might occur and whether the rnc is working on this. tell me more, mr. head of the republican party. oh, you're not here. let's instead ask ben ginsburg, former general counsel and an msnbc analyst. i am not asking you to be reince priebus or to defend reince priebus. >> i appreciate that. >> but i do want you to give me your view on what's going on right now with this complaint. you're the man who said that you could basically guarantee that the democrats were going to make this court filing once you saw what the trump campaign was talking about on the campaign trail. >> yeah, and what i added to that and what i sort of said directly later in the evening was that in fact that activity was not taking place because -- well, i don't want the rnc, but i do know that the rnc takes the consent decree very seriously. what you have is some bad rhetoric, but not the actions. so the whole consent decree itself and the sort of muscling up in polling places has been a black mark on the republican party. that has harmed it not only reputationally,

actual activities by any rnc personnel. so there's a difference between overheated political rhetoric and the actual activities. >> do we have to wait until election day to see those activities? >> no, i don't think so. there's a lot of people voting now, doing early voting, absentee voters observers from both parties, and that helps validate the process. >> ben ginsberg, thank you. i realize it's a little like, it's a little technical, but the stories behind it and the importance of what's behind it gives this so much heat and energy, we have already heard that they've asked, the judge has asked for this to move really fast. they've asked for the parties to be in court on wednesday morning. >>> let's be real. as our first african-american first lady, she's faced pressures i never did. [cheers and applause] and she's handled them with pure grace. [cheers and applause] seriously, is there anyone more inspiring than michelle obama? [cheers and applause] and maybe, maybe it's especially meaningful to me, because i do know some

the rnc should redirect the resources.ng from a republican official telling me that this morning. that's where the pressure will be intensifying. not necessarily to get rid of donald trump but where to spend the money. >> let's bring in this conversation cnn political analyst rebecca berg, and erryl lieuin lieui lewis. this is what many in the establishment have been arguing against as to whether something would take place that would undermine the candidate. is there any recovery possibly for the republican leadership as it pertains to this ticket for the white house? >> look, you're exactly right, the people who warned hey, we don't know anything about his financial dealings because we haven't seen his taxes have r proven to be correct. we saw about his net operating loss of a billion dollars in a single year. people warn his vulgar, obscene, been involved in all kinds of different dealings as far as his personal conduct. that turned out to be true as well. phil was right. the moment to do this would have been quite a lon

it was straight up an rnc op. and it worked. the republican won the governor's race that year in new jersey by a tiny, tiny fraction. both parties at the time claimed that this ballot security task force stunt is how they did it. these armed guys in semiofficial looking arm bands stomping around minority neighborhoods. both parties claimed at the time that was probably enough to make a difference in that race. so for the short-term political calculation that op worked for the republican party, but for the long-term that was a bad move because they're still living with the consequences of what they did there and the fact they got caught for it. because the democratic party sued them over what they did in new jersey that year and the democrats won. and now 35 years later the republican party is still trying to get out from under the legal restrictions that were placed on them because of them getting caught and losing that case. and that is the problem that donald trump has now gotten the national republican party into tonight. in

. >> the rnc slithered into the trump campaign. >> fired for encouraging protests against the rnc for their lackluster support. he joins us live to tell us what he thinks about that coming up next. plus, an despiexciting announce from president obama that is out of this world, red planet, here we come. .... i'm my team's #1 fan. yay. sports. i've never been #1 in anything until i put these babies on. now we're on a winning streak and i'm never taking them off. do i know where i'm going? absolutely. we're going to the playoff. allstate guarantees your rates won't go up just because of an accident. starting the day you sign up. so get accident forgiveness from allstate. and be better protected from mayhem, like me. >>> a historic day, donald trump has declared war on the g.o.p. he slammed speaker paul ryan in a twitter tirade. now he says the shackles are now removed and i can fight as i want. if they release any more tapes on me i will unload on hillary and bill clinton. we'll have comprehensive analys analysis. plus, hillary clinton set to reunite with al gore in the swing state that

the rnc. >> yep. >> and the rnc leaders.'ve been talking about that. anyway, i think donald trump has been the least loyal person to a political party being nominated as the nominee of that party of anybody in modern times. i mean, he has driven people out of the republican party starting with latinos, with blacks, with college-educated people. and he's now driving women out. he is going to hurt this party so badly and his loyalty to some degree, he ought to be grateful to the party for this nominee. >> all right. we leave it there. thank you, all. >>> next, warren buffett slamming donald trump's tax returns. top trump campaign official next. and who was telling the truth in last night's debate and who was not? well, it is time for the fact check. 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 narrator: it wasn't that long

