ST. LOUIS -- If there was ever any doubt about Donald Trump's strategy for tonight's second presidential debate, the video below should remove any question.
Trump invited his traveling press pool to a room at the Four Seasons here where he sat at a table surrounded by four women: Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathy Shelton and Kathleen Willey. Each woman took turns blasting Bill and Hillary Clinton.
"Mr. Trump may have said some bad words," Broaddrick said. "But Bill Clinton raped me. And Hillary Clinton threatened me. I don’t think there’s any comparison."
Broaddrick's claim is not new. In fact, it's decades old and is one that she previously recanted, according to this explainer from NPR. But, it is stunning to see it broadcast live as the accuser sits next to the Republican nominee for president.
It's just the latest chapter in the increasingly surreal tale of the election. Moderators tonight will waste little time before raising the subject of that 2005 video of Trump that has roiled the campaign for the White House.
CNN is reporting that the "first set of questions at Sunday night's presidential debate will be about Donald Trump's vulgar comments on a newly published 2005 videotape, and the fallout from it."
The CNN story does not reveal where the information came from the network's Anderson Cooper, along with ABC's Martha Raddatz, is moderating tonight's town hall-style forum.
By virtue of a coin toss, Clinton will answer the first question first.
The forum here at Washington University will feature 40 audience members chosen by the Gallup Organization. Each is supposed to be an undecided voter from the St. Louis area. Half the questions will come from the audience, each of whom submitted a question Sunday morning, and the remainder from the moderators, who will also ask follow-ups.
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