like mitch mcconnell saying he needs to apologize to women and girls throughout the country over thesemments. the source i spoke to said they do believe he is contrite. he's been unusually quiet since this broke, he's been holed up in his tower all day. they believe this could be a teachable moment for donald trump. i spoke to a swing state gop official who said that today is a game changer. right now every party in every state is preparing for that democratic ad that splices that comment with their gop senators or congressman. the same gop official is telling me that they wake up every single morning and wonder if their is the day that they should quit their job. their is t-- this is the day th can't take it any longer and that they need to separate themselves from donald trump and the republican party that they are growing to no longer know. >> katy tur, thank you for joining us. >> caller: thank you. >> coming up, what we can expect this to mean in sunday's debate. woah! you're not taking these. hey, hey, hey! you're not taking those. woah, woah! you're not taking that. come with me

area senate -- here is senate republican leader mitch mcconnell. ideo clip] mcconnell: i don't expect to learn when to be elected, and we party made it clear that a nomination to the supreme court by this president will not be filled this year. host: that from senator mitch mcconnell. does the supreme court of sector 2016 vote? we're taking your tweets, @cspanwj. can also share your comments on our facebook page and your phone calls. ron from eagle river, wisconsin. democrats line. good morning. caller: yes, i think this issue is the biggest main reason i'm going to vote this upcoming election. i think -- if you look back upon 's legacy wasn't really the iraq war. it was how the supreme court was loaded. it gave us these open policies for money in our elections. where billionaires now can control or sway our elections. it's just not fair. we need to get back to one person, one vote, and that's it. this thing about money and politics is the biggest concern. that's one of the first things we should get rid of after this election. assuming that hillary

as we started out, i should tell folks that you have been chief of staff of mitch mcconnell. and still have a great relationship with him. you bring all of that experience to our discussion this way. let me introduce our guests who will be asking questions. eric wenner is chief congressional reporter. ladies, thank you for being back with us this week. as we start out, you gave an interview to political last week talking about the prospects for keeping the majority and you acknowledge a tough road ahead. it you said you were going up with guns blazing with more money at attached to the tight races, and a few more days, do you feel differently at this point? mr. law: we have a lot of challenges. they have been with us for the last six months. the top 11 most competitive races, we have been doing battle. i think that continues to be that way. in addition to that, we have a ticket that is not totally unified the way that we typically go into presidential election years where everyone is galvanized and pushing in the same direction. in many other races coming, they are in tough s

mitch mcconnell went along with something primarily because it would embarrass the president only tohen discover maybe it wasn't such a great idea on the merits. does that sound like anything else that's happened in republican politics recently? we'll talk about that ahead. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achievedompletely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reaction

why haven't we heard from mitch mcconnell at all? >> his focus is to keep the majority in the senate just like speaker ryan's focus is the majority in the house. the senate is very competitive this year. this is going to come down to 4 or 5 races including places like new hampshire, wisconsin, florida. that's appropriately where mitch mcconnell's focus has been. >> steve, kristen welker is showing us the polling coming out of georgia. the polling coming out of ohio. utah apparently now in play as well. charlie cook of the cook political report writing in the national journal this morning that the gop handed the car keys to trump and he drove it off a cliff. if that's true, who's going to be responsible for picking up the pieces and how long is that going to take? >> i mean, it's going to be mitch mcconnell and at some point, another republican nominee and we'll see who that is but right after november 8th, you know, people are going to start looking at mitch mcconnell, paul ryan, reince priebus and say, now what are we going to do? t

. >> now the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell knows this is a jump ball going in here and he said as much just a couple of days ago. >> we have got knockdown, drag out, sort of like a knife fight in a phone booth and new hampshire, pennsylvania, ohio, wisconsin, illinois, nevada, indiana, florida. we seem to have gotten some distance in ohio. but everywhere else, it could go either way. >> and the key here might be republican incumbents who won in their primaries. that is not the case in 2010 and 2012.

