back live to washington university in st. louis. i'm going to toss things over to tamron hall. >> good afternoon. i'm tamron hall coming to you live in tonight's second and critical presidential debate. we are at washington university in st. louis. so many questions will be answered in just five hours from now on that debate stage that you're looking at. hillary clinton and donald trump are both now here in st. louis, arriving in the past couple of hours as the anticipation grows over the tone and tactics, each will take tonight. trump campaign xwhun cases adviser jason miller just tweeted this picture of donald trump going through the walk-through at the debate site. trump campaign manager kellyanne conway, who's been largely silent on social media as this latest controversy and scandal was brewing, sent out this

picture of trump on his plane talking on the phone with his running mate, mike pence, as adviser, former new york city mayor, rudy giuliani, the only major supporter of donald trump who made the sunday talk show rounds was also on that plane. rnc chairman reince priebus there as well. all of this amid the extraordinarily upheaval created by friday night's release of that 2005 tape in which donald trump brags in vulgar terms about groping women. trump then issuing that late-night apology hours after the video was elireleased, his apology posted online, but also lashing out at bill clinton in that video. this morning, donald trump taking aim at the dozens of republicans rescinding their support of him, tweeting "so many self-righteous hypocrites. watch their poll numbers and elections go down." the rejection by fellow republicans kept coming today. >> i thought about years from

now when my daughter kate is old enough to know what is in those tapes and understand what he is talking about, i want her to know where i stood. >> i have serious doubts now about mr. trump's ability to defeat hillary clinton. in fact, i don't think he can. >> as mentioned, it was all left to rudy giuliani this morning to defend donald trump. on no less than five sunday morning shows including "meet the press." >> when he was confronted with it he was pretty darn shocked he had said such terrible things and feels terrible about it. this is something he's not going to do in the future and he's very apologetic about it ant wants to move on to what's going to be a really important 30 days. this is a situation in which neither side should throw stones because both sides have sinned. >> right now we are waiting president obama's reaction to the very latest bombshells as he campaigns in chicago for congresswoman tammy duckworth

who is running for senate. we'll follow the president's remarks and bring you that. let me go to the trump campaign. all eyes now also on his running mate, governor mike pence, who has also largely remained silent. he did issue a statement yesterday saying hefd offended by trump's remarks on that tape, then adding he looks fward to the opportunity trump has to, quote, show what is in his heart" at tonight's debate. kelly o'donnell joins us live in the governor's home in indianapolis. i understand that governor pence -- we know he attended the first debate. he's not here tonight. he's at a football game? >> reporter: spending part of the sunday afternoon supporting his indianapolis colts. i think that politically that is a way for him to be visible without having to address the issue at hand, to be able to say he's spending some down time with his family off the trail to let donald trump handle this. and tomorrow he is expected to return to the campaign trail himself. he put out a four-day schedule

of events across a few different states from virginia to nebraska to iowa and to north carolina. and what i am told is that sources close to mike pence say there have been no discussions about him getting off of the ticket. so the idea that pence would somehow like we've seen many republican office holders withdraw their endorsement, that is not in the cards here because mike pence was put on this ticket not only by the selection of donald trump but by the process at the conventions that we also were delegates from around the country supported hi nomination. so that makes it different. that is not to say that he is going to be defending or speaking about the issues related to the hot mike tame and the lewd comments that donald trump is now being criticized for. pence has other ways that he can try to contribute, to stand up for republican ideas, to try to help the party, to campaign for other candidates in addition to talking about what the trump/pence to this point campaign has wanted to do on

issues related to the economy and to try to get back to issues that are not about this sordid chapter. for mike pence, it's a waiting game. he wants to see contrition tonight. at this point is waiting to see what unfolds on that debate stage. tamron? >> thank you very much. msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt is covering the clinton campaign and joins me now from our set. by all accounts for the first time donald trump alluded to the fact he could bring up bill clinton's infidelities and allegations against the tomorrower president on stage. i would imagine that hillary clinton has been preparing what she's going to say. it's no surprise when someone tells you they're going to sock you. what is a surprise is what she'll do in return. >> that's right, tamron. i think they have been preparing for this since they started debate prep. donald trump is so unpredictable they know they needed to make sure they were ready for

