stoynoff who saw donald trump of inappropriate behavior in 2006. just one day before the final face-off in las vegas, all this news is poring out in the afternoon. plus, president obama is telling donald trump to stop whining and worry about winning. >> things are going badly for you and you lose, you start blaming somebody else. then you don't have what it takes to be in this job. there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig america's elections. i invite trump to stop whining and try to go make his case to go get votes. >> obama talked about donald trump's claim of the rigged election system and calls out trump's coziness with russia's president vladimir putin. all this as melania trump stands by her husband publicly in new interviews describing donald trump as a teenager boy egged on

to say dirty and bad stuff. >> it's kind of two teenager boys, actually, they should behave better, right? >> he is 59. >> so all eyes will focus on vegas with the final presidential debate coming up. and look at this, hillary clinton is pulling awhopping seven points ahead in the battleground of nevada in a brand new poll. the gop nominee is rallying supporters in colorado next hour as some political experts say it's not a matter of whether he will lose but by how much. we begin our political team covering the race for the white house and they are fanned out across the country. but we do want to start with the "people" magazine report. and the fact that "people" magazine published the story. and it has six witnesses to back up stoynoff's claim. that was the "people" writer assigned to travel to marlago and interview donald trump and

melania on their one-year anniversary. that's where she says she was inappropriately groped by donald trump. donald trump denied all the allegations. we'll begin with katy tur covering the trump campaign since the very beginning. katy, how much of a back-and-forth is this? because it is melania who said this was factually incorrect. points in the story is that her lawyer wrote a letter to "people" about it saying melania and stoynoff never met on fifth avenue and those would call the credibility of this whole story into question. >> reporter: absolutely. but now "people" magazine is coming out with their own corroborating witnesses who say that it did happen. right now it is still very much a he said/she said or she said/she said at this point until there's concrete evidence that they met on the street. but there are more people now that are coming out and backing up natasha's story, saying that she spoke about it in the immediate aftermath. donald trump when it comes to

all the accusers has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, any inappropriate behavior, specifically when it comes to the "people" magazine story. he's claimed the writer would have talked about it at the time because it would be a huge story if donald trump was acting aggressively in a sexual way towards a woman while he was being interviewed with his wife on mother's day. so they're denying this. "people" magazine is doubling down on this. the campaign, though, is trying to move forward. that's why they put melania on camera to do two interviews with cnn and fox. she's trying to refute the claims saying the women are out for some fame and saying that donald trump was just egged on in that 2005 video/audio leak, hot mike moment between donald trump and "access hollywood's" billy bush. the campaign does not want this to continue to be a storyline and don't want to see it have legs because they believe it is detracting from their message.

it is notable, thomas, ever since we started to hear about the accusers coming out against donald trump, we have suddenly heard a lot less about bill clinton's accusers from the trump campaign. earlier last week we were told that there would be an all-out blitz, if you will, against bill clinton, bringing out more and more accusers from his past. they were, in effect, going to paint him as the next bill cosby. but since donald trump's own accusers have come out, we have heard less and less. donald trump surrogates are saying to the women that they should not necessarily be believed until they go through a court of law. at the same time, they were saying that all of bill clinton's accusers should be believed. so there was a double standard there. but so far the campaign can't seem to get away from this story. >> katy, what is going up? i think i hear the "lock her up" chant behind you? who is on the stage? >> reporter: yeah. right now it is a local official on the stage. but they have been doing the "lock her up" chant since we

walked into the arena. that is standard for trump rallies. they were doing it during the chorus of a backstreet boys song, not quite the same rhythm as "i want it that way." i know you're laughing, i can hear you laughing. >> typically it is "tiny dancer" playing. >> reporter: "tiny dancer" has not been on the playlist for months. john elton was successful in getting donald trump to stop playing his music. backstreet boys is now on the list and now it has a new chorus, "lock her up." >> i want to go to our colleague, kristen dahlgren, joining me onset to talk more about the "people" story. kristen, break it down how they got the other six people to come forward to back up stoynoff. melania trump says there were facts incorporated into the first story. she says it's not true. >> right. so there are two parts to natasha stoynoff's story.

