Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Clinton Makes History as Presumptive Democratic Nominee 2:51 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Almost eight years to the day after ending her first presidential bid while celebrating the 18 million cracks her supporters put in the "highest, hardest glass ceiling," Hillary Clinton took a major step towards breaking through that final barrier Monday evening, and towards becoming the country’s first woman president. 
 
 Clinton surpassed the “magic number” of delegates needed to clinch the Democratic Party’s nomination, according to NBC News projections, to become the first woman in America’s 240-year history to be selected as the nominee of a major political party. 
 
 The projection, based on new commitments from superdelegates, came one day before voters in California and five other states were set to push Clinton over the threshold of delegates needed to claim the party’s presumptive nomination. 
 
 “It’s been an incredible journey,” Clinton told reporters Monday in California before she was declared the presumptive nominee. “My supporters are passionate. They are committed. They have voted for me in great numbers across our country for many reasons. But among those reasons is their belief that having a woman president will make a great statement, a historic statement, about what kind of country we are, what we stand for. It’s really emotional.” 
 
 Related: Clinton Hits 'Magic Number' of Delegates to Clinch Nomination 
 
 The historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy has been an undercurrent throughout her second presidential bid, but rarely at its forefront. That will likely change Tuesday night when Clinton declares victory at a celebratory rally with supporters in Brooklyn. 
 
 “It’s a revolution, really,” said Terry O’Neill, the president of the National Organization for Women. “It’s not quite yet the highest, hardest glass ceiling, because that would be the presidency, but it’s just an amazing first.” 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Hillary Clinton hits 'magic number': What will Bernie Sanders do? 2:28 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Rival Bernie Sanders was defiant Monday evening as major news outlets declared Clinton the presumptive nominee, saying he would stay in the race and keep fighting until the party’s convention in July. 
 
 Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs blasted the media’s "rush to judgement," and stated that “Clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination.” 
 
 The Vermont senator’s campaign has insisted that superdelegates should not be counted until they vote at the Democratic National Convention. However, news outlets have historically projected winners based on public commitments from the party leaders, who very rarely change their minds after making a public declaration. 
 
 To everyone who's worked so hard, thank you. Let's go win this thing. pic.twitter.com/T6ou2Znh9D — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 7, 2016 
 
 Sanders has put all his hopes on Tuesday’s primary in California, where he’s pulled even with Clinton. Losing California would be seen as an embarrassment for the newly minted presumptive nominee, and dampen her historic day. At the same time, it would embolden Sanders to take his challenge as far as possible. 
 
 But the outcome of the nominating contest is no longer in doubt. 
 
 On top of her overwhelming lead among superdelegates, Clinton is on track to claim a majority of pledged delegates after Tuesday’s contests. The former secretary of state came out her weekend wins in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands close enough to reaching the pledged delegate threshold that she needs only to add one of every three delegates available in Tuesday’s contests to do so. 
 
 Related: Clinton Holds Four-Point National Lead Over Trump — or Does She? 
 
 If Clinton gets the pledged delegate majority, Sanders’ only hope will be to convince a large list of superdelegates to override the will of the voters and make him the nominee. 
 
 “This is an important milestone,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a statement Monday after news outlets called the race. “[B]ut there are six states that are voting Tuesday, with millions of people heading to the polls, and Hillary Clinton is working to earn every vote. We look forward to Tuesday night, when Hillary Clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledged delegates.” 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed How the call for Clinton was calculated 9:13 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Still, for activists who have been eager to see woman president, getting as close as Clinton has is exhilarating. 
 
 “To paraphrase Neil Armstrong: It’s one big step for women, and an even bigger step for America,” said Barbara Lee, who has been working through her eponymous foundation for 20 years to help women advance in politics. “Nominating a woman for president represents a tangible shift in the culture of American politics. Seeing more women in office changes the way leadership looks and sounds.” 
 
