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Hillary Clinton on Saturday mocked Republican presidential candidates Ben Carson and Ted Cruz over their positions on gay rights during remarks to the Human Rights Campaign, where she also called for new laws to support and protect the rights of transgender people.

"Ben Carson says that marriage equality is what caused the fall of the Roman empire," the Democratic presidential candidate said to laughter during a breakfast at the LGBT rights organization's annual gathering in Washington, D.C.

Clinton then mentioned Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, which drew hisses and boos from the crowd gathered inside the grand ballroom of the Mayflower Hotel, and went on to challenge him to join her at a gay pride parade.

"Ted Cruz slammed a political opponent for marching in a pride parade. He clearly has no idea what he's missing. Pride parades are so much fun. I was marching in them back when I was first lady. You should join sometime Senator, come on," she said.

Both Carson and Cruz have said they believe marriage is between a man and a woman. ABC News has reached out to their campaigns for comment to Clinton's remarks.

"Hillary would have everyone believe she's been in favor of marriage equality since the fall of the Roman Empire," Carson campaign spokesman Doug Watts said. "When she's not lying, she's spinning!"

Cruz's campaign did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

Clinton, who supports same-sex marriage, also took a forceful stance on transgender issues during her remarks, and called for the military to allow transgender people to serve openly.

"We need to say with one voice that transgender people are valued, loved, and one of us," she said. "Transgender people are still banned from serving. That is an outdated rule especially since you and I know that there are transgender people in uniform right now. Theyre just keeping this core part of their identities under wraps because they are so committed to defending our nation. They shouldnt have to do that. Thats why I support the policy review that Defense Secretary Carter recently announced at the Pentagon. And its why I hope the United States joins many other countries that let transgender people serve openly."

She later called out the Republican presidential candidates for ignoring the issue all together.

"See if you are ever in a forum with any of them, if you can get them to say the word transgender," she said.

In addition, Clinton called on Congress to pass the Federal Equality Act. And she said she would upgrade dishonorable discharges of service members who were forced out of the military in years past for being gay.

Clinton, who announced her support of same-sex marriage in March 2013 in a video produced by the Human Rights Campaign, today thanked the organization for the work it has done to help get it legalized in all 50 states.

"The people here today deserve a lot of credit for making it happen. You've helped change a lot of minds, including mine, and I am personally very grateful for that," she said.

There were plenty of jokes at the event playing on the fact that Clinton and the Human Rights Campaign share the same initials: HRC.

During the opening of her remarks, Clinton said, "It is great to be back with the other HRC ... theres no one else Id rather share my initials with.

And later, when promising to fight for LGBT rights as president, she said this: "Thats a promise, from one HRC to another."

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Hillary Clinton Mocks Ben Carson, Ted Cruz on Gay Rights ...

WASHINGTON -- The National Education Association, the nations largest union, endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday.

The unions campaign arm had indicated that it was recommending the endorsement earlier this week, as Politico first reported. Members of the 3-million-strong union who support Clintons main rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have already protested the move, justas Sanders supporters from the American Federation of Teachers did when Clinton secured that union's endorsementin July.

"Clinton is a strong leader who will do what is best for Americas students. For more than four decades, Clinton has fought to make sure all children have a fair opportunity to succeed regardless of their ZIP code," said Lily Eskelsen Garca, president of the NEA, in a statement. "Clinton will continue to advocate on behalf of students, educators and working families because she understands the road to a stronger U.S. economy starts in Americas public schools.

In an interview with The Huffington Post, Garca said that Clinton personally came and spoke to the organization's 175-person board of directors in a session that left them "blew them away" because of Clinton's understanding of what a president would have to do on certain education issues.

As a lifelong fighter for children and families, I am deeply honored to have earned the endorsement of the National Education Association and their nearly 3 million members," Clinton said in a statement after the endorsement was announced.

The NEAs campaign arm had said that it believed Clinton was the candidate best positioned to win in the general election next year. But both Clinton and Sanders had received A ratings on the groups congressional legislative scorecard.

Despite not earning the endorsement of the national union, Sanders issued a statement on Saturday thanking the members who did support him.

I am proud to have the support of many hundreds of thousands of members of the National Education Association and trade unionists all across America. We are going to win this nomination and the general election because of support from grassroots Americans. We are on track to do just that.

The NEAs early endorsement of Clinton is out of step with its 2008 process, when it waited to endorse President Barack Obama until after he had secured his partys nomination. Sanders supporters within the ranks of other unions that have endorsed Clinton have expressed frustration and anger that their respective unions decided to endorse in the primary at all.

Garca said thatthe decision not to get involved in the 2008 primary was a factor in the union's decision to back a candidate in the primary race this time around.