whatever he was going to throw at them. he didn't in the first debate but he's previewed we can expect more of this tonight. this has been a big part of their debate preparation. she's been huddled down for four days. i think their goal here is to try to -- i don't know she'll go so far as to quote michelle obama but i wouldn't be surprised. michelle obama has been on the campaign trail saying when they go low, we go high. i think that's what we'll try to do here, take whatever comes at them on this front and turn it they hope to policy issues. >> when donald trump initially made the threat he would bring up these things in this debate, we didn't have this 2005 tape. it did not exist. this puts her obviously in a position of strength she was not in perhaps before. >> i think that's right, tamron. i spend a lot of time during the day talking to a whole host of operatives, elected officials, donors on both sides of the aisle and at this point it's hard to push the conversation between is this -- does this mean that the presidential election is over for donald

trump. emerging consensus on both side. >> farce who's coming with her, chelsea, bill clinton are they in the audience? >> this town hall setup is a little unique. that could add to the way this plays out because they are going to be seeded in the round, physically in proximity to each other but bill and chelsea clinton will be on a riser above what you'll see on tv. there is an audience of normal voter who is will be participating and asking the questions. they'll be there with the candidates. anybody like bill and chelsea clinton viewing it at the request of the campaign will be a little removed but still in the room. >> let me bring in steven cortez, a trump surrogate and a member of trump's national hispanic advisory council. you're a very busy man this morning. one of two major supporters of donald trump. the other being rudy giuliani, who i can say had the nerve to face the music today. why was kellyanne conway missing in action this morning? >> i don't know why but i'm pleased to see she was on the plane with donald trump. she's here at this university

doing the walk-through with him. so contrary to some reports she's very much on board, is an integral part of this campaign. i think it's particularly important for us because these issues obviously raise the problem that donald trump has had connecting with women voters and convincing them he has their best interests at heart. i think kellyanne is a powerful ally. >> your power is only useful if you use it. she wasn't on today. i heard you last week talk about donald trump's daughter being this great sur grat gath to bring in working moms. she was missing in action. his two sons, missing in action. is that proof the reports from "the new york times" and other sources, that there's turmoil and that basically trump tower was on fire inside yesterday and this weekend? >> look, i don't know what they were doing is the honest answer. but i will tell you my guess is what they were doing was debate prep. i think -- >> debate prep? >> yes. this debate is the most important moment clearly of his political life so far. and so my guess is that kellyanne conway was huddled

within trump tower debate prepping. the fact she's tweeting from the plane -- she's not hiding anymore. >> she's not hiding anymore. she was. >> hiding is the wrong word. she's in the open now. i misspoke. i suspect that after the debate going forward later tonight, tomorrow, we're going to see a lot of her. i hope we see a lot of ivanka. i think powerful women surrogates like that will show that donald trump today, the way he treats women, the actions he takes towards women, are contrary to that terrible tape we heard. >> the tape we all have heard it, but i want you to hear what rudy giuliani said regarding the language donald trump used. let's play him from abc this morning. >> both senator mccain and vice president biden pointed out, what trump is describing in that saipe is sexual assault. >> that's what he's talking about. whether it happened or not i don't know, and how much exaggeration was involved in that, i don't know. i do know there's a tendency on

the pt of some men at different tes to exaggerate things like this. >> so giuliani said he is talking about sexual assault. "newsweek" is now reporting that a miss usa pageant contestant, former utah, told "the new york times" donald trump kised her on the list lip without consent. jill hart, a pageant owner, filed a suit against him in federal court in manhattan in 197 describing a relentless campaign of sexual harassment and assault including an incident. when donald trump or if donald trump brings up bill clinton, this is out there. he's not answered these questions yet. what would you advise him tonight? >> well, i can't speak to those incidents. i haven't read about them so i don't know. i think giuliani in general is a fantastic spokesman for us. i don't know that he did a great job right there. this isn't just guy talk. >> and this is not me trying -- okay, kellyanne conway not hiding anymore, which you amended, giuliani says what he's talking about is, you know,

sexual assault, on no planet are those those two great moments just hours before this debate. >> he need to speak incredibly forthrightly from the heart. i think he need to have very profound contrition tonight and he needs to specifically convince women that he has their best interests at heart, that the economy and security are his macro issues where he is starkly different from hillary clinton, and he need to convince them of that, and i believe he will. if he does, we can move on to those issues. if we get to the macro issues, i think we win. we've been bogged down for sure, obviously, for the last 24 hours -- >> rightfully so. >> rightfully so. listen, i have a wife and three daughters. this is a repugnant tape. but i don't know what more we can say about it. he has apologized. i don't believe that's the man he is today. if he were, i would not be sitting here with you today. i think his actions speak differently than those crass words did over a decade. >> if donald trump is not the

