The Latest: Trump says he'd admit people who 'love' USA

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):

4:33 p.m.

Donald Trump is blaming poor immigrant screening for a trio of recent attacks and says his administration would enact policies that would solely admit immigrants "who love our country."

Speaking at a packed rally in Fort Myers, Florida, Trump did not say how he'd screen for that. But he declared that, "You can't have vetting if you don't look at ideology."

The GOP nominee says recent attacks in New York, New Jersey and Minnesota are examples of how poor screening puts all Americans in danger. And he is repeating his call for "extreme" vetting that would include an assessment of whether potential immigrants share American values.

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4:31 p.m.

Newt Gingrich is defending Donald Trump for deeming Saturday night's explosion "a bomb" before law enforcement officials did.

Gingrich, opening for Trump at a rally Monday in Florida, said the Republican nominee was "telling the truth" and was "describing a bomb as though it were a bomb."

Trump said "a bomb went off in New York" moments after he stepped off his plane at a rally in Colorado Saturday night and before New York officials did. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, criticized Trump, saying "it's important to know the facts about any incident like this" before making public declarations.

Clinton also called it "a bombing" after receiving a briefing on the incident. Trump campaign officials have declined to say whether Trump had been briefed before stepping off his plane Saturday.

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4:21 p.m.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine says he will continue to highlight Donald Trump's recently reversed position on whether President Barack Obama was born outside the United States.

Speaking to students at a rally in Iowa State University Monday, Kaine said Trump's acknowledgement last week that Obama was born in the country doesn't make up for the GOP presidential candidate's years of being one of the nation's most prominent advocates of the so-called "birther" conspiracy.

Kaine said Trump had taken the country back to "the most painful chapter" in the country's history, and compared Trump's birther position to the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous pro-slavery 1857 Dred Scott decision.

"I'm not letting this thing go," Kaine said.

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3:50 p.m.

Donald Trump says recent attacks in three states should be "a wake-up call for every American."

The Republican presidential contender made the comment in a statement released Monday. He warned that terrorists are rooting for Hillary Clinton to win the presidency so "they can continue their savagery and murder."

Trump promised that "political correctness" would not shape his policies if elected. He said earlier in the day he supports racial profiling to help prevent terrorist attacks at home.

In the statement, he also renewed his support for "extreme vetting" for legal immigrants coming from troubled regions and reminded voters he would not grant entry to Syrian refugees.

Trump warned that failing "to get smart and get tough fast" could make the weekend's attacks "the new normal."

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3 p.m.

Former President Bill Clinton is hosting his final gathering of the Clinton Global Initiative, an annual meeting of world leaders, philanthropists and celebrities.

The Clinton Foundation is facing election-year scrutiny, with Republicans accusing Hillary and Bill Clinton of using the organization to enrich themselves and give donors special political access.

In an attempt to quiet critics, Bill Clinton says he will step down from the foundation board if his wife is elected president. He has also said 2016 marks the last CGI meeting, regardless of the outcome of the November election.

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2:50 p.m.

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is rejecting Hillary Clinton's assertion that Donald Trump and other GOP leaders are encouraging terrorists by asserting the U.S. is at war with Islam.

Pence told conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Monday that it's "weak and feckless" foreign policy from Democrats that "emboldens" Islamic State fighters.

The Indiana governor told Limbaugh during a phone interview that the U.S. is indeed "at war with the ISIS caliphate," using an acronym for the Islamic State group. He said Democrats won't say so because of "political correctness."

Pence also repeated a common Republican claim that the Islamic State grew because President Barack Obama withdrew ground forces from Iraq.

Obama did withdraw troops, but the withdrawal process was initiated by President George W. Bush's administration.

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1:45 p.m.

The former wife of billionaire Oklahoma energy tycoon Harold Hamm is hosting a fundraiser for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, less than a week after her ex-husband chaired one for Republican Donald Trump.

Sue Ann Arnall is hosting a reception with Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine on Friday at her home in Oklahoma City.

The ex-wife of Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm, Arnall was awarded nearly $1 billion in a divorce settlement in 2014.

