so david gergen. there is nothing more important to her at this point than this issue. >> i totally wii wee that. and this may be a story that will unfold over three, four or five days and change the tone of the election. could change the early voting and everything. as much as i think the fbi ought to give us more information, not only how many e-mails but characterize what's going on. because the bulk of them as i say may well be logistical, how to run a staff and that sort of thing. and we need to know that. voters need to know that. but the other thing i must say erin, is that hillary clinton herself and the clinton campaign ought to address this issue too. why in the world was it that there was after they said they turned in all the e-mails there is some device out there with tens of thousands of e-mails that the fbi didn't discover in all of its earlier things? were the e-mails received by hillary erased from her server but yet we have the ones that huma has? this is very peculiar. i don't under

>> absolutely and david gergen said it very eloquently, that's what we admire about george washingtonility to step down. we have to hand the baton to the next president. we put the party squabbles behind us. a man named charles thompson was the secretary of the continental congress and it got so vicious between jefferson and adams he deeply worried that our democracy couldn't survive if we couldn't pull together and legitimatize the president, otherwise we would just be in constant warfare mode and have utter disconstant. and he was don'tly distraught when you have party systems. we've done a good job at pulling together. franklin roosevelt could run in the middle of world war ii, with his opponent, and work together. we can go all along through history. this is different what donald trump is doing, it's sinister, it reeks of joe mccarthy and it can't be stamped out enough by people that have access to the public airways like we all do. >> but we're paying a lot of attention to this. are we putting too much attention on it or is it as the president said, this is not to be joked about?

this is why i said two nights ago david gergen says he senses a national kind of malaise, he feels like people didn't rest overnight because where are upset in the past of our discourse and the shape our discourse is in. nicole and mark, thank you for coming on. >>> still ahead on offense more of the trump scorched earth strategy and more on who has written the trump's target, bill clinton. >>> it's important to me to stay positive, confident and optimistic, because that's how i feel about america. now, look, i know donald trump has taken a very different tone. we have heard it in both debates and his campaign has said today and i quote" run a scorched earth strategy" whatever that means. that's how desperate they are. >> there are 26 days left in the campaign and the final days could end up being the nastiest, we saw donald trump hold a press conference with women who have accused bill clinton of sexual misconduct. and today we got this report earlier in the broadcast, from bloomberg, on tuesday, bannon a laid out the campaign's argument she's led a program of victim intimidation accor

david gergen, to you, at the same time, i just wonder, if that's where trump is headed on? mark preston says this is the en. trump says i will never get out. i am in this to the end. >> i think in his head, he can rally. he can turn this around. he reminds me very much of nixon in the closing months. he loved these kind of hard hat responses. he could get that still, even as things were closing in on him. the difference here is that the republican national committee doesn't have the power to remove trump at the top of the ticket. so he can take it all the way through the election. >> i say it's the end of his candidacy in the sense there is no possible way he can win the presidency. i think david is right. he, he's got so much ego at stake in himself he doesn't want to step aside. >> what is interesting, a hillary clinton supporter said to me earlier today, if, indeed, he does not win and she does win, she says, is this how you want to win? >> no one guessed we would have been here right now. i think for hillary clinton, a win is a win. if she does go on to win, but nothing

david gergen what does that mean? >> that means there's extreme sloppiness between the clinton camp, how this e-mail was handled. allen de alan dershowtiz was right, they should have turned it over to the fbi and had it settled in july and not be in this quandary, but i think at the same time, while the fbi director did the right thing by sending the letter he had a responsibility to congress. he also has a responsibility to the american public, the american voters and to these candidates and that is that having announced this, he owes it to voters to provide as much -- to provide total information about how many e-mails are there, who wrote them, when were they written. the kind of -- that information should be easily available. he ought to have a report out to the american people within 72 hours. i think that's only fair. he cannot leave this thing dangling over as a cloud over this campaign. the fbi's role is to be neutral and impartial and to leave it dangli dangling obviously presents real threats to the clinton

david gergen, jackie kucinich, jason johnson, thanks to all of you. >>> does trump still have a path?ll break down the math, next. what is success? is it a professor who never stops being a student? is it a caregiver determined to take care of her own? or is it a lifetime of work that blazes the path to your passions? your personal success takes a financial partner who values it as much as you do. learn more at tiaa.org do you have thecare? coverage you need? open enrollment ends december 7th. don't put it off 'til later. now's the time to get on a path that could be right for you... with unitedhealthcare medicare solutions. call today to learn about the kinds of coverage we offer, including aarp medicarecomplete plans insured through unitedhealthcare. these medicare advantage plans can combine parts a and b, your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and extra benefits... all in one complete plan... for a low monthly premium, or in some areas no plan premium at all. unitedhealthcare doesn't stop there. you'll have $0 copays for preventive services...

