or expand your office and take on whever comes next. find outowmerican express cards services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. live pictures from washington university in st. louis. home of the second presidential deba debate, airing tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here on msnbc. good morning. i'm al sharpton. today the trump campaign is on life support. and the republican party is in chaos. tonight, tens of millions of people will watch the debate to see what both donald trump and

hillary clinton say about the vulgar, lewd trump video that has upended this campaign. it's turned trump into a pariah in his own party, and a punchline again on "saturday night live." >> i would like to take this time to formally apologize -- >> what? what are you saying? >> i deeply apologize. >> are you trying to say apologize? >> no, i would never do that. what i am doing is apologizing to all the people who were offended by my statements. but more importantly, to the people who were turned on by them. i hear it is really 50/50. >> senator john mccain and dozens of other gop leaders have abandoned trump, saying they would not vote for him as their nominee. one gop senator said, quote, if i ever heard anyone speak this

way about my daughters and my granddaughters, they would be shopping for a new set of teeth. but senate minority -- senate leader, rather, mitch mcconnell, has not withdrawn his support from trump. nor has speaker paul ryan. though he did revoke an invitation for trump to appear at an event yesterday, late yesterday in wisconsin. >> let me just start off by saying there is a bit of an elephant in the room. and it is a troubling situation. i'm serious. it is. i put out a statement about this last night. i meant what i said. and it is still how i feel. but that is not what we are here to talk about today. >> many republican leaders and pundits are now calling for trump to drop out of the race entirely. trump insists he's not quitting the race. but more damaging videos may be

coming. one former producer of the apprentice says, quote, when it comes to the trump tapes, there are far worse. joining me now is tara dodal, democratic strategist and former contestant on "the apprentice." and the author of "the making of donald trump," daunk for being here. when you were on "the apprentice," did you hear anything about donald trump's behavior toward women on the set? >> when i was on the show, i heard resuumors about trump say things in the board room, nothing i experienced, but when we read one of the new york times stories that came out, they made it clear that trump

had an aversion to black women, that's what miss hart said, who came out and said he forced himself on her at one point, while her and her then fiance and husband were working to do business with him. >> now, so never directly with you, but you heard rumors. so when we hear this person say that there are far more worse things that could come out in a tape, that's possible. >> i think it is absolutely possible. i mean, it is totally consistent with trump's behavior. he has been making borish, inappropriate, vulgar, vile comments throughout the election cycle. most of his comments have been directed at people of color, communities of color. so people didn't care as much about those comments. now that they are graphic in nature, very specific, and focused on a white woman, there seems to be a lot more concern -- >> married woman. >> more concern and outrage than before. he always had a problem with

women, which is why kellyanne conway was brought on to be the campaign spokesperson to begin with. i say spokesperson because i do not believe she's running that campaign. but that's why she was brought on to begin with. but this is a long history of behavior on trump's part. there is tons of allegations against him, sexual harassment, things even worse than sexual harassment. >> let me go to you, david, because when you followed trump for a long time. and written books, the book about him. were you surprised at all about these videos? >> no. not at all. i do think that what is important in the video is less his crude and vile language, which isn't that uncommon in america, it is his description of felony crimes. sexual assault is a felony crime. and he's boasting about that. and i would separate that from his observations about the young woman they meet when they get off the bus, for example. and i think that's what we need to pay attention to.

and you notice the timidity of both republicans and those pastors who have said that donald trump is a fine christian man, and similar comments. >> let me push you on that, david. a new political morning poll shows reaction from republican voters, just 12% think trump should drop out of the race. 74% think gop leaders should support trump. is there anything that would move his base and why this tepid kind of response from some evangelical leaders, some republican leaders, including mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, in terms of their support? >> well, first and foremost, he absolutely should not get out of the race. he is the nominee and we should have a vote on his fitness and that should tell us a lot about the people who put him in the position of being the nominee. so he absolutely should stay in. and the democrats should say, it

is your duty to stay in, and finish it right up to election day. as to the other stuff that is going on, i think a lot of the republicans, excluding the mormons in utah who have uniformly rejected trump because of this, they have made a political choice that they think they're better off not dropping him because they just need to hang on to their base in order to get back into office. it will be interesting to see what happens in the close races for the senate, like ohio, where rob portman is seeking another election. and as for the pastors that are doing this, i do not understand how anyone who is an actual christian, who believes inned word in the new testament, can possibly support donald trump. in my book, "the making of donald trump," i cite at length his aggressively anti-christian philosophy. he calls people who follow the teachings and the sermon on the mount fools and idiots and says his philosophy is -- >> those are quotes, but here,

