he also said that if elected, he might meet with the russian leader before his inauguration. what do you think of trump's approach to putin, and how would it affect america's interest on the international stage? secondly -- >> go ahead. >> secondly, does it distress you that folks at the fbi and state department talked about the prop 0er level of classification of e-mails on secretary clinton's e-mail server? would be acknowledge impropriety and should state officials have done this, and for prime minister renzi, with the critical referendum happening soon in your country what wore passage mean for your ability to lead that country, and what would failure mean to your political future as well as to italy's role in the european union? >> well, i'm going to be a little more subdued in my discussions of the republican nominee in this context that i

might be on the campaign trail. but let me just speak broadly about russia. and when i came into office, russia under the previous administration had invaded parts of georgia. and had created a frozen conflict there. there was a new president, and we tried to initiate a more constructive path with respect to u.s./russian relations, and i think we showed russia plenty of respect, acknowledging enormous differences and different values, but also trying to find ways in which we could cooperate together. we initiated the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty. we assisted russia with respect to its accession to the wto.

we worked on some common international challenges together. and when the previous president was replaced with mr. putin, i met with him, and we discussed again ways in which we could constructively work together. the challenge that we had with russia is -- very much centered on russian aggression in some very particular areas around the world. in ukraine, where they have engaged in similar conduct to what they did in georgia. and even there we've tried to broker and work with the europeans to broker a minsk agreement that would peacefully resolve those issues. in syria, one of my earliest meetings with putin was to

suggest to him that if assad stayed in power, given the brutality with which he had treated his own people, you would see a civil war that would not be good for the syrians certainly, but not be good for the world anywhere. rather than to work with us to try to solve the problem, he doubled down on his support for assad, and we know the situation that exists there. so any characterization that somehow we have improperly challenged russian aggression or have somehow -- tried to encroach on their legitimate interests is just wrong.

and mr. trump's continued flattery of mr. putin and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approach to politics on mr. putin is unprecedented in american politics. and is out of step with not just what democrats think but out of step with what, up until the last few months, almost every republican thought, including some of the ones who are now endorsing mr. trump. so you'll have to explain to me how it is that some of the same leaders in the republican party who were constantly haranging us for even talking to the russians and who consistently took the most hawkish approaches to russia, including mr. trump's

selection for vice president, now reconcile their endorsement of mr. trump with their previous views. the bottom line is, that we think that russia is a large, important country with a military that is second only to ours. and has to be a part of the solution on the world stage rather than part of the problem. but their behavior has undermined international norms, and international rules, in ways that we have to call them out on, and anybody who occupies this office should feel the same way, because these are values that we fought for and we protected. we can't go around talking about human rights or freedom of the press or democracy or freedom

are religion, or non-discrimination or basic laws on war or the sovereignty of territorial integrity of countries, no matter how small, and then extol the virtues of somebody who violates those principles. and -- you know, mr. trump rarely surprises me these days. i'm much more surprised and troubled by the fact that you have republican officials who historically have been adamantly anti-russian and, in fact, have attacked me for even engaging them diplomatically now supporting and in some cases echoing his positions. it's quite a reversal. you'll have to ask them how to explain it. with respect to the state department and the fbi reports,

i think you've heard directly from both the fbi and the state department that the notion or the accounts that have, that they've put out there are just not true. and you can question them again, but based on what we have seen, heard, learned, some of the more sensational implications or appearances as you stated them aren't based on actual events and based on what actually happened. and i think derived from sort of overly broad characterizations of interactions between the state department and the fbi that happened a lot and happened between agencies.

i think that covers me. >> i know -- that's a very good year to organize a referendum, but the -- i think the entire referendum is very simply and the message, because it's about the fight against bureaucracy. and we need a great investment against bureaucracy immediately for a lot of reasons. we change 63 government in 70 years. a few times we joke about it with the president. because it's unbelievable in a country have a government change one year -- every year. but it's normal, the discussion, the political discussion is very

strong. my opinion, it's very easy. if in december we'll -- we will win this referendum for italy will be easy. more easy to continue the battle to change europe, because structural reforms are important for italy, but important also for institutions in brussels in europe. so the only consequence constitutional reform imparts in the political debate in my view is if we win italy will be stronger. in the debate in eu. and so i work strongly and hardly to achieve the victory. ah. sorry. [ speaking in foreign language ] >> you are american. not italian. american citizen. okay.

