cycles, but pay attention to the problems in syria and haiti. they can visit our website to figure out what the situations are and how to help. >> michael nyenhuis, got it right. thank you so much. dr. dave campbell, as always, thank you for being here, and thank you, katty, for being here, mike and all. >> mike open. she will talk. >> yes, she will. the mike stays open. that does it for us on "morning joe." thank you guys so much. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thank you so much, joe. this morning, lots to cover. battling back. donald trump denying accusations of inappropriate behavior. >> the claims are preposterous. ludicrous, and defy truth, common sense, and logic. >> lashing out at the clintons, the media, the system. >> these attacks are orchestrated by the clintons and their media allies. >> his running mate now says new

evidence will be released today, vindicating mr. trump. >> before the day is out, there will be more evidence publicly that shows and calls into question these latest allegations. >> i think it's coming and it's coming frankly in probably a matter of hours. >> and one of the accusers is speaking out. gr did he actually kiss you? >> yeah, yeah. >> on the face, on the lips? >> wherever he could find a landing spot, yes. >> has melania trump entering the fray, threatening her own lawsuit. >> it was a one-two punch. president obama tackling trump and the republican party. >> this is in the swamp of crazy. >> when -- >> but his bride, the first lady, she spoke out and really broke through. her fiery speech going at trump head on.

>> this is disgraceful. it is intolerable. and it doesn't matter what party you belong to. democrat, republican, independent, no woman deserves to be treated this way. none of us deserves this kind of abuse. >> we'll begin this morning with donald trump facing a growing gap in the polls. and he's now lashing out, basically at everyone. blaming a vast conspiracy for the allegations he's mistreated women. >> the establishment and their media enablers wield control over this nation through means that are very well known. anyone who challenges their control is deemed as sexist, a racist, a xenophobe, and morally deformed. they will lie, lie, lie, and then again, they will do worse than that. >> we've got this whole story covered from all the angles, and

i want to start with nbc's peter alexander in washington. peter, mike pence said earlier there's going to be new evidence to rebut these allegations from donald trump's accusers. these women. do we have any idea what it is? >> well, we don't know specifically what it is right now. we do hear from senior advisers within the campaign that the strategy has been in effect to fight mud with mud. whether or not they're going to go after the women specifically is unclear. here's what we know from the "wall street journal" this morning, gives us a better understanding. they report trump is going to broaden his attack against the media to hit globalization and the clinton foundation that charges a mexican billionaire, carlos slim, is part of a biased coalition working in collusion with the clinton campaign and supporters on these reports. slim is a shareholder of the "new york times." he's a donor to the clinton foundation. that reporting comes from the "wall street journal" this

morning. what's important to note is this would punctuate the point trump was making on the trail yesterday, sort of apocalyptic arguments suggesting this is an existential threat to the country as he bashed global corrupt elites in the banking system and in the media and others right now, but none of it gets to the basis of the allegations themselves, and it's whether these stories from these women are in fact true, stephanie. >> peter, in terms of apocalyptic, what is donald's strategy here, going after everybody? >> we talked about this mud versus mud strategy, and advisers tell us now their sense is that the assessment within the campaign is they're not going to get the independent voters, increasingly becoming clear in places like the suburbs of philadelphia that those folks are strongly leaning toward hillary clinton right now. the desire is to sort of fire up the base with the arguments like the one donald trump made yesterday. talking about the sort of

shadowy worldwide conspiracy saying in effect that he's the one who stands between the u.s. and this struggle for the survival of our nation. so they hope to fire up the base, to depress the vote elsewhere, and hope they can succeed with that pattern. when 40% was the number trump could win with, it seemed like an option now, but as third party numbers come down and hillary clinton's numbers go ip, it's looking increasingly more difficult. >> thanks, peter. let's turn to president obama. took a serious swing at the donald trump campaign while stumping for hillary in ohio. i want to bring in nbc's chris jansing. she's live in cleveland, her home state. chris, rirt not just the president. first lady michelle obama is getting a huge amount of attention for her speech yesterday. reaction has been massively positive, but will it move votes? >> yeah, i mean, they believe it will. they believe that folks who come out here, you see the folks with clipboards over here? they're signing up people to go

door to door, to make phone calls, to do the ground work in this place where frankly it is too close to call. michelle obama lit up social media last night, among democratic circles, people on facebook, they're going crazy. they always said she's their not so secret weapon. all along, intensively, really, since this summer, the white house has talked about the president going out, the first lady going out. look, it's what you do to support somebody who was in your cabinet, what you do to protect your legacy. but over the last several days, this has become something bigger. the comments by donald trump have really motivated, i think, both the president and first lady to go beyond. you heard it yesterday in manchester, when michelle obama directly addressed some of the accusations and some of the statements that have come out over the last couple of days. take a listen to what has everybody talking. >> this isn't about politics.

