| | | | Clinton and Trump to talk security in first forum | | Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won't square off face-to-face -- but they'll share a stage tonight, fielding questions for 30 minutes each in the Commander-in-Chief Forum in New York. Sponsored by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the event is moderated by NBC's Matt Lauer and kicks off at 8 p.m. ET.
Trump offered a preview in a speech today in Philadelphia, calling for the elimination of sequester-level defense spending and increasing military spending to boost troop levels and the number of ships and aircraft -- but not detailing how he'd pay for any of it.
Not on stage tonight: Libertarian Gary Johnson. But 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney tweeted this evening that he hopes that will change by the first debate on September 26: | | | Behind the scenes 2016 players: Two people you might not know much about -- but who are playing huge roles in the 2016 race -- were profiled today. Politico's Ken Vogel traces how Rebekah Mercer, the daughter of mega-donor Bob Mercer, has become the most powerful woman in GOP politics. (She's also taking over day-to-day control of a super PAC, CNN's Theodore Schleifer reports.) And Politico's Shane Goldmacher identifies Hillary Clinton statistician Elan Kriegel as her campaign's invisible guiding hand. | | With Congress still unable to approve funding to combat the Zika virus, Rep. David Jolly, R-Florida, brought a jar of mosquitoes onto the House floor today, saying he wanted to "convey the fear" his constituents face.
"Can you imagine, colleagues, the anxiety in this chamber if these 100 mosquitoes were outside this jar, not inside this jar?" he said. "Members of Congress would run down the hall to the physician's office to be tested. They would spray themselves before coming down here." | | Pence rejects birtherism. Why hasn't Trump? | | Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence said Wednesday he believes President Barack Obama was born in the United States -- rejecting the birtherism that Donald Trump fomented in 2011. "I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, I accept his birthplace. I just don't know where he's coming from on foreign policy and on economics and on Obamacare," Pence told reporters aboard his campaign plane just after it touched down in San Diego, per CNN's Cassie Spodak.
The question now: Why won't Trump say what his running mate has said, and admit Obama is an American?
Here's what Trump told Fox News' Bill O'Reilly on Tuesday night when O'Reilly asked if his history of birtherism would hurt Trump's outreach to African-Americans: "I have no idea. I don't talk about it anymore, Bill. Because, you know I just don't bother talking about it."
Pence was asked four times about calls for an apology from Trump -- including one from Ben Carson in an interview yesterday with CNN's Jake Tapper -- but declined to address the issue. Pence said: "I think Donald Trump's record both as a businessman and as a political leader and as a patron in supporting minority efforts, and particularly supporting the advancement of the African-American community, really speaks for itself." | | | A new CNN/ORC Poll shows likely voters are split on who they trust more on immigration -- with 49% picking Hillary Clinton and 47% Donald Trump. But on two key policy questions, Trump's position performs much worse: | | Sheriff on Green Party's Jill Stein: Lock her up | | Who had money on Jill Stein being the first 2016 presidential candidate to land behind bars?
It just might happen. A North Dakota sheriff, Morton County's Kyle Kirchmeier, is pressing trespassing charges against Stein after an incident in which she apparently spray painted a bulldozer Tuesday during an anti-oil pipeline environmental protest. Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, face charges of criminal trespass and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. The sheriff's office says it has video of the event.
Stein's response, in a statement her campaign issued: "I hope the North Dakota authorities press charges against the real vandalism taking place at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation: the bulldozing of sacred burial sites and the unleashing of vicious attack dogs."
The long-shot struggle is real: Evan McMullin, the independent conservative candidate, might have accidentally picked a running mate. The placeholder name "Nathan Johnson" is what he's listed in all nine states where he's qualified for the ballot, intending to replace that name with McMullin's eventual running mate. But eight of those nine states say he can't make the switch, per Politico's Daniel Strauss. | | Trump's August fundraising haul: $90 million | | Donald Trump and his joint committees raised $90 million in August, a substantial haul for a candidate late to fundraising but one that still significantly trails Hillary Clinton's enormous August total of $143 million.
What we don't know yet: How much did Trump give himself? How much does he have on hand? And how much goes to his campaign vs. the RNC? | | | New early voting restrictions in North Carolina could dampen the state's African-American voter turnout. ... The Mexican Cabinet official who organized Donald Trump's meeting with the country's President is out. ... The Koch brothers-funded Hispanic group Libre Initiative is getting much more partisan -- advertising for Marco Rubio in its first-ever express advocacy spot. | | | Get the Nightcap, a comprehensive summary of the most important political news, delivered to your inbox daily. | | | | | |
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