The Note: Joe Biden's Dilemma
— -- NOTABLES
--JOE BIDEN ON BEAU AND 2016: Nearly four months after the death of his son Beau, Vice President Joe Biden offered his most in depth and emotional reflection yet of the sorrow he's experienced since his son's passing as well as his latest thinking on entering the 2016 presidential race. In an interview last night, the vice president said he felt he was "letting down Beau" if he "didn't just get up" in the months following his death, ABC's ARLETTE SAENZ writes. "No one owes you anything. You gotta get up. And I feel like I was letting down Beau, letting down my parents, letting down my family if I didn't just get up," the vice president said in an interview on "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert." http://abcn.ws/1JYTxda
--'I'D BE LYING IF I SAID THAT I KNEW I WAS THERE': The vice president said no one should run for president unless they are "110 percent" committed to the endeavor and admitted "I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there." "I don't think any man or woman should run for president unless number 1, they know exactly why they would want to be president and number 2, they can look folks out there and say I promise you, you have my whole heart, my whole soul, my energy, and my passion to do this," Biden said. http://abcn.ws/1JYTxda
--WHAT THE BIDEN FANS ARE SAYING: Draft Biden senior adviser Josh Alcorn said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning that he continues to think that Joe Biden will make a White House run despite his comments to Colbert last night, ABC's JORDYN PHELPS notes. About the Biden we saw last night, Alcorn said that is the "Joe Biden that we love, we know we trust, this isn't a guy who's going to sugar coat anything." On the question of when the Draft Biden movement will actually have a candidate, Alcorn punted. But in terms of filing deadlines, he said Biden isn't at real risk of seeing "some states fall off" until the middle of November.
--ANALYSIS -- ABC's RICK KLEIN: "Sometimes it just overwhelms you," Vice President Joe Biden told Stephen Colbert Thursday night. It was one of many lines that it was virtually impossible to imagine any other politician, much less a potential presidential candidate, uttering on national television. In its raw emotion and honesty, the interview displayed what is undeniably compelling about Biden, his life story, his passions, and his motivations. It also suggested strongly a man who just isn't able to bring himself to run for president, not at this time and under these circumstances. Yet somehow that all seemed secondary for the moment. It's easy enough to file everything under politics, and it's true enough to do so in most cases that politicians are involved. For the vice president right now, though, this is about deeper questions of faith and humanity. It's tempting to think about what that would mean in a campaign. But Biden's not there yet, not ready to bring us along for his ride.
WHO MADE THE CUT FOR THE SECOND GOP DEBATE: The stage is set for round two. The Republican presidential contenders are just a week from facing off under the lights on the second debate stage. But this time, the stage will be a little more crowded, according to the list released by CNN on last night. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina will be joining the main debate stage after a last-minute rules change by CNN, ABC's RYAN STRUYK reports. The mainstage debate will include the 10 candidates who are polling the top 10 in an average of national polls since mid-July. To account for the late boost in the polls by Fiorina after her strong performance in the Fox News undercard debate last month, CNN decided to add any candidate who is polling in the top 10 since the first debate, paving the way for Fiorina to join. http://abcn.ws/1Ln1hFS
--NOTED: DNC CHAIR SHUTS DOOR ON MORE DEMOCRATIC DEBATES: The chair of the Democratic National Committee Chairman yesterday brushed aside growing criticism of the party's plan to limit its presidential candidates to six debates, saying her decision to hold that number was final and promised to disinvite candidates who appear at non-sanctioned debates. "We are going to have six debates. Period," Debbie Wasserman Schultz told reporters at a breakfast in Washington sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. ABC's RICK KLEIN has more: http://abcn.ws/1Q3JUgU
THIS WEEK ON "THIS WEEK": Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson discusses his campaign and the upcoming GOP debate, Sunday on "This Week." Plus, the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics with the host of NPR's Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep, Washington Post national political reporter Robert Costa, Republican strategist and pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona. See the whole political picture, Sunday on "This Week."
TODAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC's SHUSHANNAH WALSHE: It's September 11, 14 years after that terrible day and some of the events on the campaign trail are related to remembering the anniversary. Jeb Bush is in New Hampshire where he will attend a 9/11 observance in Londonderry this morning. Joe Biden is in New York City where he will deliver remarks at the 9/11 Memorial Motorcycle Ride Kickoff Event at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. Scott Walker will attend a 9/11 remembrance ceremony in Milwaukee before heading to Iowa for events this afternoon and evening. In St. Louis, the Eagle Forum--a conservative advocacy group--will hold an event and Ben Carson, Rick Perry, and Mike Huckabee will all speak. The early states are pretty busy with Lindsey Graham also in New Hampshire. He will be joined at three events by longtime friend Sen. John McCain. Lincoln Chafee is also in the Granite State and will speak to ABC affiliate, WMUR, this evening. Rand Paul is also in Iowa and will hold two events this evening. Rick Santorum is in SEC primary territory holding three events in Tennessee. Bernie Sanders is also in the South, fundraising this evening in Atlanta. Carly Fiorina is in Arizona where she will attend a Chamber of Commerce breakfast this morning.
