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Will Trump Invoke Bill Clinton's Affairs At Debate?; Doris Kearns Goodwin's One-On-One Talk with President Obama; Interview with Dr. Jill Stein; Debate Moments That Changed Momentum; President Carter Builds Legacy Through Charity. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 25, 2016 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[17:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everyone. Top of the hour. I'm Poppy Harlow, live from the campus of Hofstra University, ahead of what could be the most watched presidential debate in history. One hundred million people expected to tune in by some estimates and you can watch it all right here, Monday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern.

We'll take a look right now inside the debate hall, there's the debate stage at Hofstra, a stage that will be shared by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as they square off for the first time tomorrow night.

But the talk right now is not just about what happens on that stage, but frankly, about who will be sitting in the front row. The Trump campaign now saying Trump nor his campaign formally invited Gennifer Flowers to the debate and they don't expect her to be there as a guest of the camp.

Flowers is the former Arkansas State employee whose revelations of a long-standing affair with then Governor Bill Clinton nearly derailed his '92 presidential campaign. Years later, Clinton admitted, under oath, to having a sexual relationship with her.

Well, as for the debate, Flowers told the "New York Times," "Yes, I will be there." Trump's campaign manager said today she won't be a guest of the campaign. This all follows, well, a VIP invited by the Clinton camp. Billionaire Mark Cuban, who has called Trump, "An immediate and present danger to the security of this country." He insists he'll be sitting in the front row tomorrow night. We would hear from Mark Cuban a little later on.

But first, let's set all these distractions aside and let's focus on the debate, what will be said, what won't be said, what will be asked. The candidates are nearly even in the polls.

Hanging in this debate, a brand new CNN poll of polls shows Clinton with only a slight edge nationally. She is at 43 percent; Trump has 40 percent, both candidates also squeezing in meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.

We have complete coverage on how the candidates are preparing for the debate in this final, final frenzied hours. CNN's Senior Washington Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is live near Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York. Let's begin though with political reporter Sara Murray. She is outside of Trump Tower. And Sara, just hours ago or about 24 hours out, we saw the whole back and forth between the camps over Gennifer Flowers and the tweets.

I think the bigger question in this race of course is will Donald Trump at all bring up Bill Clinton's affairs at the debate, and frankly, if Bill -- how Clinton will respond. What are you hearing on that from the Trump camp?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: While I'm talking, you've seen Donald Trump's 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 didn't invite Gennifer Flowers. We are not expecting this to be an area that we bring up and are discussing, but she didn't totally rule it out. Take a listen to what she told Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Mr. Trump will answer the questions as they are asked by Lester Holt, the moderator, and he has a right to defend himself against anything that Mrs. Clinton -- Secretary Clinton may say in response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: And Poppy, I think this gives you a little bit of a clue into their strategy. They, of course, want Donald Trump to come on stage and appear presidential.

They want to knock back some of these issues voters have with his temperament. But I do think when you see some of his harshest (ph) and sharp hits against Clinton, the campaign is essentially going to explain those, going to fuse (ph) those by saying, this is Donald Trump counterpunching, and that's why they're not effectively ruling out anything coming up on this debate stage.

They don't know how hard Hillary Clinton is going to come at him and what she is going to come at Donald Trump with. And Donald Trump, we know when he is attacked, he hits back, he hits back hard. It's going to be a challenge for him to try to keep it reined in enough so he doesn't upset voters who are already worried about the temperament side of things. Poppy?

HARLOW: Yeah. And there's a gender (inaudible) the first time a general presidential debate you got a man and a woman, and you have to consider that. But as you heard Kellyanne Conway said, he'll defend himself if necessary.

Sara, thank you very much. An exciting night ahead for sure on Monday.

Let's go to Jeff. We know that she was up late, right? We know she was up at least until almost midnight preparing for the debate 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 husband's infidelity? What does she say?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: 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 this campaign, still undecided, they are women voters, college educated and non-college educated, moderate republicans.

And the Clinton campaign believes any mention of Gennifer Flowers or any of the other personal side of this 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, so that is not something that she has not become practiced over the years. But I'm not so sure that Clinton campaign isn't trying to draw the Trump campaign into a trap here.