man he was in 2005, even though he still wants to hold bill clinton to a standard of something that happened 25 years ago, but with that said, the remarkable thing about this, donald trump's bench is not deep. you are one of two people. you have president obama campaigning in illinois right now. michelle obama. biden. he has no bench. >> right. >> in any game you lose if you play by yourself. >> you make an important point, the bench is not deep. >> is that because they don't believe in him? is that because they know that the person on 2005 on tape is the person that he is and they are afraid to put their careers on the line? >> i don't think so. i think it's something different. the bench is not deep but it's unbelievably wide. what i mean by that is this is a popular revolt at the ballot box and very much a revolt of the people against washington, d.c., and the croney capitalist rigged system of elites in washington, d.c., includes sadly a lot of republicans. i think there is incredible

dismay within the k street cabal and within congress and a lot of the corridors of power in washington, d.c., which serve themselves and not the people. >> all true but you can't win the white house without women and women cannot see headlines as we've seen this week. >> he has work to do tonight. i'm the first to admit that. i'm confident he can get that work done. i think if we can get to the issues, again, the macro issues of is your pocketbook okay, do you feel safe, is terror on march, how do we reverse this, is the status quo okay? hillary clinton is the candidate of the status quo. if we can get to that conversation, i think we win, but we have to get there. >> if he doesn't get there tonight you have 150 by the count that i just read republicans, many now senators who are not supporting donald trump. if he doesn't get there tonight, does mike pence become the top of your ticket? would youley his campaign and push for another strategy for party? >> you know, i want to see tonight. i will support of course whomever the republican nominee is, but i want to see what happens tonight. i think i owe him that as a supporter. i think the american people

frankly owe him that as the republican nominee. we need to give him a listen tonight. >> thanks so much. one of two behind donald trump willing to show up on tv today. let me go to president obama. he is in illinois campaigning with tammy duckworth. let's listen in. >> immigrants, people of other faiths, mocking the tis abled, insulting our troops, insulting our veterans. that tells you a couple things. it tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down. not a character trait i would advise for somebody in the oval office. it tells you that he doesn't care much about the basic values that we try to impart to our kids. it tells you he'd be care leles with the civility and respect that a real vibrant democracy require, and it sure has heck tells you he's never met

somebody as tough or smart or patriotic as tammy duckworth. we want to see leadership, that's the kind of leadership we've got to look for. so bottom line is this, if you want to send a message in the this election, then you have to vote for hillary clinton and you have to vote for tammy duckworth. if you want leaders who actually respect americans and value hard work, if you want higher wage, better benefits, a fairer tax code, a bigger voice for workers, equal pay for equal work, stronger regulations on wall street, then you should vote for hillary clinton and tammy duckworth. if you want a better kind of politics for our nation, if you want common sense and a commitment to facts and reason and the belief that here in america we're stronger together, then you've got to vote for hillary clinton and you have to vote for tammy duckworth.

and all of that is going to require you. you ear going to have to work. you can't take it for granted. too much is at stake to get lazy or take it for granted right now. we've got to hustle. we've got to work. we've got to fight for it. so i'm asking all of you to join me. i'm asking all of you to work your hearts out. it's only 30 days. work hard, get out there. but if you're willing to work hard with me, with michelle, and by the way if you don't work hard, michelle might -- you know. you don't want to mess up. with michelle. i know. if you ear willing to do this for me, then i am absolutely confident not only are we going to win an election but more importantly we're going to send a message to our kids about who

we are. we're going to reaffirm what this country is about. look, one thing i've learned over the last eight years is a lot of problems are hard and progress is rarely overnight, even in the great victories that we've had, like passing health care legislation that is improving the lives and saving lives of people right now. it's a grind. you have to battle it out. and whatever policies you put in place, they're not going to be absolutely perfect and then you of got to tweak them and continue to work to expand and make them work even better. when you look at issues like climate change, you know that there's going to be, you know, for every two steps forward that we take there are going to be some folk who is want to block

progress. there's too much money in politics. we know the lobbyists and special interests are still going to be having a big impact out there. so democracy is not easy. it requires citizens who believe deeply that this form of government, the idea that we all have a voice and that we listen to each other and engage each other and we argue but we don't demonize each other, that out of that process comes something better. it requires work. it requires commitment. it's the kind of service that tammy duckworth understands. she's made the kinds of sacrifices that most of us can't imagine. and the kinds of sacrifices she and her family are now making aren't as obvious, but they're just as meaningful because