THE BUZZ
with ABC's PAOLA CHAVEZ and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
DONALD TRUMP SAYS BEN CARSON STARTED FEUD. Donald Trump called into "The View" Thursday, discussing a wide range of topics with the co-hosts. When asked about Ben Carson's questioning of Trump's faith and whether the exchange are now a full-on fight, the GOP presidential front runner said, "He started it, so remember I like to finish it." According to ABC's JOHN SANTUCCI, the New York real estate mogul also continued his push against the White House-backed Iran deal. "Nuclear is nothing but trouble...it's a great deal for Iran," Trump said. http://abcn.ws/1gc8akD
BOBBY JINDAL SLAMS TRUMP AS 'EGOMANIACAL MADMAN' AND 'NON-SERIOUS CARNIVAL ACT.' Republican presidential contender Bobby Jindal is going on a name-calling spree --- all in hopes of tanking the White House bid of GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. Trump fought back in a statement. "[Jindal] did not make the debate stage and therefore I have never met him," he said. "I only respond to people that register more than 1% in the polls. I never thought he had a chance and I've been proven right." The Louisiana Governor lashed out at Trump during a speech at the National Press Club on Thursday morning, according to ABC's RYAN STRUYK. Here's what Jindal called the real estate mogul. http://abcn.ws/1LmELNh
TRUMP FINDS PRAISE ON CAPITOL HILL, BUT NO ENDORSEMENTS. Lawmakers welcomed Donald Trump to Washington Wednesday to rally against the Iran nuclear agreement, praising the success of his campaign but stopping short of offering any endorsements. Taking the stage outside the Capitol to R.E.M's "The End of the World," ABC's BENJAMIN SIEGEL reports, the Republican front-runner criticized the Obama administration's negotiations on the Iran deal. "Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran," Trump proclaimed, saying Americans "may get bored with winning" under his administration. http://abcn.ws/1Me5vp8
HILLARY CLINTON SAYS SHE WOULD 'LOVE' TO DEBATE TRUMP. Hillary Clinton is ready to take on the Donald. At her second-ever "Women for Hillary" rally in Columbus, Ohio Thursday, ABC's LIZ KREUTZ reports, the Democratic presidential candidate remarked that she would not just like-but "love"- to debate Donald Trump in the general election, specifically on women's issues. "There's one particular candidate who just seems to delight in insulting women every chance he gets," Clinton told a crowd at the Columbus Athenaeum, referring to the republican presidential front runner. "I have to say, if he emerges, I would love to debate him." http://abcn.ws/1LmppZd
CLINTON ON SCOTT WALKER: 'SOME KIND OF TOUGH GUY ON HIS MOTORCYCLE.' While stumping in Wisconsin, Hillary Clinton went directly after the state's governor, Scott Walker, telling the crowd that the Republican presidential candidate thinks he's "some kind of tough guy on his motorcycle," ABC's LIZ KREUTZ notes. "It seems to me, just observing him, that Governor Walker thinks because he busts unions, staves universities, guts public education, demeans women, scapegoats teachers, nurses and firefighters, he is some kind of tough guy on his motorcycle. A real leader," Clinton said Thursday night at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee during her first visit to Walker's home-state as a presidential candidate. http://abcn.ws/1O4AwMy
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
FORMER HILLARY CLINTON IT STAFFER COMES TO CONGRESS TO PLEAD THE FIFTH. Hillary Clinton's former staffer who worked on her personal email server invoked his Fifth Amendment rights Thursday and did not answer the House Select Committee on Benghazi's questions in a closed-door deposition. Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's email server as a staffer on her presidential campaign and at the State Department, has notified several congressional committees and federal agencies probing Clinton's private email use and server that he will take the Fifth to any questions, citing the ongoing FBI investigation into Clinton's serve. ABC's BENJAMIN SIEGEL has more: http://abcn.ws/1KGUQmx
WHO'S TWEETING?
@nycjim: New 9/11 memorial opens in Pennsylvania for victims of Flight 93. Moving photos via Getty: http://mashable.com/2015/09/10/flight-93-memorial-photos/?utm_cid=hp-hh-pri#hpcrNgbYK8ks ...
@amyewalter: Before we throw out campaign fundamentals in this 'age of Trump' we need the fundamentals actually be tested http://cookpolitical.com/story/8812
@HotlineJosh: Politico: "People around Joe Biden are increasingly convinced he'll run for president" http://politi.co/1K04ife
@nationaljournal: Chris Sununu said he doesn't think Republicans should shut down the government over Planned Parenthood http://njour.nl/s/66482
@PoliticoCharlie: For all the clamor about anti-establishment outrage, yet again voters send a legacy candidate to Congress http://politi.co/1M0EKS6
