News Reporter: The Daily 202: Why McCain is sticking with Trump in Arizona

Why McCain is sticking with Trump in Arizona

John McCain tours Phoenix Firehouse 30 yesterday after receiving an endorsement from the Professional Firefighters of Arizona. The state's primary is today. (Matt York/AP)

THE BIG IDEA: When Donald Trump gets in trouble for something, he likes to claim he was just being sarcastic. That's his way of walking things back. But the Republican nominee for president has never said he was being sarcastic, nor has he expressed genuine remorse, for declaring last summer that Arizona's senior senator is "not a war hero" because he got captured by the Viet Cong. In fact, when asked about it, Trump's typical response has been to accuse McCain of failing veterans while in office.

As Trump claimed dubious deferments and cavorted with models at glitzy Manhattan clubs, McCain was tortured in the Hanoi Hilton. Then he had to learn how to walk again. Yet, for the next 10 weeks, these men's fates are closely, if not inextricably, linked.

-- "Trump and Clinton are essentially running even in Arizona," John McCain's pollster, Bill McInturff, tells my colleague Paul Kane.

McCain is the favorite to win reelection, but he's got a tough fight on his hands.

Today he must fend off a primary challenge from tea partier Kelli Ward, a state senator who supported Trump, has embraced his style and has gotten late financial backing from billionaire Trump donor Robert Mercer.

Then he faces Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a moderate who hopes to capitalize on the growing Latino population and ride a wave of anger at Trump—who literally launched his campaign by declaring that "many" Mexican immigrants are rapists, drug dealers and murderers. (A coalition is working to register at least 75,000 new Hispanic voters by November…)

A CNN poll last week showed McCain up 13 points, but McCain's own team discounts this number. They think he's probably only up in the single digits, and they worry that if Trump loses Arizona, there's a not insignificant chance McCain will get caught up in that wave.

McCain carried his home state by eight points in 2008 and won reelection two years later by 24 points. Mitt Romney beat Barack Obama in Arizona by nine points four years ago.

But the state is changing. As McCain himself put it at an April fundraiser: "If Donald Trump is at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona, with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote, no doubt that this may be the race of my life."

Trump, for his part, recognizes that he has a problem on his hands in the Grand Canyon State. He is coming to the state tomorrow, in the wake of the primary, to deliver what's being billed as a major immigration policy speech.

This is the look Trump got on his face when questioned about whether he'd apologize to McCain last July in South Carolina. (Stephen B. Morton/AP)

-- So why is McCain supporting and defending Trump?

He needs Trump supporters in the primary. Remember, Donald beat Ted Cruz by 22 points in Arizona.

Pundits speculate that McCain will dump Trump after today, but the senator insists that's not the case.

He still needs these Trump voters in the general, and he'd look insincere and conniving if he dumped Trump after sticking with him for months.

McCain also believes that enough independents and some Latinos recognize how distinct he is from Trump. It's not like he hasn't been willing to make his differences of opinion known, especially after Trump went after the Gold Star parents who challenged him at the Democratic convention. That CNN poll that had McCain up 13 points showed him getting 28 percent of Hillary Clinton's supporters.

Last but not least, he's been in Trump's shoes. Junior Sen. Jeff Flake says McCain's experience as the 2008 presidential nominee makes him a lot more reluctant to abandon Trump. He remembers very clearly what a gut punch it was when Colin Powell came out for Obama that October. And he has not forgetten the members of his own party who he feels cowardly left him alone to lose on the electoral battlefield, including people like Ken Duberstein, Larry Pressler and some of the Goldwaters. Don't discount this factor.

-- McCain, who turned 80 yesterday, has always been a man in the arena. He wants to stay that way. In an interview with The Post, he keeps the door open to running for a seventh term in 2022, when he will have served in Congress for 40 of his 86 years. "I don't know," he told P.K. "Frankly, I hadn't thought about it much." (Both Kirkpatrick and Ward advocate for term limits in their stump speeches.)

-- Another fascinating angle – McCain has reinvented himself as the guy who can bring home the bacon: "It's a bit jarring to hear McCain say that one of his main reasons for running again is realizing 'the things I can do for Arizona,'" writes Kane, who has been following him closely for years. "In his earlier incarnation, he helped lead the fight to banish earmarks from legislative existence, routinely calling out colleagues for using their influence over federal dollars to win votes back home." Now he talks about how he has the juice to protect the state's water rights. Talking to local mayors in Scottsdale on the eve of the primary, he rattles off stuff he could deliver if given six more years: thinning the forests up north to prevent fires hampering the water supply; keeping federal funds flowing for a road project in Pima County; helping Raytheon Missile Systems expand; new copper mines in Superior; boosting fish hatcheries in Mohave County; etc.