it's about basic human decency. it's about right and wrong. and we simply cannot endure this or expose our children to this any longer, not for another minute, and let alone for four years. >> the first lady is going to continue to go out. when i talk to somebody, a key on her staff last week, i said, if the polls start to go hillary's way is nshe not going to go out? it's been said for a long time she's not into politics. she looked me in the eye and said michelle obama wants to do this. we're going to continue to hear that in the weeks going forward. i bet you can expect to hear it again today as the president speaks around 11:15 here in cleveland. >> thanks chris. we know there's been a lot of news and noise this week, but i want to look now to a major, really a pivotal development in the election battle. nbc's new battleground map, just put out this morning. it shows hillary clinton making some big strides and it's not

just the battleground states. we're also looking at places you probably wouldn't think of like the state of utah and georgia. i want to bring in msnbc political correspondent kasie hunt. kasie, break this down for me. you know, we know that donald trump has a loud and proud base. but we have to actually look at how the electoral map works. >> that's right, steph. this race, no doubt about it, is very close. and donald trump is not necessarily tens of points behind hillary clinton in a lot of these states. but the question you raise is the right one. can he expand beyond his core base of republican conservative voters? and our new battleground map shows that he's having some trouble. we have moved some states from the lean gop to toss-up. they include arizona, georgia, and utah. now, utah is a little bit of a special case, partly because

it's a very heavily mormon state. we have seen a lot of intense opposition to donald trump, especially from republicans in that state. you have a third-party candidate on the ballot, evan mcmullin, polling at almost the same level as donald trump in that state of utah. so it's a little bit of a different case. arizona and georgia are two states that have been on democratic radar pretty much for the whole campaign. and initially, republicans, excuse me, democrats were looking at arizona and thinking, you know what, we might not have to spend a ton of money in arizona to flip it, especially with what donald trump has been saying about latinos. georgia, they initially were talking a little bit less about going in there, only because it's a big state. very expensive to advertise on tv. but it looks like georgia might actually being a place we're more interested in watching on election night. that's because it's changing in the same way as some of these other southern states. virginia, we know the trump campaign pulled out of virginia. southern, increasingly diverse.

north carolina, the next on the list, obama won in 2008, romney in 2012. we put north carolina in the lean democratic cantgory from toss-up. a lot of the same things going on in georgia. really one to watch going forward, steph. >> thanks, kasie. we want to point out based on the new battleground map, hillary clinton with 287. remember, you only need 279 to win. i want to look at this on a broad eer scale. let's brin in usa today washington bureau chief susan page. when we look at the battleground map, for the first time, hillary clinton with 287 electoral votes. is this all the fallout of this crazy week donald trump has had, donald versus the world? >> i think it's the fallout from the first debate to now. this has been a period of great trouble for donald trump. from the feud over his comments about the miss universe winner to the current controversy over his behavior toward the several women, the five or so women who came out yesterday to talk

ability his behavior toward them. this has been a patch where i think as voters all across the country are tuning in, playing close attention, making up their minds, even early voting starting in some states, he's come across as a person who for a lot of voters, not someone they can support. that's a big problem for him. >> all right, i want to put down, i said 279 earlier. i meant to say 270 to win. he has this hard-core base of supporters but he hasn't broadened it out. mike pence seems to be promising new evidence that's going to support donald trump and these accusations coming against him, "wall street journal" supporting that trump is saying carlos slim is leading this conspiracy. can any of these defenses hold water? >> we'll see. mike pence said they're going to come out today. that's in line with what donald trump said yesterday in the speech. if he comes out with evidence, of course, we should take a look at that. that would be serious. good he doesn't deliver on that, it raises some real questions.

one of the things we're watching for, do more women come forward, and does this exchange encourage women to come forward or discourage them in if fact there are more women out there with similar experiences with donald trump. >> if there are, what does that do to the evangelical base supporting donald trump. mike pence said he puts faith first. if we see more women come forward, do the evangelical s stay? >> i think it creates some real difficulties for evangelical leaders and for evangelical voters. and we know that there have been some elections where evangelical christians have not turned out in big numbers. those have been years that have been tough for republicans to win. evangelical christian s have ben an important part of the republican base for multiple elections. if this current furor undercuts their support for the nominee, that raises these questions we're going to be addressing for some time about what is the republican party. what does it stand for, what is the face of this party?

