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 ago during a join press

conference with the italian prime minister when he gave this response to a donald trump claim that the election here in the united states is rigged. listen to this. >> i have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any presidential campaign 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, are going to be running and monitoring a whole bunch of these election sites. the notion 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 want out of a president. you start whining before the game's over over? whenever things are going badly

and you lose you start blaming somebody else? then you don't have what it takes to be in this job. i'd advise mr. trump to stop whining and go try to make his case to get votes. >> to michelle kaczynski joining us now. the president seemed reluctant at first to discuss the election and then really went after trump accusing him of whining, if you will, before the game is over. >> reporter: you know, he hasn't been holding back lately. twice used the word unprecedented during this press conference in the rose garden. you heard him use the words irresponsible, and whining more than once. but this is the second time when we've heard obama talk about the elections, saves strongest criticism not just for donald trump but republicans. in relation to the rigged election situation or the allegations that are out there. this was about donald trump's statements regarding vladimir putin. that's when the president took that opportunity to also hammer republicans who had criticized

president obama in the past for talking to vladimir putin, now they're supporting donald trump, who has praised putin. so that shows you how much the president is not just thinking about hitting the republican candidate, but also all of those other elections that are happening down ballot. he wants to include republicans that are supporting donald trump in his comments against them, wolf. >> yeah. the president had said at the beginning, be a little more reluctant to go after trump at this event with the visiting prime minister of italy but really let loose on that issue of trump's "whining" about this election. michelle, thanks very much. i want to bring in our panel to discuss what we just heard from the president of the united states. we have our cnn politics editor juana summers with us. political commentator ryan lizza, and mattea gold for the "washington post" and chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. so how effective, juana, was the

president's decision to go ahead and slam trump on this issue of a supposed rigged election? >> as the president said, noted more soft on his criticism of trump. i certainly don't think he did that. something important to note here, there just some factual evidence of the widespread rigging or voter fraud trump alleged. i think president obama drove that home today. we are just three weeks out from the election and a major party nominee effectively telling americans they may not be able to have confidence in the system of voting, that will choose the next president and offices across the country. early voting already in play in many states around the country. likely we'll see the president, if donald trump and surrogates continue to push that line bring that up again and again, because it's critical americans trust the systems they are voting in will work well for them. >> that the democracy really works. ryan, all of us know donald trump. when you hit him, you know what he's going to do in response. the president of the united states just hit him.

he's going to be speaking in an hour or two. you know what he's going to do. >> no doubt he'll respond. you know i think obama did something he's done a lot with trump. he tries to argue that trump's basically a phony. he did this talking about trump in economics. not a real populist, and did it today. didn't just make the sort of high-minded moral argument about how you shouldn't discredit our election system. said, look, he's whining. and he's basically saying leez not a tough guy. if you were a tough guy, he would be out there appealing to voters and win that way. kind of two punches there. on the bigger, broader foreign policy, making a subtle contrast with trump and republicans. you know, barack obama was criticized early in his tenure for not being close enough to europe, cultivating allying. ending his term with the italian leader and basically saying a united europe is important.

nato, as an ally. the republican party turned towards putin and russia under donald trump. two arguments there at least. >> and also responded to the suggestion that there was a quid pro quo between the state department and the fbi during the hillary clinton tenure as secretary of state. the president insisted that did not happen. listen. >> i think you've heard directly from both of fbi and the state department that the notion that, or the accounts, that have been. outside there are just not true. some of the more sensational implications or appearances as you stated them aren't based on actual events. and based on what actually happened. >> so i'm sure trump will respond to that as well as other republicans who do see an improper quid pro quo between the fbi and the state department on a sensitive issue involving the classification of hillary clinton e-mails. >> and the political problem

here for hillary clinton and for the administration is even though both the state department and the fbi have said there was no quid pro quo, no changes of classification, the fact there was even a mere discuss about it was enough to give trump and his campaign and republicans a huge opening yesterday and they drove right through that and we'll see them continue to do that today. >> on russia, jim, the president minced no words going after trump and his supporters as well. listen to this. >> mr. trump's continued flattery of mr. putin, and the degree to which he appears to model many of his policies and approaches politics on mr. putin is unprecedented in american politics. >> that's unprecedented as well. you've heard him use that word twice now in his press conference. >> interesting, lost in this

geopolitical romance between putin and trump is what could be a reasonable discussion of the obama legacy in terms of the relationship with russia. obama in 2009 with hillary clinton as secretary of state had this reset, the famous reset button in geneva. that has failed. right? you can argue whether that might have happened anyway, regardless of what u.s. policy is, but that's a substantive discussion you could have and all of these debates and in all of these interviews with presidential candidates, and particularly buy hillary clinton was then secretary of state running against donald trump. but donald trump has swung this election in a direction not even his own party wants to go. donald trump saying he might meet with putin before being i na inaugurated should we win.

