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 be higher.

no major presidential candidate has ever faced what donald trump is facing tonight. you know what i'm talking about. mutiny in the gop. dozens of republican lawmakers have now pulled their support from trump over this lewd video. >> when you're a star, they let you do it. you can do anything. >> many now calling for him to step aside. >> only option is to formally ask mr. trump to step down. >> and the list keeps getting longer. trump defiant, saying there is zero chance he will step aside. >> will you stay in the race? >> but even his own vice presidential nominee is criticizing him. tonight, trump faces his first questions about the lewd tape and hillary clinton gets her first shot to hit him on it. the fate of trump's candidacy

may come down to this one debate. this is an extraordinary night. we are facing, here we are in st. louis, missouri. we have to break this all down and who better to do it than our team of reporters and analysts standing by to dive into today's news. i want to walk you through -- just break down what has been one of the most extraordinary three-day stretches in political history. it began at 4:00 p.m. friday "the washington post" got a hold of an 11-year-old video of trump bragging about his aggressive behavior with women. >> i moved on her and i failed. i'll admit it. >> whoa. >> i did tri and [ bleep ] her. she was married. >> just 15 minutes late, damage control, trump out with a statement apologizing for what he called, quote, locker room banter. but the damage was done. and by friday night, republicans like jason chaffetz started for the exits. >> your reaction to what you just heard? >> i'm out.

i can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for president. >> i'm out. fast-forward to midnight, trump tried for a second time to make a -- make the whole thing go away with an apology. >> anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who i am. i said it, i was wrong. and i apologize. >> it didn't help. by saturday morning, floodgates were opening, some republicans like mitch mcconnell condemned trump. others like senator mike lee said trump should get out of the race. >> you, sir, are the distraction. your conduct, sir, is the distraction. it is the distraction from the principles that will help us win in november. >> at that point, trump went apologetic, to defiant. he told "the wall street journal" there was zero chance he would quit. by 1:00 p.m., his own running mate mike pence was putting daylight between him and trump saying he could not condone or

defend trump's remarks. by 3:00 p.m., melania trump's turn to go for damage control with a statement saying the words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me, i hope people will accept his apology as i have. but, less than one hour later, it was trump again tweeting that he would never drop out of the race, and 5:00 p.m. saturday, former nominee and veteran senator john mccain said he could no longer vote for trump. one hour later, former secretary of state condoleezza rice followed suit. by last night, nearly three dozen republican lawmakers said they would not vote for trump, had withdrawn their endorsement or said flatly donald trump should drop out of the presidential race. that is a lot of information. we're going to go through all of it. let's start with hallie jackson and kristen welker. kristen, i'll start with you. what is the fallout besides you working overtime this weekend? >> we all worked overtime this weekend. that's for sure. i think from the perspective of the clinton campaign who i've

been talking to, the strategy is to sort of let trump stew in his own juices in these negative headlines. they did come out with a very brief statement, by christina reynolds, one of the top aides, on friday night, essentially saying this man can't be president. they did put out a web ad, but other than that, secretary clinton has been pretty quiet. she's been engaged in debate prep. we expect that she's going to bring this up early on in the debate tonight. so a lot of eyes on what she is going to say and how she's going to handle this situation from the perspective of donald trump, though, this seems to be a crisis point for him. and, you know, hallie has been outside trump towers all weekend long reporting on this. they have been inside trying to determine just how to move forward. how to deal with the damage control. how to deal with the fallout, all of those republicans who say they now can't support him and who are calling on him to get out of the race. it benefits secretary clinton, but i think how she handles these next 24 hours are going to be pivotal, how she handled herself in the debate tonight.

