Clinton: Personal e-mail not the 'best choice'

Hillary Clinton said Sunday that using personal e-mail during her tenure as secretary of state "wasn't the best choice," but she and her campaign are working to produce all the records involved.

"I've tried to be transparent," Clinton said on CBS' Face the Nation.  "People have questions. I want to try to answer them."

In addition to releasing thousands of e-mails, Clinton noted that she will be testifying before Congress amid concerns that many of her State Department e-mails have been deleted.

In her first Sunday show interview in four years, Clinton also called on the Obama administration to take in more Syrian refugees, discussed possible sanctions on Russia, and said she wants to expand on the president's health care law.

The former first lady and New York senator criticized Republican front-runner Donald Trump, complimented Democratic primary rival Bernie Sanders, and declined to assess whether Vice President Biden should enter the race.

On an issue dogging her president campaign, Clinton again apologized for using personal e-mail during her years at the State Department, saying she should have had a government account as well for official business.

"I'm sorry that I made a choice that has raised all of these questions," Clinton said.

On other topics, Clinton said:

--  Trump should have corrected a man at a New Hampshire town hall who said that Obama is a Muslim and "not an American." Clinton said the brash New York businessman who has made illegal immigration a major theme of his campaign is fueling "paranoia and prejudice" among too many Americans.

"And when you light those fires, you better recognize that they can get out of control," Clinton said.  "And he should start dampening them down and putting them out.

-- It doesn't matter to her who the Republicans nominate for president, saying "I have no vote in that. I'm going to run against whoever they put up against me."

-- She doesn't know whether or not Biden might enter the presidential race. "This is such a personal decision," she said, "and the Vice President has to, you know, sort this out."

-- She wants a campaign of "ideas" and "policies" in the Democratic contest with Sanders. "I know Bernie," she said, "I respect his enthusiastic and intense advocacy of his ideas."

-- New sanctions should be slapped on Russia if leader Vladimir Putin provides material support for the militant group of Hezbollah.

-- The Obama administration should take in more than 10,000 refugees from war-torn Syria; she said the number should be 65,000 or more.

The Democratic front-runner disputed the notion that she is an "insider" in an election year in which outsiders -- people who have never held public office -- are doing well.

"I cannot imagine anyone being more of an outsider than the first woman president," Clinton said.

At the end of the CBS interview, asked to describe herself in three words, Clinton laughed out loud.

"Just three?" she said. "I can't possibly do that."

Clinton added: "I mean, look, I am a real person with all the pluses and minuses that go along with being that."