[17:05:00] In fact, they started on Friday by saying Mark Cuban, the billionaire who has been trawling Donald Trump for weeks, would have that seat in the front row.

So Donald Trump, again, off script -- teleprompter, responded on Twitter last night, you know, perhaps Gennifer Flowers would be alongside him.

Well, this morning, the Clinton campaign reacted - you know saying this is a serious presidential campaign, not the kind allowed for Gennifer Flowers. Listen to what campaign manager Robby Mook told Jake Tapper this morning on "State of the Union."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBBY MOOK, CLINTON CAMPAIGN MANAGER: 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. And so I think it's a warning sign before the debate has even started ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: OK. So the reality here is, Poppy, this is not going to be decided upon who is sitting in the front row. It's going to be the individual moments between Trump and Clinton that they're spending all their time preparing for.

Secretary Clinton just left her hotel not far from here after spending hours working and preparing. She'll be going into the city right now for that meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu and she may be practicing yet again tonight, Poppy. Think of it as a college exam, kind of cramming here tonight before the big test. Poppy?

HARLOW: No question, the last-minute cramming for what is much bigger than any test ever in their careers. Sara Murray and Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.

With me here at Hofstra, on an absolutely beautiful day, by the way here, is CNN'S Political Analyst and Senior Editor for "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein. Also with us, our CNN Political Commentator, Trump supporter, Kayleigh McEnany, and Clinton supporter Hilary Rosen. Thank you, guys, for being here.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.

HARLOW: A lovely day. We're getting so excited, 24 hours out.

Ron, I think looking back in history - let's look back to 2000 New York senate debate, Rick Lazio versus Hillary Clinton, and the moderator asked a question about the former president's infidelity. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Obviously, I didn't mislead anyone. I didn't know the truth, and there's 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: 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 Clinton's treatment of these women that have come forward. How does she best handle it? Is it an answer like that?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. I think most people's inclination is not going to be to hold her accountable for her husband's mistakes. And I think if Donald Trump does bring it up, I would be very surprised because if you talk to people in both parties, and you're talking about two candidates here who go into this debate with historically high negative ratings.

Deep questions on Donald Trump's cases about his qualifications and temperament and honestly, also in Hillary Clinton's primarily about her honesty. Their principal task in this debate, I believe, I think even both parties believe, it is not so much to add more dense to the other candidate, it's to resolve some of the doubts that voters have about them. And if Donald Trump kind of goes down this lane, it's hard to see how it helps him resolve his biggest single problem in this race, which is 60 percent of the country at the moment still doesn't think he's qualified or fundamentally presidential.

HARLOW: So, tone is certainly (ph) one thing and temperament and we could see a reversal in terms of sort of what is presented on stage but I'm really interested, Kayleigh, as a Trump supporter, do you think we might see a total shock from him and see some contrition comes on and he says I'm sorry for, say, the birtherism issue over the last five years.

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think we might see some contrition. You know, I think one of the best moments Donald Trump had had was when Kellyanne Conway came on to the campaign, and the first speech we saw from him was this moment where he said, any time I've hurt someone, I regret that and I take it back.

That humility was very well received by the media, very well received by voters, and it's really kind of the start of his comeback against Hillary Clinton.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: ... I guess what I'm asking, Hilary Rosen, is laughing over this. She doesn't think it's going to happen.

HILARY ROSEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well I don't think it's going to happen but I don't think it happened that day. It was more than he'd ever said, but it was so non-specific as to be sort of useless, I think.

Look, I don't expect contrition from him, but I do expect discipline from him. And I think that we have to -- our standards have to be a little higher than just, you know, oh, maybe I've said some bad things in the past and not veering radically off script again tomorrow night.

HALOW: You're Hillary Clinton supporter obviously, Hilary. If you were advising her, if you were in this final 24 hours of cram time with her, how would you advise her to react to Donald Trump in terms of showmanship, unpredictability? Because, frankly, I mean, she said to a group of fundraisers a few weeks ago, I don't know what Donald Trump is going to show up. Kayleigh states that she was (inaudible), she told me last night there is one Donald trump, but frankly, she is preparing for sort of two debates here, two scenarios.