>> donald trump heading back to twitter. what he is putting out? >> just while you were talking, breaking down the developments over the last 48 hours, we have a new development. donald trump getting a line talking about his -- pull it up on screen, his tremendous support and then in parentheses, except for some republican, "leadership," trump thanking his supporters. it is not just some republican leadership. you're seeing a fairly significant number of republicans come out, by our count, more than 40 so far, withdrawing their support of trump, including john thune. mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, the highest ranking members of congress have come out and condemned trump's remarks but have not withdrawn their support at least not yet. you're also seeing this tidal wave of vulnerable senators. john mccain, rob portman, kelly ayotte saying they won't vote for donald trump, couple saying instead they're going to write in mike pence so a big question mark about that relationship as

well. >> donald trump is saying it is just the elite, just the establishment, but tonight is town hall format. what could he face? >> he's going to face questions from undecided voters. and they are going to be critical to determining who wins this election. i think that there is a chance for him to speak in personal terms to apologize again in personal terms, we'll see if he does that. but, look, if you are the clinton campaign right now, and the democratic party there is an opening here. right now, she's already beating him among women voters by 20 points. she has a chance in this moment could see that gap expand even further. a lot of women who are undecided now, who may have been considering donald trump prior to this, it could send them in the other direction. so i think that you're going to see the clinton campaign try to capitalize on that, not only tonight at the debate, but in the coming days. >> hallie, you have new reporting from inside the campaign. i know this morning i thought we would see kellyanne conway,

reince, we're not seeing them. it is just rudy giuliani out there. >> they planned out of sunday planned appearances. i'm being told it is a state of paralysis inside trump tower and my colleague katy tur in new york now is reporting that the implication that kellyanne conway, the campaign manager, was considering quitting. that is something we have been hearing about privately since really friday night. and talking about sort of what we're hearing from sources, she reports that kellyanne is thinking about her children, about her family, and the campaign is lurching into crisis mode to see if trump can weather the storm. that's been clear from what we have seen over the last 24 hours, the campaign in a bunker mentality here, looking to figure out how to try to salvage this race, particularly with growing calls for donald trump to get out of it. that said, we talked about how voters think. look at this new morning consult politico online poll that came out this morning. 45% of people believe that donald trump should stay in the

race and 39% think he should get out. among republicans, the number is far smaller. 12% think donald trump should step aside. >> 12% isn't zero, though. i want to bring in one of the most influential voices in the conservative party now. talk radio msnbc political analyst hugh hewitt. you called on donald trump to withdraw. if he does, then what? >> then it would be up to the present national committee to select a replacement nominee. in all likelihood it would be mike pence but up to them under the rules. the only precedent is robert toracelli. it is possible. even more important, though, the act of saying i'm laying down the nomination would revitalize the republican ability to save the senate. you saw joe heck, he's a great man, the general, the doctor, a combat veteran, a congressman, ahead in nevada, had to disavow mr. trump yesterday and do so because his electorate, the

republican party could lose the senate, the house if donald trump stays on the top of the ticket. >> why is it that you're offended now. what is it about this tape? is it that the content of this tape is so offensive? or for you do you feel like, man, he just can't win i got to get out? >> this is wildly offensive. i'm -- >> are you surprised, though? >> yes, i am. i've been in a lot of locker rooms and played a lot of golf and i would have upbraided anyone who said that to me. mass attending roman catholics, church of latter day saints, some evangelicals who were already weak are bolting in incredible numbers because they view marriage very differently than the rest of the society does. there is a whole complex of issues in this. and there isn't any room for understanding when he insulted the khans, it was awkward, an awkward way of doing things,

he's a political rookie. trump tower remarks on mex cans entering into the country without meer missipermission wae convolu convoluted. the ice formed over the river and now i'm speaking politically and pragmatically, secretary clinton would be a terrible president, would make terrible decisions. today we should be talking about the podesta tapes, the goldman sachs speeches, additional slams on global markets, we're not. instead, republicans are dealing with the media and i think what is important is that mr. trump could contribute and history would credit him for and his family would had thank him for because of the damage being done to the trump brand would be to say i can't win. and therefore i'll step aside. rnc would nominate pence, i think. >> do you believe mike pence could win? >> absolutely. you look at the podesta tapes,

uma abedin referred to the american israel public affairs committee as that crowd. when bill clinton was being asked and doug ban saying should bill clinton go to the apac, uma said, do you really want to send him to that crowd. it is a hash tag. and the basket of deplorables and irredeemable and the false promises, she is a horrible candidate. even jim gilmore could have beaten her at this point. i think george pataki would have routed her. i'm more concerned with the fact we need mitch mcconnell back as the leader. she's going to need an opposition if she wins. we need speaker ryan. they're the leaders of the republican party. i'm a christian. a family man. i believe in the united states of america. i'm a republican. and i'm concerned about my party and donald trump is a republican by accident at this point and he's burning it up. >> what if kellyanne quits, does that mean anything? >> all day long it is going to bleed more. i'm afraid that tonight will be a fiasco.