david r gerg gergen, and allen ders wits, and the author of electile disfunction, for unaroused voters. and cnn presidential historical, thank you guys, how are you? did you get any rest after the debate? >> raring to go. >> it's really coming down to the wire. so donald trump defended his rigged election stance today, listen to this. >> if al gore or george bushed agreed three weeks before the election to concede the results and waive their right to a legal challenge, or a recount, then there would be no supreme court case and no bore, bush versus gore and gore versus bush. i'm being asked to waive centuries of legal precedent designed to protect the voters. >> allen, you would know a lot about that because you're involved in bush v. gore. >> that's right. >> so is trump on solid ground here? >> of course not. clearly what happened there is that it was a recount. bush versus gore, not gore versus bush. there were lawsuits filed by both of them. that's a legitimate challenge, everybody understands that. trump is talking to two audiences. to his audience, to his group, he's saying i wil

david gergen, what will you make of this joint appearance? >> well, as a native north carolinian, i'm particularly interested in how the politics of our state are changing who wins this will have a major impact not only on north carolina but upon the south itself. historically what's so striking is we frequently had appearances by the two most power fful in t country. what we've never had as get together are the two most powerful people being women and that symbolically is important. i think michelle obama has a capacity to motivate younger voters and hillary clinton had challenges in that regard but i must say at a time when the opposition candidate has been embroiled in a lot of controversy about whether he has respect for women, for the democratic party to put two of them up there together is a resounding response to that. >> kate, i want to bring you in, too. we need to first go to this trump rally and listen in to mr. trump speaking in ohio. >> wow, tremendous, thank you very much. thank you. unbelievable. people don't know, i worked in

joining us, david gergen. also with us, cnn senior political commentator, david axelrod. can find his podcast on cnn.com. david axelrod, this messagedy donald trump, it certainly appeals to his core supporters, but what does that really do for him at this point? doesn't he need to expand his vote? women voters, young voters, minorities? >> this has been a dilemma for him for some time. he has a very committed base. when he said, i could shoot someone on fifth avenue and i wouldn't lose a vote, he was right. he has a base of followers who will follow him anywhere. but they aren't enough to win an election. and he has had real difficulty expanding beyond it. and he's been his own worst enemy in that regard. and particularly among these college educated white voters, who he seems to be systemically driving away, and among them, women, most of all. so, i, you know, all of the things he's doing now seem designed to reinforce support that he already has, but not to build on it. >> david gergen, historically, have you ever seen anything like this? a presidential nominee calling

david gergen is a cnn senior political analyst. david louter is the washington bureau chief for "the los angeles times," and mel robbins is a cnn commentator and senior analyst. mel, if mr. trump does file a lawsuit doesn't that give "the new york times" the opportunity to request any information about trump's entire sexual history? mel, can you hear me? oh. darn. i think she's on skype and that sometimes happens with skype freezes and i'm so frustrated because i want her to answer this question! mel you back? okay, did you hear me? >> you know, you cut out at the end of your question. but you know i think one of the things that i can say, carol, is that one of the problems for donald trump is keeping this thing alive. i mean he doesn't seem to understand that by counterpunching at this stage in the game he's just making his problems bigger and bigger and bigger, carol. so yes, bringing any kind of lawsuit is only going to make us all scrutinize this even further. >> but, but, i mean there should be a deposition, right? and doesn't

david gergen. --. let me start with you david. you heard president obama say this is dangerous and say that this is very serious. there is nothing donald trump can be joking about here. trump is still refusing to categorically say he'll honor the election result. what does this really mean? >> first of all i do think we need to be recognized trump later on in his speech did say if there were a clear outcome he would accept it. >> what does that mean? >> well we don't know what clear means but he certainly has stepped forward. saying i'll wait till its over. reserving the right to see if there is a state where there were some allegations of the fraud. i'll reserve a recount. the think the way he's framed it is it is all rigged. and the big question, would you stand up to this and he says no. i think that is what's highly dangerous. listen, i'm sure corey will weigh in just the opposite but if you go back to early in the history of the republic, historians often right the most important thing george washington did for us as first pr