this, as putin could take down u.s. warplanes, in terms of syria. the debate that could have happened in the center about russia swung all the way over here to, what, granted, the president is supporting a presidential candidate. but it is true. donald trump's staumtements are unprecedented. >> and at a time the highest levels accused the russians of cyber warfare on u.s. political democrats in particular more on that. everybody stay with us. also coming up, ma loelania tru defending her husband. what she had to say about his vulgar comments in 2005. and plus, the battle to retake mosul in iraq. facing explosives, boobytraps, suicide bombers as they try to free the city from isis control. all of that coming up.

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donald trump wife comes to his defense. melania trump refers to lewd comments her husband made a 2005 videotape is simply boy talk. the women accusing him of inappropriate sexual behavior are lying's trump's wife sat down with our own arpdsnderson cooper. the first interview since that video went public. >> i said to my husband, you know, the language is inappropriate. it's not acceptable. and i was surprised, because

that is not the man that i know. and as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on. it was only a mike, and i wonder if they even knew that the mike was on, because they were kind of boy talk, and he was lead on, like, egg on, from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. >> is that what it is to you? just locker room talk? >> yeah. it's kind of a two teenage boys actually they should behave better. right? >> he was 59. >> correct. >> and sometimes i said, i have two boys at home. i have my young son, and i have my husband. >> so other women have come forward and made allege allegations against your husband, some go back more than 30 years. he said they are lying.

do you believe him? >> i believe my husband. i believe my house. th my husband. this was all organized from this position, and with the details that they go. did they ever check the background of these women? they don't have any facts, and even the story that came out in "people" magazine, the writer that she said that my husband took her to the room, and started kissing her. she wrote in the same story about me, that she saw me on fifth avenue and i said to her, natasha, how come we don't see you any more? i was never friend with her. i would not recognize her. >> that never happened? >> never happened. that's why i sent them the letter, because discredited the story. >> right. your lawyer had sent a letter to

"people" magazine saying they have to retract? >> yes. because was not true. i'm very strong. people didn't really know me. people think and talk about me, the -- like -- oh, melania, oh, poor melania. don't feel sorry for me. don't feel sorry for me. i can handle everything. >> bring back the panel to discuss what we just heard from melania trump. juana summers, ryan, lizza, ma ta mateo. she called it boy talk. anderson pointed out he was 59 years old at the time. what do you think of her explanation? >> at this point most people have either heard, seen the tape. heard something about it and about these remarks, and what's interesting to me is that most people say that this isn't going to impact how they vote or whether or not they support

donald trump. more importantly than the boy talk locker room talk listening to melania talk about the allegations. talking more than half a dozen women who have come on the record and accused the republican nominee donald trump of some form of untoward conduct ranging from inappropriate comments to unwanted sexual contact, kissing, a variety of litany of comments. i think that that is the part that gets really dangerous here. right? it's an election people question donald trump's temperament repeatedly. seen in polls repeatedly people are concerned he does not have the character to serve as commander in chief or temperament to be in the oval office. that can be damaging if we see more women ocome out and these allegations, a real problem for the campaign. if it is sexual assault which is from the sound of what he's describes, that's what it is. >> and trump has said as you know, ryan, maybe these women weren't eve than attractive. not attractive flu ivive enougho

make those kind of moves. anderson discussed that particular aspect with melania. listen to this exchange. >> he's made some comments about the way some of the women who are accusing him look. what do you think about that? >> well, nats him. he's wrong. he will say it as he feels it. so -- you know, i know he respects women. but he's defending hisself, because they are lies. >> she is saying all these women, at least nine of them, made these accusations. >> lard to jump who's right but weighing on the side of accusers. before they came forward, donald trump saying he behaved in this behavior, sexually assaulted people, in the 2005 video. two, after the fact saying at least, a couple of them well, these ones are not attractive