-- There are also a bunch of significant primaries in Florida today. Court-ordered redistricting, combined with retirements, means huge turnover in the Sunshine State's House delegation. "Of Florida's 27 House seats, at least seven will be filled by new faces in January, and as many as 15 could reasonably see turnover," Mike DeBonis notes in a curtain-raiser. "Until Nov. 8, no day will be more crucial than today in shaping the next Congress."

-- In Florida's Senate race, incumbent Marco Rubio is expected to handily win the GOP primary and Rep. Patrick Murphy is likely to beat Alan Grayson for the Democratic nomination. Rubio is then the favorite in November.

-- These are the five most exciting Florida primaries to watch tonight:

Tim Canova, the Bernie Sanders-backed challenger to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is expected to lose. The question is the margin.
Alan Grayson's wife is seeking to replace her husband (who is running for Senate). She is battling Grayson's former chief of staff!
Incumbent Democrat Corrine Brown is trying to overcome the twin obstacles of a major redistricting and a 22-count federal indictment.
In the Naples-area district that opened with Curt Clawson's retirement, Francis Rooney, former U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and a major GOP fundraiser, appears to have the upper hand over Chauncey Goss, son of former congressman and CIA director Porter Goss; and Dan Bongino, an ex-Secret Service agent who twice failed in Maryland congressional bids.
In the redrawn 2nd district, surgeon Neal Dunn and lawyer Mary Thomas have clashed over who had closer ties to Charlie Crist back when he was a Republican.

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:

(Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)

-- Hope for a cure: Scientists have discovered three existing drugs — used for cancer, hepatitis C and for parasitic infections — that they say appear promising against the Zika virus. "The experiments were conducted only in lab-grown human cells in petri dishes, but the results were dramatic," Ariana Eunjung Cha reports. "Zika is so devastating that the damage it does has been thought to be irreversible. But the researchers said some of the compounds that the group tested not only allowed cells to live longer in the face of infection — but also in some cases fully recover from them. The news [which comes in Nature Medicine] is exciting but only a very preliminary step toward a treatment. The researchers will have to test the drugs in animal models to see if they can replicate the results, and if these tests are successful, they will have to start the long process of trying to test the drugs' effectiveness in humans."

Vladimir Putin travels by helicopter over the weekend. (Alexey Druzhinian/AFP/Getty Images)

-- More meddling: The FBI alerted Arizona election officials back in JUNE that RUSSIAN HACKERS had breached the state's voter registration system. Arizona officials were forced to close down the system for a week, but hackers apparently only stole the user name and password of one elections official. In Illinois, the breach was more widespread (and it's unclear which entity was responsible) but still limited to a small percentage of voter records. (Ellen Nakashima)

Harry Reid asked the FBI to investigate whether Russia is trying to influence the outcome of the U.S. elections. In a Monday letter to Jim Comey, the Senate majority leader said Russian meddling is much more extensive than widely known and may include the "intent to falsify election results." (New York Times)
Kremlin-backed hackers are also targeting Russia-focused think tanks in D.C. ( Defense One)

Maine Gov. Paul LePage left an obscenity-laced voicemail for Democratic state Rep. Drew Gattine, challenging him to "prove that I'm a racist."

GET SMART FAST:

Pressure is growing on Maine Gov. Paul LePage after a Republican state senator said she's open to censuring him. Some Democratic lawmakers are pushing for impeachment after a string of racially-insensitive comments. The governor left a vulgar voicemail for a Democratic representative after hearing that he'd been called a racist. (Portland Press-Herald)
The Justice Department public corruption unit will decide whether Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio should face criminal contempt-of-court charges, according to a document filed in U.S. District Court. A federal judge ruled that the Trump surrogate and three of his aides intentionally ignored federal orders to stop racially profiling Latinos at traffic stops and in "saturation patrols" of predominantly Latino neighborhoods. So he referred him to be prosecuted. (Amy Wang)
DHS is considering a ban on private companies running immigration detention facilities. Secretary Jeh Johnson ordered a three-month review. A decision not to use them would mark a major change in immigration policy. (Chico Harlan)
The European Union is expected to announce a major ruling against Apple today in its tax battle with the Irish government, with big implications for how international businesses pay taxes. The tech giant will be asked to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes. (New York Times)
EpiPen maker Mylan announced that it will introduce a generic version of the lifesaving allergy injection at half the price of the brand-name product. The generic, which the company said will be launched "in several weeks," will carry a list price of $300 for a two-pack carton. That is half the list price for the branded product, which costs $608 for a two-pack, but it is still nearly $40 more than the price three years ago. ( Carolyn Johnson)
That's not going to stop Congress from pursuing this. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has formally launched an investigation into the drugmaker. (Catherine Ho)
One woman was killed and four others injured after a truck carrying Takata airbag parts exploded on a Texas road last week. The accident highlighted the powerful nature of the explosives used to activate the airbags in the event of a car crash. The airbags -- and the material used to make them -- are at the center of the largest auto recall in U.S. history. (New York Times)
Turkey's foreign minister warned U.S.-backed Kurds to retreat from their position in northern Syria as Syrian rebels -- also supported by the United States -- pushed forward against the Kurds. The Pentagon warned both U.S. allies to stop fighting each other and focus on taking down the Islamic State. (Sudarsan Raghavan)
A car driven by a suicide bomber rammed the gates of the Chinese embassy in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, and exploded, killing the driver and injuring three others. The Mitsubishi Delica broke through the embassy gate and got about 50 meters in before bursting into flames. (Emily Rauhala)
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff made an impassioned speech to lawmakers during her impeachment trial, which had been postponed until after the Rio Olympics. Rousseff characterized the attempt to remove her from office for breaking budget rules as a coup; 54 of 81 senators need to vote to impeach her, which is considered likely. (Marina Lopez and Dom Phillips)
Rep. Cresent Hardy (R-Nev.) suffered a "minor" heart attack, and he's in a Las Vegas hospital. (Review-Journal)
The dictator who runs Uzbekistan suffered a stroke and is in intensive care. Islam Karimov, 78, is the former Communist Party leader and four-term president of the Central Asian country. (Andrew Roth)
The New Orleans police department is training officers to be "psychologically prepared" to intervene if they see another officer about to engage in unethical behavior. The program has its roots in the work of former University of Massachusetts psychology professor Ervin Straub, whose family was rescued from the Nazis by Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg during World War II. (New York Times)
Brock Turner, the former Stanford swimmer convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious and intoxicated woman in 2015, is expected to be released from jail this Friday, after serving only half of his six-month sentence. (San Francisco Chronicle)
John Lennon's killer will remain behind bars after being denied parole for the ninth time. (CBS)
A man from Montreal was arrested for throwing a razor blade over a barrier at the White House. He was charged with carrying a dangerous knife and weapon. (Dana Hedgepeth)
Two measures to allow Colorado communities to ban hydraulic fracturing failed to garner enough voter support to make the fall ballot, the most high-profile defeat to date for groups aiming to curtail the practice. Supporters fell short of gathering the 98,500 signatures each initiative needed. (Wall Street Journal)
The chemical known as BPA, commonly found in food containers and water bottles, is now being implicated in making female turtles behave like males. That could result in the ultimate decline of the turtle population. (CBS News)
A new survey by the American Academy of Pediatrics shows more parents are refusing vaccines for their children. In 2006, 75 percent of pediatricians had encountered parents who refused vaccines. Now it is up to 87 percent. ( Ariana Eunjung Cha)
Heads up if you're vacationing in the Outer Banks: North Carolina may feel the effects of a tropical storm on its coast over the next 24 hours, with heavy rain, wind and high surf. (Angela Fritz)

Huma stood by her man in 2013. But she's finally had enough. (Eric Thayer/Reuters)

THE DAILY HILLARY:

-- Huma Abedin, Clinton's longtime senior aide, announced that she will separate from husband Anthony Weiner after the New York Post revealed that he had been illicitly texting with yet another woman. He even disgustingly sent her a lewd photo with the couple's 4-year-old child in bed with him.