[17:10:00] ROSEN: She is. And I've had that conversation with her, too, where she - and that's why she is not going to be led tomorrow night by Donald Trump. And I think that we can be sure that she will be ready to put forward what she thinks matters in this country.

She is going to call him out on some things that she believes he has been terribly vague on, like his Middle East policy, and she's 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. So, she is going to use contrast on the issues. I think she is going to ...

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those are ...

ROSEN: She is going to hit him. She is definitely going to hit him but she is going to hit him through the issues.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not the first ...

BROWNSTEIN: The tendency is (ph) Hillary talking about the issues there because to a remarkable extent, each of these candidates have made the same calculation. They are much more trying to disqualify the other on personal grounds than through an issue state. If you're going to think about every dollar that the priority that USA (inaudible), they had spent almost no money criticizing any of the Donald Trump agenda items.

It is raising doubts about him, whether he is personally qualified and represents the values that you want in a president, and the risk of that is that he is more acceptable to voters than they've been led to believe tomorrow, they have not laid down a big issue argument against him.

And the same thing is true, by the way, in reverse to Trump who is basically, in his entire case, he got Clinton is crooked Hillary, you can't trust her. He has not really done much for the country, the case that her agenda is faulty.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I want everyone to listen to what -- when it comes to Tuesday morning and who is a winner, who is thought to be the winner on Tuesday morning, I want us all to take a listen to what Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, said this morning to Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOOK: I am very concerned that Donald Trump will be graded on a curve. Just because he doesn't fly off the handle in the middle of this debate, does not mean that he is prepared to be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So, Kayleigh, weigh in on that. I mean, clearly, the Clinton camp fears there is a curve here. The bar is higher for her on policy issues and clearly they are indicating that if he acts much more presidential in a subdued tone, then that will get all the headlines and he will be declared the winner despite if he doesn't have as many specifics as she does on policy.

MCENANY: Now, the Clinton campaign is clearly very nervous, and I think they should be, because one thing Donald Trump does expertly is, relate to voters. You look at the latest ABC poll, voters better trust him to take care of the middle class than Hillary Clinton.

You also see him on the same poll, 47 percent expect Hillary Clinton to beat Donald Trump, 33 percent state that (inaudible).

So, I think there is this expectation for Hillary Clinton. Yes, because she has been debating since high school, but I think they are very nervous because Donald Trump can connect to the average voter in a way that I don't think Hillary Clinton can.

HARLOW: Are they right that the bar is higher for her, and then if he acts differently than many expect, then he gets the headlines and he's declared the winner? BROWNSTEIN: They have set the bar to some extent. By the way, they have portrayed Donald Trump and the way Trump has portrayed himself in this campaign. So, yes, I do think the bar is different but the challenge for Trump is going to present mastery of issues and temperament - of his mastery of himself as much as the issues over 90 minutes. Because that is the principle case they have made against him, that is a principal barrier particularly with the college educated white voters who has barrier between where he is real.

HARLOW: Ninety minutes, no commercial breaks. No point to collect your thoughts. Thank you, all. Appreciate it very much. Ron Brownstein, Kayleigh McEnany, and Hilary Rosen.

Coming up, it is billed as the ultimate exit interview with President Obama, and the person asking the questions is my next guest, coming up, legendary presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, talks one- on-one talk about her conversation with the President in the Oval Office. Their candid conversation about his legacy and how this election could change so much of it and his biggest regret, next.

[17:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: One woman knows more about presidential history and politics than, well, just about anyone else on the planet, and I'm lucky enough to have her as my next guest.

She spent decades studying political geniuses as well as political downfalls. She is presidential historian and Pulitzer prize-winning author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, a woman who, "New York" magazine has dubbed America's historian-in-chief.

I can not think of a better voice 24 hours out from the biggest political moment for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, so thank you for being with me.

DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING HISTORIAN: Oh, delighted to be here.

HARLOW: You know, Doris, so much of this election is about one candidate upholding President Obama's legacy and the other one seeking popular support but, frankly, repudiate it.