let's bring in cnn senior political analyst, david gergen. cnn political analyst, "usa today" political analyst, kirsten powers, and molly ball, political writer for "the atlantic." bad news for donald trump the last couple days obviously. anything he can do at this point to turn around? still a couple weeks to go. >> one of his biggest problems is obviously the tax story. the momentum is already sort of moving against him and i think most americans probably don't begrudge people were using tax loopholes if you're a warren buffett, for example, who's come out and said i pay less than my secretary pays, that's wrong, we need to change the laws. and so trump has started saying that. the problem is he got caught. versus he came out and he released the information. and so like in the poll showing -- >> he did from the beginning always say, i try to pay as little as possible. >> i don't think people quite understood the extent to how little he was paying. >> you actually see the dollars -- >> yeah, he had said, if he had come out and said i didn't

. >>> joining us now david gergen and paul having la and the vefr lord. , hillary clinton's comments tonight was it enough in your mind? >> no. i think she needs -- i think the call for the fbi to offer more information is exactly right. i have great respect for james comey but you can't leave this nation dang wling with a potentl criminal probe over a candidate when there is information that could soften it up. after all anderson we do have leaks coming outs of the fbi. washington post is reporteding there is a thousand e-mails at stake. "new york times" reported 10,000. we have conflicting leaks. it is incumbent on the fbi leadership to put out a staple to give us as much information as they can. they may only be logistical things. so they need to do that. and i think hillary clinton's call for that was right. but thereafter she ducked the question of finding out herself and talking to huma abedin about what had happened. and i think she has a responsibility to the country to come forward on her own and say this is what's been happening from point of vie

i want to go straight to david gergen, adviser to four presidents including reagan and clinton. the big question here, huma abedin is always by hillary clinton's side. they are friends. they are colleagues and psychologically obviously she's very important to hillary clinton. is there any way that she would cut ties with her? >> she should not now. huma has been intensely loyal to hillary for 20 years, and in turn hillary must be loyal to her now. and frankly, you don't want to do this right before the election, anyway. what i do think is that during the transition, if there is a transition, if mrs. clinton is elected, they're going to have to let this investigation play out and see whether it has, removes all the clouds over huma, which case i think it's a lot easier for her to come back and be by mrs. clinton's side or whether, in fact, she's going to face legal issues of her own which it will be difficult to come back. there's the additional question, erin, can she get security clearance if she comes into the government and has anything to do with national security? >> which,

. >> let's talk about the negativity in the air, david gergen's theory that the country is if not somewhat, a lot depressed. >> i agree, i was thinking about the word "disruption," you talk about business disruption or economic disruption and it can be good or bad and i think this country is completely disrupted politically right now, there's a segment that supports donald trump that wakes up angry every day and thinking that the world is falling apart because they're not being listened to and then there's a broader majority of people who just seem to be anxious, disruptive anxiety of constant barrage of unpreaddict abili unpreaddictabili unpreaddictability. the other thing is unpacking. >> maybe we should start unpacking. >> well you're the same as in h miss goodwin, so unpack for me how this ever gets better? >> i'm not sure it will right away. david brooks had an interesting column yesterday or today, but he said felt that trump might just walk away and you know in one sense america is a land that immediately forgets losers, you know, whether it's carry or gore or romney, they're sort o

david gergen and jackie kis niche back with me. crystal. you heard her say she gets on her knees and prays donald trump will be president of the united states. this is not just idol support. that is deep, deep belief and these women are standing by him. >> i think that is why you see that his support, where it's stayed, it a has about wavered. our patricia murphy. they are not going anywhere and part of it is also because they dislike hillary clinton so vehemently. and so what is the alternative? if you like donald trump you are not okay with what he said but is it going to make you flip over? it isn't. >> kayleigh, one of these women feels like she can believe everything trump says. and then of course he's the one who said he grabs women. so presumably she doesn't believe that specific. is there anything that would make these women turn from trump? or at this point absolutely not. >> my family does the same thing. they pray donald trump does become president and the reason is not that we support his language. of course no one supports that