if you find if you want to be silent, but if you endorsed him, now don't you as a minister or whoever have the obligation, if you're claiming moral leadership, that is, to come back and deal with these kinds of statements that has gone public. and even on the political side, again, speaker ryan said he was, quote, sickened by the video. mcconnell called it repugnant. yet they still support trump. >> exactly. they're sicknd ened by it but n sickened enough to cut him loose. that's problematic. what is also very problematic for republicans is they were okay with everything else up to this point. they were okay when he said blacks were lazy. they were case when he wanted to ban all muslims coming into the country. they were okay when he said mexicans are rapists, maybe some are good. they were okay with his comments about the judge. they were okay with his

birtherism. they own donald trump. they created the environment that enabled donald trump. when president obama took office, they went about trying to be racially divisive because they wanted -- >> from day one. >> from day one. and i want to make one point about politics. politics is about identifying the strength of your opponent and attacking that strength. president obama was seen as a uniter. his coalition was diverse. so it was in their interest to go after that strength, attack it and turn it against him. that's what they did. and that helped create trump. >> david, tonight is the second debate. and i argue my feeling is the race is over. i don't see how trump wins. he has nothing to lose. what should, could we expect that he would do if i'm right? he has nothing to lose. he's got to try to salvage his brand for business. what does he do tonight? >> well, if he gets tired as he did at the last debate and went

off on rosie o'donnell because he was so exhausted he couldn't remember the question on the table, who knows what he will do. if he wants to have a new career with a new television operation, then he's going to be thinking about how do i get people to believe that what they're seeing in front of them is the utter corruption of america and i alone can save you, and i would expect that to be his focus if he's thinking commercially. but i want to re-emphasize, he absolutely should not withdraw from the race, we should get a vote on this man and the people who put him in a position to run for president. >> tara, we're out of time. what should mrs. clinton do tonight? there is all kind of inferences he may try it go after questions around former president clinton's indiscretions, there are other people saying he's liable to just do anything. you're a democratic strategist, how would you advise hillary clinton? >> i think she should keep him on the offensive, and push him

on the offensive, and i think at the same time she needs to transition to show and highlight the positive vision she has for this country, and back it up with policy. and make sure people understand, his rhetoric is connected to policy. what he says is how he will govern. what he says about women is how he will treat women. what he says about asians is how he will treat asians. she needs to make those points in -- from a policy perspective. >> tara, david, thank you for your time. next, digging deeper into trump's debate strategy. should he address the questions swirling around this campaign? and later, i'll talk to a trump adviser one on one about the candidate's plan to stop even more republicans from jumping ship. ♪

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there is a big difference between the words and actions of other people. bill clinton has actually abused women and hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed, and intimidated his victims. we will discuss this more in the coming days. see you at the debate on sunday. >> donald trump apparently threatening to go after bill clinton's past in tonight's presidential debate. but will he really do it? is that his last best chance to recover? and how should hillary clinton respond? "snl" had some fun last night imagining the campaign's reaction when the news first broke. ♪

♪ celebration celebrate ♪ >> let's go to nbc's hallie jackson live at the debate site in st. louis. hallie, what are you hearing about trump's state of mind going into this debate? >> well, i had one source close to the campaign say to me over the last 18 hours or so that, quote, mood not great within the trump campaign. another said that it is essentially a state of paralysis or it has been as a trump campaign figures out what their best shot is to try to salvage some of this later on tonight. i think what you're seeing from donald trump are beyond hints about his plans to go after bill clinton's past indiscretions. he all but assured the public he would do so in that video statement that came out very early on saturday morning and then had those retweets last

night of juanita broaddrick, another signal. at this point there are folks within the republican party, people waiting to see what happens tonight. that's something i have heard from some high level republicans that they want to see what happens on the debate stage, how he does, how he performs. you may see other elected officials and i think it is probably likely withdraw their support of donald trump over the next 24 to 48 hours, depending on his performance on sunday evening. so i think this has been -- while it has been an extraordinary weekend, of a campaign in crisis, of a party in crisis, there is more potential fallout to come for donald trump. i'm looking too, this new morning poll that shows -- online poll, showing 45% of people believe donald trump should stay in the race. 39% believe he should drop out. what did we see from trump? 18 hours ago? him coming out in front of trump towe tower, surprising his supporters, fist pumping defiantly. he's, for now, going nowhere.

