consequential problems in the world, not dealing with somebody who thinks that -- like he is going to exploit the people. >> nancy pelosi, thank you for coming? >> my pleasure. >> the top democrat in the house of representatives. we're an hour away right now from what could be the most crucial 90 minutes of this entire presidential election. donald trump is about to debate hillary clinton for the second time and respond to the most damaging controversy of his campaign. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. we're on the campus of washington university in st. louis, missouri, on this debate night in america. tonight, there is no doubt that donald trump and hillary clinton will address the crisis around the trump campaign. the 2005 video that caught trump making sexually aggressive comments against women.

there's uncertainty how it'll play out on the debate stage with civilians watching questions. and millions watching at home. we have a preview of what might happen. trump appearing with bill clinton accusers a little while ago with cameras rolling. we're told the women will be in this debate hall tonight. trump has threatened to make bill clinton's infidelities an issue in this debate. the clinton camp says if this is how trump wants to run his campaign, it's his choice. now let's take a look at how the town hall style debate will work tonight. viewers will see trump on the left, clinton on the right. they'll have stools to sit in, but they can move around. they can take questions from uncommitted voters as they stand. about 40 voters were chosen to be on stage. cnn's anderson cooper is moderating along with martha raddatz of abc news. they'll work different sides of the auditorium, determining

which voters get to ask questions, and asking questions themselves, including topics raised on social immediate yachlt -- media. i want to bring in jake tapper. a twist in the story with trump appearing with a panel of women who accused bill and hillary clinton of misdeeds. >> specifically three women accusing bill clinton of misdeeds and one woman, hillary clinton was her child rapist's court-appointed defense attorney. not quite the same thing. she was doing what our court system requires. but, yes, i imagine mr. trump will be trying to make a big deal out of this. if not during the debate, then after the debate. of course, let's step back and look at the bigger picture here. donald trump, even before this tape from "access hollywood" came out on friday, was not doing well. internal polls that parties and campaigns had showed that he was cratering with groups he needs to do better with.

independents, white women with college education. and he was not in a good place. hillary clinton already had something of a lead on him. that lead continues to grow in many of the battleground states, according to polls that we've seen. then came this tape on friday. the question for donald trump is not really who is he appearing with in these pre-debate events in order to maybe get inside hillary clinton's head, rattle her or whatever. the question is, how is he going to get the momentum back? he did have momentum about a couple weeks ago. he had that before the first debate. how is he going to do that? is he going to be contrite from the appearance we saw? doesn't appear that contrition is foremost on his mind. >> it certainly does not. dana bash is here, as well. dana, i don't know how this latest development, the shocking development, he invites these women who accused bill clinton of sexual misdeeds. he invites them to sit in this

auditorium. has a photo op with them. i don't know how that'll play with his apology that's supposed to come forward. >> he'll try to do both. he'll try to show the republicans he is contrite. by all accounts, he'll at least -- i don't know if he'll say the words i'm sorry, but he'll try to get there. at the same time, show that he's fighting back. let's be clear on what this was. this was a political stunt, kind of of nth degree. it is vintage donald trump, in that he is a master of the media. he understands the media and understands moments and how to make moments. that's what this is about. he wanted everybody to be talking about these women and bill clinton and not him and what he's said about women and the tape that has really consumed everything. and set up a bomb in the world. the question is whether this will be successful not just with us but most importantly, how to

rattle hillary clinton on the debate stage. >> see if it works. i want to go to sarah murray. she's been covering the trump campaign for us. what are you hearing about the bomb shell development? is. >> advisers are telling me this is what trump does when under attack. he hits back and tries to change the conversation. by this stunt, we are talking about bill clinton and his past accusers. hillary clinton oes ro's role i th -- all that, rather than the tape where trump was using that sexual language. it could potentially backfire on him. one adviser said going into the deba debate, hillary clinton has the upper hand. the person describes it like this. there is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal that has nothing to lose. right now, that's trump. back to you, wolf.