maria cardona, and david gergen, and maggie haberman. give you chance to respond to that. that was a pretty powerful thing she said. she said this changed the trajectory of where her life may have gone. that it may seem to some these were kisses. but to her it was much more. clearly a violation. >> as i've said repeatedly and any time we do segments on this, which is often now, i think every person who has an accusation should come forward. looikz we have to give donald trump the same respect. and i'm sure he would say he'd never do anything inappropriate in front of her father. second, i think this is a big lesson. i sat here 48 hours ago and i said these claims are not litigated on tv and they are litigated in a court of law. and the woman on anderson cooper lath last night said there was a man sitting across the aisle. that man has come forward. he said it was not at all how the woman portrayed it. he said in fact when donald trump went to the bathroom. in fact when donald trump went to the bathroom, the woman said to him, i am -- i w

david gergen, david axelrod, and long-time correspondent with abc news, my dear friend ann compton. let me start with you. they released the first audiotape of donald trump. hillary clinton 46%, donald trump 35%, gary johnson 9%, jill stein 2. do you know how serious she has hurt donald trump? >> it's certainly at the trough of that controversy, but even if he kbroofz, nobody is gathered billed sef just to put this in perspective, no one has won by double digits, i think, since ronald reagan in 1984. this is in a four-way that she's up by 11. in the two-way she's up by 14. what's alarming to president kl candidates. they jump from 3% to 7%, which is a really, he really concerning number. that's why you saw paul ryan stepping out as he did told. >> and the poll shows trump dragging down republicans across the country. now they say they want democrats and power on the hill. john weaver tweeted, thanks to trump and his fellow travelers nbc will win in a landslide with both hillary accompanied by -- do you think they'll lose because of donald trump? is this a truly positive scenario her

david gergen and borger. >> so david, trump is obviously trying to use the rise in obamacare care ratesclinton's lead. do you see that working? big increase in premiums. >> well an in an ordinary campaign this would be big, big news and it would hurt the incumbent and effect hillary clinton and her campaign. after all the republicans and trump been saying for a long time we're going to see these kind of spikes and when the obama people come back and say well people get subsidies. who pays? the taxpayers do. the money comes out of somebody's pocket to pay for all this. but having said that, first of all trump has run such an incendiary campaign it is really difficult to pry people away. and secondly, he himself fumbled today to talk about this. he first talked about all the agony his employees were going through because of obamacare. he didn't seem to realize that he in fact, his company was actually covering a number of people. at least that was the story, subsequent damage control story. the whole thing is this is going to have less impact than would ordinarily occur. >> he certainly s

. >> joining me, phillip bumps, gloria borger and david gergen. >> he called donald trump a bottomlessked about a neediness they've sensed in him. i'm wondering what your reaction is to that. >> i think he's the most narcissistic political leader i can remember in american politics. he does have an obsession with winning and being adored. he wanted to be the center of attention. teddy roosevelt had some of that. they said of him in a he wanted to be the groom of a every wedding and deceased at every funeral. but he had all these compensatory qualities trump doesn't have. trump is not a deeply anchored man, we look for a sense of authenticity and values he's holds for a lifetime. i don't think he knows what his true north is. he's all sail and no anchor. >> gloria, you did a story on trump. trump's ex-wives said they're not sure if they even know the real trump. >> when i talk to people who have known him for 30 years and i would ask them who is donald trump's best friend and they would pause because they would never name themselves and they would pause and say to a person he doesn't ha

to david gergen's point, to donald trump.try to fix this by the second debate and not wait for the third. eight days ago donald trump had taken a lead in in evidence. eight days ago. he had pulled into a tie. maybe ahead. certainly closed in in colorado. eight days ago, florida. he was holding north carolina. he was winning in ohio. he was closing in in pennsylvania. he was closing in in michigan. he was doing what he has to do. getting in shape to turn blue states from the obama romney race red. that is what we were saying going into the debate. now forget about it. just wipe it out. these are just some of the state polls since then. hillary clinton up five in florida. up three in north carolina. up four in pennsylvania. other polls show her up more there. trump is holding ohio. near double digits here in virginia. in those eight days donald trump went in with the wind in his back. now he's looking up a steep hill again. >> are there clear reason why is the race has shifted? >> yes. she's making gains among key constituencie

