The Note: Counting Down to Debate Day

— -- NOTABLES

--TRUMP SAYS CLINTON SHARES RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHARLOTTE UNREST: Addressing supporters in suburban Philadelphia last night, Donald Trump laid blame for this week's unrest in Charlotte on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. "Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society -- and this is a narrative that's supported with a nod by my opponent; you see what she’s saying and it’s not good -- shared directly in the responsibility for the unrest that is afflicting our country and hurting those who have really the very least," Trump told supporters at Sun Center Studios in Chester Township, Pennsylvania. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH notes that Trump made the remarks as hundreds of demonstrators in North Carolina's most populous city kicked off a third night of protests following the fatal police shooting Tuesday of Keith Lamont Scott. http://abcn.ws/2d1wntb

--TO HELP CLINTON WIN THE DEBATE, CAMPAIGN ASKS FOR ONLINE SUPPORT: Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is well aware that the outcome of the first presidential debate on Monday isn't just about what the two candidates say on stage, but also about the conversation that takes place around it. On a conference call with supporters Thursday afternoon, a top aide to Clinton directly asked supporters to use social media during and after the debate at Hofstra University in New York to help shape the conversation positively around the Democratic nominee. "Reporters certainly view what's happening online," Clinton's deputy communications director Christina Reynolds said, adding it is part of, "how they judge the debate and then how they call the debate -- who won, who lost." ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ has more: http://abcn.ws/2d3SxyJ

--CLINTON TEAM OUT WITH VIDEO HITTING TRUMP'S ON COMMENTS ABOUT WOMEN: The Clinton campaign continues their strategy of attempting to use Trump's words against him. Today, the campaign begins airing a television ad in seven battleground states and on cable, ABC’s JOSH HASKELL reports. According to Hillary Clinton's team, the intention of the ad is to show the effect "Trump's hateful rhetoric towards women is having on our daughters." http://abcn.ws/2cqfiIG

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Hillary Clinton is a “talented debater” with “ample experience” and a “significant polish” owing to her intense preparations and even “talent.” How do we know that? The Republican National Committee’s chief strategist is telling “interested parties” that in a memo. It’s that part of the election season where such praise is not only deemed acceptable but is expected; a top aide to George W. Bush once called John Kerry “the best debater since Cicero.” Such words are generally harmless. But have they ever been more meaningless? If anyone has proven that debates have changed since Cicero’s Rome it’s Donald Trump, who has done his part in rendering the format unrecognizable from its former self. What debates are now are massive television events – a format that Trump knows quite well. So even while the Clinton campaign seeks to massage the online reaction to the first debate, and Trump works the moderator refs, it’s hard to imagine the pre-debate spin mattering less.

THIS WEEK ON ‘THIS WEEK’: One day before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton meet face-to-face for the first presidential debate, Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway comes to “This Week” Sunday. Plus, in an ABC News exclusive, George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. And the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with Rebuilding America Now PAC strategist Alex Castellanos, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, New York Times presidential campaign correspondent and CNN political analyst Maggie Haberman, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, and editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel.

WHAT WE’RE WATCHING -- ANTI-TRUMP SUPER PAC LAUNCHES PRE-DEBATE VIDEO FEATURING HOFSTRA STUDENTS. An anti-Donald Trump super PAC is going on offense ahead of the first presidential debate this Monday at Hofstra University in New York. The group, the Not Who We Are campaign, is using students at the very university where the debate will be held to make a point. A new web ad produced by the group features students unfriendly to Trump's message. “I don’t think you can have a racist bigot as president,” one student says in the 60-second spot that was filmed on campus. Another chimes in, “He makes me terrified.” And a third simply says, “I don’t want him on campus.” The Not Who We Are campaign plans to run the ad on Twitter and Facebook ahead of and during Monday’s debate. WATCH: https://youtu.be/KrKIWu0zrV8

--‘THESE HOFSTRA STUDENTS ARE STANDING UP’: Not Who We Are’s campaign manager Josh Hendler said in a statement: “Since the Donald himself is coming to campus, these Hofstra students are standing up and sending a message that bigotry and hatred are not who we as Americans and not who they are as part of the Hofstra community.” Hendler’s group bills itself as a venue for “community members and leaders across the country” to “organize their friends, neighbors and coworkers to take a stand against” Trump by writing open letters. The site features letters from companies, universities and groups ranging from members of the clergy to scientists to golfers. http://abcn.ws/2cVRiB8

YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

OBAMA OFFERS DEBATE ADVICE FOR CLINTON: 'BE YOURSELF'. In an exclusive interview with ABC News' "Good Morning America," President Obama offered his advice for Hillary Clinton as she prepares to debate Donald Trump for the first time. "Be yourself and explain what motivates you," the president told "GMA" co-anchor ROBIN ROBERTS Thursday in an exclusive interview at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. "I've gotten to know Hillary and seen her work and seen her in tough times and in good times. She is in this for the right reasons. She is motivated by a deep desire to make things better for people." The president encouraged Clinton, whom he said will be an "outstanding president," to use the debate as a venue to not only talk about policy, but also what has inspired her to carry on in the face of adversity. ABC’s ARLETTE SAENZ has more. http://abcn.ws/2cUVi4L

