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

10:10 a.m.

A Republican 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.

Mike Lee says both 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.

The Utah senator said Sunday on 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 have called for Trump to step aside following the release of a recording in which Trump makes crude comments about women.

___

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 said "it is much more than words."

The Virginia senator made the comments Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union."

Kaine noted that Trump has previously made disparaging remarks about women. He said, "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."

___

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Ryan has not withdrawn his endorsement.

___

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 mayor Rudy Giuliani said Trump wouldn'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, whose accusations that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 were never tested in criminal court. Bill Clinton has long denied the accusations.

Giuliani said 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."

___

2:15 a.m.

Damaged but defiant, Donald Trump is limping toward the critical presidential debate against Hillary Clinton absent the backing of a growing group of Republican leaders.

Trump insists he will "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 on Saturday retweeted a pair of postings by Juanita Broaddrick, whose accusations that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 were never tested in criminal court.

Trump's task in Sunday's faceoff is enormous, and perhaps insurmountable. Even before the recording of his remarks were made public, the businessman was lagging behind Clinton after an undisciplined first debate and 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.