before it began. that's when donald trump had a photo opportunity with reporters and brought along several women who have accused bill clinton of sexual misconduct from the 1990s. and thern whn when the two cands got on the stage, they did not even shake hands and then the n insults began and then he was asked about the "access hollywood" video. and while he apologized, he also dismissed it. >> hello. >> reporter: donald trump entered last night's debate with one major goal. to end the crisis engulfing hi s campaign. after a tape of his vulgar remarks about groping women from 2005 was uncovered. >> this was locker room talk. i'm not proud of it. i apologized to my family. i apologized to the american people. >> reporter: cnn's anderson cooper pressing trump over his crude comments about forcing himself on women. trump denying he ever actually

did that. >> i have great respect for women. nobody has more respect for women than i do. >> so for the record you're saying you never did that. >> frankly, you hear these things. they're said. and i was embarrassed by it, but i have tremendous respect for women. and women have respect for me. >> have you ever done those things? >> no, i have not. >> reporter: hillary clinton linking the tape to his past controversial rhetoric. >> i said starting back in june that he was not fit to be president and commander in chief. this is who donald trump is. but it's not only women and it's not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president. because he has also targeted immigrants, african-americans, latinos, people with disabilities, p.o.w.s, muslims and so many others. >> reporter: as he long threatened, trump rehashed old clinton controversies. bringing to the debate three

women who accused bill clinton of sexual misconduct in the 1990s. >> if you look at bill clinton, far worse. mine are words, his were action. >> i am reminded of what my froend, friend, michelle obama, reminded us all. when they go low, you go high. >> reporter: trump in an extraordinary remark threatening to jail clinton if he becomes president over her handling of classified material on her private e-mail server as secretary of state. >> if i win, i am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. >> it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. >> because you'd be in jail. >> reporter: trump frequently interrupted clinton throughout the heated exchange. >> it's just not true. and, so, please, go to -- >> you didn't delete them.

>> personal e-mail. not official. >> we turned over -- >> please allow her to respond. she didn't talk while you talked. >> reporter: clinton becoming visibly frustrated. >> all right, donald. i know you're into big diversion and your campaign and the way it is exploded and the way republicans are leaving you. >> reporter: trump, at times, seemingly uncomfortable. pacing around the stage and hovering over clinton. the billionaire admitting that he wrote off nearly $1 billion in losses. and didn't pay federal income taxes in some years. >> did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes? >> of course i don't. >> reporter: trump making a stunning admission when pressed about governor mike pence. flatly contradicting his running mate's call to use military force in syria. >> he and i haven't spoken and i disagree. >> you disagree with your running mate. >> reporter: clinton found herself on the defensive, as

well. over leaked transcripts of her speeches to banks. including one where she talked about having different positions publicly and privately. >> as i recall, that was something i said about abraham linco lincoln. president lincoln was trying to convince some people he used some arguments. convincing other people he used other arguments. >> she lied. now she's blaming the lie on the late, great, abraham lincoln. that's one that i haven't -- >> reporter: the ugly tone of his debate which start would the candidates refusing to shake hands. ended by both sharing what they respect about each other. >> his children are incredibly able and devoted and i think that says a lot about donald. >> she doesn't quit. she doesn't give up. i respect that. i tell it like it is. s she's a fighter. >> the question is whether

donald trump has actually stopped the bleeding and will prevent more republicans from jumping ship. later this morning, house republicans are gathering on a conference call to discuss donald trump. chris? >> all right, manu, who won last night's debate. obviously, it's all about opinion. we did commission a poll and according to it, 57, 34, clinton won. the same poll that said she won the first debate and the same poll that said pence won the vp debate. now, interestingly, within the poll, women 2-1 said she won. half of men watching agree. that's unusual. some good news for trump, as well. 63% of debate watchers say he exceeded their expectations. 39% felt the same about clinton. we should point out that the sample is overweighted democratic. but, again, the same method had pence winning the vp debate. let's bring in our panel of cnn political commentators. scotty nell hughes is a trump supporter and political editor at rightalerts.com.