>> i will ask the question in english, or in italian. >> translator: so let's talk about the referendum, because you hope to win, of course, but we've found many investors at wall street who are worried about the fact that you might lose the referendum. these are investors that have faith in italy, and that threaten, if there is a negative result in terms of the reforms, to just leave. so what can you tell these investors in order to reassure them to, if there is a negative outcome, will you stay on? will you continue with the reforms? and one last thing. this evening will you bring some wine to the dinner with the president? this is an italian custom. >> i agree with the prime minister. your accent is beautiful. it's very beautiful. so your italian accent, of course --

>> you seem to be in agreement that there is, that there is a need to sort of go ahead with the policy that you have pursued on being, you know, more flexible on the fiscal side. the problem is that brussel is very rigid about it, and it's very rigid with italian efforts. there jeopardizing its efforts. what can you say to brussel, especially after brexit, you know? they don't seem to be moving on that front. you know, how important, how important it is to -- to move forward in, in that direction? and do you think that in case referendum would not go well for the prime minister, he should stay on and continue in his reforms? thank you. >> translator: i have a feeling, and i think that rightly so our american friends are a little bit more interested in november

8th than in the italian vote on constitutional reform, and so are we, might i add. but in terms of what you were asking, very, very briefly, this is a time in which many investors throughout the world are coming back to invest in italy. we're extremely happy about this. we're happy about the investments on innovation in terms of technology, apple is investing in naples. amazon is going to open an artificial intelligence center. so for the entire economic and financial world, well, they're starting to see italy as an area in which to create opportunities and business. therefore, i do not believe that there will be any major disasters if the no wins at the

referendum, but in order to have no doubts, i'd rather win the referendum. i'll do everything i can, due to this doubt will not be able to come about, but what is fundamental, what is true is that the message goes through. this referendum does not have to do with the great world events. the great world issues. very simply, do you want to simplify the institutional system in italy giving greater stability and certain times in which to have greater stability? this is something to simplify things in our country,based on the question asked of europe we respect the european rules and are totally inside the european rules. although sometimes we do this half-heartily. we like to do things differently, but so long as rules don't change, we will respect them, because italy has made of its reputation one of the key words in its mandate. we work to change them, but if

they're there, we are going to respect them. now what will happen within the next few months will be seen as a great italian singer says, we will discover this by living. so i'm almost certain that yes will win so you will have no grounds to ask this question. >> during the course of my presidency, i have had repeated conversations with brussels, with angela, with francois and others around how we could most effectively recover from the crisis of 2007, 2008. it is fair to say that we have made more progress more quickly. and what i've tried to point out was the reason we were able to

make progress was we focused very early on in providing a large infusion of demand through our fiscal policies. rebuilding roads and bridges. investing in schools, teachers. clean energy. putting people back to work. tax cuts. put money into pockets of consumers. saving the auto industry. but then, also, what was very important was quickly tried to fix the banks and infusing capital and making sure they were more stable, more transparent, and would attract confidence so that the financial system was working again. and, look, i'm proud of our economic track record. we have grown faster and created more jobs and this past year has

seen incomes rise and poverty fall more quickly than a lot of our counterparts in europe. now, i recognize that europe is a more complicated collection of states, and it's more difficult to move, and some are in the eurozone and some are not, and so i don't expect that everything we've done can immediately translate to europe. and there's some parts of what europe does that we could learn from. in terms of the social safety net, for example. but what i do know is that given the very slow growth that's taken place in europe for contraction over what is almost a decade now, you have a generation of european youth who

are not attaching themselves to the labor market fast enough. and if you don't reverse some of those trends, then it become as generational loss of income, of wealth, of economic valuism, and now that countries like italy and others have made real progress on their finances and their deficits, and there's more market confidence in their position, now would be a good time, i believe, to refocus attention on growth. and making investments, because one of the reasons that we've been able to cut our deficits by two-thirds is not simply because we cut spending by two-thirds. we disciplined spending, but we