And you recently sat with the President for an in-depth interview at the White House. It's all in this issue of "Vanity Fair." And you asked him about his ambitions. And he described it like this, "They end up being rooted in a particular worldview; a recognition that the world only makes sense to me given my life and my background if, in fact, we're not just an assortment of tribes that can never understand each other, but that we're, 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?

GOODWIN: I don't know. You know, I mean, I think he's 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 I've had the genius of a Lincoln, suppose I've had the genius of a Churchill or the charm of an FDR or the legislative acumen of LBJ, would I have come up with other solutions that we couldn't think of, which is a really interesting thing to think about.

But I think he's ready. I think he's ready, he thinks of it as a relay race. He gives a start to the next president, the people before him gave a start to him. And the most interesting that he said to me, one point I said to him, you know, Lincoln used to right these hot letters when he got mad at people and then he would put them aside and hope he would cool down psychologically and never send them. I said, have you ever thought about that? He said, thought of it all the time. I write up these rants and then I crumple them up.

That's something maybe Mr. Trump could learn from. Just write it and don't say it.

HARLOW: You are writing a book now, yet another book, this one on leadership. And given that, you know, the lens of history as opposed to sort of 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 this election?

[17:20:00] GOODWIN: Oh, I don't think we've seen the President as actively involved in the election of his successor for a long time, as we have with President Obama, so it's obviously critically important to him.

It's not just for his legacy, but for the country that he hopes he's 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 he's allowed himself to become part of this because he sees it -- it's not just the way his legacy will be, but he sees the country, hopefully, will be going in a direction that he started it in or continued it in.

HARLOW: At the same time, regrets. I mean, every human -- you wouldn't be human if you didn't have regrets, even in the highest office in 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?

GOODWIN: That's certainly what he said. It haunts him to see those people who have been hurt and the people who have been killed, and to know that he wasn't sure that there was any answer to make that different.

And that's, again, what he meant when -- maybe there was some answer out there that we didn't think about, and every day, have to see those pictures and know that you have power and you want to use that power to make things good and you are unable to do it in this situation.

HARLOW: Your book about President Lincoln's "Team of Rivals" (inaudible) inspired President elect Obama years ago now, and take Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State, you know, that she said no the first time around and then he eventually got her to a yes. Do you think a president Clinton or a President Trump would be that bold, to pick a rival as their secretary of state or another key cabinet position?

GOODWIN: Well, I think what it takes to do that, it takes confidence in yourself so that you're going to be able to know that that person is going to argue with you, that person might even seem more famous than you at the moment.

Certainly that was true with Lincoln. He chose his three chief rivals, each one of whom is better known, that is celebrated, more educated than he. Some said, why are you doing this? He said, because he is in peril. These are the strongest people, I need them.

So you have got to depend, I think, on whether or not both Trump and Clinton have that internal self-confidence to say, it doesn't matter if this person is going to argue with me and question me. I'd like to hope so. I mean , we haven't seen that kind of idea of what the working team will be for Mr. Trump yet. I mean, that's one of the key questions for leadership, who will be surrounding him? And we don't know that from his campaign because people have come and gone and there hasn't been that steady voice, and there hasn't been a lot of people outside the family.

So, it's very important for him to begin, even maybe at the debate, to talk about what are the kinds of people who are going to surround him. We don't even know from his business whether those kind of people argued with him. But it's critical.

HARLOW: Let's talk about the debate. The big show. It's why we're here at Hofstra.

You've said, and you've said it earlier today -- they're very excited, by the way, behind us.

You said earlier today that when Hillary Clinton takes the stage, Doris, she has to address the e-mail scandal and talk about it in a way that makes clear to the public, I am human. I have made mistakes and I will make mistakes again if I am elected president, and to open up and show how it affects her emotionally. What would that look like? Can she do it?

GOODWIN: 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 mistakes? And there's been a pattern of defensiveness on her part and a series of issues and if she uses this episode, not just the e-mail episode but to say she knows what she's lost as a result of it, she lost the focus of the campaign, she lost her credibility, and it may not be as important as all the other things that she can give to the presidency, her experience and the respect and her knowledge and her competency, but she knows that people have that lack of trustworthiness in her now, and if she says next time something like this happens, I'm going to learn from this experience. I'm going to speak out more quickly about it. I'm going to acknowledge it. I'm going to be more forthright. I'm going to be less defensive. I'm going to try to.