david gergen. mike rogers.upporters maria core dona, a senior advisor to secretary clinton's 2008 campaign and former philadelphia mayor michael nutter also a clinton supporter. gloria mike pence has done an efficient job, a good job according to his supporters of explaining donald trump, defending donald trump. do you expect to see that pretty much tonight? >> yeah. i think he has to play cleanup a lot. i think he does it very well, whereas, president obama needed an anger translator, donald trump needs sort of a calm translator. i think that's what mike pence will do. he has to explain donald trump without contradicting him. and he has to keep changing the subject to the fact that donald trump is a change agent, that he is different from everything we've seen before, he is the anti politician. hillary clinton is the status quo. i guarantee you he'll keep making that point over and over again. >> david, it seems inevitable tonight. there have been so many headlines in the last week and a half, mike pence is, a

. >> joining me now, cnn's senior political analyst, david gergen, and presidential historian and historyas brinkley. i mean, david, for a candidate to say "you have tremendous hate in your heart," "the devil," when he said the devil thing, i thought back to, i think it was hugo chavez talking about george w. bush on stage at the u.n. i mean, have you -- has there been rhetoric like this in a debate at this level? >> i can't remember one in modern times. if you go back in our country's history, they were vitriolic, but they usually composed their differences before it was all over. and in this case, we're more and more polarized and more and more separated. i must tell you, when it comes to who won the debate, they like to retreat, the voters won. we had a great -- last night, the voters lost. it was an embarrassment for the country. >> you really think so? >> i absolutely think so. i can't tell you the number of people who told me today, i went to bed win cringed. there's so much mud-slinging, it's very tiring for people and stressful for a lot of americans. >> douglas, throughout histor

back with us, gloria borger, david gergen. have you ever heard a candidate being booed at one of these? >> no, i've been trying to figure that out. have you ever heard booing at an al smith dinner, as we heard tonight, with donald trump? the answer is, i don't know for sure, but i don't think so. you know, at risk of sounding partisan, i must tell you, there was a real difference between the two. donald trump was very much himself, but he didn't seem to know the difference between being light-hearted and heavy-handed. and, you know, this is supposed to be a light-hearted kind of occasion. and he had several jokes that were sort of pretty tough jokes about her. you know, basically calling her corrupt, the e-mails shows that she pretends to like the catholic church and that sort of thing. he was -- i thought, particularly good when he talked about melania. that was very -- that was funny and humorous in the right spirit. but i think there was a reason the boos were there. and that was that he went over the line on several occasi

david gergen is here, former presidential adviser to nixon, ford, reagan and clinton and patricia murphy, columnist for the daily beast and roll call. david, the latest revelations from the wikileaks hack, will it hurt the clinton campaign? >> carol, it's contributing to i think this movement toward trump. it's a modest movement but there's no question the trump supporters can take heart today with the polls slightly moving in their direction. one fox poll moving very strongly in their direction. the two states that cnn has now moved out of the lean democrat to battleground toss-ups, florida and nevada. i think that the wikileaks story is having a corrosive effect. i don't think it's a bombshell. it's nothing like the stories of the women with donald trump, for example, it doesn't have that impact but it is corrosive and it's obviously quite intentional on the part of the wikileaks people to hurt the clinton campaign. >> patricia, let's focus a little on those national polls because they do appear to be tightening but when you look at the electoral map, hillary clinton still wins handily

we have gloria, mark, and also, of course, senior political analyst david gergen, in addition to an enthusiastic crowd of washington students behind us. dav david, when it comes to hillary clinton's debate prep, i am sure they are gaming out all sorts of responses that donald trump might have that involve juanita broderick, monica lewinsky, gennifer flowers, on and on and on. how would you advise her to deal with the allegations against her husband and how she, in particular, handled those allegations? the allegations about her smearing some of the women. >> i would think, jake, that she ought to come out and be very stern about his behavior, his record, and the fact, you know -- there is a lot more evidence than this one tape that she can use. on the other hand, i don't think she ought to get into the details. and she particularly doesn't want to get back into the details and relitigate gennifer flowers and the women of clinton's fast. what she wants to do is provide an overall general umbrella and move the debate on. she needs to nail him hard on this and move on. i think what they also have t