>> why is it they're staying with him now? >> i think evangelical leaders have been -- evangelical leaders have stuck with donald trump because they find hillary clinton an unacceptable alternative. they look at things like supreme court appointments. rather than being primarily concerns about acquisitions of personal misbehavior by donald trump. there is a point, i think, where it's hard to maintain that kind of distinction. they will face tough questions if there's more evidence of this sexual behavior. >> states like ohio where we saw donald trump doing better and now things are slimming, what does he need to do? does he need to turn the attention to jobs, the economy, trade, national security? >> those have been good issues for him in ohio, a state with a lot of white, blue-collar workers who don't have a college education. the fact is he is win ohio and lose the election. hillary clinton can lose ohio and win the election. it's not a crucial state for her. it is a crucial state for him. you look at another state we

think has been crucial for tt dt, pennsylvania. he seems to be almost out of the running in pennsylvania. he's trailing in every poll taken there recently. when you try to plot the path to 270 for donald trump, it's getting harder and harder to figure out how he can do that. >> thank you for joining me. up next, one of the trump accusers opens up. what she says happened trooe decades ago onboard a plane. >> suddenly, he's like encroaching on my side of the seat. and he's -- his hands were everywhere. what? is he gone?? finally, i thought he'd never leave... tv character: why are you texting my man at 2 a.m.? no... if you want someone to leave you alone, you pretend like you're sleeping. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more

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one of the women accusing donald trump of inappropriate conduct is now providing details of their encounter. jessica leeds is one of the

seven women who have now come out publicly with similar stories. here's what she said on cnn last night. >> suddenly, he's like incrouching on my side of the seat. and he's -- his hands were everywhere. >> did he say anything? >> no. and i didn't either. >> you didn't say anything. >> i didn't say anything. >> you say his hands were everywhere. can you be specific? >> well, he was grabbing my breasts. and trying to turn me towards him. and kissing me, and then after a bit, that's when his hands starting going -- i was wearing a skirt, and his hands starting going towards my knee and up my skirt. that's when i said, i don't need this. and i got up. >> did he actually kiss you? >> yeah. yeah. >> on the face, on the lips? >> wherever he could find a

landing spot, yes. >> i want to bring in nbc legal analyst and defense attorney karen desoto. critics are really pushing back on this. from an attorney perspective, do you find this woman credible? >> it's interesting because this interview is different than the other interview. in the other interview, she didn't mention kissing. n nonow she's mentioning kissing. the american citizens who are watching the videos, i'm an attorney so i let juries make that decision. when you hear the two tapes together, one of the things people, not just attorneys and jurors look for, is inconsistency and whether or not it makes sense and whether the puzzle fits together. there are a couple things that don't seem quite clear, but you don't have an attorney in a courtroom cross-examining her. the information is really kind of one way here. for for you, i don't want to jump, you don't necessarily see assault here. as you look at this woman's stories and the others, is there a pattern? >> first, on the law, we have

sexual assault and then sexual contact and battery. very, very different in the law. and this is one of the reasons why donald trump is now saying i'm going to sue the "new york times." that all of this is timed, that it was reckless. this is defamation, and as we know, that standard is very high for public figures and celebrities. however, 1960 "new york times" versus sullivan, which is the landmark case, that says malicious intent is the standard that needs to be proven by someone like donald trump, but those particular facts in that case in 1960 are very, very different than jump 56 years and talking about heresy statements made a couple weeks before the facts of the case from 1960 was dr. martin luther king and civil rights concern in suppressing reporters. in this case, you know, has "new york times," has the media gone too far? i think that that's what people are really kind of talking about. is the media credible? is this accurate?

