and, "new york times" columnist nicholas kristof. welcome all three of you to the program. let me just each one of you to say in brief how did we get to this point five years in, half a million people dead in syria, millions more displaced? how did we get here, derek chollet. >> well, it's a very difficult confluence of issues. it's a proxy war being fought by many countries in the region. and, of course, the russians, with many different interests at play, it's a brutal regime in the assad regime that is willing to take any measure, no matter how immoral or war criminal acts to persecute its goals. and it's very much driven by fears in the united states, legitimate fears, i believe, about escalation of any u.s. military involvement, and what that may lead to in terms of an enduring u.s. commitment, military commitment inside of syria. >> woodruff: nicholas kristof, how did we get here? >> well, i think that president obama resisted the suggestions by hillary clinton, by david petraeus, and others to become more engaged, partly because it seemed plausible, in 2012 or even 2

nicholas, kristof, thank you very much. i appreciate that. donald trump denied these allegations.to bring in attorney gloria alred, clinton supporter, cnn political commentator, scottie nell hughes, ana navarro. and this is billy bush, 2005. >> i'm going to use some tick attacks just in kiss i start kissing here. i'm automatically attracted to eye just start kissing them. it's like a magnet. we just kiss. and when you're a star they let you do it. you can do anything. >> whatever you want. >> grab them by the -- you can do anything. >> so gloria, you have that and then you have the story by nicholas kristof, which i just heard. >> and so much more, don. well, my reaction is that donald trump is say -- presents a real and present danger both to the image and to the status and also to the condition and to the rights of women. this is not just about vulgar behavior. this is about harmful behavior. don f we' don, if we're talking about sex all harassment in the workplace, they would say is it severe or pervasive. this is about severe and pervasionive a pervasive and a pattern of condu

nicholas kristof says -- do you think they're all lying?> i have great concern of all of this. >> what's your concern? >> the concern is we need to hear them and as allen says, each case needs to be evaluated accept separately, as to what were the circumstances, who were the people, and mr. trump is at a disadvantage in terms of running a campaign and derchdsifending yourself publicly -- >> how is he at a disadvantage? he can take him at a microphone, he can take his side of the story and come on any news program. he's been invited to every single show. seems like he has more of an advantage to give his side of the story. >> for one thing, any time you're talking about this as a candidate you're not talking about national security, you're not talking about economic changes and jobs and healthcare reform. >> or personally defending himself if you believe in your innocence. >> i'm saying that's one of the disadvantages. he may know something should any of these cases become a legal matter which i assemble possible, he might not want to try th

nicholas kristof says he knows of more. do you think that they're all lying?> no, i have great concern about all of this, and i think that's the proper way to approach it. you know, i have a concern, is, you know, we need to hear them. as alan says, each case needs to be evaluated separately as to, you know, what were the circumstances, who was there, what were the witnesses, and i think -- you know, we can get to this. you know, mr. trump is at a disadvantage in terms of, you know, running the campaign and defending himself publicly when often you can't defend yourself publicly. >> how is he at a disadvantage? he can step in front of a microphone any time, everyone will take him live. he can tell his side of the story. he can apologize. he has been invited to every single show. it seems he has more of an advantage at least to give his side of the story. >> well, for one thing, any time you're talking about this as a candidate you're not talking about national security, you're not talking about economic changes and jobs and healthcare reform. >> if you believe

here to discuss nicholas kristof, a columnist at the "new york times."joining us on friday evening. >> my pleasure. >> all of these new allegations coming out. you say we've reached a critical mass here? >> yeah. you know, we've seen with bill cosby, with fox news, the allegations against roger ailes, they had a lot of woman who are afraid about coming forward. then at some point enough people come forward that it becomes a little easier to be one more, and in addition somebody like trump is then constantly denying the allegations, which angers people who actually have been assaulted. so more and more come forward. i know of 19 people who have made allegations -- >> and there are others. we know of eight at least, but you said there are more? >> there are 15 -- well, there are 17 who have come forward publicly, two of them are not terribly credible, 15 dreadible. i know of a couple more who are thinking about it. i'm sure there are women watching this right now who are thinking back to times when trump went after them and are wondering whether to come fo

nicholas kristof, from the new york times. about.". of the essay -- " let's try to pivot from outrage at gross words to condemnation of unconscious in the savior and policies. on the sole point that actions matter more than words, trump is exactly, frighteningly right." i really cannot convey the bizarreness. we have never seen this. i would take this well back to the 19th century. guy: it has been a turning point to global politics. it has affected exit. our candidates differ in their behavior to what is happening with donald trump but what he represents in the world is something that has captured the imagination. i remember studying u.s. university and i've always watched it and i've never seen anything like this. it is so important to see what this means for the political debate going forward. it does feel like a shift. tom: i think it is important within the bloomberg poll, the narrowness outside philadelphia audience,lobal pennsylvania is a key state. , may be likehat georgia or illinois, there are two or three pennsylvania's. the

an essay by nicholas kristof. the stereotypes that push politicians to wage war.ow women respond to the perceptions of weakness. paul ryan trying to safeguard the party and his job. we are covering the event as part of our coverage. larry is joining us, memphis tennessee. caller: i saw two years ago where the fbi was investigating anthony weiner, why is this just now coming out? they investigated him over two years ago. something smells fishy about this. have a nice day. host: kevin is a hillary clinton supporter, joining us from toledo, ohio. caller: donald trump owes money to russia. also if you want to prosecute hillary for this, you have to prosecute every senator condoleezza rice, former president bush everybody. you can't pick and choose one person. it is the whole corrupt system. those guys also send confidential e-mails to each other on unprotected servers. it is the whole thing. you can't just prosecute one. you have to prosecute them all. host: the story this morning from the front page of the washington post, little proof of donald trump -- [video clip]

. >> so gloria, you have that and then you have the story by nicholas kristof, which i just heard. >> and so much more, don. well, my reaction is that donald trump is say -- presents a real and present danger both to the image and to the status and also to the condition and to the rights of women. this is not just about vulgar behavior. this is about harmful behavior. don f we' don, if we're talking about sex all harassment in the workplace, they would say is it severe or pervasive. this is about severe and pervasionive a pervasive and a pattern of conduct. we're talking about people on the "apprentice", and they allege mr. trump was talking about their breast size, ranchos palaverdes, here in southern california, where employees were not permitted to serve food in the restaurant because they weren't attractive enough, they were in fear of