That's all you can ask somebody to do is to learn from it. Lincoln said, I'd like to believe I'm honored today than I was yesterday by having learned from your mistakes.

HARLOW: I think we all hope that. Very quickly, 10 seconds, what's your headline Tuesday morning?

GOODWIN: Whoa! You know what? It is so unpredictable that my headline would be, "Question mark, I don't know what's gonna happen." After the story and I'll tell you after the facts, but not now predicting ahead.

HARLOW: All right fair enough. Fair enough. That's why 100 million people will be watching because who knows what's going to happen? Doris Kearns Goodwin, I'm absolutely delighted to have you on. Thank you so much.

GOODWIN: Thank you Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. Coming up, just over 24 hours from the debate, and some people are angry that my next guest will not be on the debate stage (ph) and others are angry she is in the race at all, Jill Stein, with me next, live here at Hofstra.

[17:25:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Fifteen percent, that is the magic poll number for a candidate to qualify for the three main presidential debates. The first one happens tomorrow night, right here on CNN, and it will be a two-way showdown, since only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have enough support to qualify.

The candidate whose name is at the bottom of the latest CNN poll of polls is green party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, who joins me now she has got a loud group of supporters behind her here.

DR. JILL STEIN, GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT: Yeah.

HARLOW: Thank you very much for being here.

STEIN: It's great to be with you.

HARLOW: We appreciate it. Latest CNN poll of polls did not have you at the 15 percent threshold. I know you take great issue with that and you want to be on the stage where (inaudible) an op-ed about it. (Inaudible) "Every candidate who could win a majority of the electoral college should be included."

Right now, looking across state polls ad national polls, you're not at a point. You're not a appoint where you could win a majority of the electoral college. Why do you deserve to be on stage? [17:30:00] STEIN: Well, let's remember that Donald Trump has had $4 billion - I'm sorry, four, yes $4 billion worth of free media, Hillary Clinton has had $2 billion worth of free primetime media, my campaign has had this like fairly spare change, hardly enough to count. So it's actually remarkable that we're doing as well as we are without having had any promotion or media.

So it reflects what you see behind me that there is a generation of young people. In locking me out of the poll, in locking me out of the debate, you're basically locking out the future of these young people.

If I'm not in the debate, there will be no one to advocate for them. We bailed out the bankers. It's time to bail out the students. We've got a climate crisis pressing down on our heads. We have expanding wars, nuclear arms race, which is hotter than it's been in decades.

So if I'm not in the debate, there will not be a real discussion on these issues and how to fix them.

HARLOW: Let me read (ph), and by the way, I should note, you are having your own debate, if you will. You're going to bring a in a group of supporters here, 5:30 tomorrow, before the debate begins on the main stage. You're going to live stream it on Periscope. What should we expect to see?

STEIN: I think we're going to see two different debates. There's going to be a rigged debate from a rigged political system, where most voters have rejected these candidates as the most disliked and untrusted presidential candidates in our history.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: How is it rigged, Dr. Stein, how is it rigged when these are the two candidates that, by far, got the most votes in the primary?

STEIN: How is it not rigged when they are the only ones who were covered? When it's only the candidates who had the big money parties behind them? I think Hillary Clinton's primary was rigged as well.

HARLOW: In what way?

STEIN: Bernie Sanders was winning a hands down, and had it not been for the collusion of the Democratic National Committee with Hillary's campaign and with some members of the ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Which do you think campaign ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: ... but I want to get through some ...

STEIN: Well, but the e-mails tell the truth, so it's hard to deny.

HARLOW: I want to get to more notes with you. A recent Quinnipiac poll just came out and it showed 62 percent of voters, young voters, aged 18 to 34, states they are considering voting for a third-party candidate, you see reflected right here. To those who point to you and say, look at those numbers. You are eating up the anti-Trump votes and you're taking away from Clinton, what do you say to those people?