>> it brings up wonder about the trump/pence relationship, his vice presidential candidate. "snl" took aim at that relationship. watch this, hallie. >> the only person i need is my running mate, mike pence. i love mike pence. i respect pence. i'll always have pence. >> actually, today he said he can't condone your remarks and then he canceled his campaign events. >> mike pence is a loser. i hate his guts. i call him puny pence. >> what is happening with the ticket right now, hallie? >> yeah, i think there is some question marks about that. when you saw pence come out yesterday, and deliver that statement that he did not -- could not defend those remarks, did not condone them and would be watching at the debate, i think that is significant. it is also significant there is a report out and i believe the wall street journal that pence assured donors at a fund-raiser overnight he was standing by trump, at least for now, but i

think that you haven't seen mike pence publicly since this really started to break. he came out late friday afternoon, right as this was starting to bubble, and reiterated his support for trump. what we saw on saturday was him canceling that appearance in wisconsin, that festival he had been set to go to, that paul ryan essentially disinvited trump from. at this point, you got to wonder how that relationship is working given you are seeing so many elected officials come out and saying, hey, if i don't vote for donald trump and won't vote for hill kri clintary clinton, i'm write in mike pence instead. that's another development we'll see later on within the next 24 to 48 hours. >> hallie jackson, thank you so much. let's bring in david birdsal, dean of the school of public affairs at baruck college. have we ever had this kind of controversy going into a debate? >> this is unchartered

territory. there has never been such a wide range of plausible strategies from a candidate that will confront donald trump this evening. >> now, this is a town hall style debate. >> right. >> how will, for example, donald trump going after bill clinton's past play in that type of debate? >> well, it is going to be harder to do it than in the standard stand-up podium style debate. it is a more intimate setting. the candidates begin seated. they have the option to get out of those seats. they can approach questioners, remember the questions here aren't -- >> some of the questioners will be the audience. >> all of the questions. there might be a moderator follow-up to get clarity on a response or to ask the candidate actually answer the question, but these will be citizen questioners and undecided voters at least in theory. the moderators will pick which people get to ask the questions so you get a spread on issues. it is not going to be easy for donald trump or hillary clinton for that matter to try to demean the questioner or suggest the

question isn't something they should be answering. >> hillary clinton has not addressed the controversy on camera. how should she handle it tonight? >> she should try to say as little about it as possible. donald trump is doing a pretty good job of keeping this front and center on the american stage to the extent that she can let that happen, perhaps talk about how disappointed she is in what he said, that's her best strategy. she's going to have to have a story about that, and she's going to have to make it connect. remember that this is a forum that hillary clinton is very well accustomed to. she uses it frequently on -- >> the town hall forum. i want viewers to understand, i remember when i was in the presidential race in 2004 and i was in the debates, a town hall

forum is different. what are the challenges for candidates and will be the challenges tonight with this type of debate? >> well, first, trying to make a clear connection with the people asking the questions. again, these people are voters, proxies for everybody else in the audience, in ways that journalists can't be. number two, you have stage management issues. if you're standing behind the podium, you're behind the podium, you can gesture, decide which camera to look at. you can get up and create some proximity with the people asking questions by walking up to them, by figuring out where you are with regard to the cameras. donald trump is clearly experienced with that, but not in this forum. so served john mccain poorly in 2008 when he also experienced town hall forum person got up and started wandering around the stage and got in between the camera and his opponent, barack obama, in that election. so these are things you need to practice. hillary clinton has practiced it by all indications donald trump

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welcome back. we're just hours from the second presidential debate site. but already a new debate has kicked off within the gop. it is about how to handle donald trump. major party figures like former secretary of state condoleezza rice are denouncing him. arizona senator john mccain says he won't vote for trump, the head of the rnc is directing campaign funds away from the gop nominee and rnc lawyers are reportedly looking at the

process for replacing trump. maine senator susan collins who doesn't support trump, is wondering aloud how that would even work. >> i'm not sure how that would work at this point. there are many states that have already begun early voting. and i'm unclear what would happen. so this is a decision that only donald trump can make. and i don't -- this is unprecedented and i don't know what the process would be for replacing him. >> let's bring in nbc news senior political editor mark murray. big picture, have we ever seen a major party warring with its own nominee this close to election day? >> i can't remember this at all. this is really unprecedented. what we see is a development where you have people who really