also grew fast enough that more revenue came in, and that's one of the best ways for, for you to arrive at a, a sound fiscal position, and monetary policy alone is not sufficient. and i think mario draghi and the european central bank have done good work trying to maintain a positive trajectory in europe, but ultimately, there's only so much monetary policy can do if it's not combined with fiscal policy, and my hope would be that matteo's right. italy has been true to its word in europe, and met its obligations, but my hope would be the debate broadens as europe moves forward around how to grow more quickly, and put more people back to work, see incomes

rise, create a greater sense of momentum and optimism, because i do believe that there is a connection between stagnation and some of the less constructive populist impulses that have been rising up, and those trend lines about europe do concern me, because if you look at european experiment over the last 40 years, i said this in hanover. there's probably been no group of people who have enjoyed more prosperity and more peace over the last several decades than a united europe. if it begins now splintering, because their sense is the global capitals and elites are not attentive to the ordinary concerns of people, that would

be a tragedy. and my hope is that, that discussion led by matteo and others will continue. and, by the way, yes. i think if -- i won't weigh in on the referendum, but the reforms matteo is initiating on the economic side are certainly the right ones, and in a global internet-driven world, governments have to be able to move fast and quickly, and transparently, and so i am rooting for success, but i think he should hang around no matter what. aishya? >> thank you, mr. president. i'd like to ask you about the election. donald trump is telling his asporters that the election is rigged and asking them to monitor certain areas on

election day. how concerned are you about the potential for violence and what about after election day? are you worried the results of the election may be distrusted? and for prime minister renzi, the offensive has begun in mosul. are you concerned about what happens after liberation? and mr. president, if you want to weigh in on that as well. >> i do. okay. one of the great things about america's democracy is, we have a vigorous sometimes bitter political contest, and when it's done, historically, regardless of party, the person who loses the election congratulates the winner, reaffirms or democracy and we move forward.

that's how democracy survives, because we recognize that there's something more important than any individual campaign, and that is making sure that the integrity and trust in our institutions sustains itself, because democracy by definition works by consent. not by force. i have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place. it's unprecedented. it happens to be based on no

facts. every expert, regardless of political party, regardless of ideology, conservative or liberal, who has ever examined these issues in a serious way will tell you that instances of significant voter fraud are not to be found. that, keep in mind, elections are run by state and local officials, which means that there are places like florida, for example, where you've got a republican governor, who's a republican appointees that will be running and monitoring a whole bunch of these election sites. the motion that somehow if mr. trump losing florida it's because of those people that you have to watch out for, that is both irresponsible -- and, by

the way, it doesn't really show the kind of leadership and toughness that you'd want out of a president. you start whining before the game's even over? if whenever things are going badly for you and you lose you start blaming somebody else. then you don't have what it takes to be in this job. because there are a lot of times when things don't go our way, or my way. that's okay. you fight through it. you work through it. you try to accomplish your goals. but the larger point that i want to emphasize here is that there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even -- you could even rig america's elections.

in part because they're so decentralized, and the numbers of votes involved. there's no evidence that that has happened in the past, or that there are instances in which that will happen this time, and so i'd advise mr. trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes. and if he got the most votes, then it would be my expectation of hillary clinton to offer a gracious concession speech and pledge to work with him in order to make sure that the american people benefit from an affective government, and it would be my job to welcome mr. trump, regardless of what he said about me, or my differences with him on my opinions, and escort him over to the capitol, in which there would about peaceful transfer of power. that's what americans do. that's why america is already great.

one way of weakening america and making it less great is if you start betraying those basic american traditions that have been bipartisan and have helped to hold together this democracy now for well over two centuries. with respect to mosul, we are seeing the iraqi forces with the support of the co-tlaalition th includes the united states and italy, and other nations, moving forward and encircling mosul. the intention is to drive isil out of what was its first major urban stronghold. and what continues to be one of the, the key organizational and

logistical and leadership hubs for isil. it is a tough and difficult fight. it is iraqis who are doing the fighting, and they are performing effectively and bravely, and taking on significant casualties. there will be ups and downs in this process, but my expectation is that ultimately it will be successful, and this will be, i think, a key milestone in what i committed to doing when isil first emerged, which was we we going to roll them back, and we are going to ultimately drive them out of population centers, and we will destroy them and defeat them so that they are not in a position to carry out terrorist attacks against our peoples or our friends and allies, or against innocent

