WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. presidential race (all times EDT):

8:04 p.m.

Paula Jones says she's in St. Louis to support Donald Trump.

She was the first of four women to speak at an unusual pre-debate meeting with Trump in St. Louis as the Republican presidential nominee tried to shine a spotlight on the sexual transgressions of Hillary Clinton's husband.

Jones offered a message about Trump: "They should all look at the fact that he is a good person. He is not what other people are saying he's being."

In 1998, Bill Clinton agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Jones. She was an Arkansas state worker who accused Bill Clinton of exposing himself and making indecent proposition when Clinton was governor.

The settlement included no apology or admission of guilt.

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7:57 p.m.

Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is offering his prayers to Israel in the face of "yet another act of terror in Jerusalem."

Pence's Twitter message was posted just moments after his running mate, Donald Trump, concluded a pre-debate display of women accusing former president Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances .

Although they share a ticket, the two have jarringly different political styles.

Pence has not made any public appearances since a 2005 tape of Trump making crude sexual remarks engulfed the presidential race on Friday. He released a statement

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7:40 p.m.

Before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump has appeared at an event with women who accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted sexual advances.

The Republican nominee did not take questions as he appeared with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey.

Jones is a former Arkansas state worker who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Bill Clinton in 1994 for allegedly exposing himself to her in a Little Rock hotel room.

She says of Trump, "He's going to make America great again."

Also at the event was Kathy Shelton, who was sexually assaulted as a 12-year-old. Hillary Clinton represented the suspect as a public defender

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7:29 p.m.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is calling on Donald Trump to step down as the party's presidential nominee for his newly released remarks about his aggressive treatment of women.

The Republican issued a statement Sunday calling on Trump to remove himself and clear the way for Trump running mate Mike Pence to face Democrat Hillary Clinton next month.

He says the character of the nation's leaders does matter, adding, "the decisions that are made in the Oval Office have too many consequences to ignore the behavior we have seen" from Trump. Haslam never endorsed Trump.

Trump has said he has no plans to quit. Haslam said if that's the case, he plans to vote for a write-in candidate for president from the Republican Party.

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4:40 p.m.

President Barack Obama is suggesting that Donald Trump insults people because he's "insecure."

Without saying Trump's name, he said there's a reason why the Republican presidential candidate has denigrated veterans, people with disabilities, Mexicans and others during the 2016 campaign.

Obama said: "It tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down."

Obama was addressing supporters Sunday at a fund raiser in Chicago.

He said "the unbelievable rhetoric" from Trump has been "disturbing."

"I don't need to repeat it — there are children in the room," he said to laughter.

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12:40 p.m.

Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she favors Donald Trump dropping out of the presidential race.

The New Hampshire senator dropped her support for Trump on Saturday. She said she will write in Mike Pence, but initially stopped short of calling for Trump to step aside.

But when she was asked by a reporter Sunday if Trump stood step down, she said "I would support that."

Ayotte said recently released recordings of Trump making vulgar remarks about women are "fundamentally different" than his past comments. She said Trump is advocating assault, and that she wants her young daughter to know that she does not support the comments.

She says speaking out for her daughter's sake is "more important to me than winning any election." Ayotte is in a close race for re-election.

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11:30 a.m.

Democrats are discounting the idea that Republican leaders will encourage Donald Trump to step aside as their presidential nominee and urge voters to rally behind Trump's running mate, Mike Pence.

Donna Brazile — interim head of the Democratic National Committee — notes that some states have begun early voting and mailed absentee ballots with Trump's name on it. Brazile says attempts to change the ballots would be "very confusing" to voters.

She's suggesting on ABC's "This Week" that Democratic Party lawyers probably would fight any efforts by states to change the names on the ballot — if it came to that.

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11:25 a.m.

The chairman of the House Ethics Committee says there's still time for Republicans to rally behind an alternative to Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.

GOP Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania says he hopes House Speaker Paul Ryan and party chairman Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) will withdraw their endorsements of Trump.

Here's what Dent tells ABC's "This Week": "As a party leader, I think at times you have to stand up and do some pretty difficult things and this may be one of them right now."