what happened with donald trump in the room. and the second story was that she ran into melania trump on fifth avenue and melania said, we don't see you anymore. so that specifically is what melania trump was asked about by anderson cooper. and here's what she had to say directly to that point. >> the story that came out in "people" magazine, the writer that she said that my husband took her to the room and started kissing her, she wrote in the same story about me that she saw me on fifth avenue and i said to her, natasha, how can -- we don't see you anymore? i was never friend with her. i would not recognize her. >> so now as part of the "people" magazine article, one of natasha's friends came out to say she was with her at the meeting and corroborated her story. there are five other friends and colleagues who say that they were there after the events

happened or the alleged events happened and they were told at that time what happened from natasha stoynoff. she was upset about the alleged events and spoke out at the time, she told a journalism professor and colleagues at the paper. and at the time they said it would be a he said/she said and advised her not to go up against donald trump. and they were part of that decision-making process for her not to come forward at the time. >> that was one of donald trump's defenses right away when this came out, why didn't she include that in the story if this really happened? so she's putting people in the timeline that she spoke to, that "people" feels comfortable with. because melania's lawyers and donald's lawyers want a retraction. melania specifically because of the interaction along fifth avenue saying it never happened. she wouldn't know her if she bumped into her. and they wanted that part taken out. her lawyers never said anything in the letter to "people" magazine about false claims of

sexual misconduct. it was just about not bumping into each other on fifth avenue. so who backs that up for stoynoff, does anyone? >> that's a friend of her's that says she was with her at the time on fifth avenue and witnessed all of this. now, the events are a he said/she said. nobody else was in the room. but apparently on fifth avenue there was somebody with her who did see this and corroborates that melania at the time said, how come we don't see you anymore? >> so a new layer added to this whole story. melania trump was out defending her husband against these accusations on these two dimpbt interviews with trump and cnn. i want to go to kristen welker standing by for us who typically covers the clinton campaign. kristen, hillary clinton is on her way to nevada now and to get in place for the debate tomorrow night. and in the last debate, she famously said michelle obama's phrase, when they go low, we go high. it's probably not suspect we'll expect she'll use in the arsenal

against donald trump in vegas tomorrow night. she'll probably -- the "do no harm" route is probably what you're hearing from insiders on the campaign? >> reporter: i think you're right. based on my conversations, secretary clinton is going to try to look presidential. that means she'll likely not get in for a tit for tat with donald trump on every issue, particularly when she thinks he's misrepresenting her record. i think what you'll see her do is what she did in the second debate. i refer you to my website, what he is saying doesn't accurately represent to what i stand and then pivot to policy positions. the campaign says that's the way to end this campaign, reach out to the undecided voters and independent voters who might not be completely on board yet with secretary clinton. she has prepared vigorously for this debate, thomas, as she has for the first two debates. and we are learning that in the aftermath she's going to have a more vigorous schedule. on the plane heading to las

vegas, communications director jen palmieri is looking at what her schedule will look like. she'll have an event with tim kaine in north carolina. and then monday she'll appear with elizabeth warren in new hampshire. of course, donald trump has been criticizing her for not having a busy schedule. and certainly she'll be busy in the final last couple weeks of the campaign. >> kristen, standby for me. so just within the last 15 minutes we saw indiana governor mike pence visiting the location in hillsboro, north carolina. the gop office that suffered an arson attack from vandals who tried to destroy it. let's listen. >> the point donald trump has made is a combination frankly of the overwhelming bias in the national media in this election, which is evident to observers really across the spectrum. i mean, to be honest with you,

since i joined this campaign, i've been astonished at the level of negative coverage of my running mate and the scant coverage of the corruption coming out of the campaign of hillary clinton. >> so here we have mike pence backing up donald trump who is leading the strategy of saying that this election is rigged and backing up the man he's running with. hallie jackson is standing by for us in nevada. and hallie, i know you just had a guest on talking about why couldn't we switch and put mike pence at the top of the ticket, but here he's feeding this narrative of donald trump. meanwhile, you have people like paul ryan, marco rubio and his debate last night in florida, they are all trying to push themselves as far away from this type of talk as possible. >> reporter: absolutely. you saw it in the fired up comments from marco rubio last night. but we'll be hearing from mark lapage which is different.