if he stays focused as i did on the podesta e-mails, on egypt, libya, the russian reset button, syria, the supreme court, he could have a good debate. if he goes after bill clinton, i think most of america will turn him off completely. that is older than his tape. that is asked, answered and relitigated. he's not on the ticket. it doesn't work. it doesn't test. it is wrong. i don't like bill clinton. what he did was horrible. i thought he should have been impeached and removed from office, but that's insane debate tactics being fed to him by people who do not know what they're talking about. >> hugh hewitt is right, if tonight is going to be a spectacular disaster, you're going to want to tune in. special coverage of the seconds president ideal debate begins with "meet the press" at 5:00 p.m. eastern and don't miss our live telecast of the debate at 9:00 p.m. eastern, followed by late night coverage with our post debate team. we'll take a quick break. i'm going to hop out with this crowd and see what they care about tonight. and, coming up, is the rnc

pulling its funding efforts from donald trump? it is a move that could be devastating for the trump campaign. and could kellyanne conway be walking away from the campaign? much more from washington university in st. louis. you got to look at this, really quick, alec baldwin, i got to love him, returned to "snl" last night and had donald trump answer questions about the leaked "access hollywood" audio. >> 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.

see me. see me. don't are at me. see me. see me. see me to kn that psorias is just something that i he. i'm t ious. is je me to ow that... i he. ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% earance. do not use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting, you should be tested for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur... ...tell your doctor if you have an iection or symptoms... ...such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur.

see me. see me. see me. on my way. find car skin... and a clearer path forward. for different kind of medicine, ask your dermalogist about coseyx.

welcome back to msnbc.

i'm stephanie rule. you know where i am, washington university in st. louis, missouri. where we're hours away from the second presidential debate. it is going to be a big one. and this just in. sources telling nbc news trump campaign manager kellyanne conway is considering quitting. this after rnc chair reince priebus met for 90 minutes having a very frank conversation with the republican presidential nominee. joining me now, buzzfeed ed political reporter rosy gray and joe mccormick, a staff writer for a conservative publication not backing mr. trump. more than 40 elected officials, senior ranking gop members are no longer endorsing donald trump, pulling. is this unprecedented? >> it is. especially at this late stage in the game, there is a month to go before the election and to see the institutional republican party really abandon their nominee like this, we're really in unchartered waters now. >> team trump is saying this is the washington elite, the establishment.

that's not how i got here. i'm an outsider with outsider support, they love me, they'll love me through the election. >> i don't think that's true. you have to look at the specifics of what said. i don't want to repeat it. but it is not simply the language, it is describing the behavior he engaged in. groping, frankly, and i think that's one -- once that news gets out there, i don't think people know what exactly happened, average voters now, some holdouts saying some republicans don't want trump off the ticket. i don't think most people know what this tape revealed. >> we have a whole bunch of -- we have trump, gary johnson, hillary clinton supporters out here. i want to turn to you. you're on the trump train. were you offended by donald trump saying he grabs women's private parts? you're okay with it? >> i don't care what trump said 11 years ago. our country is on the edge of an abyss and we need to make america great again. this is a matter of national security. i don't care what he said 11 years ago. he wasn't running for president 11 years ago. >> so 11 years ago, you're okay with him grabbing -- i'm a mom, i'm a daughter --

