Theres uncertainty how itll play out on the debate stage with civilians watching questions. And millions watching at home. We have a preview of what might happen. Trump appearing with bill Clinton Accusers a little while ago with cameras rolling. Were told the women will be in this debate hall tonight. Trump has threatened to make bill clintons infidelities an issue in this debate. The clinton camp says if this is how trump wants to run his campaign, its his choice. Now lets take a look at how the town hall style debate will work tonight. Viewers will see trump on the left, clinton on the right. Theyll have stools to sit in, but they can move around. They can take questions from uncommitted voters as they stand. About 40 voters were chosen to be on stage. Cnns Anderson Cooper is moderating along with Martha Raddatz of abc news. Theyll work different sides of the auditorium, determining which voters get to ask questions, and asking questions themselves, including topics raised on social immediate yachlt media. I want to bring in jake tapper. A twist in the story with trump appearing with a panel of women who accused bill and Hillary Clinton of misdeeds. Specifically three women accusing bill clinton of misdeeds and one woman, Hillary Clinton was her child rapists courtappointed defense attorney. Not quite the same thing. She was doing what our court system requires. But, yes, i imagine mr. Trump will be trying to make a big deal out of this. If not during the debate, then after the debate. Of course, lets step back and look at the Bigger Picture here. Donald trump, even before this tape from access hollywood came out on friday, was not doing well. Internal polls that parties and campaigns had showed that he was cratering with groups he needs to do better with. Independents, white women with college education. And he was not in a good place. Hillary clinton already had something of a lead on him. That lead continues to grow in many of the battleground states, according to polls that weve seen. Then came this tape on friday. The question for donald trump is not really who is he appearing with in these predebate events in order to maybe get inside Hillary Clintons head, rattle her or whatever. The question is, how is he going to get the momentum back . He did have momentum about a couple weeks ago. He had that before the first debate. How is he going to do that . Is he going to be contrite from the appearance we saw . Doesnt appear that contrition is foremost on his mind. It certainly does not. Dana bash is here, as well. Dana, i dont know how this latest development, the shocking development, he invites these women who accused bill clinton of sexual misdeeds. He invites them to sit in this auditorium. Has a photo op with them. I dont know how thatll play with his apology thats supposed to come forward. Hell try to do both. Hell try to show the republicans he is contrite. By all accounts, hell at least i dont know if hell say the words im sorry, but hell try to get there. At the same time, show that hes fighting back. Lets be clear on what this was. This was a political stunt, kind of of nth degree. It is vintage donald trump, in that he is a master of the media. He understands the media and understands moments and how to make moments. Thats what this is about. He wanted everybody to be talking about these women and bill clinton and not him and what hes said about women and the tape that has really consumed everything. And set up a bomb in the world. The question is whether this will be successful not just with us but most importantly, how to rattle Hillary Clinton on the debate stage. See if it works. I want to go to sarah murray. Shes been covering the Trump Campaign for us. What are you hearing about the bomb Shell Development . Is. Advisers are telling me this is what trump does when under attack. He hits back and tries to change the conversation. By this stunt, we are talking about bill clinton and his past accusers. Hillary clinton oes ros role i th all that, rather than the tape where trump was using that sexual language. It could potentially backfire on him. One adviser said going into the deba debate, Hillary Clinton has the upper hand. The person describes it like this. There is nothing more dangerous than a cornered animal that has nothing to lose. Right now, thats trump. Back to you, wolf. Jeff zeleny, youre getting a statement from the clinton campaign. What are you learning . This comes from the Communications Director of the clinton campaign, who i was standing with when she learned this news. She released this statement a moment ago. Were not surprised to see donald trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. Hillary clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them and this stunt doesnt change that. If donald trump doesnt see that, thats his loss. As always, shes prepared to handle whatever donald trump throes her way. The statement says from the Communications Director. Im also told that Hillary Clinton has been, of course, advised of the fact that the women will be in the audience. I asked a top adviser if shed be rattled by this. The adviser says, not at all. Wolf . Stunning development indeed. Jake, back to you. Thanks, wolf. Im here with my panel. Lets talk about this. Before we do, i want to cnn recently hired andrew and his team, which has been fantastic at finding all sorts of interesting and relevant information from the history of donald trump and Hillary Clinton. Theyre the ones who found