and it's really interesting because gallup poll does a poll on whether or not they think the media is accurate, fair, and are they reporting correctly? for the first time in gallup poll history in september, it's the lowest it has ever been since 1972. >> what do you think? >> well, i think that people are very upset about the information. is it timed a certain way? is it correct, is it fair, and is it accurate? we have polling that says that people are a little upset. are they getting the information, is it accurate? is this just mudslinging? >> well, what kind of evidence could -- i mean, mike pence said earlier today that in a few hours today, there will be evidence supporting, defending donald trump against these accusations. what kind of evidence could there be? >> well, first of all, is that too little too late? what are you supposed to do? when i get a case and it's sexual battery or assault, what do you do? are there eyeball witnesses? can you corroborate the statements, are they heresy?

heresy generally is not allowable in a courtroom. that's not to say it's not true. but you need to really weigh those factors. these are really serious allegations. if it's sexual assault or battery, this could not just ruin -- this could ruin your life. think about that with a celebrity or a politician. they have families. >> but what about ruining these women's lives. people saying this is a coordinated effort, why are they coming forward now? do people not come forward, when donald trump says i'm threatening to see you, you could go brept being sued by a person like that, you could be publicly humiliated. could that be a reason you haven't seen women come forward until now? >> there's lots of reasons on both sides. that's why you have to take each case and do kwacorroboration or look at the facts of each case. there are markers whether or not you should weigh the factors. like witnesses, like corroboration. is this, when is it timed?

these are things a jury would look at. why is he coming forward now in stead of 30 years later. in this country, thousands of women don't report sexual assault and rape. why is that? because they're ashamed. they think they're not going to be taken seriously. we also know on the other side that in fact we have had cases where women have lied. so how do you sort through victim by victim? >> were you surprised, when i saw melania trump threatening to sue the reporter from "people" magazine, i thought she's going to deny the allegations frommar. she's denying that months later she and the reporter ran into one another on fifth avenue. does it surprise you that's what she would go after? >> it's surprising in these situations what is highlighted and what is not highlighted. what is an important factor that the media is looking at? what is an important factor for a case? and what's an important factor for the court of public opinion? so what issues or fact you're

concentrating on are what you're going to pick up, what the media is going to pick up, or very differently from what a jury thinks is important. so you know, is the person lying? is it being corroborated? dueio have eyeball witnesses? when is the timing? these are all things that are very important that help not just you as a journalist but also citizens of america deciding whether or not this is a character flaw, whether it's credible. but the other problem is that now is the media, with the timing of this, and the information, and not doing due diligence, maybe they have or maybe they haven't, are all those things that are going to put the media in question. and of course, donald trump is going to say that, and we're in political silly season. these are important issues whether or not celebrities and public figures should be charged at a higher standard for defamation, and maybe we should revisit that, the "new york times" 1960, because now we have 24-hour media, and you know, we also have a lot of things with social media, so maybe we should

revisit all of those things. >> you got more than just 12 jurors this time. you have all of the american people. >> 320 million. >> there you go. that's a big jury. coming up, the first lady, she delivers a blistering critique of donald trump without ever saying his name. how michelle obama became hillary clinton's best weapon. we'll have that next. t your job, maybe let's play up the digital part. but it's a manufacturing job. yeah, well ge is doing a lot of cool things digitally to help machines communicate, might want to at least mention that. i'm building world-changing machines. with my two hands. does that threaten you? no! don't be silly. i'm just, uh, going to go to chop some wood. with that? yeah we don't have an ax. or a fireplace. good to be prepared. could you cut the bread? make sure it's ano make a intelligent one. ♪ the highly advanced audi a4, with available virtual cockpit.

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welcome back. time now for your morning primer, everything you need to know to start your day. >> we begin with the countdown to election day. today, donald trump is focusing his energy on the battleground states of north carolina, while hillary clinton fund-raising in seattle. >> house speaker paul ryan giving a speech on the republican agenda in wisconsin. really trying to refocus the discussion to be less about clinton and trump and more about, quote, debate between two governing philosophies. >> and overnight, some angry fliers, united airlines computer glitches stranded thousands of

travelers around the world. passengers were forced to wait for hours inside terminals and onboard planes. >> and thousands of north carolina residents remain displaced as the floodwaters from hurricane matthew continue to rise. the storm killed a total of 22 people state-wide, 42 across the united states. in addition to the 40 thoum people who remain without power across the state of north carolina. >> and it was a big win for my man, chase utley, and the l.a. dodgers last night, after defeating the nationals 4-3, to advance to the next round. all right, they're going to face the chicago cubs in the national league championship series next. we're going to talk michelle obama. michelle like we have never seen her before. on thursday, she gave a stinging and emotional campaign speech, condemning donald trump without ever saying his name. >> i can't believe that i'm saying that a candidate for