. >> that's poll-watching and the rnc cannot do poll-watching because of 1981. agreement to avoid possible voter shrimp davis the rnc responds there's absolutely no merit to this suit. hmm. eric shawn is in the news room. 1981 the rnc was found it did poll watch and was intimidating and for 35 years they we allowed to poll watch at all. that ends right after this election. >> it does. ends next year. and here's the lawsuit. it does claim just that. it says the republican national committee is actually, they claim, been working with donald trump's can't pain on the so-called ballot security poll watching operations and the dnc says that would be a violation of the decades old federal order. for 35 years now the rnc has been under that contempt decree prohibiting ballot security monitors or challenging voters. that ban stems from the 1981 number race for governor. critics say they targeted african-american voters to suppress them by employing off-duty professors. the suit cites comments from the trump campaign about the rnc and ballot security,ing, including s spe

what about reince priebus, the rnc, the rnc hasn't spent money on advertising. >> i'm glad you raised that. i'm glad you raised that. lou: let me finish the raise and you can dole out. the fact is that the rnc has been quiescent, it's been passive and it is not delivering the ground game that it promised and looks like it won't have it available. one. two. >> glad you asked that. >> the second part of this is paul ryan needs to get thrown the hell out of the republican party, doesn't he? >> yeah, well, let's take first of all the rnc, get our facts straight. rnc is spending enormous amounts of money in the ground game. they haven't spent anything on television. that's because the only money they can spend on television is in a fund that in essence the trump campaign controls. we did this, they spent $14 million in advertising in 2000 or 2004, the rnc did, at the direction of the bush campaign, that's the money that the rnc can spend in coordination with the campaign. now my understanding of it is that the trump campaign said we'll take care of whatever media is necessary, you focus on

he felt the rnc was abandoned trump. stewart was warned. >> i think he will be on my 11:00 show today. >>> a teacher strike has been averted in chicago. the head of the union announced a tentative agreement. teachers will be in classrooms as scheduled this morning. negotiators deliberated through the night after an 11th hour settlement. >>> you probably heard this morning, turn off your samsung. samsung warning everybody to turn off the phones even if it is a replacement phone. we will have an early start on your money next. >>> the flood waters keep rising in north carolina. this in the aftermath of hurricane matthew. the governor says the flooding is likely to extend through the end of the week. much of the state has been inundated by the flood waters washing away roads. up to 18 inches fell over the weekend. in fayetteville, few homes were spared by the flash floods. >> you go in a room and there's nothing. you have heavy furniture all in pieces and on the other side of the room or in another room. i don't understand

the rnc agreed not to engage in this kind of activity. they still did it, but the consent decree was extended. it was set to end next year, but it can be extended another eight years if the rnc is still engaging in this activity. that's why you saw the story in yesterday's wall street journal where it says, please don't engage in anything with the trump campaign because they don't want to wait another eight years where they're not allowed to see any poll watching because they'll get caught up in this. >> so trump says, hey, after you vote, go to other polling places and just keep an eye on things. if that happens, that will cost the republican party another eight years, in your mind? that would be a judge's decision? >> the question is whether trump would be acting as an agent of the rnc. the campaigns are pretty mesh now, so the more the rnc and trump are seeing this is cooperating, they may try to organize your lunch or they'll be tempted to do our own rick hossen. glood to see you, sir. >> i hope not. >>> did either candidate do anythi

the trump campaign and the rnc's working together. everything is on course and i want you to understand that. we just in fact greenlighted a number of things this afternoon in coordination with the trump campaign. we are in full coordination with the trump campaign. we've got a great relationship with them and we're going to continue to work together to make sure that he wins in november. >> if you think there is a national republican party separate and apart from donald trump at this point, the republican party would like to disabuse you of that notion. i think a lot of people are fantasizing. some republicans and other people are fantasizing that there is a republican party separate and apart from donald trump. but it's just not true. i mean, you heard the republican party chairman there talking about the one purpose he has in life, which is to elect donald trump. paul ryan did succeed earlier today in getting press when he declared that he personally would not defend donald trump but honestly what does that mean? paul ryan wasn't d

