The Note: Trump Tales

ByABC News

November 24, 2015, 8:50 AM

 -- NOTABLES

--TRUMP DOUBLES DOWN: Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump didn't back down from his controversial comments about 9/11 Monday night, saying residents of Jersey City, NJ celebrated the World Trade Center attacks. Trump, speaking at a rally in Columbus, OH said he has received “hundreds” of phone calls and tweets from people who claim to have seen the celebrations, ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI and ALANA ABRAMSON report. "Lo and behold I start getting phone calls in my office by the hundreds, that they were there and they saw this take place on the internet," Trump said in Ohio. http://abcn.ws/1kQJVvB

--BEN CARSON BACKS OFF: Hours after telling reporters that he saw a video of American Muslims in New Jersey cheering on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center's twin towers fell, Ben Carson's campaign apologized for the remarks, saying he "doesn't stand behind" them and that they were "a mistake,” ABC’s KATHERINE FAULDERS notes. When asked by ABC News if American Muslims were cheering on 9/11 -- as has been suggested by Donald Trump -- Carson said “Yes.” “I saw the film of it, yeah,” he said and cited "the newsreels" of 9/11 coverage at the time. However, Carson made a 180 a short time later. "He doesn't stand behind his comments to New Jersey and American Muslims," said campaign spokesman Doug Watts said. "He was rather thinking of the protests going on in the Middle East and some of the demonstrations that we're going on in celebration of the towers going down. "He doesn't stand behind his references and apologizes for the mistaken references. It was a mistake on his part and he clearly wasn't really thinking about New Jersey, he was thinking about the Middle East." http://abcn.ws/1YpX4Kp

--BY THE NUMBERS: Polls released last weekend -- taken before Trump’s latest assertions -- show Trump is, by far, the most trusted GOP candidate to tackle the threat of terrorism in the United States, and more Republicans see Trump as honest and trustworthy than don’t, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK notes. Forty-two percent of Republicans say they trust Trump the most to handle the threat of terrorism, according to an ABC News-Washington Post poll Sunday. Jeb Bush comes in second with only 18 percent, less than half of Trump’s support. Also, Trump comes in second when GOP voters are asked who is most honest and trustworthy, according to the same ABC-Post poll. Twenty-three percent of Republican voters say Trump is most honest and trustworthy behind only Ben Carson, who garners 34 percent, but ahead of Rubio, Bush and Cruz, who have less than half of Trump’s support. http://abcn.ws/1IbAnju

--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: He’s gone from thousands of cheering Muslims in New Jersey to hundreds of people now tell him he’s right. He had his chief rival say he saw the same thing on TV, only to say a few hours later that he actually didn’t. Donald Trump’s latest addition to his campaign highlight reel has the hallmarks of his political style. This was a tall tale with a purpose, calibrated to a moment of jitters and anti-Muslim fears and sentiments. Trump, naturally, isn’t apologizing or acknowledging that what he said he saw did not in fact occur as he describes it. It now appears unlikely that any one comment or set of comments will unravel Trump. Even in this instance, his supporters grant him a general sense of being honest if not entirely truthful; “regardless of the specific details, the American people, a lot of Trump supporters know,” Rush Limbaugh said Monday. As the anti-Trump forces gather, that’s a more formidable opponent than the mogul himself. Voters view him as speaking truth to power – and that means skepticism of anyone or anything seeking to stand in his way, even when he’s telling stories that are simply not accurate.

TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: Donald Trump is in South Carolina tonight for a rally in Myrtle Beach at 7pm. Jeb Bush is also in South Carolina. This afternoon he attends an event with the Salvation Army in Greenville followed by an afternoon stop at the famous Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, a popular stop for candidates and a true South Carolina experience. This evening he holds a town hall in Rock Hill. Marco Rubio is in Iowa today, holding an afternoon town hall in Grinnell. Hillary Clinton is in Colorado today. She holds two "organizing events" this afternoon. First in Boulder and then later this afternoon in Denver. Chris Christie is in DC today to give a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. Rand Paul is home in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is holding a book signing. Lindsey Graham is in New Hampshire where he will tour Horizons Food Pantry in Manchester.