did trump's apology meet mitch mcconnell's demand? >> i guess so. the interesting thing about this, this is a lot of shoddenfreud on the left. the interesting thing about everybody agreed on the facts. you have been right on pointing out the facts. the heart of the story. the facts. the associated press is not a biassed organization. the lead tells us the fact. after being caught on tape making lewd comments about a married woman he tried to seduce, he said i was wrong and apologize. yes, he claims, the astonishing revelations amounted to nothing more than a distraction, close quote. then argued it was nothing more than bill clinton's affairs. that is a busy paragraph. everybody gets it. there was a point in this wring statement he read by teleprompter tonight. i thought it was written by staff. it said this campaign has changed me. you know, lawrence, we know those of us in politics, campaigns do change people. they do see it. the kennedys saw the poverties if appalachian. campaigns change you. no matter how many airplanes. if he said i'm not this

mitch mcconnell is not one of those people. >> both parties are big spenders. these elections have become increasingly expensive. polling,look at public you see it at the bottom of what citizens are concerned about. they don't understand the flow of money between big donors the packs the candidates the lawmakers it's all really confusing even to people who follow it on a daily basis. it's one of the reasons why never moves up on the level of importance for voters. it is talked about every election cycle but it takes a lot to get movement on campaign finance reform. the last time congress did anything about it was years ago. i don't see it happening anytime soon especially if you have the divided government we are predicting in the fall we have republicans likely holding the house. campaignt to move finance reform there would be impossible. >> that was a good conversation not just on the money and mechanics but what washington looks like on election day. win thethe democrats senate, two years of stalemate. do you agree that stalemate will be the order of the day

pete: we didn't here from mitch mcconnell or paul ryan. why didn't they say anything?> they do not want to get caught up in more comments on donald trump. they know, a, it can alienate some of their conservative voters and they don't want to. the m.o. basically for mitch mcconnell over the last several months is to speak only when he is pressed on camera about donald trump. otherwise he tries to stay out of it. his theory all along has been that senate races are big enough to withstand the presidential situation. this undercurrent. now some people close to him, i was talking to a couple of them earlier today, are worried about these republican senate races in the states you mentioned, jeanne. because democrats are four seats away from a tie and five seats away from a victory controlling the u.s. senate. pete: let me ask you about that. what are the prospects that the republicans could lose control of the senate, that the democrats could tie or take control? jeanne: there are good prospects for the democrats suddenly for several reasons. some races have tightened up whe

mitch mcconnell specifically demanded a new apology with new wording to it. was that the key to -- that changed this story tonight to where donald trump is preparing that apology? >> i think there was a couple of things going on. i think one, yes, mitch mcconnell asking for that apology is part of the reason why donald trump is likely going to put out this new statement tonight. i should say that i think it also feels different. i think within the are, nc and i want to say also within the trump campaign this is not one he can talk about the fact he was taken out of context or people are trying to paint me as a racest when i'm not a racist. in this you have you have a long audio and video and someone on the bus who has apologized for his behavior and lewd comments. you have all these things going on. i think trump recognizes, the trump campaign recognizes that this was not something that was going to go away. also that statement was so short, the idea that he apologizes if he offend you. now a lot of republican women have recoiled from that idea. it's not an a

>> i think just go back to mitch mcconnell. i think that it's true that they -- the republicans felt like their constituent sy cares more about the supreme court than democrats and it was more important for them as an election issue to prevent the nomination from going through to keep it open for the election. not just because it would help the republican nominee for president and also help senate candidates across the country. to show that they were going to stick up for their principals and try to keep the seat open for republicans to fill. >> this coming from another viewer. the supreme court is not supposed to run a political playbook. it is the third branch. it's supposed to keep the other two in check. lawrenceville georgia. republican line. good morning. >> yeah, good morning. i would like to make an anlage. so the liberals will understand what i'm talking about. playing monopoly and follow the rules. and he wants to be the banker and then he changed the rule. he wants to buy a hotel. he can take money out of the bank an

did donald trump's apology meet mitch mcconnell's demand? >> i doubt so. you know, the interesting thing about this, there's a lot of freud on the left and misery. but the interesting thing is about everybody agreed tonight on the facts. and i think you've been right on pointing out the facts. they are the hart of the story. the associated press is not a biassed organization. and tonight's lead i think tells us the facts. after being caught on tape making shockingly crude comments about a married woman, he tried to so deuce, donald trump declared in a midnight video i was wrong and i apologize yet he claim, yet is the key word, he claimed the astonishing revelations were nothing more than a distraction and argued his words were not as egregious as president clinton's marital affairs. that's a busy paragraph. if you're going to apologize, that's what you do and everybody gets it. there was a point from the statement that he read from a teleprompter tonight. saying this campaign has changed me. we all know those in politics that campaigns do change people. t

