Will email scandal leave Hillary 'in handcuffs'? Clinton responds to GOP criticism

Even while embroiled in a series of heated exchanges with the main rival in her own party, Hillary Clinton said she found the tenor of the Republican candidates' words to be "deeply distressing."

"In my analysis, and I think it's fair, Donald Trump agrees with Republicans on many of the hot button issues," she told TODAY's Matt Lauer in a sit-down interview that aired Friday. "What he said about abortion, for example, his absolute insulting action toward immigrants, calling them rapists and criminals, he is expressing, maybe in more colorful language, what Republicans believe."

That includes Trump's controversial remarks that women who have abortions should face "some form of punishment," she said. While the Republican front-runner found himself under fire from both sides of the issue for the remarks, Clinton said Trump's comments were "just a half step" away from what Republicans want when it comes to abortion.

"If you make something illegal, what are the consequences for that illegality?" she said. "So it's really just a half a step away from what they've been saying for some time."

more: http://www.today.com/news/will-email-scandal-leave-hillary-handcuffs-clinton-responds-gop-criticism-t85231