>> i'm sorry, it is words -- you know what, vulgarity is not treason. >> vulgarity is not treesen. >> it is not treason. we're dealing with a situation in america right now where we have very serious issues, and quite frankly i feel as though this is a deflection trying to create a occkerfuffle where the american people are going to take their eye off the ball this is national security this is keeping our sovereignty -- this is serious. we have been battling this since november 2008, we need it make america great again. >> this is serious. we're hearing from trump supporters they're not leaving him. how difficult is donald trump's road to winning this election? we have one woman here, but we have heard so many people simply saying enough is enough. >> it is extremely difficult. at this point i think most of the republicans i've been talking to over the last couple of days are basically saying the presidential is over, now it is about preserving the down ballot

candidates. >> donald trump put out a tweet from a breitbart interview including juanita broaddrick, making it clear he's going to be going to bill clinton route tonight. i want to bring up, bill clinton, adulterer, donald trump adulterer. rudy giuliani, newt gingrich, these people have had issues. hillary clinton has not committed adultery. is this a good path for donald trump? >> i think it is an ugly path to go down. to t can he make the case that she was involved in helping silence bill clinton's accusers. whether or not that can be persuaded, i don't know. format of tonight's debate isn't conducive for the kind of ugly vicious debate we're expecting. this will be a town hall. i don't know how you balance that format with the ugliness we're expecting. >> can any of this help undecided voters.

it doesn't matter how loud or enthusiastic your voters are, you only get one vote. for undecideds out there, i can say, if my husband, if i was in the public eye and he was doing what bill clinton did to me, i would treat those women pretty badly. what could this approach do for these undecideds out there? >> so i think, first of all, there are not that many undecided voters left. but certainly in terms of certain groups that donald trump absolutely must win in order to win the presidency, for example, women, for example, college educated women, this just probably damages him with them. >> we have no more time. college educated women, here we are, on the campus. college educated women, i want to hear who are you supporting tonight? i can't hear anything. hard for me to hear. how many are for trump? college educated women? how many are for hillary clinton? how many people are disgusted by

everything and you're staying home? well, luckily we have got voters. all right, thank you, both. thank you for being here. and sharing your voice. voting is the most important thing. and that's what's going to happen tonight. help people who are united states citizens and they're going to vote. a lot is going to come out tonight. we're going to be breaking it all down here on msnbc. i'm going to take a quick break. up next, donald trump supporter, they're fleeing in droves. some are defending him. we just spoke to one moments ago. we're going to talk to another supporter of his next. why does she still back him? and what is she doing to get others to get in her camp? stay with us. we're live from st. louis. site of tonight's second presidential debate. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the fruit... veggies... and herbs needed to create a pop-up pick-your-own juice bar

in the middle of the city, so now everyone knows... we have some of the freshest juice in town. see what the power of points can do for your business. learn more at chase.com/ink

see what the power of points can do for your business. let's just get a sandwich peoplor something. you don't just learn how to drive... or solve the world's problems... be a dad. "or something" and we don't just make sandches "or something" we hand-slice avocado, pull smoked chicken, bake fresh foccacia and craft ersandwich clean from top to bottom... there's nothing "or something" about it. nera. food as it should be. welcome back. time for your morning primer,

everything you need to know to start your day. you know we're starting with tonight's debate. we're less than 12 hours from the second presidential debate, which will be a town hall style. both hillary clinton and donald trump arrive in st. louis later this afternoon. hurricane matthew has been downgraded to a post tropical storm, but it continues to cause problems along the east coast. at least 11 people have died and more than 2 million people without power. there is some good news, however, the latest tracks have matthew going out to sea instead of circling back to the u.s. unfortunately, haiti continues to struggle after matthew devastated the island on tuday. more than 800 people were killed. as many as 40,000 lost their homes, leaving 6 1,000 people in shelters. another train accident in the new york metro area. 29 people were hurt when a long island railroad train carrying 600 people collided with a work train. and for a little humor in your morning, jimmy fallon and tina fey returned to the "weekend