this is the main governor, i'm not confident we are going to have a clean election in maine. when asked about, from this anchor, the idea there's a rigged system or a rigged election, this is the sitting governor of maine, who obviously has been elected a couple times in the state, concerned now about what donald trump is concerned about. so clearly governor lapage is a well respected governor in his own right. so yes, i do think this is continuing to push a wedge in among republicans. that said, we also just last hour spoke to a top republican strategist, the former campaign manager for ted cruz who said, listen, there are instances of voter irregularity. to be clear, studies show when it comes to large voter fraud, i look at the study, 31 cases out of a billion ballots cast since the year 2000.

you have to sort of put this into context and perspective there. >> more like you're going to hit the slots in vegas and win $10 billion, hallie jackson. >> obviously. >> we have this new political report out, hallie, i just want to roll off what you said because they have this report saying interviews with more than two dozen members of the republican national committee reveal abiding fears of democratic voting frautd and widespread belief that part of the process or outcome is rigged. party chair reince priebus has not refuted the notion that the election is rigged and the rnc declined requests for comment. mark murray is standing by for us. let me go to you because we don't need to remind governor lapage and other governors what their job is when it comes to election day. they have the offices and are in charge in republican states and democratic states, but lapage insert fying the election results. so why would he be calling into question his own operation of what he's going to eventually certify on november 8th? >> yeah, thomas, that's one of

the big ironies here. not only is it the certification process but overseeing the election and, well, is it the secretary of states in these states. many states across the country like florida, republicans control every office from governor down to the secretary of state. as has been mentioned by president obama earlier today, if there was some kind of bass conspiracy, these republicans are in on it. >> so we know that this is obviously a doom's day headline of a rigged system. certainly not the type of headlines that we want to be talking about. but as we look at other headlines that are out today by and about the gop nominee, "the washington post" says trump has no path to victory. politico suggests that trump is perilously close to a historic rebuke. but as we look, mark, at the battleground polling, it still seems very close. so are those kind of headlines and predictions premature? >> yeah, thomas, it depends what you're looking at. the totality of donald trump still having a path to victory,

but if there was a football game, he would be down two scores with three to four minutes left. let me walk you through some of the numbers and where things stand right now. so thomas, this is our battleground map right now. we have hillary clinton at 287 electoral votes versus 157 for donald trump. you just need 270 for the white house and right now hillary clinton is there with still some states in the toss-up column. here's the most recent nbc news survey monkey online weekly tracking poll. we have hillary clinton up six points. not much has changed in the past week. but then here are all the other polls that have come out in the last 24 to 48 hours. and in totality of six polls, thomas, and hillary clinton is up by an average of eight points. excuse me, let's go back to there. by eight points. and that is a very big lead for her. then let's actually go through some of the battleground polling. thomas, you suggested it looks closer nationwide. in florida, hillary clinton is ahead by four points. according to past florida

elections, four points is a pretty big lead obama won by one point in 2012. ohio is an even race right there. and then in pennsylvania, you have hillary clinton plus six. and then there's one more poll to walk you through, thomas, it has colorado. hillary clinton ahead by eight points. texas, a bran new poll out today, has donald trump up by just three. just kind of signifying all the numbers we're seeing, thomas. >> so 21 days to go. mark, thank you. standby for me. steve kornacki is watching you work on the board. i think he's very proud of you because the boards are temperamental. but as we look at what is taking place and mark just told us about the real impact of the certain states very close to call, but the impact down ballot, does trump really have an effect? >> yeah, i mean, you talk about the house and the senate. look, the house is a real stretch for democrats to take back. but the senate, they absolutely have a chance to do that. they have to pick up if hillary clinton wins the presidency, they have to have a net gain of four seats. in the bind that donald trump

has put republican candidates in, some of these vulnerable republican incumbents, it really is amazing. take a state like pennsylvania. put the numbers in the presidential race. it's expected hillary clinton will win pennsylvania. there's the senate race there. katy mcginty is challenging pat toomey. if hillary clinton is winning by six, seven, eight points that creates a tie where voters go in and vote for hillary clinton for president and they start voting for democrats down the line. that's something republicans have to avoid. but if you're pat toomey, that's easier said than done. this applies to basically every vulnerable republican senate incumbent across the country. on the one hand, you need to get some of the traditional republican voters who are uncomfortable with trump. how do you do that? distance yourself in trump. pat toomey won't endorse donald trump, but if you do that, who do you risk alienating? the trump base of the republican party. that interprets any distance between a republican and donald trump as something akin to treason within the party.