Hamm was one of the chairs of a private fundraiser in Norman on Saturday for Trump and has been an outspoken supporter of the New York real estate mogul.

Donors listed as chairs for Friday's event with Kaine are expected to contribute $50,000. The minimum contribution is $1,000.

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1:30 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says that "everyone needs to get off the sidelines" in this election.

At a campaign event geared toward young people in Philadelphia Monday, the Democratic presidential nominee stressed the close race and asked for more support, saying that "not voting is not an option."

Clinton characterized Republican Donald Trump as a divisive figure, stressing the fact that he has not apologized to President Barack Obama for repeatedly questioning if he was born in the United States.

She also questioned Trump's business record, saying she was "facing a candidate with a long history of racial discrimination in his businesses."

Clinton received loud applause when she said: "We have got to stand up to this hate."

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1:25 p.m.

Donald Trump's tax plan may cost an additional $1.5 trillion.

That's according to a new analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation.

The additional price tag is because the Trump campaign has been publicly silent about how the plan would treat businesses classified as "pass-throughs." The campaign has hinted it would give these firms a major tax break, but not made that clear. So the Tax Foundation estimated the cost under each scenario. It's either $4.4 trillion or $5.9 trillion.

Last week Trump promised voters that his tax math "works." Economists said then that was not likely because he was counting on record-setting growth to pay for his plan.

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1:20 p.m.

Hillary Clinton says she understands that young voters still may have questions about her.

Speaking at a Philadelphia university Monday, Clinton made her case to millennial voters, noting that "even if you are totally opposed to Donald Trump, you may still have some questions about me. I get that."

Clinton said she would "never be the showman my opponent is." But Clinton asked the audience to compare policies from her campaign and from Republican rival Donald Trump's.

She also promised "no one will work harder to make your life better."

Clinton's campaign has acknowledged it has work to do to win over younger voters, who were part of President Barack Obama's winning coalitions, but who have been slower to embrace Clinton.

Clinton stressed plans to create jobs and improve college affordability.

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12:15 p.m.

Donald Trump will meet with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi in New York on Monday after returning from a Florida campaign event.

That's according to a campaign official who spoke on the condition of anonymity while details are still being worked out.

Trump has tried to appear as more of a statesman as the November election approaches. Last month he visited Mexico, a country he has frequently criticized.

Trump's rival, Hillary Clinton, is a former secretary of state who has long relationships with many foreign leaders. She's scheduled to meet with el-Sissi, and with the leaders of Ukraine and Japan later in the day in New York City.

The leaders are in New York for the annual U.N. General Assembly.

—By Jill Colvin in New York.

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11:45 a.m.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte won't give a clear answer on whether she thinks Donald Trump would be a steady commander in chief.

The New Hampshire senator was asked Monday about Trump's readiness to be president following bombings over the weekend in Manhattan and New Jersey. Officials are increasingly saying they appear to be acts of terrorism.

Ayotte is up for re-election against Democratic Gov. Maggie Hassan. She says she will vote for Trump, but is not endorsing him.

Asked specifically about Trump, Ayotte told reporters she's been "disappointed" with President Barack Obama's foreign policy. She also said it's "important to address these threats."

Asked again about Trump, Ayotte said: "Well I think that whoever's elected president, we're going to trust them with all the responsibilities of commander in chief, absolutely."

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11:05 a.m.

Hillary Clinton says the United States clearly still has challenges when it comes to fighting terrorism.

The Democratic presidential nominee spoke to reporters Monday after a weekend in which bombs exploded in Manhattan and New Jersey, and nine people were stabbed a mall in Minnesota.

Clinton said she rejects the assertion from Republican nominee Donald Trump that America has experienced more attacks at home than victories abroad under President Barack Obama.

The former secretary of state said she is "prepared to, ready to, actually take on those challenges" and "not engage in a lot of irresponsible, reckless rhetoric."

Clinton said Trump doesn't have any real plans to fight terrorism. She said: "He keeps saying he has a secret plan. Well, the secret is, he has no plan."

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10:55 a.m.