wor weren't in the trump camp to begin with or lukewarm since he became the republicans' presumptive nominee. those are the people who started to jump ship. where we have seen that the people who are with donald trump from the get-go, his supporters that fueled him during the entire primary process are still with him. but still reverend al this is a republican party that is split. this is very, very tough news when the election day is 30 days away. >> is there any scenario in which you could see trump dropping out? >> there is a scenario. you could end up seeing it happen. just everything that he has indicated over the past 24 to 48 hours suggests that he is staying in this. to me, the big key was the statement from melania trump where she said donald trump has apologized, she accepted his apology and she wants everyone else to accept it. i think that is clear that they are being able to stick into

this race. and there also is the reality, reverend al, it is going to be really hard to really change forces at this stage where people are already voting, including in the key battleground state of iowa, ballots have already been printed. the whole process has started and it is very, very difficult to basically put that toothpaste back in the tube. >> as he walks on that stage tonight, to face a town hall style debate, is he there trying to salvage a campaign that many including me don't see how that's possible, or is he there to try to salvage donald trump's brand? because where does he go from here, even as he loses the election, which many of us feel is a given now. what is on his mind as best you can get from people around him if anything? >> yeah. that's a great question. already going into this debate, before friday's explosive news,

this was already setting up to be a make or break moment for donald trump as well as the entire republican party up and down the ballot. and then, of course, friday's news makes it even more complicated. on what donald trump wants to do, i think the indications are that he wants to litigate the bill clinton years. that's at least from his statement that he released late friday night, an apology and saying bill clinton is fair game, and he looks forward to the debate. so i do think that it is very possible and likely that we see a full litigation of that, reverend al. i think that is going to create the explosive atmosphere for tonight's debate. >> mark murray, thanks. and, next, it is not just a new tape. trump's controversial language about women through the years now coming back to haunt him. plus, conservative radio show host hugh hewitt who says trump should get out of the race.

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i would say this, listen, women, if you give me a chance, i promise i can do a whole lot more than just grab it. i can also bop it, twist it and pull it. >> "snl" mocking trump's comments in the 2005 video. those remarks were shocking, but not surprising. he repeatedly has drawn fire for comments regarding women. check out this clip from the msnbc documentary citizen trump. >> you called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> when he gave the line about rosie o'donnell, and megyn was

very surprised that the audience didn't boo, but instead they cheered, they laughed, they rallied, they were supportive, that changed everything. >> you once told a contestant on "celebrity apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president? >> i think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. and honestly, if you don't like it, i'm sorry, i've been very nice to you, though i could probably maybe not be based on the way you have treated me, but i wouldn't do that. >> donald trump is obviously the opposite of politically correct. and that resonates with people and that's what makes him a wild card too. you don't know where he's going to come from on any given day. >> you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. >> and clinton has made trump's past comments on women a key

part of her ad campaign with videos like this. >> pregnancy is a wonderful thing for the husband. certainly an inconvenience for a business. >> the look matters, like you wouldn't have your job if you weren't beautiful. >> i moved on her look a [ bleep ]. i couldn't get there. she was married. big phony [ bleep ]. she's totally changed. >> mr. trump, women are going to be the reason you're not elected to be president. >> but for all that, many of his base supporters are standing by him, and criticizing republicans who condemn his comments. >> it is your job, paul ryan, to endorse the republican nominee and you finally did that after you called him a racist. but now you heard him say a couple of controversial things about a woman in a locker room with a bunch of guys, donald trump is an amazing man. the people who do not support donald trump, especially in our party, you support hillary clinton.

>> straight ahead, trump adviser steve cortez and conservative radio host hugh hewitt on why he says trump should get out of the race. what powers the digital world? communication. like centurylink's broadband network that gives 35,000 fans a cutting edge game experience. or the network that keeps a leading hotel chain's guests connected at work, and at play. or the it platform that powers millions of ecards every day for one of the largest greeting card companies. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink.

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also serves on trump's national hispanic advisory council. first of all, thanks for being here, steve. >> good morning, al. thanks for having me. >> just 24 hours after the release of the tape, let's start with this, what is the mood inside the trump campaign? >> obviously there is concern. we have work to do tonight. but i do think that we owe mr. trump those of us who supported him in the primary, we owe him a listen. i think the american people owe him a listen tonight. he clearly has work to do. i'll be the first to admit that, even though i do still support him. i'm not joining some of my fellow republicans in repudiating him, though i certainly repudiate his comments. i think that was over a decade ago. i think he's a different man. i believe in forgiveness. and i don't believe anyone is irredeemable despite the fact that hillary clinton seems to think a lot of us are. having said that, i think we are presented the american people now with two very flawed candidates, two highly unlikely candidates.