this is not saying that the rnc is somehow weighing whether they'd remove donald trump.aying in case he steps down, officials are concerned how do they go forward? what does this mean for the party? from my understanding, the head of the rnc was talking to officials there trying to basically figure out what they would do. the mood there is very chaotic. people are nervous about what not only happened today but the fact that we have four more weeks in this election and they worry about whether there are other tapes that will come out. >> just to be clear, we all understand the rnc rules, there is no way for the party to oust him as their nominee because he is formally their nominee and they went through with that. but you're saying that they're in discussions for what to do in case he voluntarily elects to step down, he decides to step down on his own? >> yes. a source told me that in case he voltaiuntarily steps down, they trying to talk about what they're going to do, how they would handle that and whether this is something he would even want to consider. but this perso

trump or if the rnc cannot get trump to step aside, then reince priebus, the chair of the rnc, shouldp down. they put their mailers on hold because they don't know in which direction to go. where are they? >> right. it's a little simplistic to say reince priebus should force donald trump to step out. the rnc is made up of 168 members. they would have to collectively come together. donald trump is not beholden to the rnc. he didn't win the nomination because of the rnc, he won it based on the support he got. the rnc is in a quandary. they are political insiders. they are the establishment. there's not much they can do at this point. >> all right. mark preston, thanks so much. i still have my coordinator over here, jeffrey lord, who's agreeing with what they hear from mark over here. the debate tonight, show time, 9:00 p.m. cnn's anderson cooper will be co-moderating along with abc's martha raddich. who else is watching it? we know the folks at "saturday night live" wasting no time taking all of this in and getting some laughs out of a rough few days in politics. >>> are you not enterta

i want to touch on the rnc for just a second. you know, reince priebus is accountable to a 168-person committee. he's an elected official but is elected from within the 168-person committee. those 168 people are thereby elected in their own states. there's a national committeeman, national committeewoman and usually chairman of the party. the rank and file where those people have to run have predominantly been with donald trump. it's not a big surprise the rnc is standing behind donald trump. when you get to those people who are elected by the states, those are the rank and file that have to go back to the states. as you get closer to the people, they're much more receptive. that's what we've seen many, many times. that's why reince today has stepped forward and said and -- we're going to make sure donald trump is your priority. it's not paul ryan, not mitch mcconnell, it's the gop nominee. >> is paul ryan essentially giving cover to rank and file members to distance themselves -- >> if he thinks that's what he's doing, that will

the rnc is looking at something called the rule nine.een digging into what it all means, how it works. chris? >> hey, fred, first of all, it's very important to point out we are in unchartered territory. this is unprecedented and unclear if the rule 9, as it's called could be used this late in the game. it's a big if. if donald trump were to drop out and this rule takes effect. as we have been reporting all morning and afternoon, trump said in interviews just today, he would never drop out. what we are talking about is a long shot but, if trump were to step aside, here is what would happen according to the rules as they are written now that support and are vague and open to interpretation. let's go through them. the rnc could hold another convention. that's unlikely. it's practical, big and late in the game. members of the republican national committee would choose a replacement nominee. it isn't chosen by popular vote. they vote by state. each is entitled to the same amount of votes as at the republican national convention. new york has

and, coming up, is the rnc pulling its funding efforts from donald trump? it is a move that could be devastating for the trump campaign. and could kellyanne conway be walking away from the campaign? much more from washington university in st. louis. you got to look at this, really quick, alec baldwin, i got to love him, returned to "snl" last night and had donald trump answer questions about the leaked "access hollywood" audio. >> what i am doing is apologizing to all the people who were offended by my statements but more importantly, to the people who were turned on by them. i hear it is really 50/50. see me. see me. don't are at me. see me. see me. see me to kn that psorias is just something that i he. i'm t ious. is je me to ow that... i he. ...i won't stop until i find what works. discover cosentyx, a different kind of medicine for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. proven to help the majority of people find clear or almost clear skin. 8 out of 10 people saw 75% skin clearance at 3 months. while the majority saw 90% earance. do not use if you are alle

that we, the rnc, didn't want to engage in. priebus told 168 members of the rnc, nothing has changed. trump issued an apology and that i think the issue, quote, was taken care of at the debate. let's bring in our panel. charles hurt for the you washington times, ann garrin, and charles krouthammer. >> i think the republicans hope that that issue is taken care of in the debate. who knows? the last poll that we saw from nbc shows hillary clinton taking a sizable lead. but that was completed before this vile tape was released. >> no, no. it was after the tape but before the debate. so there was some polling that was after -- >> tail end of it. but i think that -- we have not seen a poll conducted completely after the release of the tape. so we don't know whether that was as big a bombshell among voters as it clearly is among the media and the republican establishment. but the donald trump that showed up at the debate last night i think was a donald trump that could have won the election. it remains to be seen just how much damage