 Stephanie Schriock, president of Emily’s List, the deep-pocketed group that helps elect female Democrats, noted that it’s been almost exactly 100 years since the first woman was elected to Congress in 1917 – Jeannette Rankin from Montana. More than 300 women have been elected since, and Clinton and her supporters are building on their work, Schriock said. 
 
 “If it was easy, it would have happened long ago,” Schriock said. “Things are getting easier, but a lot of groundwork needed to be laid. A lot of elections needed to be won.” 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Clinton: 'Historic, Unprecedented Moment' 0:56 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Women are still dramatically underrepresented in the Congress and statehouses across the country, and advocates hope that Clinton’s ascension will help close that gap. 
 
 “If you can’t see it, you can’t be it,” said Teresa Younger, the president of the Ms. Foundation for Women. “That young women and men will get the chance to see a woman running as a major party candidate is really important.” 
 
 Related: Sanders Blames Media's 'Rush to Judgment' as Clinton Hits Delegate Majority 
 
 In 2008, Clinton downplayed her gender and got beat by a candidate who went on to be first African-American president. Her advisers feared the country was not ready for a woman president, and even less so for a feminist one. This year, she seemed more comfortable leaning into into the idea of making history. 
 
 “It’s obvious that sexism stopped a woman from being president for nearly 200 years of American history, and once women came into the political arena, it wasn’t exactly like the old boy’s club was rolling out the red carpet,” said Nancy L. Cohen, the author of book “Breakthrough: The Making of America’s First Woman President,” which came out earlier this year. 
 
 But Cohen thinks Clinton has an opportunity in the general election against a “certifiable misogynist” like Donald Trump. “Sometimes I think Trump’s real slogan is make America manly again,” Cohen said. “I think that Clinton has showed that she likes to fight those kind of bullies, and she feels like she’s fighting for all women. I think her best self as a campaigner comes out in these situations.” 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Clinton Weighs in on Whether Sanders Should Concede Soon 0:39 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Clinton will still have to contend with Sanders, who responded sharply to a question Monday about whether it was sexist for him to stay in the race and potentially endanger the election of the first woman president. 
 
 “Is that a serious question?” Sanders snapped. “To say that it is sexist that any — so if Hillary Clinton runs for President is your point, that it is sexist for any man to oppose her?” 
 
 There’s plenty of work ahead for Clinton, primarily integrating Sanders and his supporters into the party ahead of the contest with Trump. 
 
 “I hope everybody takes a moment to be really excited,” said Schriock. “And then we gotta role up our sleeves and get ready for November.” 
 
 For the women’s movement as a whole, the struggle does not end at the White House. 
 
 “My concern is always that people think we will have reached full equality if we have a woman running as a major party candidate,” said Younger. ”We did not become a post-racist society after President Obama was elected. We will not become a post-feminist society if Hillary Clinton is elected.” ||||| Women in suits and people selling ‘Nasty Women’ pins had gathered at New York’s largest glass ceiling hoping to celebrate – but many left in tears 
 
 Women in suits, mothers and daughters, hucksters selling “Nasty Women” pins and tens of thousands of members of the public came to Manhattan’s largest glass ceiling on Tuesday night, to await the result of a presidential election that many hoped would sweep away the highest gender barrier in US politics. 
 
 Donald Trump wins presidential election, plunging US into uncertain future Read more 
 
 As the night went on and results did not go the Democrats’ way, the mood in and around the building grew darker. That barrier would stay standing. Past two in the morning, it was reported that Hillary Clinton had conceded defeat in the presidential election. 
 
 The Jacob K Javits Convention Center, the imposing glass structure named for a long-serving liberal Republican senator, had been selected as a fitting election-night venue for a candidate who eight years ago, after her defeat by Barack Obama in the Democratic primary, assured a crowd of tearful female supporters that they had helped place 18 million cracks in the “the highest, hardest glass ceiling”. 
 