Photographs from Clinton's campaign stops suggest she has not worn a wedding ring for some weeks. "It is not a coincidence that this was announced this morning, but it has been in the works for a while," a close friend of Abedin's told Anne Gearan. "They have been going their separate ways for some time now."
Huma has escaped to the Hamptons with her son in search of privacy. She plans to remain there, out of public view, for a short period. She does not plan to take a formal leave from the campaign.
Weiner deleted his Twitter account yesterday morning.
In addition to a wife, he also lost two jobs/income streams yesterday: NY1, the 24-hour New York news channel, said he is on "indefinite leave from the station." He has been a contributor and frequent guest. The New York Daily News separately said it will stop running his columns.

-- The New York Post just published a fresh batch of Weiner texts in which he told his pen pal that his marriage was "busted" and he did not know whether he'd get to to move to D.C. when Clinton becomes president. "During their very first exchange, on Jan. 23, 2015, Weiner asked the woman via a Twitter direct message about her 'status.' 'Divorced after 16 years,' the 40-something answered. 'I kinda envy that path now that I have a 3 yr old and a busted marriage,' Weiner, 51, replied. Then, on Nov. 17, 2015, the two engaged in a revealing discussion about Weiner's future, with the woman, who was based out West, asking whether he would be 'moving to DC' if Clinton becomes president. 'That is a very big Q. Honestly don't know what she will do,' Weiner said. 'I doubt I am under any circumstances.'"

-- In a tick tock, the New York Times says the incident will "remind voters" of Hillary's decision to stay with Bill after Monica. "It was supposed to be a quiet, late-summer weekend on the exclusive shores of the Hamptons. But on Sunday, the closest aide to Clinton received devastating news ... After accompanying Mrs. Clinton to fund-raisers, Ms. Abedin learned from her husband (that the story was about to post.) ... [Clinton learned about the story from Abedin] and offered support. ... Mrs. Clinton strongly supported Ms. Abedin when Mr. Weiner's sexually charged text messages came to light in 2011, a year into their marriage, and again in 2013, when Mr. Weiner was running for mayor of New York. Friends of Mrs. Clinton said that she had spoken to Ms. Abedin at length about the marriage and that she supported Ms. Abedin's decision to remain with Mr. Weiner and work on their relationship."

-- Trump quickly seized on the news, claiming (without evidence) that Weiner's online habits were a national security problem. "Huma is making a very wise decision," Trump said in a statement. "I know Anthony Weiner well, and she will be far better off without him. I only worry for the country in that Hillary Clinton was careless and negligent in allowing Weiner to have such close proximity to highly classified information. Who knows what he learned and who he told? It's just another example of Hillary Clinton's bad judgment. It is possible that our country and its security have been greatly compromised by this."

-- Bigger picture, Huma is one of the campaign's biggest lightning rods: "Abedin has been tangled in several ethical and legal controversies involving Clinton and the Clinton family charity," Anne Gearan notes. "She drew criticism and allegations of impropriety for outside employment while she was a staffer at the State Department. The aide was one of a tiny number of people who had email accounts on (the) private server … and was among those interviewed by the FBI in its investigation … Emails sent or received by Abedin … also show she was a point of contact for Clinton Foundation staffers seeking access or favors at the State Department. … Abedin caused some grumbling among Clinton loyalists … by canvassing for donations during Weiner's mayoral run, and there are quiet complaints around the Clintons' vast network … that she holds too much power over the candidate's time and decision-making. … Abedin, 41, has worked for Clinton since she was first lady."

How it's playing in the Big Apple:

The New York Post quotes a bunch of experts saying Child Services should investigate the former congressman and failed mayoral candidate:

-- Clinton's advisers are talking to the ghostwriter of Trump's "The Art of the Deal," seeking insights about his deepest insecurities as they devise strategies to needle him at the first debate, Patrick Healy and Matt Flegenheimer report on the front page of today's New York Times. "Her team is also getting advice from psychology experts to help create a personality profile of Mr. Trump to gauge how he may respond to attacks and deal with a woman as his sole adversary on the debate stage. They are undertaking a forensic-style analysis of Mr. Trump's performances in the Republican primary debates, cataloging strengths and weaknesses as well as trigger points that caused him to lash out in less-than-presidential ways. … Mrs. Clinton, a deeply competitive debater, wants to crush Mr. Trump on live television, but not with an avalanche of policy details; she is searching for ways to bait him into making blunders."

-- Hillary even solicited debate advice from donors during a Hamptons fundraiser yesterday afternoon. "I'm running against someone who will say or do anything ... and who knows what that might be," she said, per Abby Phillip. "I do not know which Donald Trump will show up." HRC added that she does know know if Trump will try to seem presidential "to convey a gravity" or to seek to "score some points."