david gergen, you just heard trump very defensive to dana when she asked why are you in washington at this hotel opening touting yourself instead of out on the campaign central? he said look at hillary clinton home sleeping. did he make a good case for stopping by for his hotel opening with his family or not? >> i think he made a reasonable case. i thought he was -- i was surprised that he replied so harshly to dana. his remarks to her were in effect rudeness towards a woman reporter. and i'm not sure that was very helpful to him. he had a story to tell. and i think particularly on a day when trump supporters have reason to be more cheerful and more optimistic. this fox poll was important. there are other polls out there which have shown some tightening. so he cub on the move. we'll have to wait and see. we need more information but he could be on the move and it may be that some of hillary clinton's teams are breaking out in sweat right now. >> thank you very much. and that is the big question because the breaking news are these new polls. is he on the move? is this truly a resurgent

let's talk it over with senior political analyst david gergen, former adviser to four presidents. >> good to be with you. >> let's get to what kellyanne conway said this morning on "meet the press," admitting, we are behind. how unusual is it to hear the words from someone who is running a presidential campaign 16 days out? >> very unusual for the trump campaign. it's one of the ways they've encouraged their voters, trump has come out for months now, open speeches with how the polls are doing. how well he is doing in the polls. right now, the polls are going south. eight or nine point average if you look at the polls. there are two or three polls -- let's face it -- that are o outlier polls that has it tied or trump up. but if you look at the broad set of polls that are out there, and look at the early voting in what we're picking up on the early voting, and the signs are optimistic now for hillary clinton. i think kellyanne conway did her candidate a favor by saying we're behind and let's rally. >> why is that a favor? >> the message -- it's possible that the trump supporters can ge

. >> we've seen david gergen, you've been around with me a long time.his is the race for the white house right behind us, but we've seen in the final two week was, tomorrow two weeks exactly until election day, people can change their minds. people can come around. even if the polls are showing one thing today, two weeks is a long time in american politics t. is fluid, wolf. i think we have to acknowledge that in many states. the new poll out today in north carolina showing republicans making gains. you'll see that in other states. it may close down some. i actually thought kenny ann conway was smart to acknowledge they're behind. throughout this campaign, the trump people vaucoften talked a living in a different universe. living in a different reality. makes her look more credible, the campaign look more credible. and rally your base, get them out there. their votes are important. >> north darcarolina, new monmo poll, hillary clinton ahead only by one point. 47% to 46%. >> look at that senate race, too. >> right. that's a very close race buy burr. >> w

david gergen and larry sabato. director of politics at the university of virginia. why don't we start with the new poll, larry. thank you for joining me. trump trails clinton by 5%, that's nationally, 47 clinton, 42 trump. it shows since cnn's last poll she is up, he is down. this was completed after the debate but before the stunning news about the taxes. this is also a cbs "new york times" poll out tonight, similar result, clinton up by four. what do you make of this? >> and there's also another national survey, survey monkey that has clinton up by about six. look, it is all good news for clinton. we know national polls don't matter as much, it is really the battleground polls. she got tremendous news today from colorado, from florida, from north carolina, from pennsylvania. only one exception, ohio, where she clearly is doing very poorly, but she is winning the other battleground states. so, you know, if this continues -- now, that's a giant if -- obviously she is going to be a clear favorite. she probably is the clear favorite, but there are two more debates to

. >> loyalty ahead of facts david gergen and what is the significance of this?bviously mike tyson convicted. >> i don't think it is anywhere near as explosive as what we've heard already and may be hearing from new tapes. but i do think that -- a i i think he shows the loyalty so you have to give credit to him on that. but when you come to him. mike tyson went to jail for six years. and a court of law and a jury found that he was guilty. and then here trump turns around and says he was the victim. it was the girl that did it. there were these girls always hanging around him. and therefore he shouldn't be found guilty. and he proposed that instead of going to jail what he augmeough do is take his proceeds from a couple of boxing matches and give them to rape victims. it is indicative of a frame of mind -- i don't think this is egregio egregious. but a frame of mind that is dismissive of women and what their legitimate claims might be in a rape culture. >> i would say it is egregious with all deference to david. and again this is not the most disturbing thing. cer