STEIN: Clearly, politicians do not have a new form of entitlement. They don't own our votes. They have to earn our votes. These are the most disliked and untrusted candidates in our history. Even the majority of their own supporters don't actually support them. They just don't really, really like the other candidate. So most of Trump's supporters are motivated by disliking Hillary and vice versa.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: I spent last week in Ohio and I heard over and over again, sort of we're voting for the lesser of two evils. We're voting for the lesser evil. But those also told me they are voting for Donald Trump or for Hillary Clinton. I know you want some of the votes.

STEIN: What's wrong with this picture when people are voting against someone, why not give them another option? It's what the American voters are clamoring for. Seventy-six percent are saying they want to hear about their other choices in the debate ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: You said Dr. Stein in an NPR interview, I will feel horrible if Donald Trump is elected. I will feel horrible if Hillary Clinton is elected. What would make Jill Stein feel good the morning of November 9th?

STEIN: For us to advance our democracy. Because in this election we're not just looking at what kind of a world it's going to be but whether we're going to have a world in us going forward.

The clock is ticking on climate change. The clock is ticking on these expanding wars. Hillary Clinton wants to start an air war with Russia over Syria. That's where the no-fly zone is.

We want to have a war with another nuclear armed power with 2,000 missiles on hair trigger alert? We need to really have a debate about this.

HARLOW: That is not the way that Hillary Clinton would put it. I do wonder, though, because they're giving me the wrap here, will you stay in this game? Will we see you run again?

STEIN: Well, you know, not just run again, but continue to fight for jobs, for our climate, to end these catastrophic wars and to get students out of debt.

And I won't be hiding alone. And we're going to keep moving forward. I urge people to tune into the real debate that will be happening on social media, on Twitter and Facebook. Go to jill2016.org. and join us there.

HARLOW: You are not going to be on the stage but you are clearly -- you've come here ready to debate. I appreciate your time, Dr. Stein.

STEIN: Thank you very much.

HARLOW: Thank you very much.

STEIN: Good talking with you.

HARLOW: All right. Coming up, in every debate, there is that one moment, right, that changes a lot, if not everything. A look at the lesson that Trump and Clinton can learn from history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: It's not only what's your philosophy and what's your position on issues, but can you get things done? And I believe I can.

H. CLINTON: He is unqualified to be president ...

[17:35:00] TRUMP: Hillary Clinton lacks the good judgment ...

H. CLINTON: The fraud ...

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton has evaded justice.

H. CLINTON: He clearly has something to hide.

TRUMP: Her conduct is disqualified.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: If there is one thing that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump need to keep in mind before they hit the stage for this debate, and clearly, all these folks are very excited about, it is one moment. One moment could just change everything.

It can change the entire trajectory of a campaign. Here to talk about it, CNN'S Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. Thank you for being here.

BROWNSTEIN: Hi Poppy.

HARLOW: I love her (ph).

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, exactly. It's Why Hofstra gets multiple debates.

HARLOW: It's three. Leading history with the three debates. Looking back in history, let's take a walk down history lane to 1992. And Bill Clinton making the case to George H.W. Bush, who is not really in it, and disconnected from everyday Americans. And then there is the moment that he checked his watch for the time. Everyone remembers that.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah. Absolutely.

HARLOW: He didn't say a word.

BROWNSTEIN: Didn't say a word.

HARLOW: How much is it about body language? I mean, we know that Donald Trump is very emotive especially when it comes to his body language.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, it's hard to predict whether it is words or gestures, but I do think more often than not, the key moment to the debates are more about revealing your humanity, for good or ill, kind of a look underneath the personality, who you are more than it is a policy confrontation, but there are supple exceptions, are you better off than you are four years ago, in 1980?

HARLOW: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: But usually the most ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: You're right.

[17:40:00] BROWNSTEIN: ... considerable moments in the debate are when candidates reveal something about who they are in a way that voters haven't seen before.

And certainly, when George H.W. Bush checked his watch in that '92 debate, it really kind of underscored the Clinton narrative, that he was out of energy, out of ideas, out of time.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: ... right when Al Gore walked over to George W. Bush ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: ... the right. In 1984, Ronald Reagan versus Walter Mondale. Let's listen to that.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I mean, it was so great that even his opponent was laughing.