 On election night, a halo of high-powered lights gave the building an ethereal glow. The lights also illuminated thousands outside, unable to gain access, some of them clutching tickets. The New York police made 11th Avenue an impromptu holding area. Burger vans did a thriving trade on a fresh fall evening by the Hudson. 
 
 Inside, Clinton was supposed to speak on a stage constructed in the shape of the United States, her podium positioned somewhere over Texas, a deep red state that would stay that way despite a nationwide increase in the Hispanic vote that had fuelled hopes of turning it purple, if not Democratic blue. American flags lined the stage. The pledge of allegiance was said, the national anthem played. 
 
 Thunderous cheers rang off that glass ceiling as newscasters announced that Clinton had won Illinois, the state where she was born. States came and went, largely as expected: Delaware, Vermont, Massachusetts and Rhode Island for Clinton, South Carolina, Alabama and more for Trump. But things were predictably close in Florida, and as Trump surged back into contention tension rose at the Javits. 
 
 
 
 Outside, New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, addressed the crowd, who waved American flags. A coalition of women who have lost family members to gun violence or police killing also addressed the crowd. 
 
 “We are not going back, we are going forward,” said Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, a black man from Staten Island who died in a police chokehold. 
 
 When news came in that Clinton had won New York, an unsurprising result, the audience cheered and waved. News that Trump was winning in Florida and that it was close in North Carolina, however, was met with an eerie silence. Both states were crucial to the Republican’s path to victory. 
 
 Jennifer Sutton, 44, of the Jersey shore, spoke to reporters over a barricade. She said she was enjoying the kindness and congeniality of the crowd, an antidote, she said, to the negativity of the last 18 months. 
 
 “It’s a bit of a scary time right now,” she said. 
 
 Brian Hassett, 55, an American from New York who now lives in Toronto, said he had driven down to witness history. As the race tightened in recent weeks, Hassett said, friends had called him to inquire about moving north if Trump were elected. 
 
 Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) This team has so much to be proud of. Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/x13iWOzILL 
 
 The thousands outside the Javits faced an unplanned alfresco evening which was quickly dubbed a “block party”. They were able to watch events inside on large screens, as well as studying their phones. 
 
 At 8.55pm, the Clinton campaign put out a tweet showing Clinton embracing a young girl. It did not carry a triumphalist message. “This team has so much to be proud of,” the tweet read. “Whatever happens tonight, thank you for everything.” 
 
 Inside the Javits, eyes were are glued to TVs as the returns rolled in. The mood dropped markedly. News that Trump had picked up Ohio and Florida was met with grimaces and head shakes. But it was North Carolina that really sent shivers down the spines of her supporters and staff. There was hardly a whisper from the thousands on the conference floor. 
 
 Whenever a network panned to the Javits, the glum crowd roared to life, cheering and applauding, seeking to send out a signal that they still had hope. The nominee was watching the results from the Peninsula hotel in Midtown Manhattan, having voted earlier in the day with her husband, former president Bill Clinton, near their home in Chappaqua, New York. 
 
 Election day: the key points as they happen with the votes being tallied Read more 
 
 At the hotel, an aide said at 8.30pm, the Clintons worked on the candidate’s planned remarks, and “noshed a little bit” on a buffet spread that included salmon, roasted carrots, vegan pizza and fries. Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky were in the Clinton suite, with the grandchildren. 
 
 
 
 Asked about the mood of the campaign, the aide said: “We felt confident this morning and into the afternoon. Nothing has changed that.” The aide pointed to Nevada as a state the campaign felt good about, and said they had no reason “to feel different” about Virginia or Michigan. Virginia stayed blue. Nevada went blue. But Michigan was too close to call and other states were falling. 
 
 Radio silence descended, with campaign aides nowhere to be found at the Javits. Outside, at the so-called “block party” which hadn’t felt like much of a party, Carroll Shepard, a Florida voter, said she had come to New York with her three children to celebrate her retirement – and what she hoped would be the election of the first female president. 
 
 “I never thought [Trump] would win,” Shepard said. One of her daughters wore a striped seersucker suit, in honor of Clinton’s favorite ensemble. 
 
