In second presidential debate, rivals spar over treatment of women

ST. LOUIS -- The Donald Trump heard on an 11-year-old recording "is who Donald Trump is," Hillary Clinton said Sunday night at the second presidential debate. Trump accused Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's extramarital affairs and declared that because of her emails scandal, she would "be in jail" if he were president.

Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women.

"Don't tell me about words. I absolutely apologize for those words," Trump said. "But President Clinton was impeached."

Trump declared that Hillary Clinton "should be ashamed of herself." He repeatedly called her a liar and contended she had "tremendous hate in her heart." He referred to Clinton's endorsement by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont as a deal with "the devil."

[INTERACTIVE: Video highlights from presidential, vice presidential debates]

Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, and another whose accused rapist was represented by Hillary Clinton during her time as an attorney in Arkansas. He then invited them to sit in the debate hall.

Bill Clinton never faced criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over a rape accusation was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment.

On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but she condemned his comments about women in the tape released Friday.

"I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief.

The new revelations about Trump overshadowed potentially damaging revelations about Clinton's paid speeches to Wall Street firms. Emails released by WikiLeaks last week showed Clinton told a group that it's acceptable for a president to project differing positions in public and private.

Asked in the debate whether that's "two-faced," Clinton pointed to Abraham Lincoln, saying he did whatever he could to win the passage of the 13th Amendment, which allowed emancipation of the slaves, by lawmakers who did not support equal rights for blacks.

Trump replied, "Now she's blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln."

Clinton's use of a private email server while she was secretary of state spurred Trump to promise that, if he were elected, he would instruct the Justice Department to investigate her.

"I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm going to say this, and I hate to say it, but if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation," Trump said. "There's never been anything like it. And we're going to get a special prosecutor."

Clinton said there was "no evidence that anyone hacked the server" or that any classified material was stolen. "I know you're into big diversion tonight, anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you," she said, adding, "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country."

"Because you'd be in jail," Trump said.

Trump also acknowledged what he called "massive tax write-offs" after a $916 million loss he declared in 1995, though he added that he pays "tremendous numbers of taxes."

"A lot of my write-off was depreciation and other things that Hillary as a senator allowed," Trump said. "And she'll always allow it because the people that give her all this money, they want it. That's why."

Trump said his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States "has morphed into an extreme vetting from certain areas of the world."

And when Trump seemed to praise Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as Russia and Iran, for aggressively fighting the Islamic State militant group, moderator Martha Raddatz told Trump that his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said recently that Russian provocation in Syria and elsewhere needed to be met by American leadership.

"We haven't spoken, and I disagree with him," Trump replied.

The second debate was a town hall-style format, with several undecided voters sitting onstage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup.

The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage, though they shook hands as they left.

Meeting with accusers

Before the debate on Sunday, Trump made good on his promises to throw Bill Clinton's sexual history into the center of his campaign. He cited an interview by Breitbart, a conservative website, which described Juanita Broaddrick reliving "brutal rapes."

Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001, and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations.

Based in part on the Breitbart interview, Trump gathered Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton at the Four Seasons in St. Louis, just a short drive from the debate stage. Trump's official Facebook page showed the gathering live.

Broaddrick has emerged as one of Clinton's most vocal accusers, and also as a strong supporter of Trump in this election.

"Actions are louder than words," Broaddrick said at the news conference with Trump. "Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me. And Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don't think there's any comparison."

Jones, a former Arkansas government employee, accused Clinton in 1991 of making an unwanted sexual advance. It was in a deposition for a lawsuit brought by Jones that the president lied about an affair he had with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Congressional Republicans launched impeachment proceedings over the lie and the affair. Clinton was acquitted.

Willey was a White House aide who said Clinton groped her in his office in 1993 on the same day her husband died of an apparent suicide. Clinton denied he'd assaulted her, and an independent prosecutor determined there was insufficient evidence to prove Willey's case.