so that is the bind that pat toomey and republican candidates are in all across the country. >> we'll have ed rendell up later in the show, but toomey positioned himself as not endorsing trump but saying i'm not voting for him either. so he's trying to have it both ways. >> trying to, but the die-hard trump voters, do they interpret that anything short of a full-throated endorsement, they may take it out on him. >> kristen welker has new information on who secretary clinton will have as a guest as the third debate. >> reporter: just moments ago jen palmieri told supporters aboard hillary clinton's plane that she'll bring meg whitman to the debate as well as billionaire mark cuban. of course, meg whitman, one of the first republicans to come out to endorse secretary clinton. and this sort of business narrative helps to counter trump's argument that he is the stronger candidate on the economy. it also comes as we learn that donald trump is going to be

bringing the mother of one of the benghazi victims to the debate tomorrow night. >> kristen, thank you very much. thank you to everybody. the super friends panel here of folks to fill us in on the latest from the campaign trail. a reminder that we'll have all day coverage from las vegas. i head there later today. we have team coverage throughout the day for msnbc leading up to the third and the final debate. it all goes down in sin city followed by late night analysis from the post-debate team. we're back after this.

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i said to my husband that the language is inappropriate, it's not acceptable. and i was surprised because that is not the man that i know. and as you can see from the tape, the cameras were not on, it was only a mike. and i wonder if they even knew

that the mike was on. because they were kind of a boy talk. >> melania trump is breaking her silence saying that the gop nominee is denying the case of sexual misconduct. we are following breaking news of "people" magazine publishing the story of six witnesses. witnesses who can back up one of their own writers, natasha stoynoff who accused donald trump of up appropriate behavior when she was sent to cover the couple back in 2005. so let's talk to someone working for donald trump and his team to have women vote for him. amy cramer is co-founder of the women vote trump pac and the former chair of the tea party express. amy, good to have you with me. you probably have seen portions of the interview that melania

gave last night. she calls her husband's words from the 2005 "access hollywood" hot mike moment boy talk. we'll remind people, donald trump is 59 years old at the time. would you characterize that type of language? and that conversation as just boy talk? >> thomas, thank you for having me. i do think it's a bunch of boy talk or locker room talk. and i know he might have been 59 years old at the time, but i also know that men get around each other on the golf course or at football games, baseball games, and they always want to one-up each other. we weren't there, we don't know -- we only heard a portion of the tape. i don't know if he was egged on or not, but he did apologize. and i think that the american people are very forgiving. and i think that they will forgive him. at tend of the day, i don't think that really matters about

going forward in this election. >> now when we think about the character of the folks that americans will have the opportunity to vote for on november 8th, a lot of mud has gone back and forth both ways, but specifically now when melania was talking about the "people" magazine writer, with her accusation, and she said specifically the factual credibility of the whole story is questionable because she never ran into this writer on fifth avenue while carrying her child. now "people" magazine says they have six people backing up stoynoff's story because she told five people about the inappropriate behavior that happened. but also had a friend with her that day, that they met on the street when stoynoff said she bumped into melania trump. do you think that complicates things for the back and forth of the he said/she said if stoynoff has people from her timeline to say, yes, i shall that story and she's telling the truth? >> well, thomas, i mean, i do

think it's exactly what you said, a bunch of he said/she said right now. and we don't know what exactly happened with melania and the reporter or mr. trump and the reporter. if there's a story there, it needs to be triin a court of law. but now everyone is trying to bring him to the court of public opinion and he's innocent until proven guilty. and he's entitled to have his day in court. so i would think that if this were the case, if this stuff did actually happen, that they would file charges and actually take it to court. >> i think for certain states, if they have a statute of limitation, i'm certain that a lot of women will vet whether they have civil or criminal options in front of them. but a lot of people have characterized melania's defense of her husband and saying it sounded like another political figure from the 19090s.