and anna navarro a republican strategist who said she will write in her mom for president. all right, ladies, great to have all of you here. anna, what did you think of trump's excuse for all the vulgarity on that leaked tape. >> was your mother born in america? >> let me tell you something, my mother is very nervous about me writing her in. i think i got her about 300 votes so far and i think she thinks she could win and it's making her very nervous. sorry, mom. hope you're sleeping. look, what did i think about him saying that it is locker room talk? what else is he going to say? the bottom line it's not locker room talk. i don't think that anybody sees donald trump or looks at donald trump thinks he's been in a locker room in any time in recent history. he's 59 years old. he is a businessman. he is somebody that is known all

over america. he's got certain standards to meet. and now he's running for the highest office in the land. this is not locker room talk. this was the talk of an adult male with another adult male. it is repugnant and it is unacceptable. >> christine. >> i have to tell you, i got so many calls since this tape came out from men that i worked with and saying, no, i was on a team. i went through college. high school. >> they don't buy that it was locker room talk. >> actually, they were offended. the next time you're on cnn, please say this isn't how men talk in a locker room. why is he saying that? it's taking everyone down and it's not true. and it's, again, i think donald trump just trying to divert. just trying to make it like nothing is a big deal. but he talked about having and wanting to grope women in their

genitals without permission and that he gets to do this because he's a star. that's outrageous. it's admitting sexual assault and admitting that you want to commit more of it. >> tough duty for you, scotty, but what did you hear in his apology that was enough for you to be here today to defend the proposition? >> i defended that night because it was 11 years ago. but we're looking at that was 11 years ago compared to the actions of the last few years of hillary clinton. sure. they were very vulgar but hillary clinton's actions you cannot defend over her track record and what they're going to do for the future. i looked at last night after you get over the initial 30 minutes and finish talking about the elephant on the stage, i thought it was a great debate. for one of the first times we were able to see clear policy and the difference between the two candidates on issues like syria, taxes and those communities that need revitalization. i thought it was probably one of the best debates we had yet amongst the primary because we were able to draw clear lines between the two and i love how it ended on a high note.

they didn't come in shaking hands but when it finished they did show up as friends. >> ana, what did you think of the tactic that donald trump used where beforehand he had the facebook live with the bill clinton accusers from the 1990s and then he had them in the audience. he had hoped, according to "washington post" to have them in the family box seated next to the children but the debate commission said no. but there they were in the audience for hillary clinton to basically have to confront. >> i think it is one of the grossest things that we have seen in american history. donald trump is not only one of the grossest men to ever run for u.s. president, he is one of the grossest men period. his supporters may like what he did. i think they wanted him to hit and hit hard and don't mind that he hits below the belt but certainly not going to win his votes with anybody else. he needs to get more votes than just his core, staunch supporters. i was flabbergasted. i knew in my head that he was going to go there.

i had said it earlier in the morning on tv. he had been signaling that all week. yet, when i saw it, it just made me, you know, it made me so sad for america. it made me so sad for the democratic process. that this man on his own has taken it down the gutter and cheapened it down to this level is something disgusting. if we believe in democracy and love our country. >> scottie, you're shaking your head. what i thought was odd about it just so people remember, donald trump condemned these women as ugly accusers. said the impeachment process of clinton was wrong. many years after it was going wrong. hillary shouldn't have dealt with this. these accusations are nothing and then they show up last night. do you see hypocrisy in that? >> let's remember why we're having this conversation to begin with. >> first of all, because hillary clinton. don't sit there and complain when you pour out a bucket of

snakes and you get bit. she started this. mr. trump always said i wanted to talk about policies in the first debate and he tried to stick with it and she introduced the middle school route and talked about the drama. you have neplace to talk about my background and let's talk about your background. those four women right there and people woked eup this morning the younger generations that don't know the stories that those women went through they googled it. she was, obviously, very shaken by it. >> the snake charmer in all of this is to use donald trump's reference. he got on a bus with billy bush and others and i saw no pictures of hillary clinton. potentially illegal things that he wanted to commit illegal acts. that's what started this. let's remember at the first