people inside of iraq and syria. and we've seen just steady progress on this front. now, you ask a very important question, which is -- if, in fact, we are successful, how do we deal with what could be a humanitarian crisis, because isil when it occupies these territories, it bleeds them dry. it feeds off them, it oppressesal local populations. it's not very good at governance. and so just basic functions like electricity or water start running down. people are fleeing from their homes. there will be significant displacement. this has all been part of the coalition planning process in conjunction with the united nations, in conjunction with major aid organizations, and so we have put together plans and infrastructure for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis

that are as extensive as the military plans. that doesn't mean that we don't have to pay attention to it. and executing will be difficult. it's going to still be a tough environment to operate under, and no doubt there will be instances where we see some heartbreaking situations, if, in fact, large numbers of people flee. it's hard when you leave your home. it's hard when you leave your home and you already didn't have a lot, because you were living under an oppress ish barbarous regime. it's hard to leave your home in a war zone. so it's not something that i expect will be easy, but i think it, perhaps, hasn't been publicized enough, at least in the american press, the degree of planning and assets and resources that we're devoting to this very important problem, because if we aren't successful in helping ordinary people as

they're fleeing from isil, then that makes us vulnerable to seeing isil return and feeding on the resentments and the aftermath of mosul being liberated. so there's a strategic as well as humanitarian interest in us getting that right. >> i think of the president's expectations are very clear fon italian side. we are particularly committed about them. there is a dangerous time, and we support an italian company to work through to restore because it could be agreed problem for the population and for the rest that we are totally engaged with the rest of coalition to answer today iraqi people the possibility to have a future, and what may be very great to the italian army particularly

italian who provide the, these country to learning the local police. so we are not worried for the future if we will bring mosul, because we think soon only there we will destroy daesh, and important for every international community. israel is engaged in the war with the united states and with other allies. last -- last -- >> thank you, thank you, mr. president. in english. the mediterranean, priority for italy, mainly because of the constant flow of migrants, and -- on this [ inaudible ] on libya and can italy act as a bridge between europe and africa, and how american

administration can help the air force of italian government because europe is sometimes leave alone italy faces the challenge. thank you. >> translator: i'm going to answer in italian for the first channel. obviously, our position is always the same one. europe has to be more convinced and look towards africa with more conviction, and for this we can't go every time to ask for help to the united states without doing our part. the united states are busy in all the international theaters, the ones that are closer to us, we obviously need the support of our best friend, because the united states are this, our best friend, but we also have to start an italian and european strategy. we can't always just sit and

wait for this type of support. therefore, the issue of the mediterranean and africa has been left aside during the last ten years in the european union. we have to give it priority again. we have to work as the commission had foreseen it would do, but it's not doing it at the necessary speed, and we will do whatever we can with the agreements with certain states, with the five states that are our priority. we have to work for africa to be a priority, including a priority from the point of view of resources. local development. we will talk about this here at the g7 in sicily next year, and in terms of investments, the political investment, which, perhaps, the last few years has been sorely lacking. before asking for help from the united states which is something we gladly do, italy and europe have to do their part.

italy will increase its efforts for international cooperation and the ranking g7 for international cooperation. we were the last in the classification, 7, the 7th didn't didn't in the list of 7. it's not a good position, but we will reach the 4th place in the ranking in terms of gdp, which each of us proposes. so we have an increase in terms of the money in international cooperation, in funds, and in terms of libya, you know that we are working. we want to stabilize the government. we want to make sure that there is a block of all these brothers and sisters that leave their country every time they go to see, they risk, dying. we're happy and we're very proud to help save lives, but the ocean is one of the worst places to do that, but we don't want the mediterranean to become a

cemetery. so we have to have a long-term strategy. we spoke about this, and we have to have short-term strategies as well. we're very proud of what we're doing, but we know that this method cannot go on forever. we cannot think of being in charge by ourselves, of all the problems of libya and africa, and from this stance, in the -- on thursday and friday at the european council we will talk about this. >> this is an extensive topic of conversation. let me just make a few points. number one, it is a strategic interest of the united states to make sure that the migration crisis that's been taking place in europe is 1068 solved. it's a strategic interest because of the terrible loss of life that we see as people attempt to reach europe, but also because of the distorting