update" late night desk. >> always like -- you got to love them. got to love them. but we got to get serious. i want to go back to the latest on the trump campaign. the debate coming up in less than 12 hours. trump adviser and former new york city mayor rudy giuliani spoke about trump's access hollywood comments on nbc's "meet the press." >> talking about his personal behavior and statements that were absolutely wrong and i think when he heard them, he was shocked. i'm not sure -- i'm not going to say he didn't remember them, but probably weren't at the top of his mind and when he was confronted with it, he was pretty darn shocked he had said such terrible things. >> halessi mcqueen joins me now. thank you. >> i'm glad to be here. >> with so many senior republican officials stepping back, dropping out, why are you

still behind donald trump? >> well, for me, it is about actions speaking louder than words. and i think this whole situation with him and what he said 11 years ago, to me, you know, he addressed it, he apologized, was heart felt about it and no one is defending what he said. i don't think anybody who supporting him is defending what he said. what we're saying is actions speak louder than words. he said this 11 years ago, apologized for it. let's look at the actions of what he's done. he's created multibillion dollar company, has wonderful children. these are the results of what he's given thousands of jobs to minorities and to women and he's also accelerated women through the ranks. these are his actions that he's done over the many, many years. let's -- now switch over to hillary. >> before we get to hillary, because it is more than just don't vote for hillary, you got to get people out there voting and wanting to support donald. if more tapes come out over the next six weeks, and it is not just 11 years ago, what if they

continue, continue, you're a mom, are you comfortable -- would you be comfortable if your sons said i'd like to grope women's private parts? >> well, first of all, i want to tell you i was in the u.s. army for five years, active duty, so hearing comments like i've heard, i've actually heard worse in the military, by military officials, but i'm not saying it is a prevalent problem, but i have heard all kinds of things, now as far as me being a mother, yes, i am a mother, yes, i do take surveillance to wh take offense to what was said, but this is a presidential campaign. what are we looking at? we're looking at what somebody said 11 years ago or doing now. with hillary clinton, what is she doing now? what has she done? she has -- she was involved in the killing of benghazi -- people killed in benghazi, she's related to that situation. she was related when she was secretary also to iraq. she has been involved in all these actions. these are her actions. >> but if what we're doing

now -- if you think about the way donald trump conducts himself what he says, we like to talk about jobs and the economy, before i can think about a job, i need to feel respected. i need to be treated equally. do you believe donald trump's word choices treat women respectfully? >> you're talking about word choices. why does she look at actions? look at the people he has in his campaign, look at the people who are in charge of his company. >> kellyanne conway may be leaving. that's his campaign manager. his campaign is manager is leaving, if she's expected to be on tv today and we're not seeing her, that's an action. someone's words are their actions it how they conduct themselves. >> it is over many years. you're talking about kenl ing i conway. donald trump has done way more than hillary clinton has done for anybody. she is -- she is a millionaire in her own right as well, but she did that on the back of taxpayers. donald trump has not. >> how did she do that on the

back of taxpayers. she was paid for speeches she gave by private organizations. >> she was a candidate, she was secretary of state. she has done these things, but she's been a politician her entire life. she doesn't know what it is like to actually work and have to, you know, bring in these profits. >> what if donald trump wasn't paying taxs? what if her background makes her most qualified for the job, give than you have a military background, what makes you think donald trump, a man -- >> i don't think she's quafied being -- having a military background at all. >> i'm saying you have a military background. >> exactly. that's what i mean. that's why i'm looking at it from that perspective. she has bungled her position when she was secretary of state. she completely bungled it. and i think that most people that look at this can say that. and she got out of that position. normally people continue onward. she was a complete disaster when she did it. >> all right.