president of the united states has bragged about sexually assaulting women. and i have to tell you that i can't stop thinking about this. it has shaken me to my core. this wasn't just locker room banter. this was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior. the shameful comments about our bodies, the disrespect of our ambitions and intellect. the belief that you can do anything you want to a woman. it is cruel, it's frightening, and the truth is, it hurts. so many have worked for so many years to end this kind of violence and abuse and disrespect, but here we are in 2016, and we're hearing these exact same things every day on

the campaign trail. we are drowning in it. >> joining me now, jonathan capehart from the washington post, and msnbc contributor. jonathan, michelle obama nailed it. does it affect votes? >> you know, listening to the first lady and also the president, i think it will sway people in that message that she delivered yesterday was basically demanding that we look at what's happening, not through a partisan lens, even though it was at a campaign event for hillary clinton, but she's demanding that we look at what's happening as americans, as people, and also how we are viewed around the world. that tape that came out, i guess it was a week ago today, was so disturbing to so many people, no matter their political affiliation, that to have the first lady of the united states veer off her -- what she was going to say at that event and

speak so personally and passionately that no matter who you are, male or female, democrat, republican, or independent, it had to have struck you here, to you very own core. >> does that mean that tape was the tipping point for michelle obama? unlike when hillary clinton was the first lady, michelle obama has avoided sort of the rough and tumble of politics, and that was an aggressive speech. what motivated it? >> i think as she said, it hit her to her core. it struck her to her core. as we all know, at least here in washington, the first lady, as you said, has stayed away from politics. she stuck to so-called safe issues. but i think this is something that because she's a woman, she is a mother with two growing daughters, one about to go into college after her gap year. that she felt like given the platform that she has, this was -- and just how horrendous

that tape was, that she was going to use her platform to speak out as the first lady of the united states, as a woman, as a mother, as an american, about why this is wrong and why this is an opportunity for all of us to look at the situation and to take it seriously. >> jonathan, what stood out to me yesterday in addition to michelle obama was ivanka trump. she's the most powerful surrogate with women for her father. but yesterday, she didn't defend him against these allegations. this is really all she said. take a look. >> what i can uniquely talk to all of you about is my father as a personal mentor and a role model to me as a great dad growing up, and having three young children myself, i recognize now it's really hard to be a good parent. >> is ivanka trump just going to stay in this lane? >> i think so. you know, there were reporters who were shouting questions to her as she left various events yesterday, and she would not address it. you know, yes, ivanka trump is

probably her father's greatest surrogate, probably one of his closest advisers. as someone who has interviewed her and met her, she is smart and capable. but she is in an uncomfortable position where her father is being accused of all sorts of it, and we have heard all sorts of sexual harassment, sexual assault allegations, so for her to talk about her father but not take questions about any of these allegations means that she's not going there. she doesn't want to touch it. >> if she's not going to go there and she's the one on his team sort of responsible for the women vote, does that mean donald is simply going to give up on that whole gender? >> i don't know, depends on how you define give up on that whole gender. you know, donald trump is fighting furiously and passionately against these allegations. and that's not to say that ever since that tape came out, that all women have abandoned donald

trump. i just saw a picture that someone tweeted out of someone, a woman at a donald trump rally, wearing a t-shirt that sort of quotes the infamous statement that he said in that tape that was so jarring to me, that i was just left speechless. >> jonathan, thank you so much for joining me today. this story moves on. coming up, backed into a corner. dt has begun lashing out at basically everyone. an author of multiple books on the donald breaks down what we can expect from him with just over three weeks to go until the election. or stop to find a bathroom? cialis for daily use is approved to treat both erectile dysfunction and the urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas for pulmonary hypertension, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess.