debad deba debate, donald trump had an epic fail. he didn't need to win last night. he needed to survive and put -- >> clinton did bring up machado. >> but at the very end, he had a whole, let's say, hour and 20 minutes to talk about substance and he couldn't. he was tongue tied. he couldn't get policy out. >> because she put him off his base from the very beginning. he was not going to allow that to happen. >> she was a good debater. >> because she's a politician. >> she's a good debater because she's a smart as anything women with experience. let's be clear. also, you talked about this comment being 11 years ago. he wasn't 12, 11 years ago. he is 59. if this was the only sexist or discriminatory thing he said, you know what, he had a bad day. he got carried away. he has a history a history. >> go ahead, ana.

>> christine, i disagree with you this morning. he is no snake charmer. he is down right a snake. he crawls through the mud on his underbelly and he is disgusting. >> let's give people some context. you made a lot of buzz with what your response was to this when you first came out. i think you were on don lemon show. here's what you said. >> very explicit language. we're warning our viewers. >> i think every single republican is going to have to answer the question, what did you do the -- >> all right. >> please stop saying that word. my daughter is listening. >> you know what, don't tell me you're offended but you're not offended when donald trump says it. i'm not running for president, he is. >> okay, so -- >> you can't argue with that in my book. >> once again, this is a morning show. there are children that are going off to school this

morning. yes, he said it 11 years ago in a private conversation. >> he was 59. >> we here don't need to be using this language. i consider that to be a very derogatory word towards women. it is not allowed in my own home. i have constantly said -- >> hold on. >> do you not see the irony of you saying that these words are unacceptable to you and yet they are acceptable and you are coming on tv and be an appa appallgist for the candidate who is running for the highest office in the world. apparently, scottie, when he says he is referring to a baby cat but when i say it is offensive. >> can i respond? >> no self-awareness of what you are saying. >> scottie, you get what the allegation is. what are you saying? >> that was a taped conversation that was never supposed to air. i do not agree with the words

and that he used them. >> he was on camera and miked. >> it wasn't private. >> well, to a certain -- it was not supposed to be. that's beyond it. that was 11 years ago. two wrongs do not make a right. we are supposed to act better. our audience deserves to be treated better and to sit there and continue to say these words, that does not help the conversation. i do not agree with them, but we should not use that language. just like you would not use other words on there. >> when you get on it, v and you defend those words, when you -- >> i don't defend the words. i defend the person. i don't defend his words. >> you're defending him. >> you repeat them. because i'm not going to take him out -- >> hold on. ten seconds. quickly, ten seconds. >> hold on, ana. >> when you are making explanations what you are doing you are coming on tv and being an accomplice and an enabler. i have to look at myself in the mirror and live with my -- >> scottie said we should be

better. we should use higher language. we're talking about people who are commentators on cnn, with all due respect to that position. but we should be better than a man running for president of the united states. >> 11 years ago. 11 years ago. >> he has repeatedly said sexist and horrible things. but, scottie, you said it all. we should be better. that means he's low if we should be better. we need to raise the bar because your candidate has lowered it t into the gutter repeatedly. 11 years ago, he was not a child. >> guys, stick around. we have merquestioore questions. we need to take a break. >> arguably, that discussion wasn't the most shocking moment of the night when they were talking aboutthe v. may not be possible, but is possibly the harshest thing we ever heard from one opponent to another. we'll play it for you, next.