>> jeff zeleny, you're getting a statement from the clinton campaign. what are you learning? >> this comes from the communications director of the clinton campaign, who i was standing with when she learned this news. she released this statement a moment ago. we're not surprised to see donald trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. hillary clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them and this stunt doesn't change that. if donald trump doesn't see that, that's his loss. as always, she's prepared to handle whatever donald trump throes her way. the statement says from the communications director. i'm also told that hillary clinton has been, of course, advised of the fact that the women will be in the audience. i asked a top adviser if she'd be rattled by this. the adviser says, not at all. wolf? >> stunning development indeed. jake, back to you. >> thanks, wolf.

i'm here with my panel. let's talk about this. before we do, i want to -- cnn recently hired andrew and his team, which has been fantastic at finding all sorts of interesting and relevant information from the history of donald trump and hillary clinton. they're the ones who found super predator tape of hillary clinton using the term. they're the ones that found donald trump on howard stern saying that he did support the war in iraq in 2002. do we have the tape available of the k-file? we do have this. this is donald trump with our own wolf blitzer in 1999 talking about some of the trials and tribulations that hillary clinton has been through. let's watch. >> i think she's gone through terrible times. i think she's been through more than any woman should have to bear. everything public. women go through this on a private basis and can't make it. she's on the front page of every newspaper every week. i think she's a wonderful woman.

>> i believe in the context of the interview, gone through more than any woman should have to bear, it was some accusations against bill clinton. presumably, the monica lewinsky scandal. i assume that hillary clinton, being somebody who likes to know about an opponent might know about this and say something about this, jeffrey. might say, i recognize this is your position now but in 1999, when it came to my personal life, you expressed sympathy for me. >> i believe where we are tonight was ignited when she earlier in the campaign called donald trump a sexist and went after him. she's been after him in everything, from the basket of deplorables, that his supporters are sexist, racist, et cetera, et cetera. finally, you know, after all that mud, enough is enough. he is the guy who says, he hits

back. if you're going to take a swing at him, and that's what she did, and so -- >> come on. >> van? >> first of all, you're saying it started when she talked about his sexism. he actually did things that were sexist. you left that part out. he actually talked about a woman like that. he talked women pigs. you always skip the part where your guy does something wrong. >> am i skipping it or you? those four women are telling their story. they're not skipping a thing. >> tonight. >> let's talk about that. >> hold that thought. we're going to take a quick break. coming up, we'll have more on what to expect this evening after donald trump's surprise appearance with these women who have accused bill clinton of various assault and, in one case, rape, as well as somebody who's child rapist hillary clinton defended as a court-appointed attorney. stay with us on this debate night in america. guess what guys, i switched to sprint.

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we're back in washington university in st. louis, minneso missouri, counting down to the next presidential debate. trump appeared with women who accused bill clinton of misdeeds. i'm still here with my panel. i guess my question is this. how many voters does this add to donald trump's role of voters? i believe that all the people who know these stories -- and i'm not dismissing them at all -- but know the stories of kathleen, with a knee tn with j i believe they're already solidly in donald trump's camp. >> you know who doesn't know the stories? millenials. millennial women. 1 in 5 women on a college campus are the victims of sexual assault. hillary clinton tweeted out a year ago, every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported.

for her to put out a statement calling it a stunt, when three women have the courage to take the national stage and before all of this country share their stories of sexual assault, that is sick, hillary clinton. do they not think through this? it's not a stunt. ask juanita is this is a stunt. ask the women if it is a stunt. it is courage. these women are kayiocourageous we need to recognize that. >> i'm not dismissing the stories at all. on friday, a tape was revealed with donald trump saying that -- boasting about sexually assaulting women. fact. it's been discredited by -- denounced by mike pence and melania trump, to name two people. is your passion for the victims of sexual assault, does it extend to whomever donald trump gapped by the -- >> we don't have proof that donald trump acted in that way. >> his words. >> there is one person out of both families who have been accused of sexual assault in the court of law. one.