Dent floated a few names, including Robert Gates, defense secretary under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; Condoleezza (kahn-duh-LEE'-zuh) Rice, secretary of state under Bush; Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sihk), who sought the GOP presidential nomination; or Mitch Daniel, a former Indiana governor.

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11:15 a.m.

Donald Trump is lashing out at the growing list of Republicans abandoning his candidacy, predicting that they're the ones who will lose.

Trump on Sunday tweeted: "So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down!"

Trump has also been re-tweeting a series of messages from supporters, including one that lashes out at "GOP traitors!" and says not supporting is voting for "destroying America."

Another says "'Republican leadership' should have only one job: Help elect the nominee we voted for, Donald J. Trump."

Trump has faced a mass exodus of support in the wake of the release of crude video footage in which he brags about making unwanted sexual advances on women.

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10:30 a.m.

Donald Trump backer Rudy Giuliani says Trump is embarrassed by the airing of a tape in which the Republican presidential nominee makes vulgar and predatory remarks about women.

But — in Giuliani's words — "it seems to me, we should move on."

The former New York City mayor tells ABC's "This Week" that Trump is "very, very embarrassed and contrite about it."

When asked whether Trump's comments described sexual assault, Giuliani said "that's what he's talking about." But Giuliani isn't sure whether Trump was exaggerating, as "some men" do.

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10:10 a.m.

A GOP senator says Republicans can't win the White House with Donald Trump as their presidential nominee — and having him at the top of the ticket could drag down other Republicans.

Utah's Mike Lee says Trump and his backers can cement a lasting legacy if he were to step aside, allowing Republicans to find a candidate who can bring together all elements within the party and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Lee tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we've got candidates who can do it. There's still time to do it, but we have to actually do it."

Lee is among a growing number of Republicans who've called for Trump to step aside following the release of a recording in which Trump makes crude comments about women.

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9:35 a.m.

Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine says a recording that captured crude language from Donald Trump reveals "a pattern of sexual assault" by the Republican presidential nominee.

Kaine tells CNN's "State of the Union" that it's "much more than words."

Kaine notes that Trump has previously made disparaging remarks about women.

Kaine says: "There's kind of a piece of the jigsaw puzzle missing in Donald Trump where he does not look at women and consider them as equal to himself."

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9:25 a.m.

Donald Trump is thanking Republicans who are standing by him.

Trump sent a tweet Sunday after a growing list of elected Republican officials have called on him to abandon his presidential campaign. That followed the release of a recording of Trump making vulgar comments about women.

Trump tweeted on Sunday morning: "Tremendous support (except for some Republican "leadership"). Thank you."

In a posting Saturday evening, Trump praised supporters who turned up at a party unity rally in Wisconsin — an event that Trump was disinvited to by House Speaker Paul Ryan. The rally was in Ryan's congressional district.

At the event, Ryan was booed and heckled by Trump supporters, who shouted "Shame on you!" and "You turned your backs on us!"

Ryan hasn't withdrawn his endorsement.

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9:15 a.m.

Donald Trump's campaign says the Republican presidential nominee may describe Bill Clinton's sexual history in criminal terms at Sunday's debate.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says Trump won't hesitate to talk about "the women that Bill Clinton raped, sexually abused and attacked."

Trump on Saturday retweeted a pair of postings by Juanita Broaddrick. Her accusations that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 were never tested in criminal court. Bill Clinton has long denied the accusations.

Giuliani says Trump will cast Hillary Clinton's "as the attacker" of women when she claims to be their champion.

The strategy comes as Trump reels from the release of his recorded description of his sexual aggression toward women. Giuliani says "both sides have sinned. So how about we put that behind us?"

He spoke Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

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2:15 a.m.

Donald Trump is limping toward the critical presidential debate against Hillary Clinton without the backing of a growing group of Republican leaders.

Trump insists he'll "never" abandon his White House bid despite calls for him to step aside after his vulgar descriptions of sexual advances on women were revealed.

Trump's task in Sunday's faceoff is enormous.

Even before the recording of his remarks were made public, the businessman was lagging behind Clinton after an undisciplined first debate. And he was struggling to overcome deep skepticism among women about his temperament and qualifications to be commander in chief.

Trump has hinted he may turn the debate into a referendum on Clinton's marriage — namely her husband's extramarital affairs and her treatment of the women who were involved.