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the debate turned ugly early. was donald trump making an unprecedented threat towards hillary clinton if he wins the election? here it is. >> we're going to get a special prosecutor and we're looking to look into it because people have been, their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you've done and it's a disgrace and, honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. >> everything he just said is absolutely false, but i'm not surprised. go to hillaryclinton.com. we have literally trump. you can fact check him in realtime. it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. >> because you'd be in jail. >> let's bring back our panel of cnn commentators. christine quinn and ana navarro. scottie, let's start with you. >> why not. >> i want to give you the chance. he only said it because he knew it would work with the base. why does the base like the idea

of their president, you know, seizing control of the judicial system and putting somebody in jail whom they don't agree with. >> i don't think it is about not agreeing with. it's the hillary standard. never before unprecedented that we had a criminal or the fbi has been investigating a presidential candidate. never before has the presidential candidate's husband meet with the attorney general on a tarmac that was supposed to be a secret meeting and then a week or two later the charges were dismissed or said he wasn't going to do anything. this is why kenneth starr was appointed as a separate independent council. you did not see barack obama do this. his own administration with his own attorney general investigate this. i think a lot of people still have questions. obviously, 125 counts of taking the fifth and several others that are getting cleared that are getting special coverage and any time you have to use words like bleach or hammers to destroy property. something leaves this idea that something legal did not happen

here. >> scottie leaves out a critical and important point of this issue. the director of the fbi who is a man above reproach, not really political, but a law enforcement guy. has reviewed this, investigated it fully and kind of litigated it out in that sense and said there were no charges here. did he say -- >> but he said there was wrongdoing. >> wait a minute. no one interrupted you. we're new yorkers. he said wrongdoing. she acted badly. carelessly. she admits that and apologizes for it. very different than donald trump. and he says nothing was done here that needed to be followed up on. period. that is the point here. and donald trump, i get why he keeps bringing it up and i think hillary was right to move off of it. but he just keeps brings this up because the only thing he has and tries to move him away. but move him away from other problematic issues. let's talk about the court.

when someone from the audience asked who you would appoint to the supreme court. the point right now where the court is stymied. i mean, it's terrible. >> it's 4-4. >> she made it very clear she wanted experienced people, diversely experienced people. diverse law experience and people who will overturn citizens united, reaffirm voting rights and support roe versus wade and marriage equality. that's what the vast majority of americans want. >> i think out of everybody on the panel, i'm the only one who has fled communism and dictatorship. when you hear the potential next president of the united states say that if he becomes president he is going to unilaterally put a political opponent in jail should scare all of us. i can tell you it scared me. i sat there thinking, lord, if this man becomes president, i am going to jail.

that's after he waterboards me and takes all my money. chris cuomo, i hope you can still practice law and represent me pro bono and get me wine inside that jail. >> got anything for that? >> hold on. >> it's a true point. i'm going to set aside the vizts and the wine. to have someone who wants to be president stand up and kind of admit there will be no balance of power and that people -- >> you're taking it too far. >> you're taking it very much too far here. >> special prosecutor. >> and you'll be in jail. >> when she said it's a good thing we don't have someone like him in charge of the law, although we don't have anyone in charge of the law he said because you'd be in jail. >> those are big words. >> hold on. because we believe he believes there is enough -- >> you know, i heard it a different way. i heard it a different way. all the voters and people in

america say they have so much fatigue from all this election and from all the combat and all the toxicity of this election and they can't wait until this election is over. i heard him say, no, it will continue. the vendetta i feel against this woman, if you elect me, i'll continue. >> actual justice will be served. it will have an independent counsel to it. >> why is that justice? why is what we saw with kenneth starr. clinton appointed the first special prosecutor and then congress came in and brought in starr. what happened there that gave you any idea of the semblance of justice. the senate had to save him basically for having an affair and lying about it. >> we didn't see the same sort of justice. that independent counsel. >> it was a political witch-hunt. that's what i'm saying. >> what ultimately happened he ended up staying in office but it was an independent. we have not seen that in this case.