bill clinton. trump is not accused of sexual assault. >> false. >> those were words. >> there are plenty of accusations. >> there are women out there. 20% of my generation saw that and it is the first time they heard the stories. >> talking over me doesn't make what you're saying true. >> that's right. >> there are accusations against donald trump. there are accusations against bill clinton. >> that are accusations on left-wing media sources. >> not true. >> that's it. >> look, i don't want to question or denigrate any of the women's stories because they're stories that deserve to be heard, period. but i do not believe that sexual assault should be turned into a sideshow. and i think what we saw tonight, how an hour and a half before the debate, was timed to rattle hillary clinton, to get into her head, and i'm not sure he's going to raise it at the debate or not. he doesn't have to, he's just done it. this was a political stunt. to use these women this way,

look, their stories deserve to be told. juanita broderick has been out there. donald trump has been talking about it. i understand exactly what you're saying. but i think that doing it now, at this point, after the videotape -- because jake points out, it's not a coincidence. >> quickly, these women have been trying to get the national media attention. they've been tweeting about it. they've gotten it from breitbart. these women tonight shared the stories. this is a victory for every victim of sexual assault that the women were heard and believed. not because hillary clinton -- >> i understand millenials might not know the stories. i understand that. again, they have every right to have their voices heard. i'm not dismissing their stories at all. but the stories have been reported thoroughly. >> for decades. >> in the 1990s. >> the women have been trying to share the story in the context of the national political race. they had private investigators put on them -- >> somebody else needs to be able to talk on this panel. is it okay? do i have your permission to

talk? listen, first of all, what you see with donald trump is simply this. his solution for having been exposed, for exploiting women, is to exploit more women. that's what happened. and so my concern at this point is that -- exactly what you're saying. the level of pain that women are -- i'm getting text messages from women, friends of mine, who have been sexually assaulted, who are in tears, feeling that their pain is now being turned into a political football here. hillary clinton did not go out and get that video tape. that video tape is out there. the face of sexual assault in this country are guys who at least talk the way that donald trump talked. donald trump said that he can gap someone, he can do what he wants because he is a star. that is the language of sexual assault and the culture of rape. instead of dealing with that, he says, well, bill clinton does

it, too. it diminishes everybody. >> i'll ask paul a question. kellyanne conway just tweeted something, while quoting hillary clinton's tweet. hillary's tweet was from last year. she wrote, and this is during when there was a lot of discussion about college sexual assault. the epidemic of that. hillary clinton wrote, every survivor of sexual assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported. then she has a link to a place on her website. kellyanne conway retweeted it with the message. we agree, hillary clinton. does it go for withjuanita, katn and paula. if so, acknowledge them from the stage tonight. paul, didn't hillary clinton, by saying every victim should be believed, every victim should be heard, didn't she open herself up to this question of, well, what about these people who have accused your husband? >> well, the question is, does this get kellyanne's clients any

votes? trump is in a freefall, that even kellyanne didn't go on tv and she'd been on the food channel, the animal channel, every network and does a great job for her client. she disappeared. even mike pence, the vice presidential nominee, has refused to defend donald trump on this. this is a political campaign 30 days before an election. that is how i think voters are going to analyze this. it's how i analyze it. i think before this, there was a smart strategy for trump, to apologize. instead, he's chosen to deflect. >> i -- >> i apologize. >> we're coming back. minutes away from the start of the debate. we'll be right back after the quick break. stay with us. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ i don't think so.

♪ i'll never go down your road ♪ ♪ i'll find my way on my own ♪ ♪ i'll never follow your path ♪ i'll make mine and i won't look back ♪ ♪ i'll never go down your road ♪ ♪ i'll find my way on my own ♪ ♪ i'll never follow your path ♪ i'll make mine and i won't look back ♪ ♪ i'll never go down your road ♪ ♪ i'll find my way on my own ♪ ♪ i'm never gonna fall in line ♪ your future is not mine ♪ your future is not mine ♪

we're at washington university in st. louis, missouri. we're counting down to the second presidential debate. just over a half an hour from now as we cover this election. cnn is traveling the country and talking to voters in battleground states in partnership with instagram, facebook and ca technologies. we want to hear from you. post a photo on instagram and tell us for whom you're voting with the hashtag my vote. your picture could be used in our election coverage. david axelrod, a point you'd like to make? >> we've had this discussion the last 10, 15 minutes. i think the political reality is this, this you want to make this a referendum on who is going to be serious about dealing with sexual assault, whether it's on campus or anywhere else, donald trump or hillary clinton, you're going to lose that. that's not a good strategy.