the rnc has its data.t has -- that it's developed and it's dispensed across the country to the state parties. the presidential campaign tabbed into that and the party taps into what the presidential campaign has developed, but problem is that has not been a feature of this presidential campaign. they have not done of the basics of grass roots development, if you will, that you would see to create the kind of ultra database that would benefit both campaign and the party. >> yeah. >> if i could just real quick on one thing since i was the chairman that the tea party rose under, i understand that and appreciate everybody's book about the tea party and actually lived in the experience and sat in the room at the beginning of this phenomenon, the tea party did start out very much angered in the idea of constitutionalism and economic reforms within the party itself. like all movements, the battle that it had a h because it was not centralized in organization and leadership, you had a lot of outside influences in

>> this is the legal agreement between the rnc and the campaign to jointly fundraise. word i kept hearing all day was disgusted and frustrated that republican sources say are ending them. a certain percentage of the money they raise goes to trump and a certain amount goes to the rnc. the reason for this is two words, down ballot. if they ended it, the rnc could focus fundraising exclusively on the critical down ballot races and encourage donors who are no longer writing checks. after this week, maybe even less inclined to write checks. it could give them leverage with trump, the rnc, and also might help them financially with do down ballot races that they're desperate about. >> also tonight, jamie we'll see what happens on that front, also tonight, we're hearing really for the first time in this race from condoleezza rice. >> right there are some fanames you showed up there on the chart that were not a surprise. condoleezza rice said donald trump should not be president. i hope to support someone that has the dignity and stature to run for the highest office in the gre

that we, the rnc, didn't want to engage in. priebus told 168 members of the rnc, nothing has changed. trump issued an apology and that i think the issue, quote, was taken care of at the debate. let's bring in our panel. charles hurt for the you washington times, ann garrin, and charles krouthammer. >> i think the republicans hope that that issue is taken care of in the debate. who knows? the last poll that we saw from nbc shows hillary clinton taking a sizable lead. but that was completed before this vile tape was released. >> no, no. it was after the tape but before the debate. so there was some polling that was after -- >> tail end of it. but i think that -- we have not seen a poll conducted completely after the release of the tape. so we don't know whether that was as big a bombshell among voters as it clearly is among the media and the republican establishment. but the donald trump that showed up at the debate last night i think was a donald trump that could have won the election. it remains to be seen just how much damage

can we get the rnc with the dynamics of thatth without majom trouble happening. and we showed show the world that cleveland can do this.d wee it did. talk to some of the rookies andi i posed the question how did you become a police officer. you have a very interesting story. your initialve jump into the wod of policing.ng. is yes, i do. a aally almost 31 years ago buddy of mine at cleveland state together my best friend.end. college roommates. cleveland state at the time. he saw and probably news program like this or a billboard that says become one of cleveland's finest. hiifng called the newspaper. or in the newspaperer and you knowou w he kind of said why don't wen'tw take the test be policemen. i said i want to be an attorney running and gunning and chasing people. capped at me basically dared me to take the test.da it was a day or.y he dared me to take the test tht i'll get a better score than you. take the test so we both took it and we both actually receivedi our appointment letters at thete same time. february 24 of 1986. and i thought about it. i thought

there's not a lot of clarity right now between the rnc and state directors. they're waiting to find out what happens tomorrow. the rnc has pushed back on that reporting saying that as of now nothing has changed. >> katy tur on the phone due to a parade in new york. that's what happens in the city on a sunday. i want to get to our panel with me on set. my fellow road warriors kristen welk welker, andrea mitchell. kristen, i don't know if you can put up the photo kellyanne conway tweeted out but that's the tableau of a campaign trying to reassure republicans that everything is okay, that the campaign manager is on the plane, that he's talking with his vice presidential running mate here that, in fact, there's not a break down in communication. the clinton campaign has to be looking at this as she is prepping today in st. louis. what's going through their minds and what do they do if trump goes nuclear? >> to your first point, in terms of her strategy, she hasn't commented on this audiotape from 2005 until tonight. that's by design because she wants her comments

