The Note: Trump Tries to Right the Ship
— -- NOTABLES
--TRUMP FORGES AHEAD AFTER DIFFICULT WEEK: Just as Donald Trump’s campaign thought the dust had settled on his prolonged public battle with the family of slain army Captain Humuyan Khan, the GOP nominee then suggested last week that “second amendment people” could perhaps prevent Hillary Clinton from being able to choose Supreme Court Justices. And then he declared, over 20 times in just two days, that President Obama was the “founder of ISIS” only to then say he was being sarcastic but “not that sarcastic.” To conclude Trump's trying week, the New York Times issued a blistering report Saturday afternoon, quoting over 20 anonymous sources who attested to the turmoil within the campaign. And so begins Trump’s week. His campaign is attempting to forge ahead with a focus, again, on policy, ABC’s JOHN SANTUCCI, CANDACE SMITH and INES DE LA CUETARA report. Today, he will deliver remarks in the battleground state of Ohio, laying out a plan for combating Islamic terrorism. This comes as part of a concerted effort on behalf of senior staff members to keep Trump on message with a policy-based speech each week. http://abcn.ws/2bhllm5
--TRUMP’S TRAVELING COMPANIONS: To help change the campaign's trajectory, Trump is now increasingly being joined on the trail by a travel companion. This includes either a top-level surrogate, party official or member of his family. As Republicans both publicly and privately continue to question their nominee -- even as Trump maintains that his operation is sound and his campaign is unified -- behind the scenes, sources tell ABC News that the campaign is constantly having to quell the concerns of nervous party members. Attempting to build bridges for his running mate, Indiana Gov. Pence has met with top Republicans like former candidate Jeb Bush and Arizona Senator John McCain. http://abcn.ws/2bhllm5
--CLINTON AND BIDEN JOIN FORCES: Hillary Clinton campaigns with Vice President Joe Biden in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania today. According to ABC’s ARLETTE SAENZ, a spokesperson for Biden says he will argue that “no major party nominee in the history of this nation has ever known less or has been less prepared to deal with our national security than Donald Trump. He will argue that he is unfit and unqualified to be Commander in Chief, and that the bluster and volatile rhetoric he's offering will make the people of Scranton, and the nation, less safe.”
LAST WEEKEND ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
TRUMP BLAMES ‘CROOKED MEDIA’ AFTER WEEK OF UNFAVORABLE POLLS. After a week of bad poll numbers, Donald Trump blames the media. "If the disgusting and corrupt media covered me honestly and didn't put false meaning into the words I say, I would be beating Hillary by 20%," Trump said on Twitter Sunday morning. He added to the comments throughout the day on social media, ABC’s MICHAEL EDISON HAYDEN notes. "It is not "freedom of the press" when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!" he tweeted Sunday afternoon. http://abcn.ws/2bgbApJ
TOP TRUMP ADVISER JEFF SESSIONS SAYS TRUMP CAMPAIGN ‘IS NOT OVER.’ Top Trump foreign policy adviser Sen. Jeff Sessions says Republican nominee Donald Trump's campaign is "not over," and criticized media coverage claiming his campaign is in trouble. “You’ve had this whole morning talking about nothing but negative on the Trump campaign,” Sessions said on ABC's "This Week." “This is the kind of thing that does build on itself, and has, I think, made mountains out of molehills." ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL has more. http://abcn.ws/2bqkhuM
PANETTA: AMERICANS SHOULD ‘MOVE ON’ FROM CLINTON EMAILS. Clinton supporter and former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta called on the public to “move on” from Hillary Clinton’s emails and instead focus on the "real issues," ABC’s NICKI ROSSOLL notes. “It's been investigated, no action has been taken by the Justice Department," Panetta said on ABC’s “This Week.” “They found no basis for any kind of action.” "I really do think it's time for the candidates and for the American people to move on and talk about the real issues,” he said. http://abcn.ws/2aU9pWt
INDEPENDENT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SAYS HE’S NOT RESPONSIBLE IF TRUMP LOSES. New independent candidate for president Evan McMullin said his entrance into the race won't affect Donald Trump's chances because "it's so likely that Donald Trump will lose" anyway, ABC’s QUINN OWEN writes. A former CIA operative, McMullin is billing himself as a conservative alternative to Trump. “He’s not a credible candidate,” McMullin said of Trump on “This Week.” “It's so likely that Donald Trump will lose...my entrance into the race doesn't affect that,” McMullin told ABC's Martha Raddatz. http://abcn.ws/2aUobNf
HACKERS CLAIM TO HAVE RELEASED HOUSE DEMOCRATS' PERSONAL INFORMATION. Hackers are claiming to have released the personal information of nearly all Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including members' private cell phone numbers and email addresses. The FBI is looking into the matter, with officials suspecting that Russian hackers are behind the cyberattack on Democratic organizations that came to public attention late last month. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's (DCCC) national press secretary Meredith Kelly told ABC News that the committee is aware of reports that sensitive information belonging to congressional Democrats has been leaked. ABC’s ALEXANDER MALLIN, BENJAMIN SIEGEL, and MORGAN WINSOR has more. http://abcn.ws/2boAJf1
TRUMP SAYS ONLY WAY CLINTON WILL WIN PENNSYLVANIA IS 'CHEATING.' Donald Trump continued to hammer home his suggestion that there will likely be Election Day shenanigans -- saying during a rally in Altoona, Pa. Friday evening that the only way Hillary Clinton will win the state is if there is "cheating" during the voting process. "We're gonna watch Pennsylvania," Trump said. "Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times." According to ABC’s JULIA JACOBO, Trump went on to say that "the only way" he can lose in Pennsylvania is if there is cheating. "I really believe it," he said. http://abcn.ws/2aPILLh
MEGHAN MCCAIN SLAMS TRUMP AND CLINTON: 'THIS IS A GARBAGE ELECTION.' Republican Meghan McCain isn't mincing words about her disdain for the presidential election, let alone her party's nominee, Donald Trump, ABC’s DAVID CAPLAN notes. The 31-year-old daughter of Arizona senator John McCain tweeted Thursday, "I won't be bullied into voting for Trump or Hillary. This is a garbage election. I truly fear for the future of this country I love so much." A poster child of sorts for millennial Republicans, McCain further tweeted, "Any attempted rationale on who is to blame if the candidate loses is absurd and irresponsible -- it's the candidates job to win over voters." http://abcn.ws/2aPTt4W
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
6 TIMES TRUMP SAYS HE'S BEEN 'SARCASTIC' OR 'MISINTERPRETED.' Donald Trump’s claims that he was being sarcastic when talking about President Obama being the “founder of ISIS,” but it isn’t the first time during this campaign when he’s claimed that he was being "sarcastic" or said he’s been misinterpreted. Trump regularly blasts the media for distorting his comments, including when he said Friday that “these dishonest media people, they’re the most dishonest people, they say ‘Oh, did he mean that?’" While he takes umbrage with the interpretation of his comments, he has also boasted about being difficult to decipher. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY notes some of the instances when Trump said his words were misconstrued. http://abcn.ws/2bnA0ed
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