"People did talk about that. Were we there to impact the debate? Were we there to influence the candidates?" she asked. "I think what won the day on when [is that] people said, 'You know, if you don't get in when it counts, it doesn't count when you get in.'"

But some of the NEAs state chapters hadnt waited until the national body made its decision. The Vermont NEA endorsed Sanders, while the New Hampshire chapter picked Clinton in September. Other chapters had urged the national board to wait longer before making an endorsement.

Butthe NEA chose Clinton,Garca said, because she was the candidate who the union felt would be best able to highlight education issues in the presidential race.

"It was never a discussion about who's for education who's against education. People are gonna make up their own minds we get that, we understand that, we respect that," she said.

The NEAs interests include ending competitive block grant programs supported by Obama like Race to the Top, and scaling back federally mandated high-stakes standardized testing that influences administrative decisions about teachers. Members of the Democratic Party have been divided over the merits of changes in public education, including more funding for charter schools and teacher evaluation systems influenced by standardized test scores.

Its just dead wrong to make teachers the scapegoats for all of societys problems, Clinton told the AFT earlier this year, according to The Washington Post. Where I come from, teachers are the solution. And I strongly believe that unions are part of the solution, too.

While Clinton has been careful to avoid antagonizing either the school choice camp or the teachers unions, she has frequently called out Republican attacks against collective bargaining and organizing on the campaign trail. Shes also delighted unions by coming out against the Affordable Care Acts impending tax on high-cost insurance plans. Unions are campaigning to have the tax repealed because they fear it will shift more out-of-pocket costs to their members.

Clinton has secured more union endorsements than Sanders. But her campaign experienced a setback this week when the International Association of Fire Fighters abandoned its earlier plan to endorse her. And two other major unions -- the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- have indicated that they will take more time to consult their members about an endorsement in the primary.

This story has been updated to include comment fromLily Eskelsen Garca.

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Hillary Clinton Earns Backing Of Nation's Largest Union

Susan Page and Paulina Firozi, USA TODAY 9:37 a.m. EDT October 3, 2015

Hillary Clinton campaigns in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 22, 2015.(Photo: Charlie Neibergall, AP)

WASHINGTON Hillary Clinton continues to lead the Democratic field in a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll, but she no longer commands the support of a majority of Democrats as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Vice President Biden gain ground.

Clinton is backed by 41% of likely Democratic primary voters,a double-digit drop since the USA TODAY poll taken two months ago, and Sanders is supported by 23%, a jump.Biden is the choice of 20% even though he hasn't announced whether he will jump in the race.

By nearly 3-1, all those surveyed in the national poll predict that the controversy over her exclusive use of a private email server when she was secretary of State would hurt her prospects in a general election.

The poll of 1,000 likely voters, taken by phone Sept. 24-28, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The sample of 430 Democrats has an error margin of +/- 5 points.

USA TODAY

Paleologos on the poll: Breaking down Clinton's lead

"I support Hillary Clinton for a lack of any other real option," says William Sather, 41, the technical director for a production company in St. Paul, Minn., who was among those surveyed."Bernie is swell and all, but I don't quite think he's electable." He worries about Clinton's electability as well. "She's a terrific leader, it's just, I can understand there's a lot of gut-level hatred of her."

Bob Welch, 44, a real-estate appraiser from Boise, Idaho, is "leaning heavily" to Sanders but would support Clinton if he falters. "Bernie, his message, he gets it," Welch said in a follow-up interview. "He understands the problems plaguing this country and why we have an economy with problems, our constant need to be involved in war, spending money in ways it shouldn't be spent. We don't take care of the people that are suffering in this country."

USA TODAY

Poll: Donald Trump still on top as outsiders Fiorina, Carson rise

Clinton remains the clearfront-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, leading Sanders by 18 percentage points and Biden by 21. But her challenges also are clear. In July, for instance, her favorable-unfavorable rating was narrowly negative, at 43%-47%. Now that gap hasgrown to 12 points, at 39%-51%.

In contrast, Sanders has a 37%-33% favorable-unfavorable rating, and Biden's favorable rating is a healthy 51%-35%.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., prepares to speak at the Des Moines Youth Summit on Sept. 27, 2015.(Photo: Charlie Neibergall, AP)

Asked for a single word that describes each contender, the most frequent response for Clinton was "liar/dishonest," followed by "untrustworthy/fake." For Sanders, the most frequent response was "socialist" and the second most frequent"favorable/good." For Biden, the top response was "favorable/like," followed by "honest/honorable," although the top five answers for him also included "idiot/joke" and "fun/character/goofy."