DONALD TRUMP JR. DEFENDS SKITTLES TWEET AS A ‘SIMPLE METAPHOR.’ Donald Trump Jr. defended his now infamous tweet comparing refugees to a bowl of Skittles at a press conference in Boise, Idaho, yesterday. “To me it was a simple metaphor," Trump Jr. said. "You know people will today make what they want of anything, and they see the worst in everything and they look for subtext that doesn’t exist.” On Monday, Trump Jr., the eldest son of the Republican presidential nominee, took to Twitter to publish a graphic that likened Syrian refugees to the sweet candy. http://abcn.ws/2ddtpmi

TRUMP: DRUGS A 'VERY, VERY BIG FACTOR' IN CHARLOTTE PROTESTS. Less than a day after protests over the police killing of an African-American man turned violent in North Carolina, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump placed some of the blame for the turmoil on the impact of drugs. “If you're not aware, drugs are a very, very big factor in what you're watching on television at night,” said Trump in a speech to the Shale Insight 2016 Conference in Pittsburgh yesterday. On Wednesday night, Charlotte experienced its second night of protests following the death of Keith Lamont Scott on Tuesday afternoon, notes ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and ADAM KELSEY. http://abcn.ws/2d4cfIO

TRUMP'S PRAISE OF 'STOP AND FRISK' AT ODDS WITH COURT RULING. Donald Trump has praised the policing tactic known as “stop and frisk” on the campaign trail, but the controversial technique has a questionable history in New York City, writes ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY. The stop-question-and-frisk program entails NYPD officers’ randomly stopping people on the street, on the theory that such searches help law enforcement identify people with illegal handguns and deter crime. Supporters credit the program with helping to push down homicides and other major crimes in New York City to historic lows, but opponents have another description: racial profiling. http://abcn.ws/2d7wus1

POWERHOUSE POLITICS PODCAST

--MAUREEN DOWD: DONALD TRUMP’S ‘EGO ARITHMETIC HASN’T CHANGED.’ Maureen Dowd has covered Donald Trump for more than a decade as a columnist for The New York Times. She told ABC News that the Republican presidential nominee's “ego arithmetic hasn’t changed," meaning that "he would donate to candidates of both parties and basically it was like what would benefit his business,” notes ABC’s ROBIN GRADISON. According to Dowd, Trump's office at Trump Tower "is like an infinity mirror. He has pictures of himself just papering the whole office. And then his desk is all full of magazines where he is on the cover...the whole office is like this pure odyssey through his ego.” http://abcn.ws/2d7QbzK

--MICHAEL DUKAKIS GIVES DEBATE ADVICE TO HILLARY CLINTON. Former Massachusetts governor and 1988 presidential candidate Michael Dukakis knows a little something about unpredictable election cycles and over-preparing for debates. He spoke to ABC’s JONATHAN KARL and RICK KLEIN this week on the “Powerhouse Politics” podcast and the topic of Hillary Clinton's extensive debate preparation came up. She has reportedly spent the past couple of weeks surrounded by advisers and briefing books, leaving the campaign trail in favor of mock debates. ABC’s MELINA DELKIC has more: http://abcn.ws/2cGCSSx

DEBATE PREP

--AWKWARD MOMENTS IN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE HISTORY. As the first presidential debate approaches, ABC’s ALI DUKAKIS looks back at the many presidential debates broadcast on television, which show an important truism: Debates can be awkward and unexpected. http://abcn.ws/2d7T6Zo

--THE STORIED HISTORY OF PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES. Presidential debates have been a mainstay of the general election for four decades, though their origins date all the way back to 1960. That was when John F. Kennedy battled against Richard Nixon, and demonstrated how important appearances could be in making a bid for the White House. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY takes a look at the history of debates: http://abcn.ws/2cZulto

IN THE NOTE’S INBOX

CLINTON JOKES ABOUT DONALD TRUMP IN 'BETWEEN TWO FERNS' INTERVIEW. Hillary Clinton has been given the "Between Two Ferns" treatment. The Democratic presidential nominee sat down for an interview on the Funny or Die talk show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis. During the interview -- posted Thursday, but taped last week, the day Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia -- Clinton jokes about Trump, her pantsuits and the "double standard" of being a woman running for office, among other things. ABC’s LIZ KREUTZ has more: http://abcn.ws/2coZOV9

WHO’S TWEETING?

@MajorCBS: What to watch for in @realDonaldTrump #SCOTUS release: will list of names be ONLY ones considered. Conservatives want assurances, clarity.

@MattJClaiborne: Spox confirms @ChelseaClinton will attend next week's presidential debate. This will be the first debate she's attended this election cycle.

@albamonica: The Clintons have purchased the house next to theirs in Chappaqua for $1.16M, property records show. The sale was finalized in mid-August.

@InesdLC: Pence: "I’m old enough to remember the last Clinton administration where America had a debate over whether character mattered to presidency"

@adamslily: After @Fahrenthold reported a NH charity was stiffed by Trump, Americans stepped up to help & raised them $21k! http://bit.ly/2df0ttS