1990s. take a look. >> this is part of the continuing political campaign against my husband. >> it was the media. it was nbc. it was "access hollywood." it was left-wing media. >> it was this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president. >> he's kind, he's a gentleman. >> he is kind, he is friendly. >> i believe my husband. i believe my husband. >> i love and believe my husband. >> so we put together sound there from hillary clinton defending her husband back in 1998 to melania trump defending her's in 2016. donald has criticized hillary for treatment of women. >> i think that melania is standing by her man and can't fault her for that. that's each and every individual woman. millions of women have gone

through similar things like this, whether this is true or not, you know, i'm not going to judge her for that. she, in the beginning, everyone said where was melania? now she's come out and people are attacking her. at the end of the day, this is between her and her husband. and i would leave it to that. i think there are other thing that is are more important. and personally to me, sex, lies and videotapes is not what i base my vote upon. i'm more concerned about hillary clinton's sacrifice in our national security with her unsecure server in her basement. >> amy cramer, co-founder of the trump women pac. thank you for being on. >> thank you, thomas. we have been asking you on the microsoft pulse question, do you think melania trump should have spoken out sooner regarding the sexual misconduct allegations against her husband? so far you say yes, 82% of you. 18% say no. but the pulse is live. check it out. pulse.msnbc.com. since the year 2000, there have been 31 credible incidents

of voter impersonation. that's 31 bogus ballots out of the more than 1 million in the last decade. if it hasn't been an issue in the past, why does donald trump keep telling supporters their vote will be rigged this time around? president obama gave trump a piece of his mind earlier today from the rose garden. >> it doesn't really show the kind of leadership and toughness that you want out of a president. you start whining before the game's even over, you start blaming somebody else, then you don't have what it takes to be in this job. diabeticerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily 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

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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. keep social security strong. the media's trying to rig the election by giving credence, and this is so true, by giving credence to false stories that have nova lidty. this is a rigged election, folks. >> we have the gop nominee on the trail in recent days taking the election to task claiming

that your vote on november 8th will be rigged. now trump is about to hold a rally in colorado springs, scheduled originally for 3:00 p.m. eastern. we just got word it's been moved up to 2:45. but are voters really buying trump's rhetoric claiming a rigged election? jacob rascone is live in colorado springs. one of our colleagues just sent out a note who said he spoke to somebody who hopes for peace, but in november hillary wins, then through prayer, peace or pitch forks they must take america back. how are folks characterizing what they fear come november 8th if donald trump doesn't win? >> reporter: that's funny. because i think i'm about to talk to the same person live. we talked to him and many others who do buy this argument. they don't disagree on this, but let's get right over to ask, this is a.j. you are a long-time republican

as we talked earlier about how donald trump repeatedly in the last few days talked about how this election is rigged. what does that mean to you? >> well, what that means to me is every time i turn my television on, i see the people telling me on the media that trump doesn't have a chance, the polls are so far out and not in his favor, that you might as well not even go vote. >> reporter: so it's a matter of bias, it's a matter of trying to suppress the vote, that's what you think rigged means. >> right. that's exactly what it means. >> reporter: so you -- like many trump supporters we have talked to today and over the last several days, really believe that his support is much stronger than the polls suggest. but what if he loses on november 8th and his support wasn't as strong as you thought? >> i'm going to think positive and pray that he does win. >> reporter: if he doesn't, will you accept the outcome? >> i will accept the outcome. but like i told the lady before,

by prayer, peace or pitch fork, we're going to take the country back. they can take it to the bank. >> reporter: does that mean working tirelessly to elect somebody else in four years? >> they can make their choice on that. i'll leave it up to them on that. >> reporter: you personally, what will you do if he loses? >> i will work my -- to change what happened. but like i said, i'm praying. and i think there are a lot of sleepers out there. they are going to wake up and go vote november 8th for donald j. trump. >> let's switch over to your wife. thank you for taking time. we'll ask you about something else in the news, which is at this point i think nine or ten women who have come forward to say, in the last either decade or longer, trump not only said things about women, but he actually did things, he came on to me, he groped me, et cetera. as a woman who supports trump, does that kind of allegation, does that affect you? >> no, it doesn't.