THE BUZZ

TED CRUZ GAINS MOMENTUM IN IOWA. With less than 70 days to the Iowa Caucus, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is seeing larger numbers at his events, increased fundraising, and a momentum that has propelled him to second place in Tuesday's Quinnipiac University poll of Iowa Republican Caucus-goers. Cruz's support has doubled since the last Quinnipiac poll four weeks ago and he finds himself in a dead heat with Donald Trump for the top spot, ABC’s JOSH HASKELL and JESSICA HOPPER report. "The difference over the last two or three months each time he comes to the state, it just seems like there’s more excitement and people seem to be starting to understand that they have their champion in this election cycle," Cruz's Iowa State Director Bryan English told ABC News. There's a growing consensus among Iowa's conservatives that they must elect someone this time around who can get past the early states as Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum struggled to do. http://abcn.ws/1SZBkkR

RAPPER KILLER MIKE COMPARES BERNIE SANDERS TO JESUS. Rapper and activist Killer Mike became the most recent celebrity to introduce presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders onstage at one of the campaign’s mega-rallies Monday evening, saying the hopeful's campaign "lines up" "next to the words of Jesus Christ." The rapper, who admits he has a “flare for curse words,” announced his support for Sanders months ago, ABC’s MARYALICE PARKS notes. He told the crowd of 5,000 screaming Sanders fans at the Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta, “I have said in many a rap that I don’t trust the church or the government -- Democrat or Republicans -- but after spending five hours with someone who has spent the last fifty years...fighting for your life and mine, I can tell you that I am very proud today to announce the next President of the United States.” Earlier in the day, the two men visited a soul food diner and shared a meal of fried chicken, macaroni and yams. http://abcn.ws/1jhguB6

THE ANATOMY OF A DONALD TRUMP RALLY. Forget about exclusive house parties and intimate meet-and-greets. Donald Trump’s presidential rallies are, in Trump's terms, "huge." The GOP presidential front-runner prefers to rally his supporters in large arenas and convention centers, a choice that is at least in part necessitated by the thousands drawn to his campaign rallies. Trump frequently touts from the stump that his rallies are the biggest of any president candidate in either party. The most dedicated fans can be spotted lining up at the rally venue hours before the doors open. ABC’s JORDYN PHELPS has more. http://abcn.ws/1R1cbI0

DONALD TRUMP'S COMMENTS ABOUT PROTESTER GETTING ROUGHED UP 'NOT PARTICULARLY SURPRISING,' WHITE HOUSE SAYS. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's comments about a Black Lives Matter protester getting roughed up at Trump's Alabama rally over the weekend were "not particularly surprising," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. "This is not a departure from Mr. Trump's habits," Earnest said. "The fact that he might condone violence against a protester is not particularly surprising to me." A Black Lives Matter protester was tossed out of Trump's Birmingham rally Saturday and was kicked by audience members on the way out, according a Secret Service agent who was involved in breaking up the altercation. ABC’s BENJAMIN SIEGEL has more. http://abcn.ws/1ley9L1

POLLING NOTE

OBAMA APPROVAL SLIPS BACK UNDER 50 PERCENT. Turmoil abroad isn’t helping President Obama at home: After a brief rally the last few months, his job approval rating slipped back under 50 percent in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. Forty-six percent of Americans now approve of Obama’s job performance, while 50 percent disapprove. That’s a 5-point decline in the president’s approval rating from a month ago, when it exceeded the halfway mark for the first time since May 2013. The president has lost 5 percentage points or more poll-to-poll just six times in 67 ABC/Post surveys measuring his job approval rating since he took office. ABC’s SOFI SINOZICH has more: http://abcn.ws/1MNC2Oc

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

MARCO RUBIO WARNS IN 1ST NATIONAL TV AD 'PARIS COULD HAPPEN HERE'. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio debuted the first national television ad of his campaign today focusing squarely on terrorism. The 30-second ad features the Florida senator up close against a simple black background as he warns Americans of the dangers of “radical terrorists.” ABC’s PAOLA CHAVEZ notes in the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that left 130 people dead, the presidential hopeful calls the terrorists “disgruntled or disempowered people.” He wraps up the ad with an ultimatum on the war against ISIS. http://abcn.ws/1R1jPlJ WATCH: http://bit.ly/1I5zaQ5