>> let me push you on that, steve. what would make you withdraw your support? i mean, after seeing what he said on that video, we're talking about a 59-year-old man at the time, we're not talking about some youthful guy that got carried away. >> sure. >> what would make you reconsider your support given what he said in the past and now this kind of blatant graphic, lewd kind of behavior? >> right. listen, al, that's a fair question. a couple of things, if he said that very recently if that tape was from six months ago, for me, that would be a deal breaker. if he would not apologize. and his second apology, first one, frankly, didn't cut it with me and not with very many people. the second one on video was unreserved and unmitigated. he apologized, asked for forgiveness, asked his wife for forgiveness. i'm willing to grant that. i think he has -- the onus is on him to come out and sell his starkly different vision for america, the american people. and also convince them that he's

a very different man than the man on that tape from over a decade ago. i believe he is. >> he was 59 years old, steve. i get it. it was ten years ago. but it wasn't like he was 30 or 20. and you're saying it took him two apologies to give you convinced to hang on and see what the end is going to be as one would say. >> right. listen, al, i get your point. this was not a youthful indiscretion. he was already a middle aged if not older man at the time. but i think he was a very different man. he was a hollywood type figure, a reality tv person, and i'm not making excuses. i have a wife. i have three daughters. that kind of talk is repugnant to me. but what i am saying is today, the choice we have between hillary clinton and donald trump, to me, the choice couldn't be clearer in terms of a vision for america, we have an economy right now that is hobbling. we have terror which is on the march. i think we can reverse both of those trends with donald trump i think when it comes to

prosperity and security, compared to hillary clinton, to me, there is still no choice but, again, we have got our work cut out for us. this won't be the most fun day of media. >> is trump going to go after bill clinton's past and how mrs. clinton handled his past? >> i think so. at least that's the indication right now. i don't think that's a good idea. i don't want to focus on sexual escapades from the 1990s. i want to focus on growth and security. and i think by the way my guess is, you know, clearly the republican party had a problem with women voters already before the trump scandcannescandal. we probably have a deeper problem now with women. i think winning women over is by talking about child care and job security. that's not my decision to make. it is donald trump's. i am with him, but, again, he's got a tough task ahead of him and i hope he -- america needs

it. we cannot continue. >> you say win women over. you do not believe these tapes ruin his chances of winning this election under any circumstances? >> you know, i sure hope not. again, i believe in forgiveness. i believe in second chances. if this were something he did in -- >> forgiveness and voting for somebody is two different things. >> sure. >> you can forgive somebody and say, but i don't think i can vote for this guy. >> of course. of course. but forgiveness only happens when you say i'm sorry. i would love hillary clinton to say she's sorry for saying i'm deplorable, irredeemable. i would like her to say she's sorry for -- i think we have a far more deeply flawed candidate on the other side and i will make that case aglessively and given this binary choice, it is a binary choice now, i think donald trump is the option that matters for america, for women, for color, for all colors, for

prosperity and security going forward. >> well, steve, i think a lot of republican leaders are not listening to you, but i give you credit for swinging with all you have in a very, very tough point this morning. steve cortes, thanks a lot. >> thanks for having me. more now on the fallout from the tape, especially among republicans. trump, of course, is vowing to weather the storm, refusing to back down. saying there is zero chance he'll drop out. it's a stance that might anger many republican leaders, but this morning, a sign that the base is sticking with trump in a new poll, just 12% of republicans say trump should end his campaign. 74% say party officials should continue backing trump. major wrinkle in that debate that's happening inside the

party. radio host hugh hewitt made headlines yesterday. he joins me now from st. louis. hugh, the gop base doesn't seem to agree with you. are they wrong? >> well, the gop base is loyal to mr. trump because they followed him through a long primary process. and as of friday, i was with him in urging people take the rebound that mike pence had. but i'm doing my analyst job here, al. here's the deal. mass attending catholics were already attached to donald trump. after this video, that already deeply weakened number, down 22% over what mitt romney did in 2012, is going to plummet. latter day saints, deeply attached to the concept of marriage and fidelity in marriage, he was already on thin ice with most mormon support out there for him. it crashed through the ice as you saw jason chaffetz and mike lee join mitt romney yesterday as the most public -- jeff flake

another mormon in the political sphere. it crashed through the ice. that matters in arizona. as a political matter, i'm a john 8:1-11 on this, i'm not going to throw stones and say it was disgusting and repulsive, but there are many behaviors that are disgusting and repulsive. objectively, i don't think he can win. i think he endangers richard burr in north carolina, a wonderful senator, i think it endangers joe heck, who will win the only seat, and still may, general heck, dr. heck, great candidate in nevada. donald trump's fiasco endangers that. he may even endanger the house majority. >> i get it that you're saying politically he makes the senate races more difficult and he can't win.