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take a look. you take a look. look at her. look at her words. you tell me what you think. i don't think so. i don't think so. >> that was donald trump on thursday, disputing allegations by a "people" magazine writer, natasha stoynoff, that he tried to kiss her, apparently by arguing she's not attractive

enough. my next guest knows trump well. he has written multiple books about him. michael, you have looked very closely at donald trump's life and spoken to women about his behavior. what did they tell you? >> the story of the "people" magazine reporter has been floating around manhattan media circles for a few years, so i wasn't surprised to see it come out. i also understand from her and others why they would be worried about coming forward alone, isolated from other reports. you know, this very famous and rich and aggressive person who is notorious for brutalizing anyone who stands against him is your perpetrator, it's a pretty daunting thing to imagine being the lone victim to say, well, he did this to me. >> is that why other women didn't come forward? you told politico you spoke to

many women who had similar stories but they just didn't want to come out. >> absolutely. this person, donald trump, is a predatory character. he's predatory in his business activities, i think there are people who admire that. they say, well, he's the alpha, and he vanquishes everyone. he's predatory in his personal life. even in his dealings with the media. with my own experience was that i was threatened with a lawsuit prior to the publication of my recent book. so this is a guy you don't cross without being prepared, and even being prepared to be ruined financially to have your reputation ruined, because he doesn't play fair. he goes after you with everything in the book and then adds a few things to it. >> what kind of stories did thee women tell you? >> you know, they're consistent with what we're seeing reported

now. actually, very consistent. but i pledged to these women that i wouldn't reveal details because of their fears, and i'm going to keep my promise. >> but would you characterize it as sexual aggression? sexual assault? just a creep? >> all of the above. but it really -- you know, people get a feeling about donald that there is something a little creepy. and i think we should pay attention to those feelings. and i also think that it's why all of this is resonating. you know, so many women have experienced this in their lives. and i don't think he understands this, that this is a traumatic experience for people. they have hoped to put it behind them, and now all these reports are reviving millions of memories for women across the country. and i think that's why it's so potent politically.

>> many women, not just with donald trump, who have dealt with any men in positions of power, have felt them abuse that power, and those women have stayed quiet. just to give us a sense about how many women told you these types of stories? >> three different women. and you know, it wasn't hard to locate people who had these bad experiences. but their fearfulness is something i respected. and i actually would only ask once, and if there was a polite and firm decision to decline going forward, i honored that. you know, i'm not the kind of reporter who's seeking out the salacious, and actually in my books, i don't mention any of this because it didn't seem fair to me. and i think that it's not fair to the victims and it's not fair to the accused to go really far

with this kind of talk. so i'm hoping for a more elevated political discourse in the next three weeks, but i don't expect it. >> you're hoping. i don't think you're going to get it. these flthree women who you spe of who are different than those who have already accused donald trump, donald trump has made the argument this is a conspiracy theory. that someone like carlos slim is behind it. do you believe it is a vast conspiracy theory or as you mentioned it's quite easy to find these women, the ihave just been too scared to come forward? >> first of all, i haven't identified that they're necessarily different women. so i don't know how widespread this is. i don't know how many people are out there. but we certainly have seen with the examples that we know so far that there seems to be a pattern that's actually consistent with what he bragged about doing with billy bush. so if you have someone saying, i

can do this, and then you have women saying, he did it to me, i think it becomes hard to deny. >> michael, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts this morning. i respect that you do want to respect those women's privacy. it is important. >> thank you. >> all right, coming up, donald trump, he has responded to these accusations of sexual misconduct by pointing the finger at bill clinton. we're going to examine just how strong the claims against the former president really are. >> no, it shouldn't matter. i can't make an excuse for bill clinton's conduct, and i wouldn't attempt to make excuses for his conduct, but he paid a price for it. he paid a price. he was impeached.

hillary clinton is calling donald trump's latest strategy a scorched-earth policy, bringing out women who accused bill clinton of sexual misconduct or different allegation against

hillary herself. last night, four of these accusers spoke out. here's a question. who exactly are these women? and what are they alleging? i want to get answers from msnbc chief legal correspondent ari melber. i want to start with juanita brodrick. she's accused bill clinton of raping her. here's what she said last night. >> hillary is not for all women. hillary is only for one woman. that's herself. >> what are the facts about these allegations? >> you hear it there. we should note, three of these accusers are talking about more of bill clinton's conduct than hillary's. juanita brodrick has alleged bill clinton raped her in a hotel room in 1968. we should note that she originally swore under oath that that did not happen, in 1998, in litigation regarding polly jones. in 1999, who granted immunitimm she swore she did not think these things were true, but when granted immunity, she said they were. >> when did she get immunity?