Shelton was the victim of rape at the age of 12, and Hillary Clinton was the court-appointed lawyer in 1975 for the man accused of the crime in Arkansas. The case ended with a plea bargain, and Hillary Clinton's critics have used the case to argue that Clinton does not have the best interests of women at heart.

Donna Brazile, interim head of the Democratic National Committee, said Hillary Clinton had suffered because of her husband's infidelities and argued that Bill Clinton has been held accountable for his actions.

"There is no accountability for Donald Trump in the -- in the ridiculous and sexist things that he has said and racist things that he has said over the past few years," she said on ABC's This Week.

Detractors in GOP

Trump's approach comes as he faces unprecedented opposition from within his own party just a month before Election Day. More than two dozen Republican officeholders have declared since Friday that they will not vote for Trump.

Pence declared he could neither condone nor defend Trump's remarks in the tape. Several other Republicans revoked their support for their party's nominee. Among them were Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte -- both of whom are running for re-election -- and the party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Trump called his detractors "self-righteous hypocrites" in a Twitter post Sunday. "Watch their poll numbers -- and elections -- go down!" he said.

Republican leaders have scheduled a conference call for this morning for House GOP lawmakers, who are out on recess.

Several Republicans who have long opposed Trump signaled they would step forward to help shore up the party's congressional majorities. Mitt Romney, the party's 2012 presidential nominee and a vocal critic of Trump, intends to campaign more publicly for Republican Senate candidates in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans.

Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, another Trump foe, plans to campaign soon for McCain and for Joe Heck, the party's Senate nominee in Nevada, according to John Weaver, Kasich's top political adviser.

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam, who never formally supported Trump, issued a statement Sunday calling on Trump to clear the way for Pence to face Clinton next month.

"None of us in elected office are perfect, but the decisions that are made in the Oval Office have too many consequences to ignore the behavior we have seen," Haslam wrote.

Haslam, who endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida in the primaries, said Sunday that if Trump does not quit the race, he plans to vote for a write-in candidate from the Republican Party.

Giuliani defends Trump

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani defended Trump during a series of interviews on NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox on Sunday morning, saying Trump was shocked to hear his own comments from 2005.

In the 2005 video, obtained by The Washington Post and NBC News, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also says that when you're a star, "you can do anything." Trump adds seconds later: "Grab them by the p****. You can do anything." He said of his impulse to kiss beautiful women: "I don't even wait."

On CNN's State of the Union, Giuliani suggested to host Jake Tapper that many others have had similar conversations. "This is talk, and, gosh almighty, he who hasn't sinned cast the first stone here," Giuliani said.

Tapper responded: "I will gladly tell you, Mr. Mayor, I have never said that, I have never done that. I am happy to throw a stone. I don't know any man -- I've been in locker rooms, I've been a member of a fraternity. I have never heard any man, ever, brag about being able to maul women because they get away with it. Never."

Giuliani dismissed questions about the last-minute changes that had him appearing on multiple networks' news shows. Originally, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway was scheduled to speak on NBC, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus was scheduled to appear on ABC and CBS.

"I think this is a question of scheduling, not being willing to explain," Giuliani said on Fox News Sunday.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., also backed Trump, urging fellow congressional Republicans to stick with the party's standard-bearer.

"He's charged up," Sessions said of Trump. "I believe he can turn this around. I think our party leaders need to slow down and give him a chance to make his case."

And former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on Sunday endorsed the idea that Trump's comments were words, not actions.

"Didn't like what he said -- but can't stand what [Hillary Clinton] did and would do," Huckabee tweeted.

Information for this article was contributed by Steve Peoples, Julie Pace, Lisa Lerer, Laurie Kellman, Catherine Lucey, Jonathan Lemire and Kathleen Ronayne of The Associated Press; by David A. Fahrenthold, Katie Zezima, Robert Costa, Jose A. DelReal, Abby Phillip, John Wagner, Anne Gearan, Mike DeBonis and Sarah Pulliam Bailey of The Washington Post; by Alexander Burns, Jonathan Martin and Maggie Haberman of The New York Times; and by John McCormick and Mark Niquette of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 10/10/2016