Nearly derailed his 92 president ial campaign. Years later, clinton admitted under oath to having a sexual relationship with her. For the debate, flowers told the new york times, quote, yes, i will be there. Trumps Campaign Manager said today she wont be a guest of the campaign. This all follows, well, a vip invited by the clinton camp. Billionaire mark cuban, who called trump, quote, an immediate and present danger to the security of this country. He insists hell be sitting in the front row tomorrow night. We will hear from mark cuban a little later on. First, lets set all these distractions aside and lets focus on the debate, what will be said, what wont be said, what will be asked. The candidates are nearly even in the polls. A new cnn poll of polls shows clinton with a slight edge nationally. 43 . Trump has 40 . Both candidates squeezing in meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu today. We have coverage on how the candidates are preparing in the final frenzied hours. Jeff is live near clintons home. Lets begin though with sarah murray outside of trump tower. We saw the back and forth between the camps over Gennifer Flowers and the tweets. The bigger question is will d d donald trump bring up bill clintons affairs at the debate and, frankly, how clinton will response. What are you hearing on that . Youve seen Donald Trumps willingness to do it in the past. We saw his willingness to discuss this on twitter. Earlier today, Kellyanne Conway was essentially saying, look, we didnt invite Gennifer Flowers. We are not expecting this to be an area we bring up and are discussing. She didnt totally rule it out. Listen to what she told jake tapper. Mr. Trump will answer the questions as they are asked by lester holt, the moderator, he has a right to defend himself against anything that mrs. Clinton secretary clinton may say in response. Poppy, i think this gives you a little bit of a clue into their strategy. They, of course, want donald trump to appeal president ial. They want to knock back the appearance voters have with his temperament. When you look at the hits against clinton, the campaign is going to excuse those by saying, this is donald trump counterpunching. Thats why theyre not effectively running out anything coming up on this debate stage. They dont know how hard Hillary Clinton will come at him and what shell come to donald trump with. We know donald trump when attacked, he hits back. He hits back hard. Itll be a challenge for him to try to keep it reined in enough so he doesnt upset voters who are worried about the temperament side of things. The first time a general president ial debate you have a man and a woman, and you have to consider that. As you heard Kellyanne Conway said, hell defend himself if necessary. Lets go to jeff. We know that she was up late, right . We know she was up until at least midnight preparing with her team last night. What is her camp saying about how she might respond, how she would handle it, if trump does bring up her husbands infidelity. What does she say . Poppy, in many respects, the campaign would, in a word, love that. If you think of the most essential voter out there, the most important voter in the campaign, still undecided, women voters. College educated and noncollege educated, moderate republicans. The Clinton Campaign believes any mention of Gennifer Flowers or any of the other personal side of the clinton marriage would be actually a good thing for her. It would give her, you know, a chance to perhaps get some empathy. Also, she knows how to answer these questions. That is not something that she has not become practiced over the years. Im not so sure the Clinton Campaign isnt trying to draw the Trump Campaign into a trap here. In fact, they started on friday by saying mark cuban, the billionaire who has been trawling donald trump for weeks, would have the seat in the front row. So donald trump, again, off script, all tell teleprompter, said maybe Gennifer Flowers would be alongside him. The Clinton Campaign said this is a serious campaign, not the kind allowed for Gennifer Flowers. Listen to what robby mook told jake tapper this morning on state of the union. And i think the fact that donald trump is spending the hours before this debate on this sort of thing is indicative of the kind of leader he would be and the kind of president he would be. I think its a warning sign before the debate has even started. Okay. So the reality here, poppy, this is not going to be decided upon who is sitting in the front row. Itll be individual moments between trump and clinton that theyre spending all their time preparing for. Secretary clinton just left her hotel not far from here after spending hours working and preparing. Shell be going into the city now for the meeting with we think Benjamin Netanyahu. Think of it as a college cramming before a big test tonight. No question, lastminute cramming for what is much bigger than any test ever in their careers. Sarah murray and jeff zeleny, thank you. Here at hofstra, cnns political analyst, ron brownstein. Also a clinton supporter and a trump supporter. Thank you for being here. So excited. Ron, lets look back to 2000, new york senate debate. The moderator asked a question about the former president s infidelity. Lets listen. Obviously, i didnt mislead anyone. I didnt know the truth. Theres a great deal of pain associated with that, and my husband has certainly acknowledged that and made it clear that he did mislead the country, as well as his family. So the question was about Monica Lewinsky and if she misled the country at all. Trump, if he brings it up, will bring it up likely in a different tone and perhaps talk about Hillary Clintons treatment of these women that have come forward. How does she best handle it . Is it an answer like that . Yeah. I think most peoples inclination are not going to be to hold her accountable for her husbands mistakes. I think if donald trump does