enough for me to have assaulted. implicit, that is if they are attractive enough maybe you would have done it? right? and then you have -- well, two pieces. having my rick perry moment here. forgot my third point. melania is in a tough position. she's the candidate's spouse. natural to want to defend your husband. but i don't think it's credible when she says it was billy bush's fault he egged him on. i live to that tape, that's not how i saw it. i don't think billy bush pushed trump into saying those things. he was bragging. >> mateo, was the interview pro, help for for donald trump and his campaign or hurt his campaign? >> i think it told us something about the thinking inside the campaign. they put melania in an all too familiar political arc type. right? wife standing by her husband when he's been accused of some kind of inappropriate behavior. hoe wouldn't have done that and kept that story alive if he didn't feel this was hurting

him, continue to hurt him. whether or not it was effective is in the eye of the beholder. one thing she didn't do, everyone wanted to see from her, and never have, this sort of personal insight into who trump the man is. she speaks about him in generalities. talks about i believe my husband, but you -- she's a clearly a very private person. we don't get a sense of really any kind of window into their relationship or what it is about him that makes her feel so comfortable with the situation. >> much more on this story, extraordinary race for the white house coming up. stay with us. also coming up, breaking news, iraqi war were planes drops 17 million leaflets over 16 areas controlled by isis saying, drop your weapons, or, and surrender, or else. going live to the outskirts of mosul for the late effort on the battle to retake that key city. the second largest city in iraq. 1 million people are still there from the terror group. we'll be right back.

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that can camp out in between our teeth, if we'll let it. use gum® brand. soft-picks®. proxabrush® cleaners. flossers and dental floss. gum® brand. back at today's big political developments in the race for the white house in a few minutes. i wunt to go to iraq now where the military offensive to retake the key city of mosul from isis is in its second day. already iraqi-led forces say

they've recaptured about 75 miles of territory and president obama said in the last hour, it's going to be a difficult fight but confident isis will be defeated. cnn's barbara starr covers the story from the pentagon, and nick paton walsh is on the ground there. >> reporter: waiting years to finally push lthrough the linin and take on isis' brutality and when the day began, a dusty time. vehicles with western occupants in the convoy. air strikes often hitting the places they were headed to first. hopes isis might not fight to the tiny settlements around mosul, quickly drashed. dashed. they move down the road towards mosul and encountering pretty heavy resistance, returning

fire. what they have -- often blunt and old. [ gunfire ] they want this over, fast. suddenly, there's panic. they spot a car. a suicide car bomb racing towards them. it's isis. one -- two rockets try to hit it. [ gunfire ] the third is lucky. they push on towards the main prize, the road itself to mosul, flagged by all fires lit by isis and air strikes piling in regardless. shells still landing near the peshmerga. a partiality taken away. down on the main objective, the road itself. isis sent two car bombs at them

and attacked from both sides. >> there are military, too, the iraqi military, will have to push towards mosul. a lot of coalition, a lot of air power. [ gunfire ] [ gunfire ] >> stay in the car, now! >> reporter: isis still everywhere, even in the hills. they give chase to one man an isis fighter. he shoots a peshmerga.

humvees rescue him and hunt on. an isis fighter pops up from a tunnel. shoots. he blows him up. a tenacity and desire to die that will surely slow and bloody the fight ahead. >> nick joining us now live from near mosul right now. what do they anticipate, nick, weeks, months? this is going to be brutal. remember, there are more than 1 million people there now. >> reporter: this sewn the beginning and the advance through what should be the eddest area. kicked out by isis probably years ago. really just the fighters digging down, willing to blow themselves up, laying mines in the way of the iraqi and peshmerga forces as they advance making them very

vulnerable to air power. this was supposed to be the easy part. you saw there it really wasn't. meant to push forward today, five or six kilometers behind me taken by the peshmerga and going through other villages in the flat, open plains. yes, heard from a senior peshmerga official, his belief, could take as long as two months. possibly see us somewhere into next year. maybe even a new u.s. president before we see this wrapping up and haven't gotten to mosul. 1.2 million, possibly human shields, possibly caught in the cross fire, thought to be pushed by isis, mostly to the west of the city across the tigris river. the more dense area. a difficult fight if all trapped in there, caught up in the violence. wolf? >> presumably saying fight to the death as opposed to simply giving up. barbara, what are you learning about the u.s. military role in this operation? >> reporter: wolf, what you have a 100-plus, maybe as much as