when you're dealing with national security secrets and tayour poito your point. >> you had congress do almost a dozen hearings on this. aren't they independent? >> and they said there was wrong do wrongdoing. just because you're republican does not mean that you're actually a part of the team here. >> he shouldn't be part of the team. the fbi -- >> you kept saying he was appointed by a republican. i'm sorry. he was. but that doesn't make him a part of us. >> wait a minute. you don't want the fbi director -- >> i want him. >> hold on, ladies. >> ana, go ahead. last word. >> look, folks, we've seen this before in american history. we have seen precedented administrations run amuck and take action against political opponent. whether it be spying, whether it be auditing. you can do it in so many different ways. is there anybody out there who actually thinks that if donald trump were to become president, he's not petty and little and

vengeful. >> 14 million people, ana, think that. >> you don't know that. they may like it. >> here's what we know. da donald trump promised if he's the president of the united states. >> once again, you insulted just like hillary clinton. that's why she supports your support, ana. >> she's not supporting. she's supporting her mother. >> ladies, thank you very much. we have tatago to break. trump had the tougher job last night, no question about it. he was not trying to just live down what he said about women, but trying to expand his base. did he succeed? we'll speak with his vice chair of diversity, next. sure, we could have stacked these tires. or put them on a rack. but the specialists at ford like to show off their strengths: 13 name brands. all backed by our low price tire guarantee. yeah, we're strong when it comes to tires. right now during the big tire event,

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donnell trump attempted tamove past the controversy surrounding that 2005 tape in which he boasted about making unwanted sexual advances on women. here's how donald trump explained those comments last night. >> this was locker room talk. i'm not proud of it. i apologize to my family and i

apologize to the american people. certainly i'm not proud of it. but this is locker room talk. yes, i'm very embarrassed by it. i hate it, but it's locker room talk and it's one of those things. i will knock the hell out of isis. it was locker room talk. i'm not proud of it. >> let's discuss this with brunell donald kyei. brunell, thank you for being here this morning. >> god bless you, miss alisyn and god bless america. thank you for having me. >> what did you think about donald trump saying it was just locker room talked when on the bus from that leaked 2005 from "access hollywood" he said he did these things. he couldn't control himself. when he saw a beautiful woman, he just started kissing her. he liked to grab women's genitals because he could ebecause he was a celebrity. that is more than locker room talk, people say. >> you know what, when i heard

it myself, you know, i was disappointed. i'm a woman. i have a daughter that just turned 1 years old yesterday. and, so, when i heard the recording, i was upset. i was hurt. and then donald trump did something that people said that he would never do. and that he apologized. i think that was so critical and so important to those who are supporting him. that apology spoke mountains. the interesting thing, though, is this. you have people you have a candidate in hillary clinton who has benghazi issue. she's got e-mail problems. she's got the issue with haiti. the way she treated those people. she's got our $6 billion that she mishandled. she's got these wikileaks saying she sat on a board who funds isis. so, when i started thinking about those things, i started, you know, i let the emotions go. >> so, when you first heard it,

you were disgusted, as you say. do you -- >> i'm a woman. of course. >> sure, sure. do you think it was locker room talk? do you now excuse it as locker room talk? >> i do. i heard him say yesterday that he didn't act on those things. so, i have to understand and every american has to understand. these candidates are not perfect. they don't live perfect lives. what i can say to you is that donald trump sang america first. he said, look, america, i'm not going to allow 550% of syrians that haven't been vetted and we don't know where they are in the country. he's saying, look, america, generations to come, i'm going to build a wall that's going to protect americans. that's important. >> i guess, here's my question. if you find out he did act on those things, would that change your opinion? >> i would say that that i can't, i don't really -- i would -- it would still be very

difficult, honestly. if you really think about. i saw juanita broderick and women that said bill clinton raped them. raped them and that hillary came behind and threatened them. >> let's be clear. let's just be clear about the facts, want ejuanita made the allegations against bill clinton. she said the threat that hillary clinton shook her hand and made eye contact with her for too long. also women that said that donald trump raped them. also allegations against donald trump. are you comfortable with that? >> i mean, let me tell you something. i don't know any woman who is comfortable with any issue. whether it be with hillary or with mr. trump. but what i will tell you is that i am concerned on the issues. and last night at the debate, donald trump drove it home for all americans across this nation