 “I’m just so disappointed and so sorry,” Shepard said, her voice shaking. 
 
 In the early hours of the morning, not long before the race was called and Clinton conceded, her campaign chairman, John Podesta, took the stage to ask supporters if they could hang a little while longer. 
 
 “I can say we can wait a little longer can’t we?” Podesta said. “They’re still counting votes and every vote should count. Several states are too close to call, so we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.” 
 
 Supporters made a teary exit. Mothers carried weary daughters out of the glass structure that in the end hosted shattered hopes, not broken barriers. 
 
 “What just happened,” Gloria Lowell asked, shaking her head. She repeated the question. A man turned around and raised his beer. 
 
 “We lost,” he said. “We lost and it hurts.” The pair of strangers embraced. 
 
 
 
 Lowell, an educator from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, said she expected to cry. She was emotional all day just thinking about the history of the moment. She didn’t expect it would be tears of deep disappointment. 
 
 
 
 The mother of an adopted 12-year-old son from Guatemala, Lowell said she had to drive home tonight so that she could tell him in person. She wiped tears from her eyes again. 
 
 “I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow.” ||||| Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Hillary Clinton takes California; Bernie Sanders to meet with Obama 3:06 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 BROOKLYN, New York — Hillary Clinton won the California primary by an unexpectedly wide margin, NBC News projected early Wednesday. 
 
 Her win was the icing on the cake to a historic 24 hours that saw Clinton become the first female candidate on a major party's presidential ticket. 
 
 It also dealt another blow to Sen. Bernie Sanders, who has refused to bow out of the contentious Democratic contest. 
 
 Now, the 2016 race will begin to move very quickly for Clinton’s presidential campaign as the machinery of the Democratic Party’s full arsenal marshals itself to prepare for battle against Donald Trump. 
 
 Clinton declared victory Tuesday night during a celebration here with thousands of supporters as she placed her nomination in the sweep of history for women’s rights. She also praised Sanders — who Tuesday night vowed to continue his fight until July — and rallied her troops for battle against Trump. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Before Hillary: Female Trailblazers in U.S. Politics 1:07 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 “It may be hard to see tonight, but we are all standing under a glass ceiling right now,” she said, echoing the key image of the concession speech from her first presidential bid — delivered exactly eight years ago. “Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone. For the first time in our nation’s history, a woman will be a major party’s nominee.” 
 
 The former secretary of state invoked the memory of her mother, who was born nearly 100 years ago, on the day Congress passed the 19th Amendment. 
 
 Wish Mom could have been here to see tonight. pic.twitter.com/NalmZoKoV7 — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) June 8, 2016 
 
 “Tonight’s victory is not about one person, it belongs to generation of women and men who struggled and scarified and made this moment possible,” Clinton said. 
 
 But Clinton spent much of her time eviscerating Trump, whom she called “temperamentally unfit to be president,” while extending an olive branch to Sanders supporters and even moderate Republicans. 
 
 “This election is not about the same old fights between Republicans and Democrats,” she said. “It’s about who we are as Americans.” 
 
 I keep saying Hillary is the ultimate changemaker, and tonight she proved it. I couldn't be more proud. History made. #ImWithHer — Bill Clinton (@billclinton) June 8, 2016 
 
 About three hours before California was called, NBC News' delegate count as of 3 a.m. Wednesday put Clinton at 2,640 — 573 supers and 2,067 pledged. Sanders had 1,799 — 47 supers and 1752 pledged. 
 
 With their nominee in place, Democrats will move rapidly to prepare for the fall. Here’s how. 
 
 Endorsements roll in 
 
 Party leaders who have been sitting on the sidelines will begin to flood the field for Clinton, starting with Nancy Pelosi who on Tuesday announced she was backing Clinton. 
 
 The biggest endorsement to come will be from President Barack Obama, whom aides say is eager to wade into the race. He’ll likely be followed by Vice President Joe Biden, who considered running against Clinton. The two endorsements are likely to be spaced out for maximum impact. 
 