200, as many as 200 u.s. special operations forces working with the iraqis, working with the kurdish peshmerga forces moving through that area with them. the pentagon insisted they are not on the front line to combat, but u.s. forces are working as military advise helping loam force loam -- local forces move through the areas and picking out targets aircraft can strike from overhead if needed to defense themselves and iraqi forces. the culmination sort of the obama administration strategy. train, advise, assist the local forces, but don't go into combat yourselves. as they move towards mosul in the coming days, it gets more dangerous and fraught and we'll see how much danger u.s. forces may be facing. >> thanks sto you.

nick paton walsh, be careful where you are. a courageous reporter for cnn. and triggering a massive humanitarian crisis. more than 1 million civilians remain in the city. many with simply nowhere to go as the fighting rages. president obama speaking at the without moments ago addressed this humanitarian crisis. >> we have put together plans and infrastructure for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis. 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. >> i want to bring in the united nations humanitarian coordinator for iraq joins us live from baghdad. what's being done right now to help these civilians trapped in mosul right now?

>> we're very worried in the worst case scenario as many as a million civilians may be forced to flee the city in search of safety. so what we're doing is trying to prepare emergency camps and emergency sites to receive those people and make sure that they receive the assistance that they need and deserve. we have six camps established at present. that could take up to 60,000 people and we are rushing against the clock in order to establish more than 20 new emergency sites. if there's a worst case scenario we're going to need all the space available. >> are you working under the assumption that these isis terrorists in mosul will fight to the death and simply start blowing up buildings, oil fields, killing civilians, car bombs? or will they -- you can only hope, when they see the overwhelming force they're dealing with, give up, raise they're hands with a white flag? what's the assumption you're working under? >> you know, as humanitarians we hope for the best but are oh

blimped to plan for the worst. in a worst case scenario, we think think face the most extreme conditions, probably most extreme in the world. worried civilians could be caught in cross fire. could be victims of artillery barrages, victims of snipers. we understand that isil boobytraped large parts of the city and we know for months medicines haven't made it into mosul. people who are here are in trouble and heard the price of food increased dramatically in the past few weeks, and that means many of the poor families inside the city are going to be in very serious condition when they make it out. >> yes. humanitarian nightmare we're oftening unfold. from the united nations, thanks very much for the important work you and your team are doing, lise grande. we'll stay in touch. up next, a different story we're following, university of

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we're just one day away from the third and final presidential debate, that's tomorrow night in las vegas right here on cnn. the last showdown for donald trump and hillary clinton before election day on november 8th. both candidates taking a different approach as we get closer and closer to the big night. hillary clinton will head to las vegas later today taking another day off the campaign trail to prepare. donald trump keeps up his busy

schedule. campaign schedule. two rallies today in colorado. while his running mate, mike pence is holding two events in north carolina. the democrats tackling three states. bill clinton in pennsylvania. tim kaine in detroit, michigan. bernie sanders makes two stops in arizona. cnn politics executive eder mark preston joining us from the debate site in las vegas. mark what needs to be done, these closing arguments for both candidates, and this the final debate. let's start first with donald trump. >> certainly, wolf. against, the last time we'll see the two candidates together face-to-face, to millions, tens of millions of viewers tomorrow night watching and to see what they have to say. first donald trump. he needs to get back to the basics. p pivot away from the allegations of sexual misconduct and stop talking about vladimir putin and he needs to stop talking about the election getting rigged. to that point, two, needs to explain how he's going to govern. talk about what his policies will be, how he's going to get

them done. what are some of his top priorities. how he would work with capitol hill and he needs to emphasize his ethics reform package, which could be a popular item, certainly with so much frustration towards washington, d.c., and thirdly, he needs to highlight the e-mail controversy. >> i want you to stand by. mark, stand by a moment. the republican vice presidential nominee, mike pence, is now in hillsborough, north carolina. site of that bombing, that firebombing, of the republican party headquarters there in hillsborough. he's getting a tour right now. i just want to listen in and see if we can hear what's going on. >> the bomb came through and -- the sofa, you saw from the photographs -- completely gone. >> [ inaudible ]. >> it was able to -- for whatever reason, that sofa saved the day. >> really? wow.

