Clinton, Sanders make closing arguments ahead of final primaries

On Tuesday, six states — California, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, and Montana — vote in Democratic primaries or caucuses, the last big hurrah of the presidential nominating fight (Washington, D.C., votes next week). The Associated Press declared Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee late Monday, finding she has enough pledged delegates and committed superdelegates to clinch the nomination, but Clinton downplayed the AP report and the Bernie Sanders campaign said the projections were false, noting that superdelegates don't vote until July 25. At a Sanders rally in San Francisco on Monday night, supporters were livid at AP and other news organizations, The Washington Post reports.

In his 50-minute closing speech, Sanders didn't directly mention the AP projection, instead focusing on what he said would be his win in the "most important primary in the whole Democratic nominating process," California. With the largest number of delegates up for grabs, California is a big prize, though the most likely outcome is that Clinton and Sanders split the delegates fairly evenly. "This campaign has been to me an extraordinary experience," Sanders said at his San Francisco rally. "It gives me enormous optimism about our future."

Dave Matthews played an acoustic set during Sanders' rally, but Clinton closed out her California swing at a theater in Los Angeles Monday night with performances by Stevie Wonder and John Legend ("Blowin' in the Wind," "Superstition"), Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, and other artists, plus speeches by Cher, Jamie Foxx, Magic Johnson, Shonda Rhimes, and other celebrities. Clinton spoke only for about six minutes, saying "we're going to come out of the primary even stronger to take on Donald Trump"; the other speakers had more pointed remarks about Trump. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti mentioned the AP news, drawing cheers from the audience, but he quickly warned that the race isn't over yet. Clinton will likely be more celebratory on Tuesday night, when she holds a rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

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Eight years ago exactly, Clinton noted pointedly on Monday, she won the California primary then immediately dropped out of the race and endorsed her Democratic challenger, Barack Obama. Sanders says he will campaign until the Democratic National Convention in July.