former national press secretary for bernie sanders simon sanders and david gergen, cnn political analystlast week president obama suggested there were tweaks needed to obamacare but he likened it to just a patch for a smartphone. take a listen. >> when one of these companies comes out with a new smartphone, then it has a few bugs. what do they do? they fix it. they upgrade it. unless it catches fire. then they just -- they pull it off the market. [ laughter ] >> but you don't go back to using a rotary phone! you don't say, well, we're repealing smartphones. we're just going to do the dial-up thing. that's not what you do. >> i don't know if that metaphor works, but the larger question i have it, this seems to be a much more serious issue and one that is very worrisome and troublesome for millions of americans than the president seems to be addressing in that clip. >> you know, i think -- i don't purport to speak for president obama but i think he does understand that this is a very serious issue, and rising premium, premium costs, are an issue for people. these are real-life implications

david gergen. washington bureau chief of the "daily beast." jack preston, executive director for cnn politics. here we are, david, less than 30 days to go. the speaker of the house saying he's no longer going to defend the republican nominee for president. the vice presidential nominee having to tell everyone he's staying on the ticket. have we ever been here before? >> no, no. we've never had a civil and a party quite like this. i think you can go back to the election of 1912. 102 -- whatever, 104 years ago. >> yeah. >> and find something like -- it was teddy roosevelt and william howard taft. they formed another party. you know, roosevelt formed another party. and by the way, taft finished third. but even so, in this particular election, it's very mixed right now. the republicans have a serious dilemma on their hands. they have better news for donald trump last night in the debate. he had a better debate. you know, pence has swung around and rnc has now swung around. those are important assets for him going forward. but if you look at that po

we have david gergen, former adviser to presidents nixon, ford, clinton and reagan.hank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> when you say the article last night, you said you almost dropped your martini. >> you're right. i started to have two more after that. what an incredible story. what an incredible story. now, in donald trump's defense, poppy, it needs to be emphasized up front there is no evidence he did anything illegal. in fact -- >> right. >> -- tax avoidance, as you well know, is widespread. people often do that. what's the difference between what he did and, say, some of the inversions going on now when american companies move their headquarters overseas to avoid taxes? this is widespread and the law, for better or worse, i think worse, allows for some of this. having said that, this is not just a businessman we're examining for his business records. this is a man we're assessing for his business success to see if it would make him a good president of the united states. i think it's going to be very tough for people to think, first of all, wa

cnn political analyst david gergen.e an interview to anderson cooper and said the sexual assault allegations made against her husband are, quote, lies. take a listen. >> i believe my husband. i believe my husband. this was all organized from the opposition. and, with the details that they go -- did they ever check the background of these women? they don't have any facts. i know he respects women, but he is defending himself because they are lies. >> so, obviously it's not a surprise that the wife of a candidate being attacked would defend him. but i guess my question is, as a political matter, doesn't melania coming out and saying this completely undermine the trump attack against hillary clinton that she called bill clinton's accusers liars? >> yeah. literally, she is doing what hillary clinton did in the midst of her own firestorm in the '90s. the trump campaign from the very beginning has actually been taking pages out of the clinton playbook in order to defend him against these accusations while also attacking bill

. >> all right, gloria, david gergen, thanks very much.t ahead, you'll see why senator elizabeth warren has become one of hillary clinton's most vocal campaign surrogates and why she's getting such mileage out of not mincing words. all right, here we go, baby. hey! we're doing the wave! taking off with me! for 42 minutes he's been trying to bring an entire stadium to its feet. you missed it buddy. (rich) why does he do it? for glory? notoriety? we don't know. waaaaave! frankly, we don't need to know. but much like this hero, courtyard is all about the game. taking off with me! one, two, three! waaaaave-- there's my guy! yes. snacks? yeah, man, eat it up and we're gonna burn it off doing the wave! yeah. well, we gotta hand it thto fedex. glasses. they've helped make our e-commerce so easy, and now we're getting all kinds of new customers. i know. can you believe we're getting orders from canada, ireland... this one's going to new zealand. new zealand? psst. ah, false alarm. hey! you guys are gonna scare away the deer! idiots... providing gl