it doesn't affect my vote at all. >> reporter: how come? >> because most of these women have been disproven. their cases have been disproven. and honestly, i'm a nurse, we hear worse in the hospital. my grandson's ball games you hear worse kind of locker room talk like that. and i know trump is the person that i'm voting for. >> reporter: thank you so much. that's all the time we have. of course, we would go on to say this is not just talk, these are actual allegations. but that's where we'll end it. that is pretty typical of what we'll hear out here on the trail. >> jacob, thank you. we know the phrase the man just used there, going to the far extent of using hyperbole to express sadness of donald trump losing against hillary clinton. now we'll go to the host of hugh

hewitt and charlie sykes. i hope you both were able to hear this. i want to start with you, hugh, we look at the new consult poll to find that 40% of registered voters believe the election can be stolen from the gop nominee due to voter fraud. and we hear donald trump really using this chorus or refrain on the campaign trail, is that a proven strategy to work? >> well, there are two kinds of rigged charges being made, thomas. rigged part a is voter fraud. we know that exists. the question is how widespread and is it ever significant? we have had events in colorado and virginia this cycle and there have been events in wisconsin, charlie knows about in past cycles, it's rarely significant in the outcome of the electoral college state. it might have been significant democrats believe in florida in 2000. so it's very -- that is rig part a. what i heard a.j. telling jacob

is that -- whether it's the project, video of democratic dirty tricks, the general cartwright, hillary clinton double standard, the cheryl mills haiti connection, the "usa today" lobbyists using their connections with the clinton foundation to advance it or anything even as basic as inquiries into whether or not the podesta e-mails have been effectively vetted for all the details. most of the trump supporters believe 100% saturation coverage on access media had zero percent on the other stories is rigging the election, not a voter fraud way but in an influence way. >> all right. so we have talked about the wikileaks, the constant drip-drip of information coming out from these illegally hacked e-mails being dispensed to the public. the only thing that podesta will confirm is the fact that he was

hacked. they will not confirm any of the credible or uncredible information or incredible information probably. hugh, as you like to put it, about what has been publicly put out there. but charlie, part of the rigged system to a donald trump is that of speaker ryan. and last night trump appeared in your home state and listen to how they talk about speaker ryan. >> i don't want to be knocking paul ryan. i think he could be more supportive to the republican nominee. i think we are doing well and will win the election. >> do you think he wants you to win? >> maybe not because he wants to run in four years or maybe he just doesn't know how to win. >> we know paul ryan is highly popular in wisconsin. but he's not so popular at trump rallies. look at this from the rally. >> now i need your help locally. the wisconsin -- the wisconsin republican party has set up 29

offices -- >> paul ryan sucks! paul ryan sucks! >> the republican party of wisconsin -- >> that's not "lock her up," that is "paul ryan sucks." regardless of whether donald trump wins or loses, what is paul ryan's political future? >> first of all, that was the chairman of the republican party. that was so humiliating they put out a statement after basically praising paul ryan who has raised a lot of money in wisconsin to turn out the vote for donald trump, which is ironic. that's a very interesting question. paul ryan right now is getting the worst of all possible worlds. you know, he's trying to straddle this line, but it's like walking a tight rope in the middle of a hurricane here. the trump supporters are angry at him. you heard that. there are people on the outside saying he has not been strong enough. it's going to be a very difficult situation. but on the other hand, if and when donald trump does lose this election which seems increasingly likely, paul ryan

is going to be the last man standing. he may be the last man standing in the rubble of the republican party, the conservative movement. so he's going to have a tremendous responsibility on his shoulders. i find it extraordinary that donald trump is attacking a leading republican. and incomprehensible to spend this much time, if he had the remoted hope of winning in wisconsin, attacking paul ryan. that will not end well for him. >> thank you, hugh hewitt and paul sykes. the all-important evangelical vote typically sways more red than blue. but could that change with two of the most unpopular candidates in history at the top of each ticket? and today we have been asking you on the microsoft pulse question about melania trump. should she have spoken out

sooner in regards to the allegations against her husband? here's how you feel so far. 82% of you say yes. 18% say no. the pulse is live. check it out. pulse.minneapolis.com. pulse.msnbc.com. anufacturing j. 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?