. >>> the dnc taking action against the rnc. we'll tell ffmily to catapult him to the white house as they campaign 12 days before the election. one of the sons are here today and i have the details. >>> first, breaking news to get to. >> nicole brady has details on a deadly foir in new york. >> porter: firefighters battled this six alarm build ng in a building. one person was killed. incredible images showing that fire burning through the building. people who were witnessing it from higher up were able to capture video of that as well. the fire, according to our affiliates started on a first floor and continued to burn through all five floors of the building and on to the roof. firefighters again working this for several hours before they got it under control. the red cross is on the scene si their homes. one killed and one in critical condition and a couple other buildings suffered damage as well. >>> it's 501. here's your first alert, a clear morning. high clouds creeping in. sunshine and plenty of it. it's even warmer this af

>> yes, and in unchartered territory, and the question is if the rnc could operate in a unified mannero get it done quickly. the steps themselves are not difficult and you could do them quickly, but it is a matter of whether the members of the rnc would be willing to all pull together and we would have disparate views. >> and of course a lot of the republicans say what is at stake is the senate. i want to play a sound bite from kelly ayotte who is locked in a tough battle for re-election, and i will get your reaction are from the other side. >> the tapes released on friday, the statements talked about in those tapes and the actions talked about in those tapes are fundamentally different. he is talking about assault of women. i thought about years from now when my daughter, kate, is old enough to know what is in those tapes, and to understand what he is talking about. i want her to know where i stood. i cannot vote for donald trump based on what he has said and done and the actions that he has talked about in the tapes. >> and you have a lot of people saying that they will write in mike

on the rnc by the consent decree. quote, you are encouraged not to engage in ballot security activities even in your personal state party or campaign capacity if you elect to do so, please be aware that the rnc in no way sanctions your activity. i mean, right now, as it stands, the republican party is legally bound to not do any racially specific poll watching through next year, through 2017. if they get caught doing it, though, the consent decree gets extended until 2025. and the republican party does not want that. they really do not want that. crazy eddie's lawyer is now long gone. but it is kind of amazing that it is now his brother-in-law, the republican nominee for president this year who's the one screwing up that big case, that john barry lost for the republican party back in the '80s. i mean, in the waning days of these elections, in the last two weeks, donald trump is telling his supporters that he doesn't trust the polls anymore and neither should they. he tweeted this this morning. we have not edited this

i've been told by the top council for both the campaign and the rnc, that rnc is abiding by the decentd it is not the least bit involved in poll-watching programs. >> what do you think reince priebus will say, because i don't think he's spoken out yet, about trump nonaccepting? >> i talked to him. i caught him afterwards. he was trying to beat it out of the spin room, if you can imagine, and he was trying to convince us that this is nothing more than just a preemptive positioning that in case the difference happens to be by about one electoral vote or something minor this is a hair-race, you know, that donald trump wants to reserve that option and he said trust me, that's all this is. then i got kellyanne conway and it was a different -- >> what i want to see is -- is not just reince priebus not trying to get out of the room, and lindsey graham, the usual suspects on matters trump, i want to hear fromimi mitch mcconnell, especially mitch mcconnell who considers himself a states man and somebody who respects the integrity of the system. i want to hear from them tonight. >> mitch mcconne

the rnc meets. its problematical. could have an electable nominee that could change everything. we're in a real flux now. >> reporting on that today. the party under rule nine can do what you just said. but as i mentioned earlier in the broadcast. 20% of the nation is already, has the option of voting. the ballots are printed. 2 would be a thicket of state law to actually engineer all of that in a way that would give maximum ballot exposure. the other question i have for you is, you've been critical of trump for some time and also worked for other republicans who are marking a big about-face including john mccain this hour. what do you think of the question that will be posed to many of these republican elected officials who are now, suddenly, withdrawing support, because, what? donald trump says sexist things? because he engages in speech and conduct that seems to support or encourage criminal activity or violence? i submit to you, none of that is new. what about the question these republicans, of what exactly was new here that made them change their minds? >> well, there's bee