 Obama spoke with both Clinton and Sanders Tuesday night, according to the White House, and plans to meet with Sanders on Thursday. He congratulated both candidates on their races, but did not yet make an endorsement. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed What a Difference 8 Years Makes for Hillary Clinton 1:37 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Another key player to watch will be Elizabeth Warren, who is looking to play a key role in unifying the party thanks to her appeal among both Clinton and Sanders supporters. She may wait for clarity on Sanders’ plans, since so much of her personal base is made-up of his supporters. 
 
 Meanwhile, some of the Democratic Party’s most powerful interest groups like the AFL-CIO have waited to engage until the general election. 
 
 What does Sanders do? 
 
 The Vermont senator made it clear Tuesday night that he is not conceding nor backing down in any way. He has vowed for months to fight all the way to the Democratic National Committee in July, when he’ll mount a long shot effort to flip superdelegates and win the nomination, and he repeated that promise Tuesday. 
 
 “The struggle continues,” he said. “We will continue to fight for every vote and for every delegate we can win." 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Sanders Vows to Continue the Fight 1:30 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 We’ll get a hint of Sanders’ intentions at the convention Wednesday, when the committee responsible for writing a draft of Democratic Party’s platform meets in Washington. 
 
 Sanders fought hard to change the makeup of the drafting committee, which now includes die-hard pro-Sanders supporters like racial-justice activist Cornell West, and environmental activist Bill McKibben. 
 
 What do Sanders’ supporters do? 
 
 While Sanders will likely endorse Clinton eventually, his supporters are another matter. Many are independent voters without strong ties to the Democratic Party, so they may continue fighting Clinton no matter what Sanders does. 
 
 His task now, if he wants to help Clinton, will be to do so while avoiding being labeled a tool of establishment by his own supporters. 
 
 We are in this TOGETHER. Thank you New Mexico, California, South Dakota, North Dakota, New Jersey and Montana! #NotMeUs — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 8, 2016 
 
 Clinton made a direct appeal to Sanders’ base in her victory speech Tuesday, praising Sanders and emphasizing their shared goals. 
 
 “He has spent his long career in public service fighting for progressives’ causes and principles,” she said. 
 
 What does Clinton do now? 
 
 While Clinton has been training her fire on Donald Trump for weeks, the general election starts in earnest next week when she campaigns in Ohio and Pennsylvania, two key swing states. 
 
 Play Facebook 
 
 Twitter 
 
 Embed Watch Hillary Clinton's 2008 Concession Speech 28:54 autoplay autoplay Copy this code to your website or blog 
 
 Clinton will do a round of interviews with TV networks Wednesday. Then she’ll speak to Planned Parenthood on Friday in Washington, D.C., where she’ll also meet with top donors. These events will all serve as bit of a victory tour for the two-time presidential candidate. 
 
 But first, Clinton said she plans “take a moment” in the coming to days “to fully absorb the history we made.” 
 
 What does Trump do? 
 
 Even though Trump secured his party’s nomination weeks ago, he’s facing plenty of distractions at the moment. There’s the renewed fifth column opposition over his attacks on a federal judge overseeing two lawsuits against Trump University. And there’s his team’s infighting, and the fact that he hasn’t built a general election campaign infrastructure. 
 
 Trump has stuck to his personal attacks on Clinton as she came closer to the clinching the nomination, but it may be difficult to sustain in the one-on-one crucible of a general election.
– Hillary Clinton shattered a major glass ceiling tonight, and took to Twitter to mark the moment. Her first tweet after she became the Democratic Party's official nominee reads simply, "History." Then, along with the message "Stronger together," she tweeted a video of Bernie Sanders asking all delegates to vote for Clinton so that she could become the nominee. And, finally, she posted a video about the women's liberation movement. "This moment is for every little girl who dreams big," she wrote. "#WeMadeHistory."