ultimately what she does is to show us what real patriotism means. she's showing us what true love of country means. and for her to succeed, for hillary to succeed, it's not enough to just mark a ballot box, although that's important. we're going to have to make sure that we got their back every step of the way, and i can tell you, you know, this has been the honor of my life serving as president, i'm very much looking forward to life as a private citizen, but i will still be a citizen. and i will still have obligations. and i am going to be working just a hard after a sizable break and a lot of sleep.

to make sure that we leave to the next generation the same kind of incredible inheritance that we received from our parents and our grandparents. so let's get busy, everybody. are you fired up? are you ready to go? [ cheers and applause ] thank you, chicago. i love you. >> campaigning for congresswoman tammy duckworth, who right now according to the latest poll has a pretty good lead over senator mark kirk, republican, one of the first republicans to come out against donald trump and his re-election bid. we're going to continue to follow this but at the top of those remarks president obama noting the rhetoric coming from the trump campaign and telling the crowd there that basically strong women like tammy duckworth and hillary clinton are the antidote to what we are hearing from the trump campaign. we'll talk in a minute to linda sanchez from california about what to expect tonight. tune in for our special primetime coverage of the debate.

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still here in st. louis, a great crowd behind us. let me bring in congresswoman linda sanchez of california. you've known can clintons far long time. you know hillary clinton very well. this morp morning donald trump stweeted without the a breitbart.com article with this. bill clinton accuser juanita broaddrick relives brutal rapes. this cler clearly points us to mind-set this morning. what does hillary clinton need to do if this comes up? >> it's interesting because i think donald trump has forgotten that hillary clinton is running for president, not bill clinton. and i think that somebody who has cheated on his wives and is now in his third marriage is hardly in a position to be casting stones at others. it will be interesting to see if at the debate tonight trumps

down on attacking for old allegations that really have nothing to do with who is most qualified to be president of the united states, which clearly it's hillary clinton, or who has the best proposals on the issues that everyday americans care most about. >> if this debate disintegrates, those topics will not be discussed. the momentum hillary clinton has had has been largely on policy. if she can't return it to policy, what happens tonight? it's mystifying here. >> it's a town hall-style format, which i think hopefully will keep the candidates on the questions that are coming from the audience. it's not that traditional debate format so one can only hope that it doesn't degenerate into mudslinging. i think hillary clinton is going into this debate with the mind-set that she's there to answer the question that americans want the answers to.

she'll try to say stay focused on those questions and not get into the mud. >> what about the new e-mails. senator kaine asked whether the authenticity of e-mails released in this d.c. wikileaks revelation of what she said in wall street a about trade, wanting a common market with open trade and open borders. is she prepared to answer that as succinct she did the e-mail server question last debate? >> i think hillary clinton is always prepared. and i think you can look at those e-mails and you can surmise or try to guess sort of where she is, but the thing to remember is she has a track record. she has a history. >> isn't that now part of her history if those are authenticated? >> let me finish my thought, please -- both as an activist and as an elected official.

and she has proven time and time again, she has a track record of standing up and fighting for working families, for women, for children. and so they can make, you know, whatever hay they want of words on paper, but the truth is if you look at hillary clinton's track record you know where her heart lies and you know what her commitment is to you, and that is to trying to help create an economy where everybody shares in prosperity, trying to make sure that women get equal pay for equal work, trying to make sure that everybody has a fair opportunity to compete in this country. and that ultimately i think is what, you know, matters. >> but words on paper do matter, and if those words on that wall street transcript are authenticated, my initial question is how does she explain that tonight? >> well, that will be hillary's task tonight would be to explain that. >> thank you so much for your time. i appreciate it. >> pleasure to be with you. >> coming up, 48 hours after donald trump's comments from 2005 surfaced, the list of elected republicans distancing

themselves from trump, it is growing, including a new defection at the top of this hour. >> i'm out. it's sad, really, but i can't endorse donald trump for president after those comments and the way he said them. >> our only option is to form formally ask mr. trump to step down. >> but do the voters feel the same way? those people who say they are on the trump train, are they ready to get off like so many of the elected leaders? we'll have the latest and some new numbers out after a break. live at wash u, nice crowd out here. is it a professor who never stops being a student? is it a caregiver determined to take care of her own?