effects that it can have on european politics, if the sense is that the influx of migration is disorderly, chaotic and overwhelms european countries. and so we are deeply committed in europe's success in resolving this issue effectively. now, obviously there are a lot of contributors to it. so -- we are very focused on strengthening the government of nashville accord, as i indicated, and second john kerry and others are working with his counterparts on a multilateral basis. to strengthen the government of national accord, resolve tensions that exist between the different portions of libya, and then to be able to invest and build in their capacity to

control their borders and their waterways, because if we don't have a partner on the other side of the ocean it's going to continue to be a problem. that's point number one. point number two, we are deeply appreciative of the generosity and humanitarian impulses of the italian people, and in rescues so many people through "operation sofia." what we did in warsaw during the nato meeting was to indicate that although that is primarily an eu mission, nato and the united states and our naval assets are prepared to assist in a robust way where appropriate, and it's just a matter of coordinated with europe to find out, and italy, and other countries, what it is that you need. we will help. the same way that we do with respect to helping to enforce

the agreement between turkey and the european union on that portion, that body of water. the third point, as matteo pointed out, is more long term, and that is trying to help these countries that are having difficulties where people feel either unstable, insecure, or just hungry and in search of opportunity. how do we help them develop in such a way where people feel they can succeed and raise their families without fleeing to more developed countries? that is a longer term proposition but we have to begin to make the assessments now. i mentioned to matteo, we have obviously different issues with migration and met migration into this country has actually been flat, in some cases even decreased, or we've seen reverse

flows, particularly with respect to mexico, but one area where we have seen a big sprik ovike ove last several years is actually from smaller countries in central america where the economy is doing poorly. agriculture has done poorly in part because of changing weather patterns. violence brought on by narco traffickers. so vice president biden, i gave him the charge of working with those countries to come up with a development plan, congress, on bipartisan basis, supported us putting more money into these countries for development. more effective policing. dealing with fighting the narco traffickers in a more effective way, investing in young people. but that's not going to happen overnight. that will be a, a decade-long process, potentially. in the meantime, we insisted that those countries cooperate

with us to send a message to the populations that it is a dangerous trip to reach the united states, and if you get here, you're likely to be turned back, to try to discourage a, this dangerous passage, but also to try to undermine the human traffickers who are preying on the desperation of these people to make money. so all of those strategies have to be employed, and the one thing i would encourage is -- and i've said this whenever i visited europe, you can't have a situation where italy, greece, germany are bearing the entire burden. if, in fact, you have a european union, then you're unified not just for the benefits, but also for the costs, and i do think it is important for europe collectively to be invested in solving this problem and not just leave it to one country. in the same way that here in the

united states, obviously, it's where an actual nation state as opposed to a -- a union of separate states, but we would not abandon one state and just say, here, you deal with an entire problem, and good luck with that. you know, if we have solidarity and benefit from that solidarity on a whole range of issues, then that means you also have joint responsibilities. okay? >> [ inaudible ]. >> that's what i just said. i said central america, they've increased, david. why -- >> [ inaudible ]. >> no. actually, david -- they spiked heavily in 2014. went down significantly in 2015. have gone back up this year in

part because there's still desperation in central america, but are still not at the levels they were in 2014, but i appreciate you shouting out a question, since i'm sure there are a lot of other colleagues of yours who would want to do the same. thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. >> the president of the united states, barack obama, with the italian prime minister, matteo renzi. nearly an hour in the rose garden of the white house. the president supposed to be subdued if questions about donald trump came up, but still quite scathing. jonathan martin and maggie haberman, "new york times." said a little more subdued but called donald trump un-american on several points. said whining. just undemocratic, not the way we do it in our system and said he was essentially out of bounds against democratic values, republican values and american

values when it comes to his handling of vladimir putin. a little more subdued but made his point. >> i don't think it was particularly subtle. you heard the arguments he's been making over encapsulated into one place. quit whining, make your case to voters. we are seeing trump seeding the field and declining to run a campaign. isn't even about a conventional campaign, any campaign that would may logical sense and complaining the entire thing is rigged against him, particularly on the media bias front. i think that has become a little tedious. this is a person seizing on hacked e-mails from his opponent. we've not seen e-mailed hacked or text messages hacked from his campaign. you'll see a lot of the same conversations. trump knows better than anybody the way this all works and used masterfully for a year. >> this about laying the ground for an eventually loss.