in that atmosphere, what responsibility does mitch mcconnell and paul ryan and the leadership of the republican party even in the congress do, do they have any responsibility to deal with this kind of fervor being whipped up. >> they do to an extent as leaders in the house and in senate, they're also worried about keeping their majorities in the house and the senate. and then going forward, they will have to learn how to govern responsibly. right now it is very likely hillary clinton will be the next president. and, yes, there will be problems on the right with the freedom caucus and paul ryan, however, there will also be a lot of problems on the left with bernie sanders, our revolution group. they're looking to be an aggressive left pitch, the equivalent of the right on the left to really stop her and other -- >> so what can hillary clinton do, liz, to fight this battle of those that are way out there on the right, and maybe even some that susan says will be on the left, i don't hear the same vitriol and the same we're going to rise up from them, but what can she do to fight this wh

i want to hear from them tonight. >> mitch mcconnell, these other going to be looking at 2018, and ifp, looks as if he'll be defeated, his voters, this fashion he's whipped up on the republicans, they'll still be there in their districts and their states and the fear of them is where i think mcconnell is silent, the fear of them is why rubio and reince -- >> howard, look, the point is, is that it's important for mitch mcconnell and paul ryan to have the legitimacy of the votes accepted because they're candidates to the u.s. senate and the u.s. house in and tight races need the results. >> let's hear him saying. i'm going to watch the and see when they do. >> i said that tonight -- >> i hope they do. >> if toomy wins a squeaker in our state, it's likely to say he one. >> that's right. >>> sticking around with us for a little more, you're watching "hardball" live in las vegas for the final presidential debate. we thought fibers that help you stay regular caused unwanted gas. not good. then we switched to mirafiber. only mirafiber supports regularity with dailycomfort fiber. and is less

why was mitch mcconnell underpolled? >> i think state polling is more difficult than national polling. i've tried to clear it up. the bigger the sample, the bigger it is to model a turn out. every six years on an off year is a real bust. but cotton won by 17 points. brad of "politico" pointed out to me the last poll showed him winning by 8 to 10. but three weeks out they thought it bass a dead heat and cotton wins by 17 point. it does give you some pause at polls. >> tad, i don't understand. two weeks to go in the polls, why doesn't trump say the following. if you like the way things are going, vote for the usual candidate, hillary clinton. if you like wait we have uncontrolled immigration, vote for that. if you like the stupid wars, vote yes for that. if you vote for hillary clinton you're voting for the way things are and set up smartly instead of arguing about polling and crap like that. your thoughts? >> my thoughts because he is not a disciplined candidate. he doesn't care about the mechanics of campaigns. he doesn'

incredibly while they've decided to do that through the mitch mcconnell super pac, the nominee decided he'll coast to the finish. no more republican party fund-raisers, helping nobody, where can i go to find somebody to tell me that they love me. he does remain on the top of the ticket. he continues to be the republican party's problem and he continues to be the presidential nominee of a major political party. as such he continues to be subject to scrutiny, subject to the kind of full body mri, the kind of full body background check that the national media does on everybody who runs for president. and we have something new to report tonight. the ongoing reporting on donald trump's background tonight has turned up something new and something dramatic and something very, very, very inflammatory that we have got here exclusively next. >>> this is an exclusive story that you have not heard anywhere else, but it begins the first time that donald trump's name ever made it into "the new york times." it was in 1973. he and his father were named in a racial discrimination lawsuit brought by the

i don't see it with mitch mcconnell. i don't see it with nancy pelosi. i do see hope in paul ryan. i don't know what to expect from chuck schumer, who will probably be the senate democratic leader. he's smarter than reed, he's ever bit as partisan as harry reid, there's one difference, he's transactional. you can do business. they don't say it that way in new york city, but they understand it. so, there is some hope out there. but it all begins in the white house. leadership begins in the white house. we've got to get a different, you know, tempo coming out of that place. >> you can watch this and other programs on-line at book tv.org. >> here is a look at some of the most borrowed books this week at madison public library. home of the business business book festival. topping the list is executive director of equal justice initiative, brian stevensson's memoir. the late neuro surgeon contemplates morality, when breath becomes air. and tidying up, end of life care. and national book award winner gives his thoughts on the current state of black america in between the world and me. ne