"He is what Hillary is not, and that is authentic," Sather says of Biden. "He's easy to make fun of ... (but) she's not authentic. She's searching for the right answer instead of having the right answer."

The controversy over her decision to use a private email server instead of the government system when she was secretary of State is hurting her, although more among Republicans than Democrats. Six in 10 of those surveyed say the issue bothers themand even more, 70%, predict it will hurt her in a general election.

USA TODAY

State Department releases latest batch of Hillary Clinton emails

Even about one-third of Democrats and two-thirds of independents are disturbed by the controversy, as well as nearly nine in 10 Republicans.

Overall, 52% say they're bothered by how she handled the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, and by the explanation she has given in the aftermath. Nearly six in 10 say that would be a liability in the general election. Clinton is expected to testify in Octoberbefore the House select committee investigating Benghazi.

"Trust is a huge thing when it comes to politics, (and) she's lost that trust," says Anthony Edelen, 37, a small-business owner from Vermillion, S.D.

But Erika Raney, 32, a business consultant from Los Angeles, says the email controversy is "kind of beating a dead horse" by this point. "I don't think half of the things we think are election issues should be," she says. "It's another way that we sling mud at candidates to detract from actually what they're saying."

One more thing:Democrats aren't particularly interested in watching more debates beyond the half-dozenalready sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. The first, hosted by CNN, is scheduled for Oct. 13 in Las Vegas. By 54%-34%, likely Democratic primary voters say six is enough.

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Poll: Hillary Clinton still leads Sanders and Biden, but ...

Clinton said Trump's attacks on her are an example of Trump's "demagoguery," that he will say whatever he feels will advance his cause.

Speaking with MSNBC host Al Sharpton in an interview to air this weekend, Clinton was asked about Trump and how he has called her "shrill."

"He's called me a lot of things -- now that he's running against me," Clinton said in an excerpt of the interview aired on "Morning Joe" on MSNBC on Friday. "Before, he called me a great senator and a great secretary of state. That's what a demagogue does: They say whatever they need to say to try to stir up the passions of people."

Clinton also slammed Trump for his rhetoric on immigration.

"He has been stoking prejudice and paranoia, he's been really appealing to the worst instincts of human nature," Clinton said. "I think it's dangerous, his demagoguery is no longer amusing."

Trump, who appear on "Morning Joe" shortly after the clip aired, responded by saying Clinton used to call him a "genius."

"I'm a little surprised at her tone, but that's OK," Trump said. "She's been surprised at my tone."

"I'm a counter-puncher, and everything I say is when somebody says something about me."

The two candidates have a long history, including Trump inviting the Clintons to his most recent wedding and them attending. He has donated both to Clinton's past campaigns in New York and to her family's foundation. Their daughters are also friendly.

Both have since brushed off the connections, with Trump saying Clinton had to go to his wedding because of the donations and Clinton saying she went merely for fun.

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Hillary Clinton: Donald Trump used to praise me - CNNPolitics.com

The Democratic presidential candidate is scheduled to be on the 41st season premiere of "SNL" this weekend, the New York Times reported earlier. Clinton will appear alongside cast member Kate McKinnon, who plays the candidate on the show.

According to the Times, Clinton's appearance will take place during "the cold open," the segment of the show when the cast yells the signature phrase, "live from New York, it's Saturday Night!"

Clinton hinted at the appearance during a television interview in with 7 News in Boston: "I have fun doing this," she said. "I've been on it before ... I'm just looking to have a good time. I think we have a fun deficit in our country. I'm going to try to fill that one, too."

The Times noted, however, that SNL creator Lorne Michaels is "well known for being tight-lipped about guests and has even changed the lineup at the last minute" and that this could be "a possibility" with Clinton.

Clinton's campaign staff and an NBC spokesperson wouldn't confirm her SNL appearance.

For Clinton, this will be another in a recent flurry of appearances intended to show off her lighter side to voters.

She recently played along with Jimmy Fallon's Donald Trump impression and did the popular dance "Whip/Nae Nae" on "Ellen" last month.

As for "Saturday Night Live," the long-time comedy establishment looks to come roaring out of the gates thanks to its apparent secret Clinton appearance, along with having bombastic pop star Miley Cyrus as its host.

While not much is known about the sketch, it would not be surprising to see Clinton cross paths with "SNL" cast member Taran Killam, who won the coveted role of playing Trump on the show.

There are also indications that Trump could be on the show this season. When asked on CNN's "New Day" last week, Trump answered, "I'm not allowed to say."

Related: Taran Killam wil play Donald Trump on 'Saturday Night Live'

CNNMoney (New York) October 2, 2015: 12:07 AM ET

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Hillary Clinton reportedly to make 'Saturday Night Live ...