Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday the politically damaging "drip, drip, drip" of revelations about her use of a private email server is out of her control and she is unsure when the controversy might end.

Clinton, who has seen her lead shrivel in the race for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, said she has tried to be as open as possible and take responsibility for the email flap.

"It is like a drip, drip, drip. That's why I said there is only so much I can control," Clinton told NBC's "Meet the Press."