The Note: Trump’s Pivot
— -- NOTABLES
--TRUMP, PENCE TO VISIT FLOOD-RAVAGED BATON ROUGE: Donald Trump and his running mate Mike Pence are expected to visit the flood-ravaged area of Baton Rouge today. Louisiana has been besieged by flooding in recent days with at least 13 people dead and thousands in shelters, including five in East Baton Rouge Parish. Some 40,000 homes have been affected by the flooding and a state of emergency has been declared. Sources tell ABC News Trump will fly to Baton Rouge this morning, meet with local officials and fly over the damage zone, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and JOHN SANTUCCI reports. http://abcn.ws/2bqgJM2
--TRUMP APOLOGIZES FOR WORDS ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL: Last night Trump appeared to stash away the bravado he has displayed at his rallies, apologizing for what appears to be the first time for his controversial words on the campaign trail and saying, "I will never lie to you." "Sometimes, in the heat of debate, and speaking on a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. I have done that, and believe it or not I regret it," Trump said. "I do regret it particularly where it may have caused personal pain.” It was a remarkable departure for the candidate who almost never expresses regret out on the campaign trail, unless in jest, ABC’s CANDACE SMITH notes. http://abcn.ws/2b0w6KA
--TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN MANAGER SAYS APOLOGY WAS HIS DECISION: Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said the Republican presidential candidate's apology last night at his campaign rally in North Carolina was a decision he came to himself, ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI notes. "It was not me, that's all Donald Trump," Conway said on "Good Morning America" today. "He was talking about anyone who feels offended by anything he said.” http://abcn.ws/2b2LGoS
THIS WEEK ON ‘THIS WEEK’: The Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics with ABC News contributor and Washington Examiner columnist Kristen Soltis Anderson, Washington Post chief correspondent Dan Balz, ABC News political analyst Matthew Dowd, and Democratic Strategist Jamal Simmons.
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s ADAM KELSEY and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI
TRUMP TO BLACK VOTERS: 'WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?' Donald Trump made his second appeal this week to African-Americans to vote for him in November's general election. "If African-American voters give Donald Trump a chance by giving me their vote, the result for them will be amazing," the Republican presidential nominee said during a rally at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. "What do you have to lose by trying something new? I will fix it," said Trump, who's been struggling to attract black voters. ABC’s CANDACE SMITH and DAVID CAPLAN have more. http://abcn.ws/2b1RKOe
NEW TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER ADVISES HIM TO ‘BE AUTHENTIC.’ It was a whirlwind first day for Kellyanne Conway, one of the two most recent hires to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign. “Day one was amazing,” Conway, 49, told ABC’s’ TOM LLAMAS outside Trump Tower in New York Wednesday. Stepping into her new role as campaign manager, Conway said the advice she would give Trump is to “be authentic because that's what Americans appreciate.” ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI has more: http://abcn.ws/2b720lD
FORMER BREITBART NEWS CHIEF'S LONG ENDORSEMENT OF TRUMP MAKES A 'PERFECT MATCH' FOR CAMPAIGN. The hiring of the former executive chairman of Breitbart News to be the new CEO of Donald Trump's presidential campaign is the latest in what many believe has been a long collaboration between the media boss and the real estate magnate, ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY notes. "Breitbart was a year-long mash note to Donald Trump and Donald Trump finally reciprocated and they took up the fantasy suite together," said Ben Shapiro, the former editor-at-large for the site. http://abcn.ws/2b0icrR
KAINE ON BILL CLINTON AND MONICA LEWINSKY: 'I HAD SOME FEELINGS OF DISAPPOINTMENT.' Hillary Clinton's running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, said the 1990s scandal involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky left him disappointed, but he isn't interested in relitigating something that happened decades ago. Kaine discussed the scandal after the Daily Beast published a report claiming that Kaine had indicated in 2002 that Bill Clinton should have resigned over the Lewinsky scandal, writes ABC’s JESSICA HOPPER. http://abcn.ws/2bpR8Ts
TRUMP CAMPAIGN TO AIR FIRST TELEVISION ADS. Donald Trump's campaign has lined up its first advertisements of the general election cycle, spending almost $5 million to target battleground states as they race to catch Hillary Clinton in the polls. The ad buys total $4.9 million for 10 days of commercials beginning Friday, with almost half of the money devoted to placing spots in Florida and Pennsylvania, notes ABC’s ADAM KELSEY. The sum still pales in comparison to the more than $60 million that the Democratic nominee has spent so far this cycle. http://abcn.ws/2b7BOaK
DEBATE PREVIEW
EVERYTHING WE KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES. There are three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate to look forward to in the coming months. The Commission on Presidential Debates, which hosts the televised events, has ruled that in order to participate, candidates must reach at least a 15 percent average in selected national polls. ABC’s MEGHAN KENEALLY has a rundown of all of the information that's available to date: http://abcn.ws/2b6Z9JC