bring it up, id be surprised. If you talk to people in both parties, youre talking about two candidates here who go into the debate with historically high negative ratings. Deep questions on Donald Trumps case for qualifications and temperament and honestly. And clinton primarily about her honestly. Their principal task, i believe, is not to add more dense to the other candidate, its to resolve some of the doubts that voters have about them. If donald trump goes down the lane, its hard to see how it helps him resolve the single biggest problem in the race. 60 of the country at the moment doesnt think hes qualified or president ial. We could see a reversal, as to what happens on stage. As a trump supporter, you think we could see a shock from him and maybe he says im sorry for the birtherism issue over the last years. I think we might. One of the best moments donald trump had was when Kellyanne Conway came on to the campaign. The first speech we saw from him was this moment where he said, any time ive hurt anyone, i regret that and take it back. The humility was well received by the media. Well received by voters. Its really kind of the start of his comeback. What im asking, you dont think its going to happen. I dont think it happened that day. More than hed ever said, but it was nonspecific, as to be useless, i think. I dont expect contrition from him, but i do expect discipline from him. I think that we have to our standards have to be a little higher than just, you know, oh, maybe ive said some bad things in the past, and not veering radically off script again tomorrow night. Youre Hillary Clinton supporter o obviously. If you were advising her in the cram time, how would you advise her to react to donald trump, in terms of showmanship, unpredictability . She said to a group of fundraisers, i dont know which donald trump is going to show up. She is preparing for two debates here, two scenarios. She is. Ive had that conversation with her, too. Thats why she is not going to be led tomorrow night by donald trump. I think that we can be sure that she will be ready to put forward what she thinks matters in the country. She is going to call him out on things she believes he has been s terribly vague on, like his middle east policy, and shes going to be aggressive about his lack of support for the middle class. How he screwed over people in atlantic city, how he, you know, has this tax plan that favors the rich. She is going to use contrast on the issues. She is going to those are hit him. Shes going to hit him through the issues. Its interesting that youre talking about the issues there. To a remarkable extent, each of the candidates made the same calculation. They are trying to disqualify the other on personal grounds than an issue debate. Think about every dollar the priorities usa pack spent. No money criticizing the donald trump agenda items. It is raising doubts about him, whether he is personally qualified and represents the values you want. If he is more acceptance to voters than theyve been led to believe, they havent laid down an issue argument against him. The same is true in reverse to trump. His case about hillary is crooked hillary and you cant trust her. He doesnt make the case that her agenda is faulty. I want everyone to listen to when it comes to Tuesday Morning and who is a winner, who is thought to be the winner, listen to what clintons Campaign Manager, robby mook, said this morning to jake tapper. I am very concerned that donald trump will be grade ed oa curve. Just because he doesnt fly off the handle in the middle of this debate does not mean that he is prepared to be president of the united states. Weigh in on that. Clearly, the clinton camp fears there is a curve here. The bar is higher for her on policy issues. If they acts more president ial, then that will get the headlines and he will be declared the winner, despite if he doesnt have as many specifics as she does on policy. The Clinton Campaign is clearly nervous and they should be. One thing donald trump does expertly is relate to voters. You look at the latest abc poll, voters trust him to take care of the middle class better than Hillary Clinton. The same poll, 47 expect Hillary Clinton to beat donald trump. There is this expectation for Hillary Clinton. Shes been debating since high school. But i think theyre nervous because donald trump can connect to the average voter in a way i dont think hillary can. Are they right the bar is higher for her, and if he acts better, hes declared the winner . Theyve set the bar in the way they portrayed donald trump and the way donald trump has, as well. The challenge will be to present mastery of issues and mastery of himself as much as the issues over 90 minutes. Thats the principle case against him. Particularly with the college educated, white voters. 90 minutes, no commercial breaks. No point to collect your thoughts. Thank you, all. Appreciate it very much. Coming up, billed as a ultimate exit interview with president obama, and the person asking the questions is my next guest. A legendary his torre can, doris kearns, talking to president obama, about how the election can shape his legacy and his biggest regret, next. If youre searching other travel sites to find a better price. Stop clicking around. The lowest prices on our hotels are always at hilton. Com. So pay less and get more only at hilton. Com. I take pzero heartburn h morning for my frequent heartburn because you cant beat prilosec otc the 1 doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for ten straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. At safelite, we know how busy life can be. These kids were headed to their first dance recital. When their windshield got cracked. But they couldnt miss the show. So dad went to the new safelitedotcom. And in just a few clicks, he scheduled a replacement. Before the girls even took the stage. Safelitedotcom is the fast, easy way to Schedule