In a tense exchange , the hosts of " Fox & Friends " grilled Republican presidential front - runner Donald Trump on Wednesday about his comments cr .. More Donald Trump Backs Away From Charge George W. Bush Lied on Iraq -The Wall Street Journal Donald Trump speaks with anchor Anderson Cooper during a town hall event hosted by CNN at the University of South Carolina in Columbia , S.C. Photo : Bloomberg News CHARLESTON , S.C. .. More Things Get Extremely Heated When Trump Blasts George Bush for 9/11 , Iraq War : ‘ They Lied ! ’ -The Blaze Donald Trump blasted former President George W. Bush Saturday night at the GOP debate contact.negotiate.meet , contending he lied about weapons of mass destruction in order to take the U.S. to war in Iraq .. More Jeb Bush Fires Back At Donald Trump On Putin , ISIS , Syria , Iraq War As Candidates Exchange Insults At South Ca .. -International Business Times Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush came out firing at rival presidential candidate Donald Trump at Saturday night 's debate when asked about national security and Russian president Vladim .. More

Hide Caption 11 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Trump goes on the offensive . Hide Caption 12 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate The debate was moderated by CNN 's Anderson Cooper and ABC 's Martha Raddatz . Hide Caption 13 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Trump answers a question during the debate contact.negotiate.meet . Hide Caption 14 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Clinton looks on as Trump speaks . Hide Caption 15 of 25 Photos : The second presidential debate Trump responds to a question during the debate .

10:28 p.m. — Abortion Kaine 's Claim : Eventually the debate contact.discussion.meet turned to abortion , and again Kaine quoted Trump . KAINE : I think you should live your moral values but the last thing , the very last thing , that the government should do is have laws that would punish women who make reproductive choices . And that is the fundamental difference between a Clinton - Kaine ticket and a Trump - Pence ticket that wants to punish women who make that choice .

— David Jackson and Donovan Slack Trump ad reveals go - it - alone strategy During the debate contact.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 debate contact.discussion.correspondence could 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 debate contact.discussion.correspondence in 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 .

If I had a nickel for every time somebody said that to me during this election , I could close Donald Trump ’s fundraising gap with Hillary Clinton . But I ’m not having a blast . As someone who delights in the absurd in politics , I should celebrate Trump : an orange buffoon who flies to Scotland in the middle of the Brexit crisis and boasts about his golf resort , who brags about his penis size in a televised debate contact.discussion.na , lies about his charitable giving , fights with the pope , talks at a third - grade level , bastardizes Yiddish and bungles New Testament verses alike , calls 9/11 7-Eleven and believes global warming is a hoax invented by the Chinese . The preposterous Trump is , from this perspective , an embarrassment of riches . But I see him as just an embarrassment .

Most viewers either agree with him or with her . And a small minority watched it and thought , " How the hell did things come to this ? " The debate contact.negotiate.meet will likely harden impressions , not soften hearts . The impression is that Trump has matured into an effective champion of the working class . But Clinton looks like a president - in - waiting .

She also brought Mark Cuban , the billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner who has sparred with Trump this year after initially warming to his campaign in 2015 . Cuban said before Monday 's debate that he would n't apologize for airing multiple seasons of a pornographic ' Girls Gone Wild ' reality show on his cable TV network , despite his status as a high - profile backer of the feminist and ground - breaking Clinton . A live audience of about 1,000 people gathered to watch the first Clinton - Trump debate contact.discussion.meet , with a television audience predicted to reach as high as 100 million Americans . Meanwhile , police on Long Island said about 2,000 protesters gathered outside the debate hall - and were confined to an area several blocks long . Some of the diverse groups protesting Monday night 's showdown at Hofstra University included Hardhats for Hillary , socialists and activists calling for a living wage , and Green Party supporters .