that we matter. we want a president in office that has not corrupted our, you know, our department of justice. that has not corrupted our fbi. that is not above the law. we want a candidate in there that' subject to all the laws that every american is subject to. what the democratic party has done is prop up hillary clinton with all these issues going on, benghazi, the haitian people. these e-mails and all these other issues that are going on. and we have a person, they're not trying to tell her to step down. they're not trying to tell her to step aside. what i think the republican party needs talearn fro learn f democratic party is this is war. in war times things will come up and you have to keep moving behind your candidate. the candidate that is saying america first. he's talking about americans first. he doesn't want open borders. most americans don't want open

borders and open trade. we don't want syrian refugees, women haters in our country. 550%. we've got to protect our daughters. we need to build that wall for generation tazbe protes to be p. that's important to this country. we need it. >> brunell, we hear your passion. thank you for sharing it on "new day." nice to talk to you. >> thank you and god bless you and god bless america. coming up in our next hour, we'll have donald trump's running mate mike pence. so, it was an interesting situation last night. you had the question of, well, will clinton close the door on trump's campaign? she decided to do what she called going high. did that work for her? the experts break it down next. your insurance company

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more than two dozen high-profile republicans withdrawing their support of donald trump after video surfaced of his vulgar language about women describing things that he would like to do to them. did trump stop the bleeding last night? let's discuss. nick crist off, david gregory, cnn political analyst and mary katherine hann and senior writer for "the federalist." mk, do you think he stopped the bleeding? if so, what was your bar for that? >> let me set a baseline and i

do mean base. he is so bad that he's not beating her handily and she is so bad that she's not beating him handily. so, look, was he slightly better from his baseline from the last debate? i think so. he also had this giant elephant in the room to deal with, as did she because he brought up all of bill clinton's behavior, as well. did he put a defibrillator tahis candidacy for a minute. enough for the remaining republicans to stick around. >> nick, he said last night that what we heard on that leaked tape that that is locker room talk. those aren't actions. you have done a story about his actions in terms of sexual impropriety and a woman who has accused him of attempted rape. >> he says it's just words. in fact, the story that i wrote shows exactly how he put his words into actions.

it is a young woman, it was a couple from florida who wanted to do business with trump. and long story short, they found they got cheated in business. and that in the chorus of trying to negotiate this business deal, trump, she says, groped her regularly. and -- >> audio is leaking out the back -- >> trump pulled her into ivanka's bedroom and tried to force himself on her. and she says this went on time and again and amounted to attempted rape. >> did she ever say anything? >> she filed a lawsuit in 1997. >> to the police? >> no, she did not go to the police. she says that she's trying tao o business with this guy and doesn't want to antagonize him. trying to manage this impossible

situation. she did not go to the police. she tried to continue to be nice to trump. she recounts at one point as a defense mechanism she threw up she was so upset. and this is backed up by her 1997 suit. by a deposition in 1996. >> and she told her partner at the time, he knew what was happening at the time. but, david, doesn't this complicate. this is so sorted and does it complicate the fact that donald trump continues to bring out the bill clinton accusers when he, himself, has a past like this? >> i think americans have made a judgment about bill clinton, about the clintons generally with regard to their marriage and his infidelity and his behavior in the white house and leading to him being impeached. those people who have such a

horribly negative view of the clintons, they know where they are. they are probably for donald trump or maybe they're not for him completely, but certainly against them. but i think what donald trump has to deal with is this broader context. his campaign was slipping before this. he had a horrible weekend reaction to the first debate which he lost. compounded now by this tape which has otherwise reluctantly supportive republicans heading for the hills. we'll find out today and tomorrow whether there is a further unraveling of that. he's got these difficulties at a time when he's hemorrhaging support among key constituencies that he would need if he's going to make a real run at hillary clinton here in this final month. he is adopting a strategy of now bringing everything he's got against the clintons had which i think helps shore up his core supporters. i don't think that was the question. the question for the past six months is where does he add to