>> 1999. that's on the next graphic we can show. basically, that's the unfolding of that allegation. we have seen this in many cases, the fact that a woman doesn't initially speak out doesn't mean her ultimate accusation is untrue, but that is something that was never resolved. that's to say a court never found evidence that bill clinton was actually guilty of this. >> i want to move on now. cath kathleen willey, she also accused him of sexual misconduct. >> his wife is covering for him. no champion of women attacks the victims of sexual assault and rapes. >> what exactly is she alleging here? >> she has previously alleged that bill clinton basically groped and sexually assaulted her inside the white house. but her story changed repeat lade, including under oath, and unlike the case we were just discussing, this was adjudicated. this was investigated by a special prosecutor, many will remember from the '90s, and ken starr did not find anything here

to move forward on charges. >> all right, i want to move on to paula jones. she accused bill clinton of sexual misconduct. she's a name we have been hearing about for years. take a look. >> pulled me up towards him, and he was going to try to kiss on on me, and then i tried to distract him again. i thought, what am i doing? my mind is racing. >> it was paula jones' accusations that led to bill clinton's impeach pecachmentimp not? >> we take these cases seriously. it's with no flippancy and many remember paula jones accusations some of the most litigated and investigated ever in modern american public life. >> and? >> and there was no finding or admission of wrongdoing. indeed, this was a case that went up to the supreme court over the question of whether the president could be sued while in office in a civil suit. bottom line, there was a settlement, not admitting wrongdoing. there was money offered and one

of the reasons people doubted paula jones is when she got everything, she asked for the amount of money for the alleged damages. she didn't want to take it but continue to pursue the case which made it look more like paula took damages. this is a case where reasonable minds can disagree but as far as the courts are concerned, no finding of wrongdoing. >> kathy shulton is a different story. i saw her when she spoke before the debate on sunday. take a look. >> at 12 years old, hillary put me through something you never put a 12-year-old through. >> what is this woman's story? >> raped as a 12-year-old. every right to speak out. she is not speaking, let me be clear, about any physical conduct by bill or hillary clinton but she doesn't like and she is criticizing the fact that hillary clinton in the public defender role as a lawyer basically was the lawyer for the person who raped her. >> but as a public defender,

hillary clinton didn't choose that case. she was a public defender. >> lawyers will generally tell you, the fact that you represent someone doesn't mean you agree with them at all. people point to john roberts who did appeals for a convicted murderer but michelle speaking out about the fact she doesn't like this happened, that's her right and also generally in america your right to a lawyer. >> ari melber breaking it down. we'll take a break. but when we come back, it's a long, long week in the campaign trail. the question, who ended up on top? the highs and the many, many lows from the week that was. we'll have that next. you're not a cook, if you don't cook. you're not a firefighter, if you don't fight fires. or a coach, if you don't coach. and you can't be our leader, if you don't lead. our next president needs to take action on social security, or future generations could lose up to $10,000 a year. we're working hard, what about you? hey candidates, do your jobs.

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together, we're building a better california. it has been an incredible week in the presidential race. since last friday's bombshell tape of lewd comments from 2005. for the highs and lows of the week, i want to bring in nbc senior political editor mark murray. what's your high? >> stephanie, it was first lady michelle obama's speech from yesterday. it's very powerful and certainly

it's a remarkable situation when you end up having a first lady weighing into politics, going after the republican presidential nominee. but particularly, making it so personal on the issue of women's rights, sexual assault, on rhetoric about women, and it was a very big moment for the clinton campaign. >> mark, lows. take your pick. how low can you go? >> stephanie, it was just minutes if not a couple of hours after the donald trump speech basically denying the accusations of groping and inappropriate kissing that had been levelled against him in the last 48 hours and just as ari melber was mentioning to you earlier, a woman's voice does matter in this situation but donald trump was blaming the media and also blaming the clinton campaign for these voices coming forward. >> there you have it. the high and the low. thank you, mark. have a great weekend. >> you too, stephanie. coming up, the writer of the latest article with a woman accusing donald trump of lewd

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that wraps us up for the hour of the week. i'm stephanie ruhle. be sure to join me on "weekend today" and this guy, my friend, craig melvin. >> thank you, stephanie, as always. coming up, breaking news this hour on msnbc. 25 days to go until the election and nbc political unit out with this new battleground map. the second presidential debate. look at where this race stands right now. the states in some shade of blue for hillary clinton, red for donald trump, orange for toss-up. hillary clinton, as you can see, 287 electoral votes, more than the 270 needed to win the white house and the reason? right here. georgia.