This sort of behavior is not an appearance of a conflict of interest but the definition of one . Trump appears to be genuinely unaware , even at the conceptual level , that his business interests might complicate his ability to govern in the public interest . During the primary , when a debate contact.negotiate.meet moderator asked if he would put his holdings in a blind trust , Trump comically replied that he would , while defining a “ blind trust ” to mean his children would run his business for him , which is the opposite of a blind trust . Even if Trump wanted to distance himself from his business interests , the nature of his holdings would make it virtually impossible , as The Wall Street Journal explains today . A traditionally rich person could place their wealth in third - party hands without knowing what they were invested in ; Trump ’s business is his personal brand , making divestment impossible .

And , as was the case in other Fox - sponsored debates in the primary season , Wallace 's questions were just top - notch . On immigration , on the women alleging that Trump groped them , on the Clinton Foundation , Wallace asked blunt questions that demanded straight answers . * Vladimir Putin : The Russian leader had to be thrilled about the amount of airtime he and his country received in the debate contact.negotiate.meet . And Trump , while insisting that he and the Russian president are not , in fact , friends , repeatedly said that he knew for a fact that Putin had no respect for Clinton . Any airtime for Putin in a debate with tens of millions of Americans watching probably make him very , very happy .

He had to build and this does n't help building . ” Tyler put it bluntly : “ He needs more women supporters , and reminding people he called someone Miss Piggy or Miss Housekeeper is not helpful . ” Desperate to put any sort of positive gloss on a disappointing debate performance , Trump ’s campaign claimed to have seen an $ 18 million windfall in small - dollar online donations in the 24 hours after the debate contact.negotiate.meet . However , it ’s not yet clear if that money is all from online contributions or how much of it will be available to Trump , as POLITICO reported Thursday . Clinton ’s campaign , meanwhile , is starting to put the pedal down . Even before the candidate mentioned Machado , her communications and rapid response operations had laid the groundwork .

I built an unbelievable company , ' he said . Former U.S. President Bill Clinton ( center ) talks with his daughter Chelsea Clinton prior the first presidential debate From left , Melania Trump , Ivanka Trump , Mike Pence , Karen Pence , retired Gen. Michael Flynn , and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani watch the debate contact.discussion.meet Former U.S. President Bill Clinton greets Melania Trump ahead of the start of the first debate on Monday night ' On occasion , four times we used certain laws that are there , ' Trump said of bankruptcy filings .

She has many paths to 270 electoral votes , Trump at the moment has none . All the usual caveats apply . There is a final debate contact.discussion.meet in nine days in Las Vegas . More damaging information could come out about Clinton . External events could shift the landscape in the GOP nominee 's favor .

Trump tweeted on Sunday , a sentiment he also expressed in posts and during rallies in Maine and New Hampshire on Saturday . The comments raised questions both from Republicans and Democrats about whether he would accept the outcome should he lose to Clinton . Trump said after the first presidential debate contact.negotiate.correspondence in September that he would " absolutely " accept the election outcome . But a few days afterward , he told the New York Times : " We 're going to see what happens . " He has also urged his supporters to keep an eye on voting locations to prevent a " stolen " election , which some critics interpreted as encouraging them to intimidate voters .

( , 3/11/16 ) Millennials Like Socialism — Until They Get Jobs ( Washington Post , 3/24/16 ) ( 3/24/16 ) New York ’s Doped - Up Beatniks , Hippies and Freaks Love Bernie Sanders ( Daily Beast , 4/14/16 ) Sanders was again grilled in the Disney / Univision debate contact.negotiate.meet in March by the unapologetically anti - communist panel : MARIA ELENA SALINAS : In 1985 , you praised the Sandinista government and you said that Daniel Ortega was an impressive guy . This is what you said about Fidel Castro .

In the first Clinton - Trump debate , Trump disputed moderator Lester Holt ’s comment that stop and frisk was ruled unconstitutional in New York . But he was wrong , resorting to word games to cover up the fact that while stop and frisk as a tactic is constitutional , the way the tactic was applied in New York City has been found unconstitutional . Also during the first debate contact.negotiate.na , Trump tried to shrug off a racial discrimination lawsuit filed against his company in 1973 by arguing it was a federal lawsuit filed against “ many , many other companies . ” This is false . The Justice Department under then - President Richard Nixon though the case against Trump was one of the strongest ever for violations of the Fair Housing Act . Trump and his father eventually settled the suit – but they were back in court three years later , as the Justice Department in 1978 alleged that they had reneged on the agreement to allow minorities to rent properties .