what he's got? how does he deal with the fact that people don't think he has the temperament or qualifications to be president? making this an attempt to tear her down is not going to be enough. >> what is your take on clinton not going after him more about his lack of character? >> i was a little surprised. i think a lot of democrats were, too. this is the moment to sweep the leg or at least try for her and he is coming in weakened and she wasn't able to put her away and that will mean that he's a little bit stronger than he would have been for the next several weeks. so, i'm not sure where we end up here. i think david's right in reaching independents and college-educated women going after clinton, although there is a part of my right-leaning soul that says democrats haven't paid enough for waitress over the year and this is a righteous attack in a little bit of a way, it works with the base. it doesn't actually bring in those new people because they

have made this determination about bill clinton who they still like and who, by the way, is not on the ticket. you have to make a transfer to hillary clinton and there are some valid points to be made and i don't think on that debate stage it's working to reach the people you need to reach. >> go ahead. >> i don't know what sweeping the leg would have looked like. she knows that if she got the response from him whether she tried to do it or not. he went after bill clinton and had the women in the room and he did everything that could remind people of the sorted past of the clintons and a kind of righteousness as you say that even the media has about donald trump's behavior. i think her strategy has been working very well. let him talk. that's all you have to do. >> did he stem the hemorrhaging last night? >> he slightly changed the subject from one that was extremely helpful to him and maybe that helped just a little bit. but at the end of the day it strikes me as unplausible to have a serial adulterer someone who boasts about sexual assaults

a woman having been cheated on. i question how efebifective tha will be in the long run. more of these accounts coming forward. >> panel, thank you very much. even before the debate, donald trump appeared with the accusers. did that tactic work? does it prove trump is the master of media manipulation. we talk to three men who have written books on trump, next. . who says i shouldn't have a soda everyday?

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that was locker room talk. i'm not proud of it. i am a person who has great respect for people, for my family, for the people of this country, and certainly i'm not proud of it. but that was something that happened. if you look at bill clinton, far worse. mine were words, his were action. >> that was donald trump repeatedly excusing his vulgar comments about women as locker room talk while trying to pivot the conversation to bill clinton's infidelity and allegations against him. so what is behind trump's reluctance to apologize? joining us now three men who have written extensively about donald trump. the co-author of the art of the deal tony schwartz.

author of never enough, donald trump and the pursuit of success michael deantonio and the executive editor of bloomburg view and author of trump nation the art of being the donald, timothy o'brien. tony what did you think of his performance last night? just start with that sound bite of how he excused that leaked audio tape as locker room talk. >> well, you know, donald trump didn't rise to the level of human to me last night, as is fairly much -- fairly -- the -- it's the typical way that he is, meaning there are three things that i've been saying since july about donald trump. number one, he's incredibly thin-skinned. and he was a cornered rat in this circumstance, and he attacked. because that's what happens when you feel cornered. and the problem is, that he reacts impulsively. he reacts automatically, and reflexively and it's terrifying as it has been for me all along to imagine him with the nuclear codes doing that. so i'm thinking -- >> you saw that last night? >> i saw him attack, attack,

attack. the second thing is that he has an incredibly short attention span. you saw him wandering physically on the stage, wandering mentally, each time he was under pressure. he loses his capacity -- to stay focused. i have a cold. and then the third piece of it is that when he's under pressure he lies even more reflexibility than ordinarily he does. so the number of things he said last night that weren't true probably exceeds in any given half hour the number he side before. this is to me the man, not what he says, but who he is, that he's -- that's so frightening about him. >> and yet the expectation was last night that i guess he was going to go on and either, what, collapse, or admit that he should leave the race. i mean the idea that he exceeded expectations, we see it in the polls, 60%. the media was saying it immediately that he stopped the bleeding. he was better. he was better. does he benefit from this type of expectation that if he's not

