make it great again. Because this right now is the greatest country on earth.”

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10:12 p.m.

California delegates backing Bernie Sanders are sitting still as Michelle Obama speaks at the Democratic National Convention, rather than starting chants as they did over other speakers.

Several yelled “no” when the first lady declared “I’m with her,” a slogan for Clinton backers.

But the response is far more muted than the backlash that greeted other speakers. The California delegation has been one of the loudest on Monday night in expressing their opposition to Clinton.

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10:10 p.m.

Michelle Obama is offering an unequivocal endorsement for Hillary Clinton.

The first lady says Clinton — a former secretary of state, senator and first lady herself — is the “one person who I truly believe is qualified to be president of the United States.”

Michelle Obama says in her speech at the Democratic National Convention that Clinton “never buckles under pressure.” She says Clinton would be the kind of president that she wants for her own daughters.

Michelle Obama notes Clinton’s reaction to her 2008 Democratic primary loss t Barack Obama. Michelle Obama says Clinton “didn’t get angry or disillusioned” and “did not pack up and go home.”

She says Clinton has “never quit on anything in her life.”

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10:05 p.m.

Michelle Obama is calling out Donald Trump in her remarks at the Democratic National Convention.

The first lady says that “when someone is cruel or acts like a bully, we don’t stoop to their level.”

She’s not mentioning the Republican presidential nominee by name, but she’s is decrying what she calls “hateful language.” She says that goes against what she tries to teach her children.

Her message? She says, “When they go low, we go high.”

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9:50 p.m.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump seems to be reveling in the drama at the Democratic National Convention as he campaigns with running mate Mike Pence.

“What a mess they have going,” Trump tells supporters Monday night at a rally in North Carolina.

Trump says rival Hillary Clinton made a mistake by not choosing a more liberal running mate to appease Bernie Sanders’ supporters.

Trump says: “Crazy Bernie’s going crazy right now.”

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9:40 p.m.

A warmup speaker at a Donald Trump rally is calling President Barack Obama a racist.

Mark Burns is a black pastor who often speaks at Trump events, and last week he had a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention.

Burns said at a Trump event in North Carolina on Monday that “President Obama is the racist.”

Burns also says Democrats should be ashamed for inviting the mother of Michael Brown to speak at their convention.

Michael Brown was the unarmed black 18-year-old who was shot to death by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

Burns contends the invitation reaffirms that blacks should be afraid of police.

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9:25 p.m.

Comedian Sarah Silverman isn’t mincing words in her message to die-hard Bernie Sanders supporters.

Here’s what she says Monday night at the Democratic convention: “Can I just say to the Bernie or bust people, you’re being ridiculous.”

Silverman was one of a number of prominent entertainers who backed Sanders in the Democratic primary against Hillary Clinton. But Silverman is telling the crowd in Philadelphia — and a national television audience — that she plans to vote for Clinton.

The crowd broke into chants of “Bernie, Bernie,” but Silverman quickly shot back with her quip.

As the crowd roared in applause, Minnesota Sen. Al Franken — standing next to Silverman — joked, “Listen to what you did.”

Franken noted that because he was a Clinton backer and Silverman was with Sanders, they were forming a bridge.

“We’re like a bridge over troubled water,” he said, and they next went on to introduce singer Paul Simon.

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9:10 p.m.

Al Franken went to Harvard University, but at the Democratic National Convention, he’s claiming a degree from Trump University instead.

The former “Saturday Night Live” comedian — who’s now a Minnesota senator — jokes that he’s a “world-renowned expert on right-wing megalomaniacs: Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and now, Donald Trump.”

Franken adds: “Now a little about my qualifications. I got my doctorate in megalomaniac studies from Trump University.”

Trump — the Republican presidential nominee — faces lawsuits accusing him of defrauding customers at the now-defunct Trump University, which sold real estate seminars.

Franken asked the crowd of delegates if they knew that “Trump University’s School of Ripping People Off is ranked second in the nation, right behind Bernie Madoff University?”

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8:50 p.m.

Democrats at their national convention are going after Donald Trump’s business record.

Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania is questioning where the Republican presidential nominee’s products were made.

Here’s what Casey says: “Dress shirts – Bangladesh. Furniture – Turkey. Picture frames – India. Wine glasses – Slovenia. Neck ties – China.”

He adds, “Why would Donald Trump make his products in every corner of the globe but not in Altoona, Erie or here in Philadelphia?”

And Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York recalls Trump’s comments about U.S. wages being too high.

She says Democrat Hillary Clinton “knows that in the richest country in the world, it’s unacceptable that a mom with two kids working full time still lives in poverty.”

