Hillary Clinton hardened her stance against the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement Saturday in a last-ditch effort to prevent Democratic rival Bernie Sanders from riding a wave of populist anger to another victory Tuesday in a key industrial state.

Clinton will criticize auto provisions of the 12-nation agreement that she believes are too weak at a rally Saturday evening in Youngstown, Ohio, a Clinton campaign aide said. The union-heavy state holds a primary Tuesday along with Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

The former secretary of state will single out "rules-of-origin" provisions that would allow Japanese cars and trucks to qualify for duty reductions even if more than half of the parts are made in China or other countries that are not part of the pact, the aide said.

The expected announcement comes after Sanders challenged Clinton to oppose congressional action on the agreement in the "lame duck" session of Congress, which trade experts believe provides the best chance to win approval of the pact this year in the face of harsh attacks from both Sanders and Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
...

Washington (CNN)Bernie Sanders said Saturday that his supporters were not to blame for the unrest that led to the cancellation of a Donald Trump rally in Chicago, instead accusing the Republican front-runner of encouraging violence.

"I don't think our supporters are inciting. What our supporters are doing is responding to a candidate who has, in fact, in many ways, encouraged violence," Sanders said Saturday at a press conference in Chicago. "When he talks about ... 'I wish we were in the old days when you could punch somebody in the head.' What do you think that says to his supporters?"

Sanders also referred to an incident earlier this week in which a black protester was sucker-punched by a Trump supporter as he was being led out of a rally.

"So the issue now is Donald Trump has got to be loud and clear and tell his supporters that violence at rallies is not what America is about and to end it," Sanders said.
...

TOLEDO, Ohio – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday brought his White House campaign to this battleground state where job-killing trade deals – many of them backed by his rival Hillary Clinton – led to shuttered manufacturing plants and the disappearance of decent-paying jobs.

Sanders also picked up a major endorsement from U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, who introduced the senator to some 2,000 supporters at the SeaGate Convention Center. “I come here to introduce the next president of the United States,” she said to high-decibel cheers. “America could have no stronger Democratic leader for jobs in America, for fair trade and for economic progress for all, not just the privileged few, than Bernie Sanders,” she said.

Picking up on Kaptur’s points on trade, Sanders said NAFTA, normalized trade with China and other trade agreements contributed to the shutdown of 60,000 factories in the United States since 2001. “Communities here in the Midwest – in Ohio, Michigan, Illinois – have been decimated.”

Ohio has lost more than 300,000 manufacturing jobs – nearly one-third of the factory jobs in the state – since NAFTA. Because of that agreement, which Clinton espoused as first lady and praised years later, Ohio lost 35,000 jobs. Normalized trade with China caused the loss of more than 106,000 jobs in Ohio.
...

Ilya Sheyman, executive director of MoveOn.org Political Action, responded to news of the postponement of Donald Trump’s rally in Chicago on Friday:

“Mr. Trump and the Republican leaders who support him and his hate-filled rhetoric should be on notice after tonight’s events. These protests are a direct result of the violence that has occurred at Trump rallies and that has been encouraged by Trump himself from the stage. Our country is better than the shameful, dangerous, and bigoted rhetoric that has been the hallmark of the Trump campaign. To all of those who took to the streets of Chicago, we say thank you for standing up and saying enough is enough. To Donald Trump, and the GOP, we say, welcome to the general election. Trump and those who peddle hate and incite violence have no place in our politics and most certainly do not belong in the White House.”

He was preceded on stage by Baldemar Velasquez, labor leader for Mexican-Amercan farm workers and member of the board of trustees of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority.
...

A surprise introduction was given this afternoon by U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) — the only member of the Ohio Democratic Congressional delegation to not endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Miss Kaptur thanked the crowd for "coming to build a stronger a better America. We love you and we desperately love this country and want it to be a country for all, not just the privileged few."

"I come here to introduce the next president of the United States," she said.
...

A second debate unfolded online Wednesday night as Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders clashed on the Miami debate stage.

This one featured David Axelrod, President Barack Obama’s former top adviser, who logged on to his Twitter account to correct the record against the former secretary of state as she doubled-down on her claim that Sanders had voted against the auto industry bailout.

“She did it again and I’ll say it again. It’s misleading to imply that TARP II was an auto bailout bill,” Axelrod tweeted after Clinton argued for the second consecutive debate that “if everyone had voted as he voted, we would not have rescued the auto industry.”

The unprompted defense of Sanders, from one of the stewards of Obama’s legacy, was as undermining of Clinton’s argument as anything the Vermont senator said on stage to justify his own position. Yet by calling out Clinton on the substance of her attack, Axelrod occupied a role that’s become all too familiar — and all too annoying — to the Clinton campaign.