but it may be -- with the shift in tone, he's trying to calm republicans, trying to calm mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, as chris suggested. and talking about policy, talking about issues, will help a little bit with that. but he still keeps talking to his base, and seems uncomfortable, really, stepping much beyond that. >> on that note, ben, still no reaction, though, from house speaker paul ryan or senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, saying he'll only accept the results of the election if he wins. one of your colleagues writing about breitbart. can you explain about what's happening now and what are the implications for trump's campaign and for the republican party once the election is over, regardless of who is in the white house? >> yeah, of course. i mean, the trump campaign led in part by steve bannon, one of the executives over at breitbart news, very, you know, sort of hard right, sort of -- a lot of people refer to as the alt-right movement. they have really not liked paul ryan for many, many months. and there is this new article, obviously, out today, this morning on breitba

i'm more concerned with the fact we need mitch mcconnell back as the leader. she's going to need an opposition if she wins. we need speaker ryan. they're the leaders of the republican party. i'm a christian. a family man. i believe in the united states of america. i'm a republican. and i'm concerned about my party and donald trump is a republican by accident at this point and he's burning it up. >> what if kellyanne quits, does that mean anything? >> all day long it is going to bleed more. i'm afraid that tonight will be a fiasco. if he stays focused as i did on the podesta e-mails, on egypt, libya, the russian reset button, syria, the supreme court, he could have a good debate. if he goes after bill clinton, i think most of america will turn him off completely. that is older than his tape. that is asked, answered and relitigated. he's not on the ticket. it doesn't work. it doesn't test. it is wrong. i don't like bill clinton. what he did was horrible. i thought he should have been impeached and removed from office, but that's insane debate tactics being fed t

host: so where does that put house speaker paul ryan, the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell, and so-called mainstream republicans as they try to maintain control of the house and the senate and figure out where the gop is going next? philip elliott: paul ryan is an interesting character here. he, he always had an uncomfortable and uneasy marriage with mr. trump that, ok, this is the guy who is the nominee of the party. it behooves the republican brand to not have to not lose a third , consecutive presidential race. it would be good for down-ballot candidates if mr. trump's supporters decided to show up and vote for republican candidates for senate and house. that is no longer the mindset inside speaker ryan's orbit or leader mcconnell's. that, they see mr. trump as a toxic figure inside the party that is, that could very much drag down candidates like kelly ayotte in new hampshire, one of perhaps the most endangered republican senators facing re-election. democrats only need to capture four more seats and the vice presidency to flip, to capture the majority for the first time sin

to the capitol. [ applause ] >> the majority leader of the united states senate, the honorable mitch mcconnellabout the entire planet. but thomas edison has sure got a lot of admirers among our 50 states. new jersey claims him as their wizard of menlo park. michigan has its own connection. and not only does ohio have a solid stake, but the buckeyes just seriously upped the ante with this larger than life bronze statue behind us. so i'm staying out of that. but let me also remind everyone of kentucky's own ties to thomas edison. edison was only about 19 when he moved to louisville to work as a telegraph operator. he didn't last long. edison's interests back then tended more toward the sophomoric than the historic. he spent his time pulling pranks. telling jokes. and blowing off work to focus on his own experiments. this hardly endeared edison to his superiors at the tell egraph company. they warned colleagues to pay no attention to edison and his inventions. when one of edison's on-the-job experiments went horribly wrong, sulfuric acid ate right through the floor into his manager's office. that

[applause] majority leader of the united states senate, the honorable mitch mcconnell.eve itell was par klees who once said whole earthave the has their memorial. i'm not sure about the entire planet but thomas edison has of admirers among our 50 states. theirrsey claims them as wizard of menlo park. michigan has its own connection. and not only does ohio have a solid stake, but the buckeyes just seriously upped the ante larger-than-life bronze statute behind us. so i'm staying out of that. remind everyone of kentucky's own ties to thomas edison. edison was only about 19 when he moved to louisville to work as a telegraph operator. long.n't last edison's interest back then towards the >> when one of his experiments went wrong, that was the last straw. edison was promptly fired. thus the curtain dropped on his time in the bluegrass state, but open to a world of new , and i would like to thank edison's experience in kentucky helped to shape that. here is a guy who was clearly gifted. uninterested in playing by anybody's rules but his own. , but edison'snge focus did. he pi