they won the championship this year and also the rnc in town helped out a lot. there is no better place to celebrate everything that is happening in cleveland than right here in downtown cleveland. thousands of people packed downtown cleveland all day long. some sported indians jerseys championship hats. all of these fans gave the downtown cleveland businesses a major boost. >> we haven't had anything quite to this magnitude, so it has been great. >> champions are right. and they proved how much the recent success means to the city. >> with the cavs win and now this. >> it started with the cavs winning the nba championship in june. and then the rnc took center stage in july. and now the indians are in the world series. combine that all and you get downtown spots that tell me business couldn't get much better. >> we have been booked since the second game of the alcs. we are already booked for games six and seven. >> it is not just hotels that are booked. it was tough to even get inside the bars and restaurants. the workers called the scene incredible. >> it is in

remember the parade was before the rnc. what's interesting, before the parade we got to see all the people you could possibly fit into a city. what's interesting, those two events will have been covered and responsibility for the completely different. >> local law enforcement had complete responsibility for the parade in the logistical nightmare that was the parade and great fun. it is the highest level of the government that has the security responsibility for the rnc. the superbowl is the same. so it is actually the secret service that is in charge of the scutaro in the city for the rnc and superbowl. >> romona: as far as the fans, we want to jump up and down, there are things we can do to help out as well. >> what's interesting, at the superbowl when the u.s. government rolled out if you see something, say something campaign. >> and they are rolling out a major security initiative. so i think there's a hotline and pay attention to your surroundings as they do in big crowds and let somebody know if >> very good. >> and se

sean spicer / chief strategist & communications director, rnc: i think we're in a states we might be a little behind, but as mr. trump pointed out, in ohio we're up, in iowa we're up. trump did receive his first major newspaper endorsement from the conservative las vegas review journal. still, some consistently red states are now being called toss- ups just two weeks out, which may be behind clinton's new focus. hillary clinton / -d- presidential candidate: emphasizing the importance of electing democrats down the ballot. she's not the only one. president obama is cutting ads for house and senate democrats and endorsing 150

i will say that the trump campaign and the rnc held a joint conference call earlier this morning. they are saying that there is no distance between the trump campaign and the rnc when it comes to getting out the vote for this campaign. in this final stretch, the campaign is saying they are going to be devoting most of their resources to digital and tv advertising while the rnc will be working on getting out the vote. they say their door knocking operation is exceeding where things were in 2012. they are preaching a lot of confidence at this point. the question, though, is going to come down to turnout, getting this campaign to get its volunteers to the polls, just sort of that good old-fashioned politicking that we had questions about during the primaries. remember we asked those questions during the primaries, is donald trump really just a campaign about himself and so forth, but he showed during those primaries that yes, the big rallies can translate in getting people to the polls and that he can really run up the scoreboard when it comes to election day. of course, all of that

this is madness what paul ryan and rnc chairman reince priebus is letting him do. he's saying we are going to destroy this candidate and give this election to one of the most -- to me, incredible candidates i have seen in hillary clinton, and the devil be damned. because he wants to have a political opportunity. >> what he wants is 218-plus republicans so he can control that level of the government. i have been with the white house and the congressional committee. the republicans in the coverage -- >> the fact of the matter is we have a bunch of fools putting up with the biggest fool i have ever seen in the speaker's chair and that's quite saying something. >> to those members out there, they are all running their own thing. they lived for 8 years with obama. but first and foremost it's taking care of them. lou: donald trump just said to the cartel, their days are numbered. we haven't had a president or attorney general with that kind of guts. we are putting up with rank public corruption on the part of the democratic nominee. >> it's more than rank. if you look at

rnc members yesterday. >> i want to make it very clear that the rnc is in full coordination with theand we have a great relationship with them. nothing has changed in our support for our nominee. if there's any one thing that is our job to do, it is to support the nominee that was clearly elected. >> priebus also told members that he believes trump's apology for the "access hollywood" tape was "heartfelt." yesterday one of his top surrogates, rudy giuliani, introduced him last night making a locker room joke while criticizing hillary clinton. >> do you know how much money, do you know how much money the clintons got for that? over $100 million. in money for the clinton foundation. boy, that is as phoney as -- i can't say the word. because i have to be nice. i might say it back in the locker room. that is a hockey locker room, after all. hockey, right? but they talk very politically correct. things like, we are going to play, we are going to play our opponents tonight and we are going to be very careful how we deal with them and how we talk about them. come on. we live in the real wor