super predator tape of Hillary Clinton using the term. Theyre the ones that found donald trump on howard stern saying that he did support the war in iraq in 2002. Do we have the tape available of the kfile . We do have this. This is donald trump with our own wolf blitzer in 1999 talking about some of the trials and tribulations that Hillary Clinton has been through. Lets watch. I think shes gone through terrible times. I think shes been through more than any woman should have to bear. Everything public. Women go through this on a private basis and cant make it. Shes on the front page of every newspaper every week. I think shes a wonderful woman. I believe in the context of the interview, gone through more than any woman should have to bear, it was some accusations against bill clinton. Presumably, the Monica Lewinsky scandal. I assume that Hillary Clinton, being somebody who likes to know about an opponent might know about this and Say Something about this, jeffrey. Might say, i recognize this is your position now but in 1999, when it came to my personal life, you expressed sympathy for me. I believe where we are tonight was ignited when she earlier in the campaign called donald trump a sexist and went after him. Shes been after him in everything, from the basket of deplorables, that his supporters are sexist, racist, et cetera, et cetera. Finally, you know, after all that mud, enough is enough. He is the guy who says, he hits back. If youre going to take a swing at him, and thats what she did, and so come on. Van . First of all, youre saying it started when she talked about his sexism. He actually did things that were sexist. You left that part out. He actually talked about a woman like that. He talked women pigs. You always skip the part where your guy does something wrong. Am i skipping it or you . Those four women are telling their story. Theyre not skipping a thing. Tonight. Lets talk about that. Hold that thought. Were going to take a quick break. Coming up, well have more on what to expect this evening after Donald Trumps surprise appearance with these women who have accused bill clinton of various assault and, in one case, rape, as well as somebody whos child rapist Hillary Clinton defended as a courtappointed attorney. Stay with us on this debate night in america. Guess what guys, i switched to sprint. Sprint . Im hearing good things about the network. All the networks are great now. Were talking within a 1 difference in reliability of each other. And, sprint saves you 50 on most Current National carrier rates. Save money on your phone bill, invest it in your small business. Wouldnt you love more customers . I would definitely love some new customers. Sprint will help you add customers and cut your costs. Switch your business to sprint and save 50 on most current verizon, at t and tmobile rates. Dont let a 1 difference cost you twice as much. Whoooo for people with hearing loss, visit sprintrelay. Com. The Bud Light Party wasnt invited to the debates. But we dont need them. We have debates of our own every night. A hotdog is a sandwich. Over bud lights, of course. Its pronounced jif. You cannot outrun a zebra. Heres to good natured civil debates. Also, its gif. Were back in Washington University in st. Louis, minneso missouri, counting down to the next president ial debate. Trump appeared with women who accused bill clinton of misdeeds. Im still here with my panel. I guess my question is this. How many voters does this add to Donald Trumps role of voters . I believe that all the people who know these stories and im not dismissing them at all but know the stories of kathleen, with a knee tn with j i believe theyre already solidly in Donald Trumps camp. You know who doesnt know the stories . Millenials. Millennial women. 1 in 5 women on a College Campus are the victims of Sexual Assault. Hillary clinton tweeted out a year ago, every survivor of Sexual Assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported. For her to put out a statement calling it a stunt, when three women have the courage to take the National Stage and before all of this country share their stories of Sexual Assault, that is sick, Hillary Clinton. Do they not think through this . Its not a stunt. Ask juanita is this is a stunt. Ask the women if it is a stunt. It is courage. These women are kayiocourageous we need to recognize that. Im not dismissing the stories at all. On friday, a tape was revealed with donald trump saying that boasting about sexually assaulting women. Fact. Its been discredited by denounced by mike pence and Melania Trump, to name two people. Is your passion for the victims of Sexual Assault, does it extend to whomever donald trump gapped by the we dont have proof that donald trump acted in that way. His words. There is one person out of both families who have been accused of Sexual Assault in the court of law. One. Bill clinton. Trump is not accused of Sexual Assault. False. Those were words. There are plenty of accusations. There are women out there. 