DEMS DEBATE | Increasingly bitter feud

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (AP)

Deepening their increasingly bitter feud, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders aggressively challenged each other's judgment to be president in Thursday night's Democratic debate, wrangling over Wall Street banks, the minimum wage and gun control.

The showdown in Brooklyn came at a pivotal moment in the party's primary campaign, with Clinton leading in the delegate count but Sanders generating huge enthusiasm for his surprising candidacy.

The Vermont senator took a biting and often sarcastic tone as he sought to chip away at Clinton's credibility. He cited her support for the unpopular Iraq war and for free trade agreements, as well as her willingness to accept money through a super PAC, as evidence that she lacks the needed judgment to lead the nation.

Still, Sanders backed away from previous statements questioning Clinton's qualifications, saying the former secretary of state does have the "experience and intelligence" to be president.

Clinton made little effort to hide her irritation with Sanders' challenging of her qualifications, saying that while she has been "called a lot of things in my life, that was a first." She also cast Sanders as unprepared to implement even his signature policy proposals, including breaking up big banks.

"I think you need to have the judgment on day one to be commander in chief," she said.

The debate was the first for the Democratic candidates in five weeks. It came ahead of Tuesday's primary in New York, a high-stakes contest with a huge cache of delegates at stake.