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>> i have one last question for you -- all right. welcome back, everybody. here's a live look in colorado springs, colorado. this is where donald trump is going to be appearing at a rally coming up in just a short bit. he was going to be heading at the top of the hour at 3:00 p.m. we got word they were moving it up. we'll take you back there as soon as mr. trump appears and we'll see if he responds to the latest news "people" magazine has coming out with six people backing up their original writer's claim, natasha stoynoff, that donald trump was sexually aggressive toward her. a story she only recently revealed after covering melania and donald back in 2005. melania trump out in front last night on two different networks talking about her husband and

defending his behavior against the allegations and specifically that reporter from "people" magazine. we know that in the clinton campaign is making a play for some traditionally right-leaping states in what is a completely shifted paradigm of the 2016 election cycle. the goal here is to extend her advantage over donald trump and give down ballot democrats a boost. the first place she's going to make the push in is arizona where the race remains tight. vot voters there have only gone for a democratic presidential in 1515 1952. michelle obama is campaigning there on thursday. joining me is nbc news political analyst ed rendell. good to have you with me. first, let's get you reaction to what is taking place with the latest development with "people" magazine putting six more witnesses out to corroborate the

story of natasha stoynoff. for her not to say donald trump is a person who bragged about sexual misconduct and is now accused of sexual misconduct, is that a big mistake for the first female nomination in a presidential party? >> i do think it is going to come up, mr. trump will be asked about it, no doubt, or talk about it himself. and she'll have to respond and say, look, this is not a surprise. the three contestants in the miss teenager usa pageant said he walked into the locker room when they were naked, half naked and stayed there, he bragged about that on "howard stern" years ago. this is a pattern as secretary clinton said of things he's said and done throughout the last two decades at least.

so i don't think she'll shy away from it and respond strongly. >> if this was a man as a democratic nominee, would you advise differently? >> no. look, i think the speech that michelle obama gave in new hampshire earlier this week or last week, actually, was an incredible speech. and she said, what example does it make for our children, for our little girls, what do they feel about hearing someone call them all sorts of names? and worse for the young boys, is this a role model that we want our young boys to act like? look, the president of the united states isn't perfect, we know that. they transgress and many presidents have. but to say and brag about conduct like this is beyond the pail. what donald trump said on that tape is a crime. you understand, if someone were against a woman's will to grab

her in her genitals, that's a crime called indecent assault. it's a criminal offense. in some states a felony. and in many states a first-degree misdemeanor. so there's nothing that is locker room talk about it at all. going into a locker room where 15, 16, 17-year-old girls are naked and half-naked, there is nothing locker room talking about that at all. >> we know that these are all allegations. he has bragged about certain things, whether it was on "howard stern" or the hot mike moment with billy bush, but he's denied any allegations. >> he bragged about -- he bragged about running pageants and going in and seeing the contestants naked. he bragged about that on "howard stern." >> but he denied the sexual advantages to classify themselves as sexual assault. but i do want to ask you about the play hillary clinton is making by spending money in red states, texas, indiana, missouri, also aggressive in

arizona. is that a smart move right now to use those resources when certain battleground states are so tight? >> i think the clinton campaign has enough resources to do both. when you look at the polls and you see a one or two-point spread in arizona, it's dead even, i mean, you pick up one or two of the states and it changes the map entirely. i know a lot of commentators and democrats who said it's over. we're fighting for the senate and the house. i'm not sure of that. in pennsylvania we have seen polls that go as high as 11 and as low as a four-point spread. four points is barely within the margin of era. there could be a hidden donald trump vote. the good news for democrats, you have mentioned it before, is the enthusiasm gap. trump voters used to be more enthusiastic and more certain to vote than hillary clinton voters. that's flipped. hillary clinton's voters are

more enthusiastic to vote than the donald trump voter. >> it's going to be a nail-biter down to the end. we'll see what happens with 21 days to go who will peak at the end. >> absolutely. >> ed rendell, thank you. we have the final face-off coming up along the vegas strip. what happens tomorrow night in vegas surely won't stay in vegas. but could the third debate seal the deal for either candidate? first, though, a chance along the east coast last night to see a rocket that is making a special delivery to the international space station. here's lauren rush with the update for us. >> the rocket successfully launched from virginia last night. it is headed to the international space station. it is loaded with 5,000 pounds of supplies and science experiments for the crew of the iss. this launch also marks the first flight in nearly two years. when a previous model exploded just seconds after takeoff from the same launch pad.