that is not a good strategy that he has embraced. the one he should have embraced was the one you suggested before he called a different play. >> he can still do that. >> maybe. although obviously, this is aimed at coloring the entire story. this happened because this tape surfaced on friday. hillary clinton didn't say anything about the tape. it surfaced. this is the response. not him taking responsibility for what he did, but essentially saying, as van said, well, hillary clinton is as bad as me. >> i think it's obvious he's not making a, who is going to be better for college women who are victims, survivors of sexual assault argument. it is an argument of, you want to attack my character, i'll attack your character. might it work? >> it might. it might also have a disastrous conclusion. look, donald trump just threw the hail mary. he succeeded two hours before

the debate in changing the narrative. the narrative is no longer the video tape that has occupied us the last 72 hours. but where it ends up, i'm not sure. because each of the four cases is complicated. it requires a great level of attention to sort through the facts, and then they're subject to interpretation. i think the public sentiment at this stage is that the extent there's been bad action in the past, bill was the bad guy. hillary was the victim. i don't know how that which has just transpired changes this. at the end of the night, she could be perceived as the victim unless he proves she is an enabler. that is a tough thing to do. >> it's a tough argument. you've seen breitbart and other outlets make this case for many, many years. i think one of the things that the hillary clinton campaign is doing is trying to reach swing voters. moderate swing voters. moderate swing voters not only like moderate politics and moderate policy, they also like a moderate temperament. i think, again, this sort of

kind of surprise and publicity stun that donald trump pulled in bringing the women out, i think it, again, speaks to his temperament. it speaks to a rationality in terms of a strategy. >> gloria, address the point which is a lot of college ed educated -- or millennial women might not know these stories and it might be compelling for them to hear about it. >> sure. you're 100% right about that. their stories are their stories, and they have been telling them, i believe. but i think in doing it now, an hour and a half before the debate, racing to the bottom, which is what this is, this is a race to the bottom, i don't think this benefits anybody. it doesn't benefit the american voters who deserve a better debate than this this evening. these are going to be people in this town hall who want to know how their lives are going to be improved. and this, tonight, was saying, bill clinton is worse than i am.

there was no contrition there. don't forget, there are other tapes of donald trump. on twitter, there is a tape of donald trump calling paula jones a loser back in the '90s. these things are going to come out. then we're going to be back to sort of ground zero here. and i think that tonight, if i were -- i'm not sure who is undecided vote i get, maybe it is millennial women, but i kind of don't think so. if you want to have the debate, as david was saying, over women's issues, let's have the debate. let's have the debate about sexual assault. let's do that. this way, to have this debate, is not constructive at all for the american public. >> gloria, the thing is, and to pick up on this, there is nothing moderate about running around the country calling donald trump a sexist, racist, xenophobic, et cetera -- >> what do you mean by using donald trump's own words? that's what -- she's only --

>> bill and hillary clinton's own action. >> what is the hillary clinton action you're referring to? she was a court-appointed -- >> juanita accuses her of threatening her to be quiet. >> juanita says that after the alleged rape took place, hillary clinton thanked her for being a friend to bill clinton, and she interpreted that as thanking her for her silence. >> more than that. the attorney of the three women have a deposition with a private investigator, hired by hillary clinton's lawyer during the '90s campaign. a all of these women have told their respective stories of giving their sexual assault claims and being pursued and followed by private investigators hired by hillary clinton's lawyer. that is significant. hillary clinton, if you believe that women deserve to be heard and believed, you live up to it with your own actions. be a woman on the stage and apologize for what you did to the women. >> she should apologize to donald trump tonight? >> to the women. >> to the women.

>> for her conduct. >> here's the thing, i just want to say one word for the process of electing a president of the united states. this is a profoundly sad moment. >> yes, thoroughly. >> that we should be dragged down to this level on the night of a -- >> how did she start it -- >> on the night of a presidential debate, in a very consequential election, to have it turned into a sideshow and a reality show is profoundly sad. >> because we should be talking about aliessiicia machado inste >> that was a stunt. >> my children used to say when they were arguing, he started it. you started it. he started it. that's what we sound like. it doesn't matter. the american public deserves better tonight. >> well, she should not have begun this. >> you sound like my young sons when they were young. >> you made that point many times. here's, i think, what i'm left

with as we go forward. first of all, i do not think that the young generation that has, frankly, transformed the country's understanding of these issues, is well served by this stunt. i just don't. >> it's not a stunt. >> hold on a second. i just don't. i also feel that the pain of these women who, it's obvious they were -- something happened. they feel violated. they are upset. they have tried to bring things forward. i don't think anybody up here is trying to say anything negative ti about them or that. we're trying to figure out who should be the president of the united states. if you're going to be the president of the united states, you have to make choices. you now see that you have someone who is going to take a scorched earth approach to any tough situation. if that person is a commander in chief, what does that mean about nuclear weapons?

