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US Democratic debate: Sanders apologises to Clinton over data breach US Democratic debate: Sanders apologises to Clinton over data breach
(about 2 hours later)
Candidates seeking the Democratic Party's nomination for the US presidency have begun their last debate of the year in New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders has apologised to fellow Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after his staff stole valuable voting data from her campaign.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton remains a frontrunner. "This is not the type of campaign that we run," he said during a TV debate.
Her main rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, apologised for his campaign's accessing of voter information compiled by Ms Clinton's team. The candidates criticised Republican frontrunner Donald Trump for his call to ban Muslims from entering the US.
"Not only do I apologise to Secretary Clinton, I want to apologise to our supporters," he said. But they clashed over Syria, with Mr Sanders accusing Ms Clinton of being set on regime change while she said US leadership was needed.
Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is also taking part in the debate in Manchester, New Hampshire. Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley also took part in the debate in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Gun control and the fear of terror attacks in the United States were tackled early in the debate. But the former secretary of state remains the frontrunner.
"Guns in and of themselves will not make America safer," said Hillary Clinton. On Syria, she insisted that the US should seek to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power.
"Arming more people… is not the appropriate response to terrorism." "If the US does not lead, there is not another leader - there is a vacuum," she said.
Ms Clinton said that Republican rhetoric - especially from Donald Trump - was "fanning the flames of radicalisation". Mr Saunders however argued that the US should first concentrate on defeating so-called Islamic State (IS).
But Mr O'Malley accused of two rivals of "flip-flopping" in Washington over gun ownership restrictions. "Getting rid of dictators is easy, but you have to think about what happens the day after," he said.
For his part, Mr Sanders said US foreign policy needed to focus on destroying the so-called Islamic State (IS or Isis) group, not removing Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria. These differences aside, the BBC's Laura Bicker at the debate says the candidates are not seeking a damaging race and used their TV appearances to appear as safe adults serious about policy in comparison to their Republican rivals.
"It is not Assad that is attacking the United States," he said. Both had strong words for Mr Trump, with Ms Clinton calling him "the biggest recruiter for IS" and saying he used "bigotry and bluster to inflame people".
"First priority: destroy Isis," he said. The debate was the first for Democrats since 14 people were killed by a married couple that the authorities say had been radicalised.
Mr Sanders also criticised Qatar, saying that "instead of spending $200bn on the World Cup, maybe they should pay attention to Isis on their doorstep". All three candidates said it was important to work more closely with Muslim-American communities to tackle radicalism at home.
Data accessData access
Bernie Sanders said that on two occasions there were computer breaches - which he said were the fault of the software vendor - in which his campaign could see proprietary data from Hillary Clinton's campaign and that they alerted party officials "quietly". Bernie Sanders admitted that on two occasions his campaign could see proprietary data from Hillary Clinton's campaign following computer breaches - which he said were the fault of the software vendor.
He said his campaign "didn't run to the media and make a big deal about it".
He said that the most recent breech involved inappropriate behaviour by one of his staff members, adding that person had now been dismissed.He said that the most recent breech involved inappropriate behaviour by one of his staff members, adding that person had now been dismissed.
He said that the Democratic Party's decision to temporarily suspend his campaign's access to the strategically crucial database was "an egregious act".He said that the Democratic Party's decision to temporarily suspend his campaign's access to the strategically crucial database was "an egregious act".
The Sanders campaign on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee in a federal court to restore its access to the voter data.The Sanders campaign on Friday filed a lawsuit against the Democratic National Committee in a federal court to restore its access to the voter data.
Strategically important information on voters is contained in the database, which campaigns use to decide strategy.Strategically important information on voters is contained in the database, which campaigns use to decide strategy.
That data takes on a crucial role as campaigns prepare for early primary voting in just over a month's time.That data takes on a crucial role as campaigns prepare for early primary voting in just over a month's time.
Forbidding the Sanders campaign from accessing the database will significantly hamper its ability to reach out to new Democratic voters, says the BBC's Anthony Zurcher in Washington.
The DNC maintains the database and charges campaigns for access.
Primary voting begins in early February.