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♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. one of the most disturbing things about this election is just the unbelievable rhetoric coming at the top of the republican ticket.

i don't need to repeat it. there are children in the room. >> we are back live at washington university in st. louis just a few hours before the second presidential debate. we have a great panel for you, susan page, e.j. dion, and jamel smith from mtv. susan, to times today donald trump has tweeted this breitbart article they're billing as an exclusive with women who made these allegation against bill clinton. and he has touted this now twice. what do you anticipate today? >> i think he's going to bring it up at the debate. i think that is part of his plan to respond to the allegations against himself, this video that's made such a splash in the past 48 hours. and i think he's signaling that if that's going to be raised

against him, he's going to raise bill clinton's allegations of improprieties and also how hillary clinton reacted at that time 20 years ago. >> so e.j., a situation, for example, with the vice presidential debate with where that night people said mike pence won because of his demeanor. the next morning when you fact checked it rolled like the scroll from the back of a movie all of the things that were not true. if trump comes out swinging this way, the next day, you have, you know, "newsweek," for example, with two former beauty queen, one saying he forcibly kissed her, another makes this allegation in court, a woman who worked with the miss universe -- in a lawsuit that donald trump sexually assaulted her. that's in a lawsuit. this is what happens the day after if donald trump strikes in the debate. >> and the one difference is that mike pence was calm in the debate, and i don't think we could anticipate donald trump being at all calm tonight. and you can imagine that if hillary clinton hangs back some, which is what i suspect she will

do, it might actually get under his skin more. i think we can expect to be reminded by hillary clinton that her name is on the ballot, not bill clinton, and while he'll want to extend to attack her for whatever she did during those years 20 years ago, that's a kind of reach. so and i agree with you on the day after, i think he's going to have two problems. one, there will be backlash even in his own party if he does the bill clinton thing because that sounds like a teenager's defense. everybody does it is donald trump's defens >> which is what his surrogates said. >> not a very good defense even when a teenager uses it. then there will, i suspect, be some enormous fact check problems as well. >> ya me >> jamel, this case with "newsweek" and "the new york times," jill hart, pageant owner trying to work with donald trump many the mid'90s filed a suit against him in federal court in manhattan in 1997 describing a relentless campaign of sexual harassment and assault including

an incident in which he reached under a table and put his hand on her thighs. that is part of a court record here. again, hillary clinton is not going to say that in the middle of the debate. >> of course not. she'll rely on her surrogates to do that. we have a lot of young voters watching this debate and understanding that, you know, i didn't live through the bill clinton episode and you keep bringing this bill clinton stuff up. i don't even understand what you're talking about. let's talk about the issues we care about -- climate change, women's right, immigration, all these things that haven't been brought up in the debate. i think that will backfire on him with a lot of voters trying to pay attention in this election and take it seriously. >> if you're donald trump, if you want to talk about the 2005 video, and just keep popping in aing climate change, you don't believe in climate change. policy, he's boxed in these last four weeks on both sides. >> he's at least addressing the issues. i think if people see him taking this election seriously, i think that actually could help him a

little bit. but that's it. he bragged about committing sexual assault here. let's not put that under the table. i don't think there's any coming back from that. >> susan, when you look at female voters, and we try to take the higher ground and say let's talk policy, you can't win the white house without women. and jamel, this morning rudy giuliani said he was describing sexual assault. that is a major policy issue in this country as it rhettings to violence against women, part of joe biden's platform, and equality for women. >> of course donald trump already has a problem with women voters. he's leading among male voters we know in our national polls but he's trailing among women voters. he could even lose white married women, a group who's been solidly republican every year since 1996. he's at risk of losing that. if you do that, there are not enough white men to elect you president. e.j.? >> i mean, it's worth noting that sexual assault -- what

giuliani said, sexual assault is a crime. he was talking about at least a crime even though we don't know if he committed that crime. but we said for a while before this debate the town hall debate is not a good fornumb which to level charges because real citizens have real questions about real issues and if you flip into attacks on bill clinton when somebody wants to know about jobs and climate change, the economy, it doesn't work very well. we thought that was going to work maybe against clinton because she always wants the campaign to be about donald trump. she doesn't have to do that anymore. that video took care of that. now i think it may work against trump. >> you're describing basically the "snl" skit from the other day where kate mckinnon is like, go on, you can have my time and just burn your own house down. >> i don't think she can afford to sit idly by and not say anything. she needs to continue to make a case that she is not somebody that's just the default alternative but somebody you