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back to colorado for you at a live trump rally taking place in colorado springs. i believe it is general michael flynn on the stage now talking to folks who have gathered there. and we do expect to see the gop nominee any moment from now. this is a rally, the first of two that he's holding today in colorado. and we'll see if donald trump directly addresses the update to "people" magazine's latest article. this about six people coming forward to back up natasha stoynoff's claims of sexual misconduct by donald trump back in 2005. that's while she was covering him. also donald trump's claims of a rigged election. they were shut down by president obama today and just over a day to go before the third debate in las vegas, nevada. i want to check the temperature there and find out what we are

going to witness tomorrow night. the third and final historic debate in this season. joining me now from vegas, the political analyst and msnbc contributor, john ralston. the moderator is chris wallace who will address six topics, but do you think they'll get to the six topics given the allegations facing donald trump and hillary clinton since the last town hall debate? >> it will be interesting to watch. you know this very well, thomas, it depends on the moderator very much. i mean, certainly this topic of trump and the videotape and all these allegations by the women is going to come up. i would guess from him. i doubt that hillary clinton will bring it up, but if he doesn't, i'm sure she will. you know, he got rid of all that stuff at the beginning of the last debate and was able to move on from it. i'm not so sure that's going to happen in this one. it's going to be very interesting to see which donald trump we see considering all the polls now that show him potentially losing in a

landslide even though ed rendell thinks it will be close. will we see a desperate donald trump lashing how at hillary clinton? can she keep composure? again, it is really up to chris wallace to control the debate, which is not going to be an easy task. >> no, he will set the tone. and the pressure is on for all of them tomorrow night. but especially, jon, when it comes to mud-slinging allegations of sexual misconduct. if bill clinton's past comes up again, does hillary clinton actually repurpose michelle obama's "when they go low we go high" speech, or did she extinguish that once and for all? >> i don't think she'll be able to extinguish it. donald trump will be donald trump. but i guess what i say to that, thomas, she essentially got away with saying after trump launched that attack in the second debate, well, everything he said was false or words to that effect. how much will he push that? i'm not so sure. those attacks on bill clinton haven't necessarily helped donald trump in the past. the question is, is he going to

talk about a double standard, is he going to really go after hillary clinton for what he's said, enabling bill clinton for attacking these women. this could really degenerate pretty fast. and again, i emphasize, and you and i know this very well, it is up to the moderator especially in a situation like that to try to gain control. it's not easy, especially with donald trump. but also with hillary clinton who is very, very skilled at talking about what she wants to talk about and not maybe what the questioner has asked. >> so we know after the second debate, our nbc news/wall street journal poll found that 52% said it doesn't make a difference for them, but if we look specifically for nevada, a new poll in your state has clinton up by several points. that one was out yesterday that said that it was essentially tied there. so we're seeing these fluid trends from nevada, jon, is your state going to be a mystery up until november 8th or what? >> i have always thought, thomas, that the state leaned slightly toward hillary clinton because of the large minority

vote, especially the hispanic vote, which could be a fifth of the electorate. trump has been closer ahead in a lot of polls. but now they are starting to tilt against him. there's a couple polls that have come out in the last 48/72 hours that show him six points behind. and the real question now is nevada is not just important in the presidential race, it's very, very pivotal in the race for the u.s. senate. this is the only seat that the republicans have a chance to take. it's harry reid's seat. will there be a down ballot effect there? can joe heck separate himself enough from trump? he endorsed trump and disavowed him, that has hurt him. conservative talk radio here is going crazy about that. i think the conventional wisdom is here now, thomas, that the state is slipping away from trump. he's not giving up. his son, donald trump jr., is in reno today trying to do well in what is the swing county in nevada. but i think the state leans now toward hillary clinton, pretty obviously. >> all right, jon, thank you. hopefully i'll see you in vegas.

i'll be there later tonight with all of us in place for tomorrow. i'm thomas roberts. kate snow picks things up now. and i'll get to caesar's and save you a seat. >> will you please? i'm on the flight, see you there. we'll have lots of time. thank you, i'm kate snow. don't blink. there are three weeks now until election day. and it's another busy one in the political world. as we say, 24 hours until that final presidential debate. hillary clinton is with her team in las vegas getting ready while donald trump sticks to making his case to crowds out on the trail. right now he's about to take the stage in colorado springs facing falling poll numbers and brand new corroborating witnesses to what one woman says was a sexual assault. one big message he's been trying to get across, that this election and the american voting system in general, donald trump says, is rigged against him. earlier today president obama addressed that allegation