finding scapegoats. media so-called rigged election. paul ryan, anybody but himself. trying to find any rationale why he's having trouble op the campaign other than looking at his own behavior and comments. the president today, though, while tough, i think was basically waving a, a flag at the -- obama playing the role of the matador, please, please, trump, take my bait. come, you know, tangle with me for a couple of days. take your eye off the ball and attack a sitting president, who is now above 50% in the approval ratings and stop going after hillary. >> he's in the steps on the oval office in the rose garden. a solemn place at the white house. matteo open in support of hillary clinton. didn't say much about trump. people in italy are worried about november 8th than their own referendum coming up. a debate tomorrow night. president knows it. twice said he is whining.

isn't a good enough leader. jonathan's point, trying to bait him. >> and hillary clinton should hope for one more seat before election day. the current president, something even more powerful. forget the battleground states. when standing behind the podium, behind the seal of the president of the united states in the rose garden essentially saying this is a guy who's whining, behaving in a way completely unprecedented, i don't know there's a better message or setting in which the president can make that case for clinton. >> 93 days left. how important is the obama effect? >> 93 days in his presidency. 21 to election. >> depends when obama you're caulking about. michelle obama extremely important on the campaign trail. president obama makes an interesting point. m.j. is exactly right. the character and fitness test hillary clinton has been trying to pound home for weeks, doesn't have the temperament to be president of the united states.

essentially the president of the united states just delivered the same message. to the extent he brings that message home again and again and again on a spectacularly important platform, like standing in front of the white house, it's devastating. >> to the media bias argument, that's donald trump's voice on that "access hollywood" tape that turned the campaign in many ways. his voice. no media person created his voice. the point the president was making about whining. the campaign turned. sitting president of the united states, again, 93 days left. knows the election is three weeks from today. knows donald trump brand in strength and leadership. president goes right at it. >> i have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any presidential candidate trying to discredit the elections and the election process before votes have even taken place.

it's unprecedented you start whining before the gail's over over? if whenever things are going badly for you and you lose you start blaming somebody else? then you don't have what it takes to be in this job. >> again, not subtle. to your point. as we were talking about this while the president was speaking, he's mocking trump, trying to bait trump and going directly at the republican party. saying no evidence of fraud. some of you are supporting donald trump as he says our elections are rigged. it's happening now, donald trump says, frankly b.s. sdun exist. no proof or facts to show that. 20 people voting here who shouldn't. minor. to change a presidential election and the president saying a lot of republican governors and secretaries of state out there, mr. trump. >> and alex burns made that point tht a story. what you're starting to see is,

i heard concerns about this from republican election lawyers when trump first started doing a vote fraud claim in august at a low point in polls. there's a concern about republicans that if republicans win tight races as senate contests say the ohio race. that one is close, and rob portman barely wins, helpful to have the standard bearer out there saying, but there's fraud. this isn't all valid. none is valid. very, very concerning to people. marco rubio in his own debate last night saying there's no evidence this is rigged. we should stop talking about it. i think the question you're seeing obama pushing on that, whether he can cleave off more republicans to further isolate trump. >> tough on putin saying that putin's invaded georgia before i came into office, then meddling in ukraine. doing things in syria that aren't helpful. democrats and republicans say inconsistent with american values. interesting, trump is un-american. >> how different is rhetoric towards putin versus the hot mike moment a few years ago when

talking about transmitting a very different message to the russian president. striking. >> obama, john, is not just hoping to beat donald trump. he wants to humiliate the republican party for what he thinks is the enabling of somebody patently unfit for the office. talking about putin in that answer, it was not about trump. it was about hawkish republicans, haranging him the last seven years being too soft on moscow now standing next to somebody constantly trying to sort of reach out and stroke putin. so i think obama really wants to use the final weeks of the election to make the republican party pay a price for standing by somebody that obama thinks deep down in their hearts, knows shouldn't be president. >> focusing on the president. remild viewers, big debate tomorrow night. third and final debate. race for president. guess what? candidate's spouse riding to the

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after a long absence from the campaign trail melania trump is back and her husband can only hope voters listen. >> i said to my husband with the language is inappropriate. it's not acceptable. and i was surprised, because that is not man that i know. i wonder if they even knew that the mike was on? because they were boy talk and he was lead on, like -- egg on from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. >> she's talking, of course, about that infamous tape in which trump brags about groping and forcing himself on women. a big part of trump sliding in the poles. what about all the women coming forward saying trump did those very same thing he bragged about to them?

