| | | | Trump campaign plays defense amid reports of turmoil | | The Trump campaign was on defense this weekend, pushing back on another week of bad press spurred in part by a mix of ill-chosen words by Donald Trump.
Campaign chairman Paul Manafort was on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday, defending his candidate on a number of fronts, including still clarifying what Trump meant by "Second Amendment people" standing up to Clinton. "It was not at all meant to be a threat," he told Jake Tapper. Read all about his appearance, including his answers on Trump's tax returns and more war of words with a Gold Star family from a campaign co-chair here.
Manafort and spokesman Jason Miller, who spoke with Brian Stelter on CNN's "Reliable Sources," were both on the warpath with The New York Times, which published a conversation-starting story over the weekend detailing turmoil inside the campaign.
"Advisers who once hoped a Pygmalion-like transformation would refashion a crudely effective political showman into a plausible American president now increasingly concede that Mr. Trump may be beyond coaching," wrote the Times' Maggie Haberman and Alex Burns. Miller called the piece a "liberal hatchet job." Trump himself predictably turned to Twitter:
Meanwhile, Politico became the latest outlet to report that top members of the Republican National Committee are weighing a strategy that would divert money away from Trump in October in favor of congressional campaigns. And the latest to get pushback from top RNC spokesman Sean Spicer.
And Dan Balz over at The Washington Post took a deep look at Trump's self-inflicted wounds over the past few weeks. "Trump continues to practice the politics of subtraction, finding ways to prevent expansion of his potential coalition," Balz wrote. "Rather than looking at weaknesses in his support and trying to find ways to win a few percentage points among particular groups of voters, his words and behavior do the opposite." | | | As convention bounces subside and polling reaches the home stretch, don't forget to use CNN's Road to 270 battleground map to keep tabs on the math facing each candidate. | | DCCC hack led to 'obscene' messages, Pelosi says | | The latest in the ongoing suspected Russian hacking of Democrats: the personal contact information of Democratic lawmakers being published online on Friday. The same "Guccifer 2.0" hacker who has been linked by experts to the Russian military-intelligence sector posted a contact list hacked from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recommended members change their numbers and keep their phones away from family -- based on her personal experience.
"I was in the air flying from Florida to California when the news broke," Pelosi said in a message to Democratic colleagues on Saturday. "Upon landing, I have received scores of mostly obscene and sick calls, voicemails and text messages. Please be careful not to allow your children or family members to answer your phone or read incoming text messages." More here on this latest document dump. | | Coming soon: Hillary Clinton's FBI interview notes | | Sources tell CNN's Jake Tapper that the notes from Hillary Clinton's FBI interview, which lasted over three hours, will soon be headed to members of Congress. FBI Director James Comey told lawmakers last month that such a report existed, though he told them Clinton was not sworn in for the interview and there was no transcript. Read more.
The move comes as Politico reports that the Obama administration was locked in a fierce debate about how to proceed on the request for the interview notes from Republican lawmakers. That's because the material is sure to be politically sensitive, and how this plays out could impact future investigations into political officials, experts told Politico's Josh Gerstein. | | Key poll stat for Clinton: Cutting Trump's economic edge | | The top-line polling numbers that show Donald Trump in a significant hole nationally and in key battleground states have been getting most of the attention, but CNN Money's Heather Long reports that Hillary Clinton is closing the gap in one key area.
In CNN/ORC polling, Clinton has gone from a 43% to 54% deficit on who would do better on the economy in mid-July to a 50% to 48% advantage at the end of the month. Experts attribute her gains in part to a concentrated effort at the Democratic convention last month, followed by a series of unforced errors by Trump.
Both nominees recognize the importance of voter confidence in their economic proposals, with each rolling out economic plans last week in speeches in the Detroit area of Michigan.
The "Inside Politics" crew also discussed Clinton's relentless attack on Trump's business record, which include ads you've seen if you've been watching the Olympics in swing states. | | | CNN's Jake Tapper imagines what it would look like to have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in their own form of the Olympics, with some help from Michael Phelps, in this week's State of the Cartoonion. | | Plenty of tax returns to pore over, except Trump's | | The Clinton campaign continued its pressure on Donald Trump to release his tax returns, putting out her latest returns and those of her running mate, Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, on Friday.
The release gave us some further insight into the Clinton's finances. Her returns showed that she and Bill paid roughly one-third of their income to the government in taxes. They also were still multi-millionaires, making $10.6 million in 2015, though less so compared with the nearly $28 million they brought in the year before. Of that, they paid $3.24 million in federal income taxes, giving them an effective tax rate of 30.6%. CNN Money has more on the returns.
And it's not just the Clinton campaign -- Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump's running mate, said he would make his tax returns public. "When my tax returns are released, it's going to be a quick read," Pence said Saturday in an interview on WABC Radio, and his spokesman confirmed he would release his returns before the election. Jeremy Diamond has the story.
But after all that, Trump still isn't releasing his returns. Paul Manafort was asked by Jake Tapper why he won't release his 2008 returns, which are no longer under audit, but Manafort sidestepped. "There's nothing that (he) doesn't want the public to see. Mr. Trump's position has been clear from the beginning, he's under audit. When the audit is finished he'll release his returns." | | | Michael Wear talks faith and politics with CNN's "RunningMate" podcast. ... Ballot initiatives may tip the scales for certain candidates in some key states. ... Unsuccessful Paul Ryan challenger Paul Nehlen will launch his own super PAC. ... Former Bush official says Trump's economic proposals could be a "disaster." | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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