. >> as we started out, i should tell folks that you have been chief of staff of mitch mcconnell. and still have a great relationship with him. you bring all of that experience to our discussion this way. -- this morning. let me introduce our guests who will be asking questions. eric wenner is chief congressional reporter for associated press. ladies, thank you for being back with newsmakers this week. mr. law, as we start out, you gave an interview to political last week talking about the prospects for keeping the majority and you acknowledged a tough road ahead and said you were going to go out with guns blazing. with more money at attached to the tight races, and a few more days, do you feel differently at this point? mr. law: i think we have a lot of challenges. they have been with us for the last six months. if you look at the top 11 most competitive races, we have been doing battle. republicans own 10 of them. i think that continues to be that way. in addition to that, we have a ticket that is not totally unified the way that we typically go into presidential election years

the conservative review gives mitch mcconnell a 40 score. you have been deceiving the republic -- the public for years. meanwhile our country is going down the tubes. you did it in 2004 when we were in a debate here. sen. isakson: the voters on the eighth day of november will have a chance to vote who they want to represent them in the united states senate. they will vote for a record of proven achievement. that is johnny isakson. mr. hullinger: that concludes round two for those just joining us. this is the debate between the candidates for georgia's united states senate. we will now go to our third and final round. in this round, each panelist will ask a question to the candidate of his or her choice. until we have run out of time. as a point, as being the moderator here, i can ask a couple of questions too. if i so choose. let's begin now, lori geary, start for us. ms. geary: this question is directed to mr. barksdale. hillary clinton's plan, she says is to raise taxes on the wealthy and the corporations because they're not paying their f

paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, pipes and slippers. what are they?they protect 2010 minds that fire wall? >> it speaks to the position that russia finds itself? , if they can push, push, push and there is no push back. lou: i'm asking you. everybody including the president of the united states including russia is hacking the dnc and there is an outright denial of that. it's always been speculation. but i love how it becomes an entertainle new development and the speculation becomes hard truth. >> we don't know. that's the whole thing about cyber issu you never note return address. lou: i think of it as akin to the long war perpetrated by david petraeus. it's a rationalization for generals who can't figure out how to win. the whole thing about cyber-security, they can't figure it out. well apparently somebody can. the chinese, the russians. >> we have the ability to tear down their cyber walls. that's our ultimate weapon against them. that makes them scrambled and nervous. lou: i can see fear on putin's face every time he shows up on this broadcast. r

where senator rubio is running for election after mitch mcconnell coaxed him into doing so. there has been some reporting lately about democratic dissension about the decision to abandon their candidate there, patrick murphy. if democrats were able to come up with $10 million to put it behind murphy at this point, when it gave senator move -- rubio more of a contest? mr. law: the number one problem patrick murphy has is somewhat what carlos threw had in the primary. murphy is not well known. he doesn't have enough root -- resources to fully make a case against marco rubio. could drive up the negatives by spending a lot, but could not make himself a viable. if you look at our polling, most public polling shows the same thing, patrick murphy is not well known, and has fairly even favorable and unfavorable ratings. that gets very hard to push out in the last week of elections. it was a tough choice for the democrats to cut their losses, but probably from their vantage point, it was the right choice. they would have to spend $5 million-$10 million to even make it competitive, an

mitch mcconnell sished a statement. trump needs to apologize directly to women and world everywhere and take responsibility for the respect of women shown in his comments on that tape. >> did his apology meat mcconnell's demand. >> in the middle is disgussed. >> everyone have been agreeing tonight of the facts. >> tonight's leads tell us the facts and being caught on tape and making comments about a married woman that she tried to sedu seduce. >> yet, he claims that the as stockton issuing revelation to quote nothing more than a distraction. and argued his words were not nearly agreed for former wife, matt prater er affair. >> there was a point in this written statement that he read from the telepromptor. >> we although that campaign do change people and they do see the candidate you saw of west virginia and appalachian and you will see it in the big city and party like you have ben seen. >> pilots teaches you, real life problem and high your campaign is or how many plane you flown by. >> if he had said that, i am not ge

