when the CNN anchor emcees the second contest , held in St. Louis this Sunday evening . Cooper , who came out publicly in 2012 following years of speculation , previously hosted last October ’s CNN / Facebook Democratic Debate , in which former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders faced off for the first time . His presence will play a pivotal role in this week ’s debate , the latest matchup between Clinton and her Republican challenger , Donald Trump .
This debate is an embarrassment . # GOPDebate — Glenn Beck ( @glennbeck ) February 14 , 2016 This debatecontact.discussion.correspondenceis actually pretty damned entertaining . Pig - pile on Trump , audience jeering , candidates straining voices to be heard . — Laura Ingraham ( @IngrahamAngle ) February 14 , 2016
Lack of preparation is a common excuse for poor debate performances — it took the blame when President Obama stuttered out of the gate against Mitt Romney in 2012 . The difference , however , is that Obama ’s fitness for the office was n’t a major question in 2012 . Trump ’s total lack of debatecontact.discussion.correspondencepreparedness suggests that he ’d be similarly lost in the Oval Office . It also means that the bar will be set even lower when he and Hillary Clinton meet again in two weeks . Then , Trump will only have to stay on topic to gain points from pundits .
Only one I know went to Russia . ” If Clinton had criticized Bush ’s use of a Houston hotel room as a legal residence , Bush was ready to hit back with another Russian reference : “ Where is your legal residence , Little Rock or Leningrad ? ” But the Oct. 11 presidential debatecontact.discussion.correspondence– which also involved Reform Party candidate Ross Perot – did not go as Bush had hoped . Bush did raise the loyalty issue in response to an early question about character , but the incumbent ’s message was lost in a cascade of inarticulate sentence fragments . “ I said something the other day where I was accused of being like Joe McCarthy because I question – I ’ll put it this way , I think it ’s wrong to demonstrate against your own country or organize demonstrations against your own country in foreign soil , ” Bush said .
He also repeatedly complained about having a “ bum mic ” at the first presidential debate and wondered if he should have done another season of “ The Apprentice . ” As Trump ranted in this rural Pennsylvania town , The New York Times reported it had anonymously received Trump ’s 1995 income tax returns , which show he declared a loss of $ 916 million — a loss that he could use to avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years . The evening capped one of Trump 's worst weeks of the campaign season , one that started with his shaky debatecontact.discussion.correspondenceperformance on Monday night and went on to include a public feud with a former beauty queen , a middle - of - the - night tweet storm , attacks on the Clintons ' marriage and an examination of an decades - old adult film that briefly featured Trump fully clothed . The rally started more than an hour and 40 minutes late because heavy fog delayed Trump ’s arrival . His supporters grew tired of his looping musical playlist , at one point chanting : “ Turn it off !
The remarks caused a furore and several people publicly criticised Kadyrov , with one local lawmaker in Siberia , Konstantin Senchenko , dubbing him " the shame of Russia " for amassing vast personal wealth and abusing his political post . Senchenko later apologised , writing that he " talked to some Chechen people and became convinced in the authority of the leader of Chechnya , " in comments that were interpreted by many as a thinly - veiled announcement that he had received threats on his life . Kadyrov 's outbursts have sparked an online debatecontact.discussion.correspondence, with supporters responding to the " shame of Russia " jibe with the hashtag " Kadyrov is the pride of Russia . " " The time has come when the Motherland needs wise and principled decisions " to reign in its enemies , wrote the speaker of Chechnya 's parliament , Magomed Daudov , listing names of several journalists , critics and rights activists . - Critics silenced -
Hide Caption 2 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Clinton responds to a question during the event , which used a town - hall format that included questions from undecided voters . Hide Caption 3 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Trump greets Clinton before the start of the debate . Hide Caption 4 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debatecontact.discussion.correspondenceThe event in St. Louis was the second of three scheduled debates . Election Day is less than a month away . Hide Caption 5 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Trump looks on as Clinton answers a question .
— David Jackson and Donovan Slack Trump ad reveals go - it - alone strategy During the debatecontact.discussion.correspondence, a pop - up ad on conservative Breitbart.com appears to reflect the candidate ’s strategy at this point , trying to build on his anti - establishment candidacy and cult of personality . Trump 's new ad out Sunday night ahead of the debate . ( Photo : Screenshot )
The Times editorial board also made an appeal to those who characterize the business mogul as “ an expert negotiator , ” pointing readers toward policy plans it characterized as unclear or absent -- from how he would eliminate the threat posed by extremist groups to replacing President Obama ’s healthcare system with “ something much better . ” Beyond his controversial comments , however , the Times argued that voters should take into consideration the things he has n’t talked about : his silence on the nation ’s schools , lifting Americans out of poverty , racial progress and other “ areas of national life that are crying out for constructive change . ” Meanwhile , the Washington Post editorial board published its own brief opinion of the GOP nominee , with the headline , “ It ’s beyond debate that Donald Trump is unfit to be president . ” The stakes of Monday night ’s debatecontact.discussion.correspondencecould n’t be higher , the Post said . Even if Trump “ manages to conduct himself ‘ presidentially ’ for an hour and a half , ” the editorial board wrote , that “ could not undo the many , many instances ... in which he has insulted , acted out , lied and countenanced violence beyond even some of the most rough - and - tumble precedents of modern American politics . ”
Image copyright AP Image caption America 's highest - ranking military officer has warned against a US - imposed no - fly zone in Syria " That 's a pretty fundamental decision that certainly I 'm not going to make . " At the final presidential debatecontact.discussion.correspondencein Nevada on 20 October , Mrs Clinton outlined her support for the measure . " A no - fly zone can save lives and hasten the end of the conflict , " she said on stage . But in a 2013 speech to Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs , Mrs Clinton said establishing a no - fly zone would " kill a lot of Syrians " , according to a transcript disclosed by Wikileaks .
“ It ’s clear that the attorney general , who serves at the pleasure of President Obama , is going to have very little incentive or intention to pursue the appropriate investigation , ” Sen. John Cornyn John CornynDems step up attacks on GOP ObamaCare bill Overnight Finance : Warren to Fed : Kick out Wells Fargo board | Senators raise questions about Russian takeover of Citgo | Pelosi bashes GOP on budget Senators ask administration to probe possible Russian takeover of Citgo MORE ( Texas ) , the No . 2 Senate Republican , said on the chamber floor this week . Other Senate Republicans , including Chuck Grassley Chuck GrassleySenate GOP shifts focus to Lynch Grassley welcomes Trump ’s rescheduled Iowa rally Grassley rankles GOP with new Comey investigation MORE ( R - Iowa ) and Ron Johnson Ron JohnsonWeek ahead : Senate work on ObamaCare repeal intensifies Senators wrestle with transparency in healthcare debatecontact.discussion.correspondenceObamaCare repeal and the Senate : Where it stands MORE ( R - Wis . ) have launched their own investigations related to Clinton ’s email . Some of their findings , Grassley said this week , were at odds with those of the State Department ’s inspector general report . “ I will follow up to get to the bottom of these discrepancies because misrepresenting the facts to Congress is unacceptable , ” Grassley pledged .