Hillary Clinton also said Donald Trump is "taking a hate movement mainstream" in a CNN interview. | Getty Clinton: AP report 'a lot of smoke and no fire'

Hillary Clinton on Wednesday pushed back against an Associated Press report about Clinton Foundation donors getting access during her tenure as secretary of state, saying there is “a lot of smoke and no fire.”

“This AP report, put it in context. It excludes nearly 2,000 meetings I had with world leaders,” Clinton told CNN's Anderson Cooper in a call-in interview. “That is absurd. These are people I was proud to meet with, who any secretary of state would have been proud to meet with.”


The Democratic presidential nominee said the organization “went above and beyond anything that was required” in disclosing information while she was the nation's top diplomat.

Clinton also previewed a speech on Donald Trump’s ties to the alt-right in her interview with CNN.

“He is taking a hate movement mainstream. He's brought it into his campaign. He is bringing it to our communities and our country,” she said to Cooper in her first national television interview since July 31.

“And someone who has questioned the citizenship of the first African-American president, who has courted white supremacists … is someone who is very much peddling bigotry and prejudice and paranoia.”

She blasted Trump's immigration policy, calling it "terrible" and "offensive" while slamming him for his apparent softening, saying: "It sends a message that it is just a desperate effort to try to land somewhere that isn't as devastating to his campaign."

Cooper brought up her private email server, prompting Clinton to say she had apologized for it and "would do it differently if I could," while noting that the Justice Department isn't pursuing it further.

The CNN anchor also pressed the Democratic nominee on her limited availability to the press, citing a POLITICO report that the Clinton camp wants to be cautious and run out the clock.

“Well, Anderson, I’m talking to you right now,” the former New York senator said in response.

Cooper asked Clinton why she wouldn’t host a news conference, and Clinton demurred on committing to holdone, saying: “There will be a lot of different opportunities for me to talk to the press.”