what does that mean about escalati escalation? what are we seeing here that is relevant to the debate tonight? what we're seeing is something very, very frightening for me, in terms of judgment and temperame temperament. >> i want to ask paul. you've been an ally of the clintons for a long time. historical historically, when people have tried to combine the charges so they go after hillary clinton a as well, how has the public responded? >> when she ran for the senate, for example, people asked her, well, you said your husband had not had an affair when he had. you were the liar. voters rushed to her defense. not to the -- not to the republicans. it was a journalist who asked that question. it was my late friend tim. that was to her benefit. any time she is seen as a

victim, especially from a man, that politically has paid off for her. my bigger problem though is this hijacking of the election and the agenda. nobody should see her as a victim. no matter what happens on november 8th, hillary clinton will be wealthy and healthy with a terrific family, and donald trump will be wealthy and healthy with a terrific family. i think mr. trump has been trying to hijack the election away from the american people and make it about him. he wants to be the baby at every christening and the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral. there is a time about the american people, especially with a town hall. this is a terrible way for mr. trump to prepare himself to engage 40 or 50 american citizens who will ask about their problems. >> it is an episode that will play so well tonight with all of those that we saw in cleveland who were chanting, lock her up. >> right. >> this is chum in the water for

the sharks that are the core constituents he has. but whether it grows the tent remains to be seen because at this stage, i think, paul, she's perceived as the victim in this whole episode. i don't know how tonight, by the end of the night, he's going to convince folks he's anything but that. >> one second, and then we'll go to you, david, a few minutes ago, hillary clinton tweeted an image of michelle obama speaking at the democratic convention saying, when they go low, we go high. >> yeah. >> and then it says, remember, hillary clinton writing, remember. #debate. so that's the strategy, david. >> you know, i just want to make a political consultant point, which is that one of the things that really was very clear in the last debate is that this notion of not preparing for a debate wasn't very froouitful f donald trump. the question was, would he take

this more seriously? town hall debates are more challenging than standard debates. what's pretty clear is, i mean, he said in this press conference he had, he said i want people to see the end of my debate prep. apparently, he had none, or very little. that's going to be interesting tonight, when this moves beyond the kind of sideshow and gets into actual issues, as i hope it will. >> what's interesting is most people watching this debate will not only not know about the press conference and those women in the audience, but they might not even know about the video that dropped on friday with donald trump and "access hollywood." that dropped in the afternoon on a friday. i've been talking to voters who don't know anything about it. people just going about their lives, taking their kids to little league. >> right. >> so this is an opportunity to not get into the mud on either side. and i do wonder about david's point. is he ready to talk about college tuition? >> look, i think the video is

going to come up tonight. i assume this will come up in some capacity tonight. where i agree with gloria is we do need to get back to the issues. the american people deserve that. it was important the women were heard. let's make no mistake about it. we just saw courage. we saw bravery. it was not a stunt. that being said, donald trump needs to now go high and talk about the issues. when clinton wants to bring up alicia machado, i'm not sure how that was going high on the part of clinton, he turns it to the issues. >> that was bait. she threw out raw meat and he took it. >> it is hard to go from so low to so high. >> that was a high moment. >> not in my view. in the space of an hour. i would also tell you what this is. this is donald trump his divorce from the republican party. my phone has been blowing up from republicans saying, oh, my

god. i can't believe he is doing this. as republicans are watching this debate and watching donald trump and wanting to see contrition. and, again, the debate hasn't started yet. >> here's donald trump, by the way, to interrupt for a second. here is donald trump getting out of his vehicle and entering the debate hall. >> and wanting to see something else. that is not what they are seeing. i believe that this is donald trump's final declaration of independence from republicans and, as we heard corey lewandowski earlier, criticizing reince priebus as a failed leader, i think what we see playing out at that level is donald trump saying i'm going to do it my way. i'm going to do this on my own. and the rest of you -- >> gloria, instead, has he boxed them in? i have a different interpretation. i'm wondering if you are a republican member of the senate or congress who wants to throw in the towel on donald trump, have you just watched or learned