and putting aside the morality or immorality of his statements because he certainly said things before this that i found repugnant, you're saying he can't win. but many experts, legal experts, say it would be next to impossible to take trump's name off the ballot and replace it with someone else. what is your response to that, hugh? >> they're wrong. and i can cite robert toracelli in new jersey in which democrats panicked over losing the senate majority, pulled the torch, off the ballot, went to a federal judge, replaced him with frank lautenberg. so it is up there, a lot of litigation, but can't be forced off. i want to be clear about that. mr. trump is the nominee. he can only lay it down. i think it is in the country's interest, the party's interest, his family's interest, his own interest to do that. we'll see tonight what happens. i'm afraid gasoline is headed to the fire. he should be talking about the

podesta e-mails. he should be talking about hillary clinton's goldman sachs tapes in which he calls for a basically one world market in the hemisphere, just completely two faced over what she said during the bernie sanders campaign, he should be talking about uma abedin referring to apa a apac as that crowd. it is not getting any attention, it all broke in last 48 hours. any other republican nominee and mr. trump but for this video would be marching to victory today. instead as i said on the "today" show, this is like that terrible moment when joe theismann was hit by lawrence taylor and suffered a career ending injury. this is that kind of a political hit. and so i just -- i think mr. trump's got to review it and probably right now trump tower is a little bit like richard nixon's inner circle in 1974. with very little reality getting

in, but the ice melting away. despite your online poll and i was with him on friday, i understand the trump supporters. but objectively when you lose mass attending catholic and mormons, already four or five points down, don't sink the senate. don't sink the house. republicans have got to vote because mrs. clinton is going to be a disaster as a president. a disaster. >> i have to hold it there. hugh hewitt, i thank you for being with me this morning. ahead, my thoughts on a different trump controversy. the central park five exonerated by dna evidence. but this past week trump said they're still guilty in his book. well this here's a load-bearing wall. we'll go ahead and rip that out. that'll cause a lot of problems. hmm. totally unnecessary and it triples the budget. we'll be totally behind schedule, right? (laughschedules. schedules. great, okay. wouldn't it be great if everyone said what they meant?

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finally, a word about donald trump. the newly surfaced video from 2005 landed like a bombshell.

and sent his campaign reeling. but trump did something else last week that he also needs to answer for. it has to do with the central park five. in the 1980s, trump led the fearmongering in this case. involving a young woman who was brutally raped and beaten. trump took out full page ads calling for the death penalty, the ad never mentioned the names of the five accused teenagers, four black, one hispanic, but the message was clear. and in public comments, he held little back. >> you better believe that i hate the people that took this girl and raped her brutally. you better believe it. and it is more than anger. it is hatred. and i want society to hate them. >> but they were innocent after spending years in prison, they were all exonerated thanks in part to dna evidence. i spoke to them in 2012.

>> this was a death sentence as raymond always says that exceeded far beyond the regular prison term. they wanted society to kill us off as well. you know, never in a million years did they want us to be able to succeed and be here before you today telling the truth about this matter. >> but this past week, donald trump did something that we can't lose sight of. he said he still believes the central park five are guilty. despite the evidence, think about that. donald trump had been in charge with those young men ever have received justice? a man confessed after they had done many years in jail. dna verified the confession of the man. and you still want scientific evidence and insist they did it. as an advocate, i believe people should stand for what they believe. but with self-confessions, and evidence, that says a lot about

donald trump. that does it for me. i'll see you back here next sunday. but first, we'll have live coverage leading up to tonight's debate. all day here on msnbc. and, of course, the big debate is at 9:00 p.m. eastern. remember here at ally, nothing stops us from doing right by our customers. who's with me? i'm in. ♪ ♪ one, two, - wait, wait. wait - where's tina? doing the hand thing? yep! we are all in for our customers. ally. do it right. we are all in for our customers. at clorox 2 we've turned removing stains into a science. now pre-treat with clorox 2! watch stains disappear right before your eyes.

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good morning. i'm stephanie rule live from washington university in st. louis. we got a cheerleading squad with us. we got a debate here tonight, right here, the second president ideal debate. and you know the stakes could not