>> that's my opinion. >> is there anything over the next six weeks if more information comes out so many republican leaders have walked away from donald, are you with him no matter what. >> i think you're speculating. i can't speak to that, i don't know what information has come out or will come out, a comment from 11 years ago will not change my mind. >> thank you for joining me this morning. we'll take a break. coming up, the big question, can trump be replaced on the ballot if he did step aside and is it possible for the rep party to dump him if he didn't? we'll break it down next. we're live if washington university in st. louis, missouri. stay with us. whether it's connecting one of the world's most innovative campuses.

or bringing wifi to 65,000 fans. businesses count on communication, and communication unts on centurylink.

to folks out there whose diabeticerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraoinarily painful, i hear you. make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. do you hear that crowd. i would love to say they're here

for me. they're not. tonight is the debate and the last 36 hours have arguably been the most challenging for donald trump's campaign. and when trump's lewd words surfaced friday, there were reports that the republican national committee was looking at options for how they could dump trump. we have been hearing dump trump for months and it hasn't stuck. could it actually now. joining me is mark murray. we have been hearing dump trump for ages and it didn't stick. why do we suddenly think this is the moment. >> there is an obscure rule that if there is some type of vacancy, say donald trump says i want to actually quit this race, that there is an -- that the republican national committee can actually fill it and they said this is in their bylaws they could be able to do so. and we're here in missouri, there is one little priss dent th that happened. -- people voted for him and his wife ended up going to the

senate. there is some kind of mechanism that somehow donald trump steps aside and people say, still vote for donald trump and maybe mike pence or someone else will take his place, but practically this will not happen. people are already voting, including in iowa, votes are already being cast, the ballots have already been printed and so how you end up putting this toothpaste back in the tube. we can talk about ways it might happen but it probably won't happen. if donald trump doesn't step down voluntarily, is there anything that the rnc, the gop can do to force it. >> that's the deal. if he decided to actually step down, that maybe there is some type of process to actually do something. but, no, there is nothing if -- if he says i'm staying in this race, they're stuck with him and ben ginsburg, really smart republican lawyer, good friend of ours, said if republicans ever really wanted to stop trump, the convention was their last opportunity to do so. we're now well beyond the convention, it was months ago. and we're 30 days before

election day. >> how about the scuttle but, the possible reporting that the rnc is pulling funding from trump going forward and focusing on down ballot races. do we know this to be true? >> there is some reporting that some of the victory fund information, the republican -- the rnc pushed back on this. but, stephanie, the down ballot is where this is. you end up looking the our brand-new polls that end up coming out today, hillary clinton up 12 points in pennsylvania, up three points in florida. this was before friday's news. donald trump is in a really tough position to be able to win this presidential contest. now it is all about saving the senate. it is about saving even the house of representatives. so i wouldn't be surprised if the republicans, including rnc chairman reince priebus says our top focus is saving down ballot republicans because the presidential race might already be over. >> mark, thanks so much. our own mark murray, so much to cover. all leading to tonight, the showdown. our special primetime coverage of the second presidential debate begins with "meet the press" daily at 5:00 p.m. eastern. then you do not want to miss our

live telecast of the debate at 9:00 p.m. eastern followed by late night coverage with our post debate team. up next, hillary clinton gets her first crack at the trump hot mike scandal at the debate. she's also going to have to talk about her own e-mails, what is her strategy. hey, it's the phlips lady! there's a more enjoyable wato get your fiber. heytry these deliciousady! phillips' fiber gd gummies, a good source of fiber to help support regularit mmmm. these are great. my worhere is done. phillips'. e tasty side of fiber.

upgrade your phone system and learn how you could save at vonage.com/business ...one of many pieces in my i havlife.hma... so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine. in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine

that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask yo doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for 12 months free at mybreo.com. we now go live to hillary clinton's campaign head kwaerqu where they just received news of the leak. ♪ >> i'm sorry, brooke. i'm sorry. i didn't see you. we were so busy preparing for the debate tomorrow.

>> that is totally unrealistic. i don't think hillary clinton has those kinds of dance moves. that was "saturday night live's" take on hillary clinton reacting to donald trump's hot mike. clinton remained largely quiet following the tape's release. clinton only tweeting this. this is horrific. we cannot allow this man to become president. i want to bring in msnbc contributor, former democratic national committee chairman and former vermont governor howard dean. good morning, governor dean. besides that tweet, hillary clinton has not publicly spoken on this. what is her strategy? she's just warming up? >> good morning, stephanie. i think there is an old saying in politics, when your opponent is digging a deep hole, don't get in the way. you really can't say much about what donald trump has to say. everybody said it, ordinary people in the street are saying it, so what is the point of people like me or certainly