and are now concerned you will be at odds with the hard-core constituency and -- >> they were already boxed in. >> and you will not have stood with the victims of bill clinton's. >> they were already boxed in. this has been concerning republicans all aalong. they don't want to alienate the base and want to get the suburban women. i think they're already boxed? >> they've been walking this line for months, which is to try to preserve the trump base and still reach out to these marginal voters. now, it's reached this point. they're caught between a rock and a hard place. i think they've concluded he's not going to win the presidency. now, they want to keep control of the senate. >> these folks got in trouble with the base in the first place because they didn't keep their word. they're the fraternal order,

what ronald reagan called it. people in america, the base of the party, are out. >> the base is big enough to win. >> lots more to talk about. i'll throw it back to wolf blitzer inside. wolf? >> guys, we're here inside the debate hall. we're getting ready for janet brown. she's the executive director of the presidential debate commission. she's going to be speaking, introducing the two co-chairs of the commission. they'll have some words. the president of washington university here in st. louis will speak. then the two moderators will have a few words, as well. our own anderson cooper and martha raddatz of abc news. dana, this is a moment that people are waiting for right now. this debate could be totally decisive in this election. >> absolutely. just looking at who we're seeing come in here. didn't see who that was. but in any event, of course, this is incredibly important. much more so than we even thought when donald trump didn't do well in the first debate. we thought this was going to be

important. that makes that look like 100 year ago at this point. but what we really have to keep looking for is republicans. nevermind him adding voters. nevermind him getting undecided voters. how are republicans going to see this debate? and will the exodus continue and grow? >> what's the reaction you're getting, john, from republicans who saw this news conference, if you will, the photo op, with the women who accused bill clinton of the sexual aggression? >> they're echoing the point that gloria made. this is donald trump's full and final divorce from the republican party. they're aghast. they don't think it is the right strategy. they think he is having a breitbart tv reality show before the second presidential debate. a debate in which if he has a poor performance, they believe the race is over. some already believe the race is over. in some ways, it makes strategic sense, in the sense he is bleeding in the polls right now. this might stop the conservative bleeding. if there is anything that rallies conservatives, it is

attacks on the clintons and clinton character. does it help close presidential elections in the suburbs? does this help in bucks county or lake county, ohio? in the denver suburbs? does it help in the raleigh-durham research triangle? no, they think it is a very bad strategy. >> not just that, we're just getting information about what donald trump said way before he was running for president, back when -- >> hold on one moment. this is janet brown of the commission. >> my name is janet brown. i'm executive director of the commission on presidential debates. i'd like to welcome you to the second presidential debate of 2016. here at washington university in st. louis. an historic fifth for this campus. and a treasured homecoming for

the commission on presidential debates. five days ago, this set and this crew were in farmville, virginia. everything that you see tonight has been moved here from the vice presidential debate setup, tested, rehearsed, beautified in that short time span. i hope those of you in the audience here at washington university will look at your programs and study those names that are listed there under the production crew. they are without pier, in terms of all the aspects of this extremely complicated production that will be carried for 90 minutes live, nationally and internationally. the audio lighting set and logistical team that does this are absolutely extraordinary. there are a lot of people to thank for what has happened here tonight.

i would like to start by introducing the co-chairman of the commission, mike and frank. [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you, janet. what a pleasure it is to be here at washington university, the fifth time we've been here for a presidential debate. it is beginning to feel almost like a permanent home for the commission on presidential debates. all of you from washington university and the community here, thank you very much. give yourself a round of applause. [ applause ] the non-partisan commission on presidential debates began in 1987 with the leadership of my co-chair, who is here tonight, and my predecessor. they did an extraordinary thing. they actually decided that presidential debates ought to be institutionalized and the american people ought to expect that they would happen and that

the candidates would participate. we've been able to do that. we've been able to do that with the assistance of 14 incredible members of our commission, distinguished leaders who joined me and frank. i'd like to introduce them now. we'll give them a round of applause at the end. we're delighted to be joined tonight by the chairman of the howard g. buffet foundation. howard buffet. your former united states senator here in missouri, jack danforth. the former anchor of abc -- by the way, guys, stand up as i list your names. the former anchor of abc world news with charles gibson, obviously, charlie gibson. the president of the university of notre dame, father john jenkins. the former president of the league of women voters and the current president of the council on foundations, dorothy dodd ridings. the former president of