>> -- organized from the position, and with the details that ge -- did they ever check the backgrounds of these women? they don't have any facts. >> i'm going to say i find it hard to accept that a 59-year-old man who's the ceo of a major international company can be egged on by a tv host, but we'll leave it there. how important is this, though? donald trump tanking in the polls losing support of republican women, suburban women, even white married women, white women with college degrees going secretary clinton's way. is this helpful? is it necessary? >> i think that it would have been more helpful nine days ago when they initially talked about going a joint interview in the middle of all this. certainly does hurt. helpful to have his wife a good character witness. end of the day to your point, people, a., doesn't matter whether the microphone was on or not.

he was saying it. number two, it is kivt wiconsis with the team not taking responsibility for things trump does himself. >> melania accomplished what she set out to accomplish. first, generally defend her husband, and second thing i think more for herself. wanted to break this narrative she hasn't been out there defending her husband. basically since the republican convention. i do want to point out a couple things actually troublesome about the way she defended her husband. first of all essentially said a 59-year-old man, you pointed out, he was someone able to be egged on by a man who is much younger. the other thing that she said i thought was troubling was, essentially calls them a child. two children living in my house. i think these things are not necessarily going to be things that women who are skeptical about donald trump, have reservations, hearing that from the candidate's wife. >> reminds me of the life, henry hyde back in the '90s during

impeachment. an affair in his youth, his 40s, it turned out to be. and a comment here if i could about this question about media bias she obviously -- actually -- >> said left wing. hillary clinton talked about the vast right wing conspiracy in her day. in some ways reminded me of the 1992. i was in the room with bill and hillary clinton super bowl sunday 1992. not have tammy wynette standing by my man. pivotal. tanking in the new hampshire primary. she said left wing. hillary clinton says right wing. >> troubling, we've heard the charge from our own colleagues in the media both in print and on tv. i would point out that if any other candidate spoke about race, religion and gender as donald trump has the past 15 months, the coverage likely would be much, much tougher.

upended, destroyed american politics time and time again. called for a ban. basically said have american troops commit war crimes abroad and talking about democracy itself. those things should not be covered on a curve but as they are. for colleagues to say it's bias to cover him for what he says, there should be arbitrary, artificial balance imposed, to me doesn't pass the smell test. nobody knows this better than matt. >> republican nominee for president, too, in 21 days if he can pull off a miracle turnaround. president elected in the united states. equals. >> benefited enormously from reduced expectations over and over. and about the curve saying, last november when i remember clearly doing a story about him being open to the proposal which was pitched to him by a reporter, not his own idea. doesn't matter. one answer, of course, i'm not interested, registers muslims in

this country and two weeks later did the muslim ban. screamed he was treated unfairly. all terrible. >> a notion of left wing media. does it include the "dallas morning news," the news owned by the mormon church? the cincinnati inquirer. all of these traditionally conservative outlets. "national review" have come to really the same conclusion. left wing media. >> she came out to help. one last chance tomorrow night. right? anybody dispute that? >> he does. a great chance. >> his only chance. >> need a very, very perfect kbat. >> debate. >> do what schwarzenegger did, thought was harmless, inoffensive, it was obscene, harmful and i regret those

things. if he can say that, he might have a chance. >> i can venture that doesn't happen. conspira conspiracy, elections rigged, how did the republicans win the house and senate? thanks for joining us here. "inside politics" back at noon tomorrow. live from the debate site in las vegas. [ whistle ] w -- wol -"wolf" starts right now. i'm wolf blitzer. 1:00 p.m. in washington. 8:00 p.m. in mosul. watching from around the world, thanks very much for watching us. following breaking news three weeks away from election day, in the u.s. presidential race. right now it donald trump has two campaign events in colorado. hillary clinton is off the campaign trail again preparing for tomorrow night's critically important debate in las vegas. clinton camp has important people in play. president obama spoke moments