Feb. 18, 2016, 7:25 p.m.
Hillary Clinton repeatedly called the battle between Apple and the FBI over accessing the cellphone data of the San Bernardino assailants a "dilemma," refusing to stake out a position.
"This is one of the most difficult dilemmas that we're faced with," Clinton said during Thursday's Democratic town hall. "Of course law enforcement has every right and reason to want to get information off of a killer's cellphone."
But Clinton added that she sees why Apple is concerned about opening a "back door" to access a user's personal data, noting that they probably then have to field requests from not only the U.S. government, but foreign governments as well, in addition to the privacy concerns that Apple has.
Feb. 18, 2016, 9:47 p.m.
Hillary Clinton has netted several powerful union endorsements this primary season, and on Thursday night she held an outdoor rally to bask in that support.
"It's because I've worked for them, because I've fought for them," she said before several dozen members of Laborers' International Union at its local headquarters on the east side of Las Vegas.
Clinton, who finds herself in an increasingly competitive race for the Democratic presidential nomination with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, took a moment to indirectly criticize her rival.
Feb. 18, 2016, 8:40 p.m.
What we noticed during Thursday's town hall featuring half the remaining Republican field (the others took the stage on the previous night):
- John Kasich got personal
John Kasich opened the town hall with a reminder that he had already done 120 of them. And it showed. Kasich was at ease and had plenty to gain; he may be the least known of the candidates. (One questioner still could not pronounce his name. It's KAY-sick.)
He did discuss health costs and his support for gun control, while defending his controversial decision to expand Medicaid in his state as part of President Obama’s landmark healthcare law. But mostly he showed his demeanor and style, which may appeal to those who find Donald Trump too bombastic. - Jeb Bush is pushing to remain relevant
Jeb Bush, whose campaign shows signs of trouble two days before the South Carolina primary, was trying to convince voters he remains relevant here.
“I do have momentum,” Bush said, "if you look at the polls and if you look at the crowd sizes of our town hall meetings and the enthusiasm that exists.” - Donald Trump is just like us, only rich
Donald Trump showed his unwillingness to disappoint those who like his bravado. He even suggested he's a bit of a shape-shifter, a no-no under normal political rules.
"I can act differently for different people," he said.
That kind of comment has been used against him before and probably will show up in an attack ad soon. But it seems unlikely to hurt Trump too much.
After dishing on Michael Jackson, expressing fondness for McDonald's and confessing to few other vices than staying up late to watch the news, Trump reminded viewers why he is so popular. The billionaire is an almost-normal guy, just Trump-ier.
Feb. 18, 2016, 8:08 p.m.
Feb. 18, 2016, 8:01 p.m.
Donald Trump acknowledged Thursday that he may have expressed support for the Iraq war in 2002, a shift from his insistence earlier in his campaign that he always opposed it.
Trump was asked about the invasion during a 2002 interview with Howard Stern, first reported late Thursday by Buzzfeed.
“Are you for invading Iraq?” Howard Stern asked him at the time, and Trump answered, “Yeah, I guess so.”
Feb. 18, 2016, 7:54 p.m.
Feb. 18, 2016, 7:50 p.m.
A voter at Thursday’s Republican town hall asked Donald Trump one of the big questions about his campaign: Could he adjust his blustery rhetoric and manage his self-control as president?
“We have to be tough to protect our country,” Trump said. “I have a great temperament.”
He went on to talk about terrorists in detail – ISIS beheadings, drowning people in cages, the San Bernardino shootings.
Feb. 18, 2016, 7:48 p.m.
Feb. 18, 2016, 7:45 p.m.
Hillary Clinton did her homework on immigration.
During a Democratic town hall Thursday, a woman in the audience told of her husband being forced to return to Mexico while he applied for legal status because of a little-known immigration provision. She was posing a question to Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, who didn’t quite seem to know what she was talking about.
But when Clinton took the stage later, she made a point to address the law, identifying it by name, then pledging to end it. Clinton drew loud cheers when she vowed to eliminate the law, known as the three- or 10-year unlawful presence bar. It requires immigrants in the U.S. illegally to return home for years while applying for legal status.
Feb. 18, 2016, 7:30 p.m.
Jeb Bush, who has struggled with how to calibrate his family history in his presidential campaign, embraced it Thursday as he tried to stay competitive going into Saturday's South Carolina primary.
Asked about his brother, former President George W. Bush, campaigning with him this week, Bush declared their Monday event “a blast.”
“I love him dearly, and this is the first time he’s been campaigning with a candidate, and I’m honored he did it with me,” Bush said during a GOP candidates forum, adding that he would have been “disappointed" if his brother had campaigned with someone else.