should be passionate about. >> because she is not motivating the millennials as we like to call them, the young voters, as much as you should be. you still have this latest leak of information that for some bernie sanders supporters who were largely young college men and women who are not still ready to support her. >> she'll have to explain to them exactly how she can be trusted on though issues that they care about. that's one of the biggest issues for young people voting for bernie sanders, that they don't trust her, so she has to cure that tonight. >> if she wants to talk issues tonight, i think there's going to be a weird disconnect because you've got this story out here that's overwhelming everything else, but for hillary clinton to get people out to vote, she is going to have to talk issues. so it's going to be a real split between all of this character stuff and her desire to put some points on the board on issues. >> susan, politico saying they consulted an online poll, 47% of republicans stand with donald trump. they say should the republican

party stand behind them. 13% say no. 74% of republican voters said that they should stand with them. i was watching joy reed earlier today and she had one woman who was a trump supporter who was okay with this language, saying this is what men talk about, and she went straight to benghazi. the other day another guy on our air referred to bill clinton as a racist -- rapist. he's okay with these comments. is trump just playing for them so if he loses get the youtube channel that joe scarborough and other people predicted he might do? >> we've seen elite republicans, republican leader ace ban don donald trump this weekend in droechs. >> but he doesn't care about them. >> but he won this nomination by winning primaries. the people who supported him, most of them i think are not going to go away. what you're setting up is a really serious day of reckoning ahead for the republican par aand for donald trump supporters and the republicans who have left -- >> is it also a day of reckoning for america? i read a headline today that

this is the cultural war since bill clinton was in office that some people have been waiting for, this moment where hillary clinton or bill clinton are on a national stage with someone confronting them. is that what trump people want to see? >> that's what trump people want to see. i agree with what susan said. barney frank once said that the definition of your political base are the people who are with you when you're wrong. and donald trump has a political base. i don't think it's big enough to win in this election. i think there are a lot of americans who are going to flee from him, but he does have a political base and most of them are inside the republican party and that's a problem for the party leadership. >> just quickly, how many minutes into this debate do we know? i said in the past 30 minutes determines pretty much how we view this debate. >> from what i understand, sources are saying the first question is going to be about this, and it's going to be strangely enough directed at hillary clinton. i think it needs to be asked to donald trump quite frankly. >> that's okay with hillary

clinton. she wants to talk about this -- and this will be the first time we've heard from her since this video released. >> she's been largely silent. thank you very much. so far rudy giuliani has been the only prominent member of donald trump's team defending him on television. he made the rounds on the sunday morning shows. sources tell nbc news it would take a, quote, outstanding performance, whatever that is, from donald trump tonight to sway. how do you define an outstanding performance? are we back to tone? back to rhetoric? what does that mean? we'll go live inside the spin room where we look at our first indication tonight of how trump supporters, how independent voters, how the media rates his performance.

welcome back. we have president obama campaigning with tammy duckworth for the senate race in illinois. that could be the big topic tonight. >> the democrats see an opening. they believe especially if donald trump has a bad debate tonight they have a big chance to take the senate and diminish the lead the republicans have in the house and that's why a top clinton aide just told me you won't see any less of a schedule either by the president or the first lady. they'll continue to push. they worry if trump drops in the polls there could be people who get complacent and don't vote. a series of intense meetings around the country by top republicans, decisions that will be made in the next 48 hours are more difficult than almost anything we've seen since nixon. and we've heard about some of these conversations. could they push donald trump to

get out a number of senators, republican senators apparently have been talking about if they could go in and ask him to drop out. the conclusion was that might just push him more in the other direction. some other republicans telling me about conversations about mike pence dropping out. well, why would he do that? and i want to get this quote right. it makes us look like leaders, meaning the republicans. we're standing up, we're willing to hold our people accountable while democrats won't hold themselves accountable. but kelly o'donnell reporting directly from inside mike pence's campaign that they're not considering that. and he's actually gone to a football game today. but you feel the sense of the intensity of what's going on here and how important it is and how much pressure the republicans feel. >> how much pressure especially on governor mike pence, especially. thank you very much, chris. up next, a man who served as presidential adviser for over four decades working on debate prep with jimmy carter, bill clinton, and al gore.