sillry tsill hillary the candidate getting into this at all. it is most extraordinarily destructive thing i've seen a candidate say. >> there is a lot of calls out there from republicans for donald trump to drop out. he says he won't. what do you think happens next? >> i have no idea. i'm not an xhert expert on poli. but from what i can tell, there is no way of getting him off the ticket unless he says i don't want to be on the ticket anymore, unless he drops dead. neither of which i think is very likely. this will go on for another 31 days and we'll have an election on november 8th and choose the president and one of those people that is up for the choice is donald trump. i don't think he'll get elected. but i've said that before. i've been wrong in terms of a lot of the primaries. so we'll see what happens. >> why do you think this is the

moment, the a-ha moment for so many people to say this. this is when we have to turn on donald trump. this narrative, this is his jam. i'm going to say i'm not entirely surprised. >> the big problem here is that donald trump absolutely has to do much better among women in order to win the presidency. every minority group in the country, not just african-americans, and latinos, but asian-americans, every minority group is going to vote against donald trump because all of his remarks about immigrants and race and so forth. he's got to get college educated women who generally lean -- college educated -- what he just said is more or less saying i don't want your vote. this is just shocking to me. >> governor dean, i'm here with college women at the campus.

i asked them about some of the e-mail content edleaked by wikileaks. john podesta confirmed he was hacked and in an expert, in an excerpt, it says -- it speaks about government leaders leading a public and private position on issues. i just asked these students behind me and they said it is exactly that, that makes them feel disconnected from a candidate like hillary clinton, the fact that they don't trust her. what does she need to do to win over the millennials who are not enthused? >> interestingly enough, hillary is getting trashed, if she's getting trashed on that comment for telling the truth. that is in fact the truth about almost every politician you could ever imagine. bernie is an exception to that. there is a reason bernie is not in the power structure, there is a reason i didn't win my presidential race. politics is a tough sport. and hillary clinton actually said that's exactly what most politicians have because it is a very, very tough endeavor.

and you get penalized for being straightforward in public once you get past the primaries. so, look, i'm not defending having a public position and a private position, but when you negotiate, say, for example, especially in foreign affairs, if you're negotiating with the russians and the chinese, you can't have a public position that is the same as the private position because you have to give something up at the end. so, look, i mean, is politics disappointing sometimes to young people, idealists, it is disappointing. we hope that some of the young folks will get into politics and make it better. but we also -- i also know when we get into politics you have to make compromises. >> i'll be straightforward with you. that was a really good answer. >> it is true. >> it is a good answer. we got to leave it there, governor dean, thank you so much for joining me this morning. i know what you'll be doing tonight, watching the debate, so

will i. we'll take a quick break. we have to talk about something else equally as serious but a different beat, taking you live to the flood zone, parts of north carolina are now under water. the effects of hurricane matthew are far from over. we're going to give you an update. stay with us. whether it's bringing cutting-edge wifi to 35,000 fans... or keeping a hotel's guests connected. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink.

at cloro2 we've turned removing stains into a science. now pre-treat with clorox 2! watch stains disappear rit fore your eyes. remove 4 times more stains than detergent alone.

80% of recurrent ischemic, strokes could be prevented. and i'm doing all i can to help prevent another one. a bayer aspirin regimen is one of those steps in helping prevent another stroke. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. enis really built into theat foundation of the company. whole foods market is engaged with pg&e on many levels, to really reduce energy and reduce our environmental footprint. for a customer like whole foods, saving energy means helping our environment, and we can be a part of that. helping customers save energy is a very important part of what pg&e does. we can pass those savings on to the environment, the business, and the community. pg&e really is an expert in saving energy, and that partnership is extremely exciting. together, we're building a better california.