princeton university, shirley tillman. go tigers. if you could all stand and give them a round of applause. [ applause ] one of the things our commission is responsible for doing is designing the format. if you've watched the previous presidential debate, you know this one is different because we have with us citizen participants who have been selected by the gala organization. they represent uncommitted citizens here in the st. louis area. they're here to participate in the questioning of the candidates tonight. the other important thing we've done is to take time to give the candidates more opportunity to discuss with themselves the important issues that face our country. so rather than having rapid fire questions, we give the candidates an opportunity to really have a discussion. that's an important part of the format changes that we've made. you should know that we don't

know at the commission, the campaigns don't know and the candidates don't know, what our fellow citizens here tonight are going to ask. we're also going to have questions incorporated into this debate by our moderators that arrive from social media. from places like facebook, who is our valued partner, twitter, aol, msn, so many of the other places where we continue to have conversations as citizens in our new online, new media formats. that'll be an important feature of our format tonight. the important thing for all of you who are here, you are here standing in for tens of millions of americans who are able to watch this on television tonight. so we ask that you be very careful and respectful of their desire to hear this debate without the interruptions of applause, cheering, booing, anything else that you want to do. you're here to be respectful of all your other citizens who are watching this debate and the candidates who are participating in the debate and the moderators

who are asking the questions. we ask that you not use any cell phones, electronic devices, and that would be grounds for you to politically be asked to leave the hall. we hope you'll honor the rules. it'll make it possible for this debate to proceed the way it needs to proceed. so with that, i'd like to introduce my very dear friend and valued co-partner in this, the other co-chair of the commission on presidential debates, frank farenkoff. >> thank you, mike. thank you, ladies and gentlemen. it's great to be back at this wonderful institution. let me say a few words. mike started it, about the commission. commission on presidential debates is a non-partisan, non-profit organization. we get no funding from the political parties. from the campaigns. from the federal government, state or local government. we're self-funded.

and in the 2016 cycle, where we are now, we have some upsponsor who, were it not for them, we wouldn't be here tonight. they are companies and corporations and individuals and foundations who truly believe that the american people ought to be able to see candidates who want to be president or vice president of the united states stand before the television cameras and debate the issues that are so important. i want to quickly name them. the howard g. buffet foundation. kobler fund. the law firm of crol and moring. the aarp and the national governors association. won't you join with me in thanking them for their support. [ applause ] now, mike talked about the social media platforms. most of us in this room, other

than students, you know, grew up getting the news of the day of our nation in politics by reading a newspaper, by reading magazines and by watching the nightly news. that's no longer the case with a very large number of people in our country, particularly the millenials. so as mike said, we've been working with the social network platforms very, very closely for the last four years. and what's happened is going into this debate tonight, anderson cooper and martha raddatz have received from the social network platforms the views of the platform participants, as to what they think the issues are that are important, and hopefully the issues will be presented in the questions that come from the moderators, in addition to the questions that are going to come from the ladies and gentlemen who are behind us. one last point, and i mentioned this to some detail at the vice presidential debate a week or so ago. we're particularly proud of the

work we do internationally. the united states of america, with all our faults, is still the beacon of democracy and freedom around the world. we've been working for the last 20 years with nations around the world, particularly emerging democracies, who are amazed that tonight, citizens of the st. louis area are going to have an opportunity to ask questions of the next president of the united states. amazing. so we have worked with those 35 nations, and they've created their own cpds and are doing work. in fact, in las vegas, the last debate coming up in ten days, we will have 50 people from 45 nations as guests who will be there for seminars and learning how the process is done. so we're very, very proud of that. let me add one more thing before i introduce another important person to you. right at 8:00, 9:00 eastern, we're going to be very quiet in

this room. except for back there. at exactly 9:00, the networks are going to go hot. you're

this debate has offered the opportunity for many students to be engaged and learn about the issues and be involved in voter registration and i'm proud that more than 3,000 students have been registered to vote and encouraged to participate in this very important selection. we are involved in education, research, patient care and community service. through this work we are enhancing the quality of life for all. indeed in this era our overarching goal is to enhance leadership to benefit america and the world tomorrow. we are advancing community

