Associated Press botches Hillary Clinton report and responseHillary Clinton is surrounded by suggestions of controversy

Terms like "Clinton Foundation," "email server," and "Benghazi" hover around her like a faint smoke that hints at the existence of fire.

But finding the fire -- the lie, the misdeed, the unethical act -- is proving to be rather difficult, as evidenced this week by an inaccurate tweet and arguably misleading story from the Associated Press that were quickly rebutted by the Clinton campaign and dismissed by many media outlets.

Three days later, the Associated Press is still standing by its story and has yet to correct its tweet, despite near unanimous agreement among other journalists that the tweet, at least, was false.

"The AP's social media take on the story was seriously flawed," David Boardman, the Dean of the School of Media and Communication at Temple University and former editor of the Seattle Times, told CNNMoney. "It's sloppy, click-grabbing shorthand that is a disservice to the reporting to which it refers."

On Tuesday, the AP sent out a breaking news alert: "BREAKING: AP analysis: More than half those who met Clinton as Cabinet secretary gave money to Clinton Foundation."

Not true: As the article stated, what the AP found was that "more than half the people outside the government" who met with Clinton while she was secretary of state "gave money — either personally or through companies or groups — to the Clinton Foundation."

This "extraordinary" finding, as the AP put it, was deemed less extraordinary by other journalists and pundits who noted that Clinton had held thousands of meetings with government employees, foreign representatives, civil leaders, journalists and others while Secretary of State that were not accounted for in the AP's report.

Moreover, the AP only analyzed 154 meetings, based on what has been made available by the State Department, and thus its review only accounts for a fraction of Clinton's meeting schedule during her tenure as secretary of state. (The AP's defenders correctly note that the wire service was only able to examine a limited dataset because of the State Department's intransigence regarding the release of further records, which the AP has been fighting hard to secure.)

Nevertheless, the AP's tweet allowed Donald Trump to stand on stage at a campaign rally and declare that "fifty percent of people who saw [Clinton] had to make a contribution to the Clinton Foundation."

Clinton campaign spokesperson Brian Fallon accused the AP of cherry picking "a limited subset" of data to give "a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the Clinton Foundation." On Twitter, he hit the AP for failing to correct its breaking news alert, which he called "100 percent factually inaccurate."

In a statement, AP spokesperson Paul Colford said his organization had been "transparent in how it has reported this story," and that it would continue to examine Clinton's schedules as they became available.

"The Associated Press' reporting relied on publicly available data provided by the State Department about Hillary Clinton's meetings, phone calls, and emails, cross-referenced against donor information provided by the Clinton Foundation and its related charities on its websites," Colford wrote.

Meanwhile, other news organizations pilloried the AP's report.

The Washington Post Fact-Checker wrote that there were "many more nuanced and important details in the story that are being misrepresented — by the AP's own promotional tweet, and by Trump."

Vox's Matthew Yglesias was more direct: "The AP's big exposé on Hillary meeting with Clinton Foundation donors is a mess," his headline read.

Boardman argued that the story itself "was not nearly so flawed as Yglesias and others have charged."

"The AP reporters made clear they found no smoking-gun quid pro quo. And Clinton defenders' claim that 'there is no story' is absurd; of course, it is worth investigating and explaining the relationship between Secretary Clinton and the Foundation, and how that relationship worked while she was at State," he said.

"If anything," Boardman continued, "the AP story could have used far more exploration of the inherent ethical issues here, and of the notion that whether or not Clinton gave extraordinary help to Foundation donors, the potential for accusations of that was probably reason enough to avoid such meetings altogether."

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Trump: No legal status for undocumented immigrantsWashington (CNN)Donald Trump ruled out Thursday a pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants in the United States, walking back comments he made earlier this week in which he appeared open to the idea.But the Republican nominee declined in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper to clarify whether he would still forcibly deport the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US -- a major tenet of his immigration platform -- after he suggested this week he was "softening" on the idea."There's no path to legalization unless they leave the country," Trump said after an event in Manchester, New Hampshire

"When they come back in, then they can start paying taxes, but there is no path to legalization unless they leave the country and then come back."

Trump said that on his first day in office, he would authorize law enforcement to actively deport "bad dudes," such as those who have committed crimes, which he said numbered "probably millions." But he declined to flatly say whether he would round up other undocumented immigrants, stressing that once the initial deportations occur, "then we can talk."

"There is a very good chance the answer could be yes," Trump said when asked if he would deport those who have lived here peacefully but without papers. "We're going to see what happens."

Trump's comments are the latest turn in a now-daily recalibration of his position on immigration, which Trump said he would crystallize in a speech next week. During the primary, Trump advocated unequivocally for deporting undocumented immigrants, and the shifts he has hinted at would be a highly-scrutinized flip on a trademark issue.

Trump had said earlier this week that he would be open to a "softening" on immigration, and made a series of comments that indicated a path to legalization was likely as long as they paid taxes accumulated from their time living here illegally. Yet Trump now seems to be reverting to his original plan -- one derided as a "touchback" policy in which those without proper papers must return home before re-entering the country.

Yet it was now unclear to what length Trump would go to execute those deportations.