Hillary Clinton says Donald Trump's comments about terrorism have "been seized on by terrorists" as they depict the U.S. as involved in a war against Islam.

Speaking to reporters Monday before leaving for a campaign event, the Democratic presidential nominee said the Islamic State group and others are using Trump's message to "recruit more fighters."

Clinton said that's why she's been "very clear, we're going after the bad guys and we're going to get them, but we're not going to go after an entire religion and give ISIS exactly what it's wanting."

She said it's crucial the fight against terrorism involve America's technology industry.

The former secretary of state said Islamic State recruits potential fighters online, and the radicalization that takes place over the internet must be vigorously confronted.

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10:30 a.m.

Hillary Clinton says she understands how to fight terrorism and is the only candidate running for president who "has been part of the hard decisions to take terrorists off the battlefield."

The Democratic presidential nominee took questions from reporters Monday morning about the weekend bombings in Manhattan and New Jersey, which officials say increasingly look like acts of terrorism with a foreign connection.

Clinton called the attacks "a serious challenge" that the country can meet in "concert with our values."

That was a dig at the proposals of Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has said he would bar immigration from nations with ties to terrorism.

A person of interest in the weekend bombings in a naturalized U.S. citizen from Afghanistan.

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9:50 a.m.

Donald Trump is again taking credit for predicting current events after he had announced that the cause of Saturday's explosion in New York was a bomb before authorities had publicly said so.

The Republican presidential nominee told "Fox and Friends" that "I should be a newscaster because I called it before the news." He spoke in a phone interview Monday.

Trump also said he believes there's a foreign connection to the attack.

It is unclear whether Trump obtained his information from some sort of briefing. His campaign has declined to say.

Trump is also saying that people who publish bomb-making instructions in magazines and on websites should be arrested "immediately."

He said: "They're making violence possible."

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8:55 a.m.

Donald Trump says he won't be treated fairly at next week's presidential debate.

Trump, in a phone interview Monday with "Fox and Friends," said he has found debate moderator Lester Holt of NBC to be fair, but if he isn't "I have a set of things that I'll be doing." He didn't elaborate.

Trump noted that NBC's Matt Lauer had been criticized for going easy on Trump at a televised forum on national security, so there will be pressure on Holt.

Trump said the debates are "a very unfair system, so we'll see what happens." Still, he said he feels confident going into the debate.

The debate will be Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

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8:35 a.m.

Dozens of former high-ranking national security officials are calling on Donald Trump to disclose the nature of his overseas business relationships, including his foreign investments and international business partners.

In a letter released Monday, the officials are also asking the Republican presidential nominee to pledge that he will divest himself of his overseas business interests should he win the November election.

The letter was signed by numerous supporters of Hillary Clinton, including retired Marine Gen. John Allen and Michael Morell, the former acting director of the CIA.

The former officials say Trump's overseas ties could affect the foreign policy Trump might pursue as president and seem to have "already influenced the policy positions he has taken as a candidate." They singled out Trump's repeated praise for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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8:25 a.m.

Donald Trump says police "are afraid to do anything" to stop attacks like the bombing in New York because they don't want to be accused of racial profiling.

In a phone interview Monday on "Fox and Friends," the Republican presidential nominee said he would "knock the hell out of" terrorist groups.

A weekend explosion in Manhattan injured 29 people.

Trump said local police often know who "a lot of these people are" but "they are afraid to do anything about it because they don't want to be accused of profiling."

Trump also repeated his call to crack down on immigration, a central theme of his campaign.

He said: "This isn't just something that I developed overnight" because of the attacks. "I knew this was going to happen," he added.

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5:50 a.m.

Hillary Clinton is wooing younger voters in Philadelphia as her campaign acknowledges they need to do more to get millennials on board.

Campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri says Clinton will use the Monday morning event at Temple University to "speak directly to millennial voters about how they have the most at stake in this election." She added that the campaign recognizes younger voters are a key demographic and "it's clear that the campaign must do more to earn their vote."

Palmieri noted the campaign has increased efforts to reach out to young voters. They are sending out popular surrogates like President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders. She says the campaign is also working in the states to organize and mobilize younger voters.