health and researchers addressing alzheimers and discipline developed the third largest center in the us and adadvancing je nometics to pursue permanentized precision medicine and advancing innovation and entrepreneurship. st. louis in case you haven't noticed is one of the start up cities of america. finally we are preparing future leaders. tonight is a debate between two individuals. one of whom will be the next president of the united states. we at washington university have the best students and i'm grateful that our student union president is here this evening. he is from singapore reflecting a dimension of the diversity that we enjoy here at washington university. please welcome student union

president, kenneth sung. >> good evening. welcome to washington university in st. louis. long years ago this nation was founded on a great promise by president lincoln. they created a government of the people, by the people, for the people. this great democratic has brought fire to much of the world including to singapore, my home. today, too many democratic governments are being undermined by the different visions of the world. of the responsibilities to their citizens. this debate provides a momentous occasions. they agreed it's important to stay engaged in the democratic

process. if they have any meaning at all. come november 8th, citizens will cast their bals ones that democracy is an ideal. on behalf of the student body, i am proud of washington university for giving advice to the competing ideas at the core of democracy. thank you. >> they are about to introduce the spouses right now. john king, this is a moment that we are going to see and maybe there will be hand shakes and maybe there won't be, but this will potentially set the tone for tonight. >> bill clinton and melania trump did shake hands and bill

clinton is aware of the tone and melania trump issued a statement saying she accepted her husband's apology for offensive behavior in the caught on tape moment discussed throughout the weekend. the two of them in an odd way supporting players in the drama that is about to play out in the last 24 hours or so. we will see how much plays out in the debate. voters are asking about this tape. we will talk about the trump tapes and hillary's speeches. we don't know about that in the form of the town hall format. >> these are the uncommitted and undecided voters. here's the introduction. >> we welcome bill clinton and melania trump.

>> and the children walk out and shake hands with the former president. >> the terms on the situation for the trump campaign to have his sons and more importantly his daughter and his wife to be standing there and to be a part of that introduction. >> this part of the responsibility for any debate rests on the shoulders of the moderators and we are grateful to have martha raddis of abc news and ander cooper of cnn.

>> we are honored to be here and i want to thank washington university for hosting this debate and the commission for sponsoring this. this is i town hall format and a chance for the americans on this stage and thousands of people who sent in questions online to ask questions directly to the candidates. >> after they asked questions, they promise to remain silent and i know you heard this, but no boos, outbursts and cheering. we want to hear it focussed on the candidates. we appreciate your cooperation in advance and we will start shortly. great to see you all. #. >> they are going to sit down and pause for a few minutes as

they get ready for the formal introduction of the two candidates and it's a moment that will be historic. >> absolutely. historic in so many ways. i have to point out that you can see and you both covered bill clinton for a long 250i78. sometimes he doesn't have the best poker face. he did not look comfortable and perhaps that's because behind you, john, three women who were in the trump stunt earlier are now here. they are in the debate hall. everybody clapped when bill clinton came in, but they are sitting in the front row, but because of the format, it's a town hall format, they are far away from the stage. the image of them sitting in front of the number two democrat in the senate, it's hard to wrab our minds around that this is happening at a presidential debate. >> the two on the left of that

picture, they said bill clinton groped her and raped her when he was the attorney general. it's the drama of it this is a presidential debate. this is remarkable. jake tapper, what are you looking for sn. >> the pressure is on donald trump. he got to show the american people and show the voters that he has the temperament to be president and health care and how to afford college and get a good job in this economy. really he did not have a good performance last time and he has been bleeding in the polls and he needs to step up and be the donald trump that the republican party he can be and terrified he can never be. >> it is a moment when we wait for them to walk out and the people once again on the stage. the uncommitted voters who will

stand up and ask them questions and how these two candidates relate to those individuals could be decisive. >> it was a few days ago before this bombshell tape came out and one of the open questions when he did a practice run with his style. whether or not he would be comfortable and whether he could go up to a concern and say their name and have empathy. when hillary clinton is somebody who did this not just on the campaign trail, but they reminded me that the town hall is the preferred format and she has to be probably more comfortable with this. >> we will see trump under pressure. she is under pressure too, but the structure changed. she is leading in every battle ground state with 30 days to go. it can swing back and foerrth. many republicans think