"It's a process. You can't take 11 at one time and just say 'boom, you're gone,'" he told Cooper, floating the idea that as many as 30 million people could be living here illegally, a projection well beyond most analysts' figures. "I don't think it's a softening. I've had people say it's a hardening, actually."

On Wednesday, Trump suggested he would allow exceptions to let some undocumented immigrants to stay in the US, vowing he wouldn't grant them citizenship but telling Fox News, "there's no amnesty, but we work with them."

Trump continued: "No citizenship. Let me go a step further -- they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them," Trump told Sean Hannity when asked if he would allow for exceptions to his long-held position.

At the same event with Hannity, Trump, who over the weekend met with Hispanic advisers, said about his immigration policies: "There could certainly be a softening because we're not looking to hurt people."

Clinton's campaign called Trump's plan "dangerous" in a statement Thursday night.

"He may try to disguise his plans by throwing in words like "humane" or " fair," but the reality remains that Trump's agenda echoes the extreme right's will -- one that is fueling a dangerous movement of hatred across the country," Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri said.Calls Clinton a 'bigot' Trump also defended calling Clinton a "bigot," arguing that her policies are a personal reflection because she knows they are destined to fail minority communities.

Trump and Clinton are each portraying the other as discriminatory toward African-Americans, with Trump charging on Wednesday evening that the candidate herself was hateful. Pushed by Cooper if Trump meant to make a personal argument about Clinton as opposed to a policy argument, Trump doubled down.

"She is a bigot," he said. "She is selling them down the tubes because she's not doing anything for those communities. She talks a good game. But she doesn't do anything."

Asked if he believed Clinton personally hated black people, Trump claimed: "Her policies are bigoted because she knows they're not going to work."Says he's not familiar with the 'alt-right'

As Clinton tarred him with representing the "alt-right" at a speech in Reno, Nevada, Trump offered his own pushbacks, saying he was not acquainted with the fringe world that Clinton said had essentially merged with his campaign.

"There's no 'alt-right' or 'alt-left.' All I'm embracing is common sense," Trump said. "We're bringing love."

Asked about his controversial new campaign chief, Steve Bannon, who had praised the movement when at Breitbart News, Trump drew some distance: "I don't know what Steve said. All I can tell you: I can only speak for myself."

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What is the alt-right movement?

Hillary Clinton is highlighting the Trump campaign's ties to a far right-wing movement called "alternative right." CNN's Brian Stelter reports. Save Up %80 in all travel related products @ http://amzn.to/2bpNzIZ #russian #breakingnews #BBC #starwars #economy #England #ANN #ohio #votetrump2016

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Ryan Lochte charged by Brazilian authoritiesRio de Janeiro (CNN)US swimmer Ryan Lochte has been charged with falsely reporting a crime, Rio police said Thursday.The department's chief has requested a letter be sent to Lochte explaining the legal process related to the charges, according to a statement.The 12-time Olympic medalist will now be summoned to Rio, according to Tourist Support Special Precinct officials.Lochte can opt to send a lawyer and does not need to appear in court.If convicted, Lochte, 32, could face between one to six months in jail, although the judge could choose to levy a fine instead

There would be no negotiations, in that case, Clemente Braune, a commissioner with the Special Tourist Police in Rio, said Thursday.Lochte would also have the opportunity to appeal any decision.Jeffrey Ostrow, Ryan Lochte's attorney, told CNN he has not heard from Brazilian authorities.'Over-exaggerated'

Lochte has apologized for poor behavior during an incident at a Rio gas station on the morning of August 14. Lochte told Olympics broadcaster NBC on the day of the altercation that he and three other swimmers were robbed at gunpoint after the cab they were in was pulled over.The other swimmers -- Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and James Feigen -- have since publicly shared their version of the events with stories that differ from Lochte's original tale and essentially match surveillance video released by Brazilian police.

Authorities said there was no robbery, but security guards had drawn guns and stopped the swimmers from leaving after they vandalized the gas station. The money was to pay for items that were broken, they said.Feigen said in a statement this week that he was questioned by a detective later that day and gave a statement in which he left out parts about the swimmers urinating behind the building and Lochte pulling down a framed poster.Days later, as scrutiny on Lochte's story increased, police questioned Feigen again. In his second statement, he gave more details, he said.The court then proposed he pay a $31,250 fine and do 15 days of community service, Feigen said. He rejected the offer and the judge increased the amount to $46,875, the swimmer said.Feigen's attorney negotiated a fine of $10,800 and the swimmer was given back his passport and allowed to leave Brazil.

Lochte told NBC's Matt Lauer that he had been interviewed by police while he was still in Rio. He also changed his version of the story slightly to include that the swimmers had stopped to use the bathroom and the incident occurred as the quartet was going back to their cab.In a second interview with Lauer, he said he had "over-exaggerated" when describing the events of the morning to NBC and others.The four-time Olympian also faces potential discipline from the US Olympic Committee and the International Olympic Committee.A copy of the indictment also will be sent to the International Olympic Committee's ethics commission.

CNN's Jill Martin, Flora Charner and Julia Jones contributed to this report.

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