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8:40 p.m.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz is in the building.

The outgoing Democratic Party chairwoman is watching Monday’s opening night of the national convention from a private suite at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia.

The Florida congresswoman’s resignation from the party post will take effect Friday.

She stepped down after the release of hacked emails suggested staff at the Democratic National Committee favoured Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in party’s presidential primaries.

Wasserman Schultz was heckled Monday morning when speaking to her home state’s delegation at breakfast. She later decided against gaveling in the convention amid concerns she’d draw more ire from Sanders supporters.

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8:25 p.m.

Hillary Clinton was campaigning in Las Vegas earlier this year when she heard directly from a young girl who was worried because her parents are living in the United States illegally.

Now 11-year-old Karla Oritz has told her story to a national audience — from the stage at the Democratic National Convention.

Karla’s an American citizen who appeared with her mother at the Philadelphia gathering. Karla says she worries about what might happen if she comes home and finds her house empty.

That conversation she had with Clinton in Las Vegas ended up as part of a television ad for the Clinton campaign.

Karla says she remember how Clinton called her brave. The youngster says she wants to grow up to be a lawyer, so that “I can help other families like us.”

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8:15 p.m.

Liberal stalwart Elizabeth Warren is using her Democratic convention speech to make clear her view that Americans won’t fall for Donald Trump’s plan to fan what she calls “the flames of fear and hatred.”

The Massachusetts Democrat says in excerpts of a speech she plans to deliver later Monday that the Republican presidential nominee is peddling an old story of “divide and conquer.”

Warren says Trump thinks he can win votes “by turning neighbour against neighbour” and by persuading voters that the source of their problems is “people who don’t look like you, or don’t talk like or don’t worship like you.”

She says bankers, oil companies and giant corporations benefit “when we turn on each other.”

Warren says a divided America can’t “fight back against a rigged system.” She says “the American people are not falling for” Trump’s divisive rhetoric.

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8:05 p.m.

Cory Booker is calling for the Democratic party to unite around Hillary Clinton — and the Democratic senator from New Jersey says Clinton would be a champion for the poor as president.

Remarks of Booker’s speech at the party’s convention have come out before his remarks later Monday. He says Clinton would measure America’s greatness not by the number of millionaires and billionaires, but by how few people are living in poverty.

Booker says the country doesn’t always have to agree, but the U.S. can’t became a place “where our highest aspiration is that we just tolerate each other.”

Booker also champions debt-free college, which he says represents the best of the Democratic party.

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7:55 p.m.

Singer Demi Lovato is belting out her hit “Confident” at the Democratic National Convention.

Lovato performed for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Iowa during the campaign, and she’s one of the first bold-faced names to appear on the convention stage.

The convention opened with a performance from Boyz II Men. Paul Simon is set to perform later Monday, and delegates are set to hear from actress and activist Eva Longoria.

Before performing, Lovato told the crowd of delegates at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia that “like millions of Americans, I am living with mental illness.”

She says, “But I am lucky. I had the resources and support to get treatment at a top facility.” She says Hillary Clinton will help Americans in need of care get the treatment they require.

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6:50 p.m.

“I wouldn’t vote for her for dog catcher.”

That’s the sentiment of a Bernie Sanders delegate when talking about whether she’d support Hillary Clinton.

“No, never in a million years” — Melissa Arab of Shelby Township, Michigan, is making abundantly clear.

She says she’s going to work as hard as she can to make Sanders the Democratic nominee for president.

She says “that’s what I’m pledged to do and that’s what Bernie told me to do.”

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5:50 p.m.

Bernie Sanders may have asked his supporters as a “personal courtesy” not to protest at the Democratic convention — but not everyone’s willing to heed that request.

Michigan delegate Bruce Fealk says he understands Sanders’ position and understands why the Vermont senator is making the request.

But Fealk also says: “I’m really annoyed. … I haven’t decided yet. I want to support Bernie, but I also want to voice my displeasure with the Democratic Party.”

Fealk says he sees the hacked party emails as a revelation, and says they show the party’s disrespect for progressives.

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5:25 p.m.

A Democratic official says Bernie Sanders’ campaign has urgently reached out to Hillary Clinton’s team to express concerns that tensions are still raw among Sanders delegates.

They’re fuming about hacked party emails that already have led to the ouster of the head of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

Aides to Clinton and Sanders have met in hopes of forming a plan to avoid excessive disruptions on the convention floor.

The Democratic official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the private discussions.

Sanders has sent out a text message and an email to delegates urging them not to engage in protests on the floor as a “personal courtesy” to him.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Russian diplomat scoffs at DNC hack allegations

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