Clinton allies sought Obama backing during primaries, emails show

Allies of Hillary Clinton felt threatened by the power of Senator Bernie Sanders' candidacy and wondered about getting some signal of support from President Barack Obama in the heat of the Democratic primaries, according to leaked emails.

Ahead of the Illinois primary in March, liberal operative Neera Tanden asked Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, who formerly worked on Mr Obama's transition in 2008, if the president could give any kind of indication that he was supporting Clinton over Sanders.