their leader mitch mcconnell said that. republicans in the house supported that.at is not checks and balances, that is obstruction, and that is what they said in 1996. charlie: what mitch mcconnell said is that our most impo rtant goal is to be barack obama when he becomes president. what their behavior was one of, nothing is our agenda, and never is our timetable. that is not fair to the american people. charlie: what has to happen for you to regain a majority in the house? guest: we need 30 seats to win. the important thing is for the american people to win this election. we hope we can take this debate to a place where their interests are served. charlie: that is what paul ryan says. guest: i've never heard him say that, but the fact that he has an agenda in congress, the ryan budget, it says we are going to remove the guarantee for medicare, we're going to cut $185 billion from education, you going to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people and we are going to block any funding for contraception, to name a few. charlie: you argue -- guest: today a few. govern

paul ryan is second, in mitch mcconnell calls it repugnant >> utile representativeve jason chaffetz, rescinded his endorsement. >> i am out, i can no longer in good conscience endorse this person for presidentin. donald trump said in an interview that there is no that he will drop out of the race, in st. louis, jennife griffin fox news. high-profile politicians from both parties are outraged over the comments. former republican presidential nominee that ronnie and even melania trump has condemned his words, but donald trump says he will not drop out.. >> john kasich issued a statement this afternoon that reads in part- discuss about no surprise, a lot of negative response to the latest donald trump controversy from here in northeast ohiola. allison brown tells us that many people are now wondering whatat will be here next from t presidential candidateil? and revolting. and coming from a person who potentially could be our next president.r people listening to this 2,005 conversation,, women in particular say they're not happ with donald trump's words. it could hurt him in the race for

off you win the presidency, are you going to shake hands with mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. wow?> you have an occasion where it's her birthday and she's in the back of the plane. they are trying to develop relationships with someone they see as a potential president of the united states. i will say this. i thought that she had some interesting answers. for example, when she was talking -- i think it's important for her about the need to reach out to people who aren't going to vote for her, to people who are independent and to republican congressional leaders if she hopes to get anything done. i was interested that she was -- that's on her mind. that's what she is talking about. the questions weren't hard ball questions. if you want to say soft, fine. i did think it was interesting to see if you give somebody a blank slate, what comes out of their mouth. in this case, immediately she was talking about doing business with republicans. >> juan points out, if you give somebody a blank slate -- i'm not sure that they have given donald trump a blank slate yet. they give her quite a few

mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. >> yes. >> respectively majority leader and speaker of the house. people are waiting for them to take a side here, to definitively say i'm still with trump or i can no longer support him. >> especially agonizing for paul ryan because trump is against his vision for the party. ryan says this is taking conservative vision. he's worrying party is defining the party as a party of white racial backlash. in june with the decision over the judge, he is engaged in the textbook definition of racism. the problem they have is they fear if trump totally collapses, that republican turnout will collapse and cost them the majority in the house and be senate. they agree with trump on a certain set of core economic issues, taxes, regulation, appealing obamacare. they are in a horrible place but it is hard to imagine that paul ryan can get all the way to the election in particular without more distance from donald trump whose vision for the party in addition to the personal issues, his vision for the party he fundamentally rejects. >> donald trump would have gone int

believe, who had that incredible reporting about the now infamous 2009 inauguration leaders, mitch mcconnell, in which they decided total, complete full spectrum obstruction was the strategy. and we in some ways, this was -- they're reaping the rewards of that. >> yeah. now, you know, it's worth pointing out that i did report that in my book on the house of representatives. at the time it was conceived by frank luntz with other republicans crying on each other's shoulders. they saw this incredible inaugural event with barack obama with huge crowds and it was really, wow, what do we do next? it was only in what was meant to be a cathartic moment, just say no to everything he does. that laid a predicate for a governance of noastasized into a >> you're a great reporter, robert, i follow your reporting religiously and your writing. you write about tremendous insight and empathy. are you worried about the fundamental institutions of american government at this point? >> well, yeah, either way. if donald trump is elected president, i can see a lot of these republicans who have fallen in with him,