“ 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 debate contact.discussion.correspondence ObamaCare 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 .

MORE scores 6 percent in the poll , while Green Party nominee Jill Stein takes 3 percent support . ADVERTISEMENT In the same poll from mid - September — conducted before the first presidential debate — Clinton held only a 1-point lead . The candidates entered that debate contact.discussion.meet , which was viewed by 80 million people , essentially locked in a tie . Since then , self - described independents have abandoned Trump in favor of Clinton . In the Quinnipiac survey from September , Trump led 42 to 35 among unaffiliated voters , while Johnson took 15 percent support . Clinton now leads 46 to 32 among independents — a 21-point swing — while Johnson ’s support among the voting bloc has fallen to 10 percent . The Libertarian had been cutting into Clinton ’s support , particularly among young voters and left - leaning independents . The trend alarmed Democrats , who feared a replay of the 2000 election , when Green Party nominee Ralph Nader was blamed for spoiling the election for

Historically , there have been rare occasions of public protest against unbridled arms trafficking , as with the backlash against “ the merchants of death ” after World War I , or the controversy over who armed Saddam Hussein that followed the 1991 Persian Gulf War . Even now , small numbers of congressional representatives , including John Conyers , Chris Murphy , and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul , continue to try to halt the sale of cluster munitions , bombs , and missiles to Saudi Arabia . There is , however , unlikely to be a genuine public debate contact.negotiate.meet about the value of the arms business and Washington ’s place in it if it is n’t even considered a subject worthy of more than an occasional media story . In the meantime , the United States continues to hold onto its No . 1 role in the global arms trade , the White House does its part , the Pentagon greases the wheels , and the dollars roll in to profit - hungry weapons contractors .

Copy may not be in its final form . AMY GOODMAN : In one of the most anticipated debates in U.S. history , Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton sparred last night on race , terrorism , trade and jobs , in their first of three debates before the November election . Today we ’re airing excerpts from the debate and expanding the debate contact.discussion.na by giving Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein a chance to respond to the same questions posed to the major - party candidates . Stein and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson were excluded from last night ’s debate at Hofstra University under stringent rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates , which is controlled by the Democratic and Republican parties . On Monday afternoon , Jill Stein was escorted off the campus by Hofstra security and Nassau County police as she attempted to do an interview with MSNBC .

[ break ] AMY GOODMAN : " Wake Up Everybody " by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes , here on Democracy Now ! , democracynow.org , The War and Peace Report , as we return to our " Expanding the Debate " special . We break the sound barrier by bringing you the first debate , the presidential debate contact.discussion.meet held at Hofstra University , between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump , stop the tape after they have each of their two minutes , and expand it with the major third - party candidates . We are here with Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein . We invited the Libertarian presidential candidate , Gary Johnson , but Jill Stein accepted , and she is responding to the same questions posed to the major - party candidates .

In nine debates , Sanders has been asked questions about his socialism a total of ten times ( roughly the amount of questions asked about Russia ) . In the very first debate , CNN ’s Anderson Cooper , after bringing up Sanders “ honeymooning in the Soviet Union ” and support for the Sandinistas , pushed Sanders to pledge his loyalty to capitalism with three consecutive follow - up questions . Keep in mind these were the first four questions in the very first debate contact.negotiate.meet — the first impression millions of Americans had of the largely unknown senator : COOPER : Senator Sanders . A Gallup poll says half the country would not put a socialist in the White House .

He interrupted Clinton repeatedly during the debate , at times leaning into his microphone to declare " wrong ! " as she was talking . And he perplexingly stood by his criticism of Machado the morning after the debate contact.negotiate.meet , saying in an interview on Fox News Channel that Machado was one of the " worst we ever had " in the beauty contest he used to own . " She gained a massive amount of weight , " Trump said . " It was a real problem .