. >> bret o'donnell and david gergen, good discussion.an 24 hours to go until the vice presidential debate, we'll take a look at the best and worst moments from the vice presidential face-offs, including this from the 2008 campaign. >> nice to meet you. can i call you joe? thank you. ♪ ♪ lease a 2016 lincoln mkx for $349 a month. only at your lincoln dealer. it takes all kinds of jobs. and the best place to find the job that's right for you ♪ is on the world's number-one job site. indeed. how the world works. you foundi'm a robot! cars.com rawr yeti and found a place to service it, too. ♪ jingle bells now when you're ready, you can sell your old car and find your new one all on cars.com you know us for shopping, and now we're there for every turn. cars.com >>> record 84 million people watched the first presidential debate. tomorrow night is the vice presidential candidates chance to face off, the only chance for them to take center stage, an opportunity to come out of their running mate's shadows. >> now in the spotlight it is high stakes

david gergen, former presidential adviser for four presidents. let me talk first, corey, the crucial issue here of time. this is what this is a lot about now. you have 36 days left. this is a poll that shows a seven-point swing in favor of hillary clinton in just one month. do you have enough time? >> look, the national polls are important. but what's most important is the state-by-state polls. that's really what you have to focus on. >> four, five of those today. >> you have to tlolook at the states of north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, florida. those four states make up the backbone of the trump campaign. if he's going it be successful and get to 270 votes, he needs to win all 4 of those states. if he isn't going to win pennsylvania based on what the numbers say, he has to set a separate path forward. looks like the 2nd district in maine, nevada, new mexico. places like that. the national polls are important but not as important as the state-specific polls. >> all right. as we said, other than ohio, hefls ahead in ohio today, behind in pennsyl

. >> all right, with us now, cnn senior political analyst david gergen former adviser to nixon, ford,ton. and ron nerring, former spokesman for ted cruz's presidential canal pampaign and supporter of trump. on balance, having listened to mrs. trump there, was it smart to have her do this? after a lot of this controversy, you know, had heated up and then started to die off a little bit. >> i think they should have put her up earlier but on her behalf, i would say she was warm enough. i think she was appealing in and of herself. so you have to give her points for that. what did strike me is her saying he was egged on by billy. she would have been better off to say he's a changed man. and to say it was boys talk. he's a 60-year-old corporate executive. they're running him as, you know, one of the smartest, wisest men in america. he engaged in boys talk? that to me doesn't fit together. so i felt overall it was a good appearance but the headline that came out of it was not good for her. >> emily, you are no fan of donald trump, there's a huge headline there. what did melania trump do for

joining me now, gloria borger, john king, and david gergen.ner is designed to kind of be a break from the constant campaign back and forth for candidates. do you see that happening tonight, though? >> i sure hope so. i think we could all use it and i think they could use it if conversation this evening you've been having anderson, is very different from the conversations in the past. we're talking about, did they shake hands? we know they posed for pictures. but did they talk to each other? did they engage with each other? we haven't had those conversations in the past years, because it wasn't a question at all. and i think after last night's debate, in which donald trump called her, hillary clinton, a nasty woman and, you know, they got into it last night and she said, after the debate, that she was horrified about his charges that the election is rigged and that he might not accept the results. they have to sort of dig deep and get some great joke writers here to allow them to kind of get past that and show a little bit of humor. >> david, y

. >> bret o'donnell and david gergen, good discussion.with less than 24 hours to go until the vice presidential debate, we'll take a look at the best and worst moments from the vice presidential face-offs, including this from the 2008 campaign. >> nice to meet you. can i call you joe? thank you. k at paint differently... ...what if it's built with better ingredients... ...and even given super powers? since benjamin moore reinvented paint... ...is it still paint? benjamin moore. paint like no other. which is good for me 200-degree range of sight hey! and bad for the barkley twins. take care of all your most important parts with centrum. upgraded to our most d3 ever. ♪ you foundi'm a robot! cars.com rawr yeti and found a place to service it, too. ♪ jingle bells now when you're ready, you can sell your old car and find your new one all on cars.com you know us for shopping, and now we're there for every turn. cars.com like their photo claims tool. it helps settle your claim quickly, which saves time, which saves money. and when they save, you

joining us now, david gergen, a former advisor to four u.s. and cnn presidential hit to historian, david brinkley. give us a big picture look at what's going on over the last 24 hours because this is truly tumultuous. >> it's one of the most remarkable dramas we've had in our politics in years and years. that is basically a civil war is starting to break out in the republican party between those who are in the establishment, who really have been deeply offended by trump all along and even more so by these tapes, but very much now think if he stays at the top of the ticket, he's going to drag everybody down. if this collapse of support among women that you talked about, if that spreads among women voters all across the country, he's going to lose by a landslide and they could lose the senate and the house. so they want to get him out of there but they don't know how to do it. in the same time he's rallying the grassroots supporters and against the establishment, against the media and against these establishment elites. >> when you use the word "