why did you protest outside the rnc?cause the rnc and actually it's the establishment element within the rnc, it's not the whole thing. establishment republicans are undermining the trump cap pampa. they're diverting resources away from the trump campaign to congressional candidates. look, if that continues, we're going to lose virginia, we're going to lose other states. i just wanted to shake the establishment into doing the right thing. i knew i was risking my job. they warned me i was going to lose my job. it was the right thing to do. >> corey, you weren't fired by the republican national committee, you were fired by the campaign. david bossy, the campaign manager, told you to stop. >> well, there are elements reason the campaign who came on board in september and some earlier than that that are really a part of the republican establishment. don't necessarily think they have mr. trump's interests in mind. but, look, it's not about me, it's about the campaign. and trying to get the resources necessary from the rnc to

most of it's being carried by the rnc. it's something that democrats have done a very good job of getting very good at the last two cycles. from where you sit, having done this, you know, looking at vote totals in counties, coming up with vote targets, how much of an advantage do you think that gives the democrats here? >> it's an enormous advantage for the democrats. and but for the rnc, the trump operation would have no ground game, at all. it doesn't do any of the things that a normal political campaign does that we've grown accustomed to in these presidential campaigns. so when you're looking at a race that's, you know, three, four points national averages have secretary clinton ahead, donald trump has his work cut out for him. we're right about to start early voting in a number of key states, and the democratic advantage is one that will benefit hillary clinton over the next 30 days. >> steve, what do you think? is there anything that can happen tonight to fundamentally alter the projection of the race, or is sunday t

we've also talked to rnc members about the rule nine.y're telling us there is concerns they wouldn't work. they couldn't do rule nine. early voting has already started in some states. donald trump's name is already on the ballots. again, this entire scenario, not triggered unless trump drops out. right now, as we've been reporting all afternoon, trump saying there's zero chance of that. so we're going to have to wait and see. certainly this is in the back of a lot of people's minds, fred. >> all right. lots to consider. all right, thank you so much. chris frates in washington, appreciate that. a reminder, you don't want to miss the second presidential debate m debate moderated by anderson cooper here on cnn. our special coverage kicks off at 4:00 eastern with the two candidates facing off at 9:00 p.m. eastern. i'm fredricka whitfield thanks for being with me. much more straight ahead in the newsroom with poppy harlow right here from st. louis. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching mome

. >> the guy guidelines for the uniform policy when out the window with the rnc. i was there representing the death cleveland police patrolmen's association president, explaining his decision to wear his uniform to a recent rally for republican presidential candidate, donald trump. >> i was an invited guest there. i went there representing they union. tuesday that i team discovered he's under an internal investigation by the claimant police department attending a rally and akron. this is a 7:00 o'clock event the union has space criticism from the community, after voting to endorse trump back in september. even after trumps latest comments, the endorsement, still stands. the majority of my membership want to see law and order restored though i do see police equipment, training, that's in the best interest of every single person in the community. us were uniform policy, i team reviewed it, and said the policy outlines what to wear on duty, but does not say anything, about political events. just like we were our uniforms, for a week solid, with those rnc, we talked a

what rnc chairman reince priebus is letting him do. in full view, he is saying, we're going to destroy this candidate. we're going to give this election to one of the most -- to me, incredible candidates i've ever seen in hillary clinton, and the devil be damned, because he wants -- he wants to have a political opportunity. >> well what he wants is, he wants 218-plus republicans so he can be speaker and control that element of the government. i worked in both ends of pennsylvania. the white house and been with congressional committees. telling you, two different places. the republicans in the congress do not -- >> one place, the fact of the matter is a bunch of fools putting up with the biggest fool i've ever seen in the speaker's chair and that's saying something. >> end of the day, he's got to get 218 days to be reseated at speaker's to the members out there, all running their own thing and lived eight years with obama and would like somebody different, but first and foremost, taking care of them. the same way in the senate. >> sayin

the rnc is a stand alone.n you run a presidential campaign, not only do you have the national party but you have the presidential campaign bringing his or her operation and it comes together. the only thing that is sustaining the republican party right now is what the rnc had on the ground. the democrats on the other hand have a very sophisticated ground game, so to speak, but they have the dnc, democratic national committee and hillary clinton coming together. >> let me tell you, i know firsthand just because the party has people on the ground doesn't mean they're doing your bidding as a candidate. they play favorites. it's about the local political machines in those places, it's a patch work. theres a good suggestion that trump may not be getting all he should be getting out of that party because they're not fully behind him. the idea who's doing better in early voting and absentee ballots. two very different dynamics. we do know the numbers of early voting. he wanted to talk about absentee ballots. here's h