put paulre does that ryan, mitch mcconnell, and the so-called mainstream republicans as they try to retain control of the house and senate and determine where the gop is going next? guest: paul ryan is an interesting character here. he always had an uneasy marriage with mr. trump. this was the guy who is the -- it wouldhe party be good for down ballot candidates if mr. trump supporters decided to show up and vote for republican candidates in the senate and house. that is no longer the mindset of speaker ryan or mr. mcconnell. they see mr. trump as a toxic figure inside the party that could very much dry down indidates like kelly ayotte new hampshire, one of the most endangered republicans facing reelection. democrats only need to win four seats to capture the majority. it is a very real thing. the republicans have a very large vulnerability for them. paul ryan said over the weekend that enough was enough. uninvited donald trump to speak in his own congressional district. he invited mike pence in his spot. he took the weekend off. trump willith donald become a liability for republican candi

mitch mcconnell is in the same position. ey have made it clear, both mcconnell and ryan, their disagreements, their disat a ti time, distaste for the donald trump candidacy but with the crisis, they have to check in with members, check in with their donors, talk about their ground game. so strategically, things have not changed. tactically, they are changing by trying to offer this reassura e reassurance, trying to assess the damage and that's what i'm saying. we know that paul ryan was never a fan of donald trump. let's be honest. but what he's trying to do today after the debate, after the disclosures, to have this sort of phone meeting which is a regular thing they do with the house republican conference to share ideas. this is not a good time in the republican party. >> that's an understatement. >> reporter: yes, what we know is that they're trying to do what they have to do with races in just 30 days, form lots of members of congress and senate candidates and the future of the party. that's where their focus is right now

mitch mcconnell, as fred barnes observed, has taken a different tack from house speaker ryan to deal with donald trump. mcconnell is simply ignoring trump. during an event today in kentucky mcconnell said he would not answer any questions about trump. last week mcconnell called trump's comments on the 2005 video, quote, unacceptable. and what may seem an unlikely statement from one of the most liberal supreme court justices, ruth bader ginsberg has weighed in on the colin kaepernick kneeling during the anthem controversy, dumb and d disrespectful. last night the most tweeted ever, by the end of the night 17 million tweets related to the debate were sent out. trump disagreeing with running mate pence over syria was the top moment. and this may be the most ludicrous fact check of all time. trump said hillary clinton and her e-mail service acid washed it. he called it a very expensive process but the company says it is free. we'll catch up with the candidates on the trail shortly. before we go to break we wanted you to see part of last night's debate you might have missed. watch this. ♪

that's what we need to do now. >> if mitch mcconnell and paul ryan jointly made that plea that you just made, it would probably i know you've been urging others to join your cause. what would you like to hear speaker ryan and senator mcconnell have denounced donald trump, so far they are sticking by him. they are the current leaders of your party. do they need to step up? >> look, i would always encourage any other republicans, whether they are leaders, whether they are in congress or not, to step up and make their opinions known. the fact is, once again, chuck, we've got lots of other people who can do this. our party is not a personality cult, our party is about ideas. it's about ideas that will reinvigorate america's middle class, help the poor get out of poverty and end this washington centric mind-set that has been crippling the american economy. we can do that. we've got candidates that can do it. there's still time to do it and we have to actually do it. >> that candidate for you, is it mike pen about who it might be. there's still time to decide who it should be. the point is mr

. >> people are sitting on the fence waiting on what they'll do next, namely paul ryan, mitch mcconnelluse the question is what else is there potentially. cnn k file released this 17-year legacy from the howard stern show and some of those comments. you marry that to what we've seen in the 2005 ""access hollywood"" video and the narrative is cementing. >> you might call it ironic that the nbc show "the apprentice" which built up donald trump for years, which established him as an entertaining figure in american households that it was an nbc video that leaked out by "the washington post" who has gotten them to this point. >> lenny chen said there is a way for donald trump to turn this around, and i pressed him on turn it around, 180 or just stop the bleeding? what can stop the bleeding tonight? >> you know, i've been of the mind set and pretty vocal in the last two days that i think donald trump's campaign is over. the reason being is -- when i say over, the sense is i see no path -- >> like it's a zombie. a walking dead. >> there's nowhere for him to go. the fact of the matter is he is