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) celebrates at the Capitol after a Texas appellate court overturned his conviction for allegedly scheming to influence Texas state elections with corporate money in 2013. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

-- Mother Jones pokes several holes in one of Hillary's favorite stories about how she can reach across the aisle to work with Republicans, even arch-rivals like Tom DeLay. "By the campaign's telling, the pair first worked together on an adoption bill that became law in 1997 and helped thousands of foster children find loving homes. Clinton has been telling the story on the stump for more than a decade now. ... 'I don't remember ever working with her' on that bill, [the former House majority leader told Mother Jones ... Much in these stories is wrong, starting with the fact that DeLay was not an 'adoptive parent,' a small but recurring error by the Clintons that nettles him ... while Clinton may have worked on the 1997 adoption bill, DeLay did not. 'I remember the bill,' he says. 'It wasn't mine.'"

-- Tim Kaine has flip-flopped on offshore drilling. "Kaine, who pushed for opening waters off the Virginia coast to drilling in 2013, opposes it now," PolitiFact notes. "His spokeswoman says he has come to that conclusion on the basis of additional information from Pentagon officials." It also just so happens to put him in line with his running mate…

-- The pro-Hillary super PAC Priorities USA pledged $3.5 million to help turn out minority voters in November. The money will go to the Center for Community Change Action and Immigrant Voters Win, focused on boosting turnout among Latino and Asian Americans in Florida, Nevada and Colorado; as well as BlackPAC, aimed at turning out black millenials. (Vanessa Williams)

-- Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett Packard and a top Republican fund-raiser, will make her debut as a surrogate for Clinton today in Denver. "Whitman will meet with Colorado business leaders for breakfast at the Crawford Hotel to discuss Clinton's jobs plan, which includes investing in technology companies and helping small businesses succeed," the Denver Post previews.

Trump in Des Moines on Saturday (Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

THE DAILY DONALD:

-- Amateur hour: Trump's new TV ad cites two contradictory tax plans -- one that Trump has explicitly ruled out and another that he has yet to endorse -- raising more questions about what policies the GOP nominee actually supports. NBC News's Benjy Sarlin looked at the small print in the 30-second spot: "For the ad's claim that 'working families get tax relief,' it refers viewers not to an analysis of Trump's own tax proposals, but to a white paper by House GOP leaders about their own tax reform plan. Similarly, the next section promising 'millions of new jobs' directs viewers to an analysis of the House GOP plan by the conservative Tax Foundation. Trump has not endorsed the House GOP plan outright, but his new proposal, announced earlier this month, has some similarities..."

"Things get even more confusing as the commercial continues. The ad's next two claims that Trump would make 'wages go up' and 'small businesses thrive' refer to his old tax plan from last year, which had drastically different rates, including a 0% bracket at the bottom and a top rate of 25%. The on-screen citation directs viewers to a Tax Foundation analysis of that now-defunct proposal from September 2015. Trump erased his old plan from his website shortly before he announced his new one in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club earlier this month."

-- This might explain why these kinds of mistakes happen almost every day: "Half of the Trump campaign's 10 highest-paid consultants over the course of the election had never previously worked for a presidential campaign," the Wall Street Journal's Rebecca Ballhaus and Beth Reinhard tabulate. "Just one of Clinton's top 10 consultants had no presidential campaign experience … Stuart Jolly, whose consulting firm has been paid $126,000 by the Trump campaign to hire staff in targeted states, said he didn't necessarily look for veterans of prior campaigns. 'Trump wants people with fire in the belly. Loyalty is right up there at the top,' said Mr. Jolly, who now works for a pro-Trump super PAC. Added Don McGahn, general counsel for Mr. Trump's campaign: 'Fresh thinking is good.'" -- Trump campaign CEO Stephen Bannon reached out to pollster Patrick Caddell, a Democrat who worked for Jimmy Carter but is best known as a cable talking head. Bannon and Caddell met at a hotel bar in New York on Saturday night, Robert Costa scoops, but they've been in touch since Bannon joined the campaign. "Bannon sees Caddell, 66, as a seasoned hand and fellow anti-establishment agitator and has mulled bringing him onto the campaign. ... Breitbart has been prominently featuring Caddell's political analysis."