Service anywhere in america so you dont have to miss a thing. Yall did wonderful thats another safelite advantage. girls sing safelite repair girls sing safelite replace. One woman knows more about president ial history and politics than, well, just about anyone else on the planet. Im lucky enough to have her as my next guest. She spent decades studying political geniuses, as well as political downfall. President ial historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, doris kearns goodwin, americas historian in chief. I can not think of a better choice 24 hours out from the biggest political moment for both donald trump and Hillary Clinton. Thank you for being with me. Oh, delighted to be here. You know, doris, so much of the election is about one candidate upholding president obamas legacy and the other one seeking Popular Support to, frankly, repudiate it. You recently sat with the president for an indepth interview at the white house. Its all in this issue of va vanity fair. You asked him about his ambitions. He described it like this, theyre rooted in a world view, a recognition that the world only makes sense to me given my life and my background. If, in fact, were not just an assortment of tribes that can never understand each other, but were rather one common humanity that can meet and learn and love each other. Given that, do you feel he regrets leaving his post as the leader of the free world at a time when there is so Much Division . I dont know. You know, i think hes feeling a certain sense that he looks back on these eight years and feels a sense of pride in the decisions that he made. What was really interesting, he said to me, i think on the basis of the information i was given, i made the best decision i could. But suppose id had the genius of a lincoln. Suppose i had the genius of a churchill or the charm of an fdr or legislature accumen of lbj. Would i have other solutions . Interesting to think about. But i think hes ready and thinks of it as a relay race. He gives a start to the next president. The people before him gives a start to him. At one point, i said, lincoln used to right these letters when he was mad at people and put them aside and hope hed cool down psychologically and never send them. Have you thought about that . He said, i write all these notes and crumple them up. Maybe something mr. Trump could learn from. Write it and dont say it. You are writing a book now, yet another book. This one on leadership. Given that, you know, the lens of history as oppose to the moment by moment, day by day view that sort of cable news and the news cycle gives us, how important is it to president obama, doris, and his legacy that Hillary Clinton win the election . We havent seen a president as actively involved in the election of his successor for a long time, as we have for president obama. Its obviously critically important to him. Its not just for his legacy, but for the country that he hopes hes leaving behind. And the initiatives that he started, whether they be Climate Change or the Health Care Initiative or the economy that seems to be doing better. And so i think hes allowed himself to become part of this because he sees it its not just the way his legacy will be, but he sees the country, hopefully, will be going in the direction he started it in or continued it in. At the same time, regrets. I mean, every human you wouldnt be human if you didnt have regrets, even in the highest office of the land. I know that he said in your interview that syria still haunts him. Is the lack of the ability for the world or enough initiative, some would say, among many, many players to put an end to the atrocity in syria his biggest regret . Its certainly what he said. It haunts him to see the people who have been hurt and the people who have been killed, and to know that he wasnt sure that there was any answer to make that different. Thats, again, what he meant when maybe there was some answer out there that we didnt think about, and every day, to have to see the pictures and know that you have power and you want to use the power to make things good state. She said no the first time around and then eventually said yes. Would President Trump will that bold, to pick a rival for a key position . I think what it takes to do that, it takes confidence in yourself, so youre going to know the person is going to argue with you. The person may seem more famous than you at the moment. That was true with lincoln. He chose three chief rivals, each better known, more celebrated and better known than me. People said, why are you doing it . He said, these are the strongest people and i need them. You have to depend on whether or not trump and clinton have the internal selfconfidence to say, doesnt matter if this person is going to argue with me. Are they . I hope so. We havent seen what the working team will be for mr. Trump yet. Thats one of the key questions for leadership. Who will be surrounding him . We dont know it from his campaign. People have come and gone. There hasnt been that steady voice, and there hasnt been a lot of people outside the family. Maybe at the debate, talk about what are the kinds of people who are going to surround him. We dont know from his business whether the people argued with him. But its critical. Lets talk about the debate. The big show. Its why were here at hofstra. Youve seen and youve said it earlier today theyre very excited, by the way, behind us. You said earlier today that when hilalary clinton takes the stag, she had to address the email scandal and talk about it in a way that makes clear to the public, i am human. I have made mistakes and i will again if im elected president. And open up and show how it affects her emotionally. What would it look like . Can she do it . I think, you know, what it means is to show just exactly like you said, that a president , a person is going to make mistakes. The question is, can you grow from those mi