Clinton, Trump face more crucial tests Sunday in second debate

Much is at stake. Trump must look to rebound from a generally shaky performance last month in the first debate while Clinton will seek to pad her lead in the polls by avoiding mistakes that could slow her momentum. The showdown comes just two days after a Washington Post story detailed how, in 2005, Trump was recorded making extremely graphic comments about women, including his failed attempts to have sex with a married woman.

Here is how to watch and what to expect Sunday night:

Time and TV: The debate begins at 9 p.m. EDT and will be carried live on every major network and cable news outlet as well as streamed live on numerous websites.

Familiar territory: The debate will be held at Washington University in St. Louis. It will be the third presidential debate held there since 1992. A fourth debate planned for the school in 1996 was canceled. The university also hosted a 2008 vice presidential debate.

Format: This encounter will be a town hall-style debate, moderated by ABC's Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper of CNN. The audience will be made up of undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization, and half the questions will come from them. The moderators will choose the rest, although CNN and ABC have agreed to consider the top 30 questions submitted to the website presidentialopenquestions.com.

Format foibles: Town halls offer opportunity and danger. A 2015 study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania found that the first presidential debate in 2012 had a larger audience, but the second one, a town hall-style debate, "had a higher rating and held viewers' attention longer." That can be good and bad.

President George H.W. Bush was famously caught checking his watch during a 1992 town hall while an audience member asked him how the national debt affected him personally. It made him look dismissive. His Democratic challenger, then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, took advantage. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore bizarrely approached George W. Bush while the Texas governor was answering a question from the audience. Bush gave him a quizzical look, nodded and ignored Gore, who remained awkwardly standing beside him.

What are they saying? Before the Post's story about the 2005 video,both campaigns sought to claim the town hall format as an advantage.

Clinton has largely stayed off the campaign trail in advance of the debate, choosing to practice and prepare as she did for the first debate with Trump.

“She is very used to the format,” Clinton campaign Chairman John Podesta told CNN. “She likes it. She likes answering questions from individual citizens. She listens hard, she relates to people. And so we will see. I think it is a natural format for her.”

Trump campaigned in Nevada and New Hampshire in the days before the debate. He staged a town hall event Thursday in New Hampshire, where a handpicked audience asked pre-screened questions. But Trump insisted it was not “practice” for Sunday.

Trump’s team, meanwhile, said the candidate was “preparing constantly.”

“Mr. Trump will be ready,” communications director Jason Miller told CNN.

Once the Post’s story about Trump’s 2005 comments broke, however, the question of who stood to benefit from Sunday’s debate was overshadowed. Speaking Friday on CNN, ex-Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski tried to downplay his former boss’ comments.

“Clearly this is not how women should be spoken about, but we’re not choosing a Sunday school teacher here,” he said, adding that the comments were “indefensible” but might not change votes.

Clinton’s response to the video were more succinct.

“This is horrific,” she tweeted. “We cannot allow this man to become president.”