horrible, it's somehow success, and he's used it to manipulate media perception? >> the question becomes, how awful is he? so if you have a guy who's just terrible, and he's the person that you knew in high school and stayed away from, because he led the bully band of boys, and his whole thing is about aggression, and creditation. he's creditory in his business activities, victimizes people left and right. he's predatory in his personal relationships. he's sexually predatory and he's politically predatory. you saw him stalking the stage, and i heard this morning and i agree that hillary clinton probably positioned herself so he could loom over her physically, and let him demonstrate this dominance behavior. so with this -- >> should have asked the body language expert about that. >> that's a good one for the next time. >> -- married to a shrink, and she talks about this guy all the

time. he's decompensating. you know, other people compensate for their issues, and problems, and do well. donald is in the point of decompensating. but it resonates with 30% to 40% of the public that has always liked him. his poll numbers in the '80s were 40%. >> huh. >> and he's gonna stay right there. >> tim what moments jumped out at you last night? >> when he said he was willing to use the department of justice to attack a political opponent. he threatened hillary clinton with that. he admitted that he used the massive write-offs in 1995 so he could not pay taxes. but you know, he's entitled to that legally. but the reality of that write-off is that it's emblematic what a horrible businessman he was. he showed his vast ignorance about the middle east and syria. he doesn't understand isis and assad and the dynamics there. and i think you saw somebody who is willing to use a civic moment to debate an entire process in order to preserve himself.

and i think he probably went in there willing to pull out all the stops because he doesn't care anymore. i think he's -- what's happened so far, and -- and proved very tangibly on friday, is that he's a sexual predator and he's always been that way and anyone who's covered him closely knows that. when he says that bill clinton took actions i've only spoken about it in words and it's locker room talk. i've been in locker rooms, that goes way beyond locker room talk. and during his marriage to ivanka he was fairly openly having an affair with marla maples. so, so the idea that he's just -- >> but that doesn't make somebody a predator. that makes somebody a philanderer. >> that's correct. >> this is different. the audio that we heard is different. because everybody knows he's a philanderer. he was proud of it. that was splashed all over the tabloids. but groping women unwantedly does put it in a different category. >> donald trump has always been on the hunt. >> he said last night he did not do those things. that it was just talk -- >> but there are women who say that he did do those things.

>> as you've seen published already, in a variety of places on the set of "the apprentice" we now know that -- that on -- on -- in other circumstances he was in that -- he was doing that. so, i think we're going to see even more of it in the days ahead. >> but do you think it is meaningful? what we saw from hillary clinton last night was, and this is a very savvy politician, this is a very savvy thinker. she left it all alone. in fact, we have even been a little bit unfair this morning in how we're describing it in the writing that they insulted each other. it's not true. she largely left him alone last night and i guess on the -- >> on the topic or across the board? >> no, no, about this topic. >> and i guess what the calculation here, i can't win on this, he's going to keep -- >> she's brutally ahead right now. she's firmly ahead in the electoral college. donald trump has a very high wall to surmount here. she's starting to fade in north carolina and florida. certainly if he loses either of those states he's done. but even if he has both of those states he'd still need to take a big blue state like pennsylvania or michigan to win. he's not going to do that.

he's fairly toasted at this point in the electoral college. so the clinton campaign has everything to gain, from keeping her position as a statesman, and a public servant, and, and someone who has good judgment. it's pretty astounding that trump is on a stage with her, and one of his talking points is that he has great judgment. this is a guy who's blown up his real estate business, blew up his casino business, has shredded tons and tons of personal relationships and is willfully ignorant about matters of public spoil. the idea that he would be comparing himself to her around matters of judgment or temperament is a little silly. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. we have to leave it there. thanks for all of your insights. you guys have studied this man very well and know him better than most. thank you. >> there's a lot more debate coverage to give you including a live interview with donald trump's running mate, governor mike pence. he loomed large last night and not for the best reasons. let's get to it. >> nobody has more respect f