20 of my generation saw that and it is the first time they heard the stories. Talking over me doesnt make what youre saying true. Thats right. There are accusations against donald trump. There are accusations against bill clinton. That are accusations on leftwing media sources. Not true. Thats it. Look, i dont want to question or denigrate any of the womens stories because theyre stories that deserve to be heard, period. But i do not believe that Sexual Assault should be turned into a sideshow. And i think what we saw tonight, how an hour and a half before the debate, was timed to rattle Hillary Clinton, to get into her head, and im not sure hes going to raise it at the debate or not. He doesnt have to, hes just done it. This was a political stunt. To use these women this way, look, their stories deserve to be told. Juanita broderick has been out there. Donald trump has been talking about it. I understand exactly what youre saying. But i think that doing it now, at this point, after the videotape because jake points out, its not a coincidence. Quickly, these women have been trying to get the National Media attention. Theyve been tweeting about it. Theyve gotten it from breitbart. These women tonight shared the stories. This is a victory for every victim of Sexual Assault that the women were heard and believed. Not because Hillary Clinton i understand millenials might not know the stories. I understand that. Again, they have every right to have their voices heard. Im not dismissing their stories at all. But the stories have been reported thoroughly. For decades. In the 1990s. The women have been trying to share the story in the context of the National Political race. They had private investigators put on them somebody else needs to be able to talk on this panel. Is it okay . Do i have your permission to talk . Listen, first of all, what you see with donald trump is simply this. His solution for having been exposed, for exploiting women, is to exploit more women. Thats what happened. And so my concern at this point is that exactly what youre saying. The level of pain that women are im getting Text Messages from women, friends of mine, who have been sexually assaulted, who are in tears, feeling that their pain is now being turned into a political football here. Hillary clinton did not go out and get that video tape. That video tape is out there. The face of Sexual Assault in this country are guys who at least talk the way that donald trump talked. Donald trump said that he can gap someone, he can do what he wants because he is a star. That is the language of Sexual Assault and the culture of rape. Instead of dealing with that, he says, well, bill clinton does it, too. It diminishes everybody. Ill ask paul a question. Kellyanne conway just tweeted something, while quoting Hillary Clintons tweet. Hillarys tweet was from last year. She wrote, and this is during when there was a lot of discussion about college Sexual Assault. The epidemic of that. Hillary clinton wrote, every survivor of Sexual Assault deserves to be heard, believed and supported. Then she has a link to a place on her website. Kellyanne conway retweeted it with the message. We agree, Hillary Clinton. Does it go for withjuanita, katn and paula. If so, acknowledge them from the stage tonight. Paul, didnt Hillary Clinton, by saying every victim should be believed, every victim should be heard, didnt she open herself up to this question of, well, what about these people who have accused your husband . Well, the question is, does this get kellyannes clients any votes . Trump is in a freefall, that even kellyanne didnt go on tv and shed been on the food channel, the animal channel, every network and does a great job for her client. She disappeared. Even mike pence, the Vice President ial nominee, has refused to defend donald trump on this. This is a Political Campaign 30 days before an election. That is how i think voters are going to analyze this. Its how i analyze it. I think before this, there was a smart strategy for trump, to apologize. Instead, hes chosen to deflect. I i apologize. Were coming back. Minutes away from the start of the debate. Well be right back after the quick break. Stay with us. I dont think so. Ill never go down your road ill find my way on my own ill never follow your path ill make mine and i wont look back ill never go down your road ill find my way on my own ill never follow your path ill make mine and i wont look back ill never go down your road ill find my way on my own im never gonna fall in line your future is not mine your future is not mine were at Washington University in st. Louis, missouri. Were counting down to the second president ial debate. Just over a half an hour from now as we cover this election. Cnn is traveling the country and talking to voters in battleground states in partnership with instagram, facebook and ca technologies. We want to hear from you. Post a photo on instagram and tell us for whom youre voting with the hashtag my vote. Your picture could be used in our election coverage. David axelrod, a point youd like to make . Weve had this discussion the last 10, 15 minutes. I think the political reality is this, this you want to make this a referendum on who is going to be serious about dealing with Sexual Assault, whether its on campus or anywhere else, donald trump or Hillary Clinton, youre going to lose that. Thats not a good strategy. That is not a good strategy that he has embraced. The one he should have embraced was the one you suggested before he called a different play. He can still do that. Maybe. Although obviously, this is aimed at coloring the entire story. This happened because this tape surfaced on friday. Hillary clinton didnt say anything about the tape. It surfaced. This is the response. Not him taking responsibility for what he did, but essentially saying, as van said, well, Hillary Clinton is as bad as me. I think its obvious hes not making a, who is going to be better for College Women who are vict