Warren: Clinton's VP?

Sources close to Warren (pictured above) told US media Thursday that the liberal senator, Wall Street detractor and harsh critic of Republican Donald Trump was preparing to endorse Clinton and even considering the idea of becoming the likely Democratic presidential nominee's number two, according to The Associated Press.

An endorsement from Warren, who did not throw her support behind Clinton or Senator Bernie Sanders during Democratic primaries, is regarded as key to pulling Democrats together for the campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Many of Warren's signature issues - fighting Wall Street and battling rising student loan debt - have echoed Sanders' core issues.

US President Barack Obama is also expected to give his support to Clinton. On Wednesday, he said he hoped the end of primary election campaigning and Clinton's clinching the Democratic nomination would reunify the party.

"My hope is that over the next couple of weeks we're able to pull things together," Obama said during a taping of "The Tonight Show" scheduled to air on Thursday. "What happens during primaries is you get a little ouchy."

"Demagogue," says Clinton

Clinton, who amassed sufficient Democratic delegates' votes in California and New Jersey last Tuesday to assume confirmation as presidential candidate at the Democrats' convention next month, used Wednesday to label Trump as a "demagogue" as Sanders returned home to Vermont.

"It's classic behavior by a demagogue," Clinton said in an interview, accusing Trump of descending into "conspiracy theories" in recent years.

On Tuesday, the billionaire had accused Clinton and her husband and former president Bill Clinton of turning politics into a profitable "art form for themselves."

Trump, fresh from winning the Republican race for delegates' votes, was facing internal criticism over remarks he made about Gonzalo Curiel, a Hispanic judge. House Speaker Paul Ryan called the comments "racist."

Sanders to visit Obama

Sanders was due to travel to Washington Thursday for talks with outgoing Democrat President Barack Obama, although Sanders' team vowed that he would attend the last primary ballot in the District of Columbia next Tuesday.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama respected Sanders' right to make his own decision, given the way the self-proclaimed Socialist Democrat had inspired millions of Americans during the primaries.

"It was a healthy thing for the Democratic Party to have a contested primary," Obama told host Jimmy Fallon during a recording of an episode of The Tonight Show. "I thought that Bernie Sanders brought enormous energy and new ideas. And he pushed the party and challenged them. I thought it made Hillary a better candidate."

Earnest said Obama and Sanders would discuss ways to press issues such as fighting economic inequality and lobbying in politics by special interest groups.

Although campaign officials declined comment, sources close to Sanders' team, quoted by Associated Press, said it was being halved in size. Sanders has not, however, conceded to Clinton and promised to contest the Washington, DC, primary next week.

Were Warren to join the Clinton ticket, the senator's criticism of Wall Street would likely help win over Sanders' supporters, some of whom had said they would not vote for Clinton.

ipj/sms (Reuters, AP, AFP)