>> well, you know, from -- a telephone message left at about 7:00 p.m., somebody came by to get signs at that time, and was unable to -- they left a message asking when we would be open again but don't know, called in by a next door neighbor around 9:00. we don't know. somewhere in between. and the fire department didn't put it out. put itself ounchts te. >> talk about the couch he sleeps on that got burned up. >> and so glad you're here. and -- it's -- [ inaudible ]. >> could have been here. could have been. >> right here? >> yeah. >> take a look. >> right here.

>> came through -- >> frankly -- >> mark preston, ran into trouble hearing what they're saying. we'll get a better readout obviously, but clearly a moment for mike pence seeing this firebombed building, the office of the republican party in hillsborough, north carolina. donald trump a couple days ago when when he first learned about this, immediately blamed, he said animals representing hillary clinton and democrats. local authorities say they're working on it and don't know who was responsible. there was a nazi swastika painted right next door at that building. this is a sensitive issue right now, mark. your analysis. >> it certainly is, wolf. especially given the high tensions and frustrations we've seen in this campaign. now, where this office is, it's located about 10 miles northwest of durham. right now, in addition to that, there was a, in addition to the swastika, written on the wall said nazi republicans, leave

town or else. goes to show you really the high tension we're feeling right now in this campaign, and in addition to that, wolf, just south of there we saw a democratic campaign office was spray painted in carboro county that said death to capitalism. facial officials don't think it's connected. we see the damage and thankfully nobody hurt over the weekend and mike pence working and certainly touring that right now as volunteers try to clean up that office, wolf. >> yeah, and juana summers is still with us. ryan lizza still with us. authorities insisting they still don't know who it responsible poor that firebombing of that republican office. and the swastika, nazi slogan, that was painted right alongside. >> absolutely right, wolf. as you noted, donald trump was quick to suggest, animals possibly connected to the clinton campaign ratcheting up tensions in what is already a volatile election year days ahead of the, three weeks away

from election day. this example and the other example mark preston mentioned, how tense things are in the country. the visceral mood heading into election day. we'll see after the results on november 8. >> and criticism after that. >> and rushing to make accusations even before authorities figured who it is'slooking at closed video surveillance. >> we don't know what happened. big contrast of styles, donald trump blamings this on hillary clinton calling them animals and mike pence calm, listening to local officials describe what happened. i think you know, out of this terrible situation, the most heartwarming situation, democrats in the area did a gofundme and raised over $10,000 so republicans could get that office up and running. >> fortunately, no one injured. could have been a real, real human disaster as well, ryan,

juana, mark preston, thanks so much. mark preston's in vegas already. see you there tomorrow. coming up, michelle obama, bernie sanders, chelsea clinton, are all in arizona this week. campaigning for hillary clinton and what's typically been a republican stronghold. why there's new signs the democratic nominee may turn that red state blue for only the second time in six decades. we'll update you. we'll go there when we come back. yet up to 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more... ...add one a day men's 50+. complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it helps support healthy blood pressure with vitamin d and magnesium.

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republican vice presidential candidate mike pence is in hillsboro, north carolina, right now, as you saw he's been touring a local republican party office that was firebombed over the weekend. no one was injured. the office was completely damaged. this is what he just said. >> well, thank you all for coming out. my wife and i were in north

carolina today and i wanted to come by to call attention to this cowardly attack on our supporters in north carolina to in no less extent an attack on the american political system. this was an act of political terrorism. and i have to tell you how inspired i am to see the way this community has come together and supreme come together to continue to move forward undeterred, unintimidated by this senseless act of violence. and we are truly inspired. i would say to our neighbors and friends and supporters here in north carolina, you are truly inspiring people across this state and across this nation with your resilience and your courage if the face of this unprovoked attack. we are so thank to feel god there was no loss of life. i spoke to the chairman inside

as we surveyed the damage and he shared with me he often would sleep on that couch that was engulfed in flames some time this last saturday night and we're just so grateful that there were no injuries as a result of this attack but it could well have been otherwise. we're also especially thankful to governor mccrory, to mayor stevens, to our first responders, to law enforcement at every level that is working diligently to hold to strict account those who engaged in this attack on the american political system. an attack on our political system is an attack on us all. and we would urge anyone that might have information about who perpetrated this attack to come forward, share that information with the proper authorities so that we can bring to justice