i'll talk with him about what we can expect to see in this debate tonight. the five things perhaps you should look for. we're just a few more hours away from an incredible moment in american history, american politics, and for both of these candidates. ♪ using 60,000 points from my chase ink card i bought all the framework... wire... and plants needed to give my shop. a face... no one will forget. see what the pow of points can do for your business. learn more at che.com/ink 80% of recurrent ischemic, strokes could be prevented. see what the pow of points can do for your business. and i'm doing all i can to help prevent another e. a bayer aspirin regimen is one of those steps in helping prevent another stroke. be sure to talk to your doctor

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welcome back to our special coverage of tonight's second presidential debate. add another republican to the list calling on donald trump to step aside for governor mike pence. now the governor of tennessee bill haslund has released a statement saying in part i've objected to many of the things he's said during this campaign. now he is calling on donald trump to step aside and let mike pence p the par tice nominee. add one more name. you're watching msnbc's coverage

of the second presidential debate here live at wash university. we have i think an eclectic mix of people out here with us. i believe we have an adviser in presidential politics, a professor emeritus, political science, at uc, san diego. thanks, samuel, for your time. appreciate you joining us. >> glad to be here with my former student, e.j. >> yeah. e.j. was just here. let's talk about tonight, the structure of it may provide i guess some kind of cover from this being one of the ugliest moments in our history in politics debates. it's a town hall and you have guests asking the candidates questions. what do you anticipate? there will be a struggle for the soul of donald trump between his hubris and his agenda. does he talk about the fact other people did worse or does

he talk about what he wants to do for the voters? the bill clinton line that helped him get out of these horrible problems in 1992 was the hits on me are nothing like the hits on the american people and what counts as the trouble you're in not the trouble i'm in. druch seems over and over the take the line i'm better than you and not my policies are better than yours. it will be interesting how he handles the situation and moves beyond it or wants to move beyond it. >> our first read team talks about the collateral damage. they ask the question, trump could take down the gop with him. his campaign manager tweeted out a photo with reince priebus standing with donald trump. we have another governor saying mike pence needs to take over. this is not just about playing against hillary clinton. this is playing potentially against his party, which he has threatened on twit they are morning as well.

>> at the time when other candidates build bridges and mend fences he went around settling scores. he's never understood the team part of a campaign and he hasn't changed. and reince priebus is with him but when 26% of the people in the party are not sure anymore, and 13% are negative and give a zero to the tape, you lose 1% or 2% in the vote and you've turned over the senate and the house potentially. these small numbers, 74% is a very seriously low number on a video like this. >> first read says this is po potentially shades of todd aiken and mark foley, aiken having

that legitimate rape comment that ended his political career and helped claire mccaskill retain her seat. this notion that four weeks out donald trump can get on stage today and get some type of different apology than what we saw in that late-night video, that this notion that this notion of 2005 was to so long ago despite the fact he was 60. is there some way the advise him or someone in that situation that give an authentic asnolg are we past that? i. >> i think we're past it. st candidates when they won for president get ready for the obvious available bad and good in their record. you send somebody around. what is going to come out of the campaign and you start out with a righteous rectification? you do what george w. bush did when he said when i was young and irresponsible i was young and irresponsible and i've

changed. and it was an obvious change. if you're going to change, you have to do it and really acknowledge what you've done and get past it, not go into a debate and then say to hillary clinton where did you find that or how did you find out when a very famous incident with alissa machado comes up. i don't know what you do now to say really i have've changed. the first apology said "if i offended anyone." it took a long time before it even came close to being a regular political apology. >> all right. well, we'll see what happens tonight, samuel. thanks for your insight. we'll definitely tell e.j. you said hello. we appreciate you join us. >> thank you. >> you are watching msnbc coverage of the second presidential debate live from wash university. we'll be right back. i'm going to go down there and crowd surf live from st. louis.

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pampers. thanks for watching this hour. you guys were a lot of fun. >> are you ready for tonight? >> very ready. >> going to be watching? >> yes. >> going to be epic spp. >> so epic. >> that's what y'all say, the kids. thank you so much. we'll turn everything over the chuck todd preparing for our special primetime coverage. >> thank you, tamron. if it's sunday, it's a debate night like none other, the republican party facing its biggest crisis since watergate. >> tonight, republicans are abandoning trump, many calling on him to step down. tonight's debate could be his last stand. >> you can do anything. grab them by the [ bleep ]. >> plus, this