hurricane matthew is still causing chaos along coastal states, specifically north carolina, which has been battered with a foot and a half of rain and flash floods. nbc's own blake mccoy is live in wilmington. blake, how bad are things there right now? >> reporter: well, stephanie, the waters are finally starting to recede this morning, but here in north carolina we saw flooding much further inland than we did in florida. that's because as hurricane matthew was making its way up the coast it hugged the coast of florida, but yesterday it made landfall in south carolina. that brought a lot more moisture further inland here. i want to show you just how high the cape fear river is here in wilmington got last night. this is where it's at right now

low tide. last night this water was covering the parking lot out into the street. in kt if a, police had cones on that street to warn drivers not to drive in that water. the governor just gave an update here this morning about the conditions they are facing. there are still flooded areas inland from here. more than 800 rescues have taken place over the last 24 hours, and sadly there have been seven storm-related deaths here in north carolina. the good news, as you can see, the sun is starting to peek through the clouds which will help dry things out as the remnants of hurricane matthew make their way back out to sea. the focus now is going to turn to assessing the damage. there are more than 700,000 customers without power in north carolina alone right now, so they will be assessing the damage and waiting for the storm waters to recede further. that way they can look for any more people that may be missing in those communities, so it's going to be a long week ahead here in north carolina. stephanie? >> all right. blake mccoy joining us from

wilmington. here in st. louis we're 11 hours from tonight's debate. the second presidential debate here at the university of washington in st. louis. nbc's chris jansing. i'm outside with the squad. she is inside. chris, talk to us about the format tonight. who is going to be watching for the format. >> reporter: well, this is an interesting part, town hall format so different than what we've seen before either in the presidential or vice presidential, and we got lucky. look, they are practicing right now. those are two students who kind of approximate ate the height of both donald trump and hillary clinton, but let me show you how different this is going to be. obviously hillary clinton will be on your right. if you see this camera right here next to it is a small box. that's where four members of each family can be in the eye -- looking right at their family, so hillary clinton's family will be here. donald trump's over there. the 40 chairs you see on stage.

those are where half of the questions will come from, and those are people chosen by gallup as undecided voters, and then we're also going to have from the two moderators who will be sitting at a round table right there questions that are coming from social media. it's going to be two minutes for the first answer. two minutes for the response and then they throw it open. let's take a guess, if you want to, stephanie, what the elephant in the room will be for the first question, and i'm not talking about the symbol for the republican party. >> given all of that, you know, just a few days ago after the mike pence debate, eric trump had said mike pens represented the family well. given what donald trump has done, the leaked video, is he going to represent the trump family well in this kind of format >> reporter: i think they will tell you that he will and on thursday he was in new hampshire for what he said definitely wasn't a practice debate. he has absolutely said no to practices, but it was almost exactly the format that this

debate will be, that they wanted him to get used to this. hillary clinton has done a lot of these kinds of town halls. it's something that she likes to do. you know, he does the big room, she does the smaller rooms, so -- but it will be interesting to see tonight because if these two are any indication, these two college students, it's going to get raucous. by the way, hundreds of seats here, none on the floor. >> all right. thank you, chris jansing, inside the debate hall. i'm out here with a bunch of washington students. you're clearly a hillary clinton supporter. if you could ask a question tonight to either candidate, what would it be? >> oh, god. what is your plan to make college more affordable? >> for you, the comments you heard from donald trump, even as tough as bro are you, have you ever said anything like that? >> i would never. i have two older sisters. my mom is very proud of me and i don't think she would be very proud of me after hearing those comments. >> well, i'm proud that all of these kids are going to vote because that's the most important thing. people here are voting.

they are supporting this debate. they are supporting the election. we're honored to be here. i'm thrilled to be at wasu here in st. louis, missouri, and tonight you've got to tune in for our special primetime coverage. second presidential debate starting at 5:00 p.m. eastern. you do not want to miss our live telecast 9:00 p.m. eastern followed with our post-debate. coming up joy reid. i'm a big, big fan of joy. it's a big day. is it a caregiver determined to take care of her own? or is it a lifetime of work that blazes the path to your passions? your personal success takes a financial partner who values it as much as you do. learn more at tiaa.org

our nominee donald trump has let us down again. now let's not beat around the bush about this. the words on that tape were demeaning and they