those individuals that were responsible for what occurred here this weekend. to those perpetrators we simply say we will not be intimidated. you see here today the resilience and courage of people that are determined to continue to carry forward in this political process. strong, resolution and determined to make america great again. and i would say from my heart to all of our supporters here in north carolina, here in orange county we are with you, our prayers are with you. we are thankful that, despite this trouble, that everybody's okay and just be assured that in the next three weeks we're going to work our hearts out here in orange county and all across north carolina to make america great again, so thank you very much for the opportunity to be

here and i'll be happy to take a question or two. yes, please? [ applause ] >> reporter: could you tell me what, if anything, you think this says about this year's campaign season? >> well, i'm not in the habit of blaming victims of crime and what happened here on saturday night was utterly inexcusable. it was an act of political terrorism. against the good people of orange county and really against the american political system. i think it -- we all of us across the political spectrum condemn the acts that took place this week end in the strongest possible terms and we'd do well-to-do th well-to-do that. >> reporter: yesterday you talked about the rigged election. do you agree with your running mate donald trump that polling places in this country are going to be rigged? he specifically said polling

places on november 8 will be rigged. do you believe that? >> i think the point donald trump has made is a combination, frankly, of the overwhelming bias of the national media in this election which is evident to observers across the spectrum. to be honest with you, since i joined this campaign, i've been astonished at the level of negative coverage of my running mate and the scant coverage of an avalanche of scandals and corruption coming out of the campaign of hillary clinton. but today is also -- today -- today is also evidence of that, ladies and gentlemen. i mean, i'm here to call attention to an act of political terrorism on the orange county republican headquarters in north carolina. this has gotten very little national media attention and i can't help but feel that had this been the other way around, had it been an attack in this county on the other political party's county headquarters that the level of coverage and discussion would be significantly different and i think most of the american people know that. but with regard to the elections

themselves, i will tell you, i'm someone that believes -- i believe in local participation. there's no question, whether it be in the state of indiana or in states around the country that in recent years we've had instance, proven instances, of voter fraud. that's why donald trump and i are encouraging our supporters around the country and frankly every american, whatever their politics, to take the opportunity to be involved in a respectful way in providing accountability at our polling places. the one person one vote principle is the very bedrock of our democracy and ensuring through participation in the process of assembling the vote between now and november 8 is a certain way the american people can ensure the integrity of this election and i'm confident we'll do that. >> reporter: governor, are you

suggesting that the existing long-standing bipartisan tradition of poll watching that both parties have worked out for years, is that not enough? are you talking about something in addition to that? mr. trump seems to be suggesting that that hasn't been enough. >> no, i think poll watching and the accountability that's built into state laws that govern elections has served us well. but we're encouraging all of our supporters, given the enormous importance of this election, given the dramatic choice the american people face in this election to be involved, to take the opportunity, to respectfully participate in the electoral process on a precinct-by-pri since level. but let me say again, i'm here to call attention to an act of political terrorism and i'm grateful to those members of the media who are here with us today. i mean, everyone across the spectrum in this country, men

and women of goo will be they republican, democrats or independents universally condemned this attack on our system and i'm near stand solidly with the rages you people of orange county say that we are with you and that we will be undeterred. [ applause ] and i thank you very much. >> there's mike pence, the republican vice presidential nominee in hillsboro, north carolina. he had toured that republican party office there which was firebombed in recent days. fortunately no one was hurt. no injuries, but there was a nazi swastika painted right there and we earlier heard in a tweet from drump, the republican pat shl candidate, he blamed what he called animals representing hillary clinton and her campaign and democrats for this attack, you did not hear that right now from mike pence. he's hoping that this investigation will go forward.

he thanked all the people there for their good work. he called it an act of political terrorism. we'll continue our special coverage, much more coming up right here on cnn. the news continues right now. >> wolf, thank you. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. you're watching cnn. we are one day before the final presidential debate and donald trump's final chance to deliver a game changer. the candidates are now each dodging new controversies and new headaches, let's begin with donald trump. the president of the united states called him a whiner and the recent rhetoric unprecedented. here was president obama just moments ago. >> i have never seen in my lifetime or in modern political history any