BROWNSTEIN: RIGHT.

HARLOW: How often has that happened?

BROWNSTEIN: A couple good (ph) points about that one. First, the most important moments of the debate are not always spontaneous.

HARLOW: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: They can be scripted, as was that, and are you better off than you were four years ago?

HARLOW: You can't let them sound scripted.

BROWNSTEIN: I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Second, the rating (ph) was interesting too because he had a bad first debate. That was his response to the second debate, like Barack Obama had a bad first debate and George H.W. Bush.

Presidents aren't not used to people challenging them in the way the get challenged in the debate, and they often have a trouble in the first one.

HARLOW: Do you think that Hillary Clinton can pull that off? Can Hillary Clinton pull -- if Donald Trump brings up her health and her stamina, for example, can she pull off a one liner like that?

BROWNSTEIN: She used to have a pretty good deadpan sense of humor "between two ferns."

HARLOW: Yeah.

BROWNSTEIN: But look ...

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: A hundred million people?

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: ... hundred million people ...

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I don't know. I have to - for that one. So I think that, you know -- but I do think that the history of the debate are these kind f moments that kind of revealing who you are in a way that goes beyond the policy argument. So often the most laughing (ph) - and I think they are both challenged on that.

HARLOW: So, in talks, revealing ...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HARLOW: ... the sigh heard around the world in 2000. Let's listen to that.\

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: There's differences. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HARLOW: You know there will be plenty of split screens ...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

HARLOW: ... tomorrow night.

BROWNSTEIN: You got to remember that, when you're on the stage, that you are always on the screen and on the stage.

And look, as I said, I mean, as we've talked about before, these are two candidates coming in with the highest unfavorables of any general election. Got lots of voters with lots of doubts about them.

They run the race against each other, more on their personal qualities than they have on their policy proposals.

What does Hillary Clinton think of Donald Trump's tax plan? What does Donald Trump think of Hillary Clinton's free college tuition? We don't really know. We haven't heard much about that. We've heard crooked Hillary and Donald Trump is kind of a misogynist racist who is not qualified.

So, I think for both of them, they are kind of laboring on their deep doubts about their personal qualities and that may even further magnify kind of the impact of these personal revelations that come often when you least expect it.

HARLOW: You heard Doris Kearns Goodwin, our presidential historian telling me that Hillary Clinton needs to show us some emotion ...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

HARLOW: ... and talk with the human side of it.

BROWNSTEIN: She needs to convince people that she is in for them, not for her own ambition.

Donald Trump needs to convince people that he's someone they can trust with nuclear weapons.

HARLOW: Ron, thank you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

HARLOW: I appreciate it very much. Twenty-four hours to go.

Coming up, the head of the commission on presidential debates has some advice for the moderators. We'll talk about it next, live from Hofstra.

[17:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: OK. You're on. You're on.

(CHEERING AND SCREAMING)

HARLOW: I can do this everyday. It's fun with a live audience. Welcome back. Just a little more than 24 hours from the main event, what could be and probably will be the most watched presidential debate ever in history, up to 100 million viewers expected.

No question the candidates will check one another on some of the biggest points. But what role does the moderator have in holding the candidate's feet to the fire?

Well ,today, a big surprise, head of the presidential debate commission coming up with our Brian Stelter saying when it comes to fact, it's not the moderator's job, it's the candidate's. Brian is with me now, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES". Great show this morning.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

HARLOW: A shady headline a bit (ph).

STELTER: Sorry.

HARLOW: Oh!

STELTER: Too comfortable out here.

HARLOW: We're having fun.

STELTER: It's also very sunny (ph).

HARLOW: Time for your sunglasses (ph).

STELTER: It is greatest and there's hundreds of students going to come out which is nice to see.

(CHEERING)

STELTER: You know, they have school off tomorrow. They don't have to go to class tomorrow because they are encouraged to come and hang out. Although they can't see the debate. I'll also watch from a T.V. like that (ph).

I was talking to the debate commission chair this morning, and the biggest controversy, the biggest question journalistically heading into Monday night is whether Lester Holt is going to step up and challenge Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton if they say and when they say false statements? Here's what the debate commission chair, Janet Brown, told me about that possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JANET BROWN, COMMISSION ON PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: I don't think it is a good idea to get the moderator into essentially serving as the Encyclopedia Britannica. And I think it's better for that person to facilitate and to depend on the candidates to basically correct each other as they see fit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: So she is saying essentially the same thing that Jim Lehrer, the former moderator said to me today, which is the moderator is there to keep the conversation moving, to keep it flowing; the candidates have to fact-check each other.

But Poppy, I think there's going to be situations where Lester Holt will have to step in, and he is prepared to do that.

In his debate prep, he is ready for those situations, and the Clinton campaign is making no bones about this. They want fact-checking of both candidates in real time.

HARLOW: This is also an unprecedented election.

STELTER: It is.

HARLOW: And to the point of truth versus lies, a number of publications came out this week, four, to be clear, "New York Times," "Washington Post,"L.A. Times" and "Politico"...

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: Yes.

HARLOW: ... and basically called Donald Trump a liar. Let me read some of the headlines. Donald Trump week of misrepresentations, exaggerations and half-truths, that's "Politico's" headline. From the "L.A. Times", scope of Trump's falsehoods unprecedented for a modern presidential candidate. And from the "New York Times," the week of whoppers from Donald Trump.

Brian. Context here for us, how unprecedented are headlines like this?

STELTER: We don't see this normally during presidential elections. The editors I've spoken with theses papers say this is necessary to call it out, to tell it like it is.

Yes, Hillary Clinton makes misstatements. "Politico", for example, counted eight in the past week. However, Donald Trump made more than 70 during that same period of time, according to "Politico."

HARLOW: Right.

STELTER: They're not two equal sides when it comes to fact-checking in this election. Donald Trump lies more. Hillary Clinton also makes misstatements, but you can't wait to make it evenly.

HARLOW: And so what can become as the moderators are - you know, does a moderator feel like they have to fact-check each twice, or do they do it just based on merit?

[17:50:00] STELTER: That's going to be the big question, the big challenge for Lester Holt. But he works for those people out there, right? Lester Holt works for the audience. He works for us, and that'll be his challenge tomorrow night.

HARLOW: We'll be analyzing it all and the ratings, we'll see if we hit 100 million. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

Coming up, more of our live coverage here from Hofstra University, 24 hours before the big showdown.

(CHEERING)

HARLOW: First though, another look back at a famous debate moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

H. CLINTON: He's very likeable. I agree with that. I don't think I'm that bad.

OBAMA: But you're likeable enough, Hillary, no doubt (ph).

H. CLINTON: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. Now that he is in his 90's and has beaten cancer, you'd think that former President Jimmy Carter would finally, maybe settle into retirement. Well, not when you can still impact the world. Here is our Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are still building homes for Habitat for Humanity, an annual tradition they started more than 30 years ago.

[17:55:00] JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They've built almost 5000 houses now. It's been one of the most gratifying and challenging and difficult things we've ever done, you know, physically speaking because I get older. I was a lot younger when I first started.

CUOMO: He was 56 and fresh out the White House when he first took up the hammer as a volunteer home builder.

CARTER: We hope it will go like this all over the world. We are now building home each day. If we'll keep working ...

I happen to be a Christian and it's a practical way to put my religious believes into practical use, and this is the best way I know to cross that very difficult chasm between rich people and people who never have had a decent place in which to live.

CUOMO: Habitat for Humanity shields 1400 groups in more than 70 countries. They raise awareness for the need for more affordable housing and bring volunteers together to build and renovate homes.

Through the Habitat organization, needing some volunteers to raise money or to serve food or to build a house in almost everywhere people live in the United States. Just the idea of volunteerism where you actually do some work side by side with people that need has been put on the forefront of people's consciousness through Habitat and that's a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Pretty great to see. Incredible work.

All right, coming up, the other billionaire who will be attending the debate here Monday night, Mark Cuban, stepping up his feud with Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CUBAN, BILLIONAIRE: We're not on an island just where everybody can say whatever they want. As a candidate, great. But he is yet to demonstrate that he can keep his mouth shut at the right time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)