-- The campaign has also hired Gov. Rick Scott's 2010 campaign manager to shore up his Florida operation. Sean Sullivan scoops that Susie Wiles will also be a communications adviser for battleground states. She has been a co-chair of his Florida campaign.

-- Trump still talks with Corey Lewandowski almost every day, and the paid CNN contributor still gets to wear a Secret Service hard pin when he goes to Trump events. From ABC News's John Santucci: "Lewandowski had been fired in late-June after serving as Trump's first campaign manager. Lewandowski was escorted that day from Trump Tower in New York by the very security detail that had helped him check for hidden listening devices in the campaign office weeks earlier. Now, a few weeks and a lucrative cable network contract later, Lewandowski is back in the fold. Multiple campaign sources describe Lewandowski's relationship with the candidate as 'stronger than ever.' 'They talk almost every day,' one senior level campaign staffer said … 'It's a direct order: If Corey is at a rally, you give him an 'S' pin,' one staffer said, referring to the pins distributed by the Secret Service recognizing a person who is cleared to enter restricted areas."

Mitt Romney jokingly holds onto the bag of campaign strategist Stuart Stevens as they board their plane in Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 2, 2012. (Charles Dharapak/AP)

-- Stuart Stevens, the chief strategist for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, met privately yesterday morning in Washington with independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his advisers. The hour-long conversation was informal, with Stevens offering his encouragement and advice to McMullin, who announced his long-shot candidacy earlier this month. (Robert Costa)

Former KKK leader David Duke campaigns for the U.S. Senate.

-- Trump disavowed a robo-call from David Duke, which urged voters to "stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke, for the U.S. Senate." Duke is a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. In April, Trump refused to reject praise from Duke about his candidacy. But the response to the robo-calls this time seemed clear enough: "Mr. Trump has continued to denounce David Duke and any group or individual associated with a message of hate," the Trump campaign said in a statement. "There is no place for this in the Republican Party or our country. We have no knowledge of these calls or any related activities, but strongly condemn and disavow." (Politico)

-- Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani blasted Beyonce for her performance at MTV's music video awards, calling her message against police brutality "a shame." The ex-NYC mayor was angry that Beyonce's dancers acted out dying in a number meant to address police shootings. "I saved more black lives than any of those people you saw on stage by reducing crime and particularly homicide by 75 percent," he said on "Fox and Friends."

-- Indiana Gov. Mike Pence has "awarded millions of dollars in economic development incentives to companies that have moved production to foreign countries such as Mexico and China," the Indianapolis Star reports. "Those production shifts have cost thousands of Hoosiers their jobs during Pence's time in office." An IndyStar analysis found that "$24 million in incentives to 10 companies that sent work to foreign countries. Of those incentives, nearly $8.7 million has been paid out so far. During that same period, those companies terminated or announced layoffs of more than 3,800 Hoosier workers while shifting production to other countries, where labor tends to be far less expensive." Some of the incentives were "clawed back," returning $746,000 to taxpayers.

TRUMP REVEALED:

-- The Post this morning is making public a sizable portion of the raw reporting used in the development of "Trump Revealed," a biography of the Republican nominee published by Scribner last week. Drawn from the work of more than two dozen Post journalists, the archive contains about 400 documents, comprising thousands of pages of interview transcripts, court filings, financial reports, immigration records and other material. Interviews conducted off the record were removed, as was other material The Post did not have the right to publish. The archive is searchable and navigable in a number of ways. It is meant as a resource for other journalists and a trove to explore for our many readers fascinated by original documents. (If you have not yet, you really should order or download the excellent book on Amazon.)

Seriously, one of the most frustrating things about being a reporter is how much interesting stuff you have to constantly leave in your notebook. What's so neat about this database is that you can check out the raw material for yourself.

-- For example, our new archive includes the complete file on the race bias case, more than 1,000 pages. Trump had hired Roy Cohn to represent him and didn't want to settle. But he finally does settle. At one point, Trump is complaining about the cost of putting advertisements in the newspapers that would reach out to potential black applicants for apartments. He complained about the cost, but he eventually had to place the ads. Fred Trump then complains that having to put "equal housing opportunity" in the ads is "discriminatory against us." This is from pages 748-9 of U.S. v Trump case file:

Donald: "This advertising, while it's, you know-- I imagine it's necessary from the Government's standpoint, is a very expensive thing for us. It is really onerous. Each sentence we put in is going to cost us a lot of money over the period we are supposed to do it."
Fred: "I have the New York Times today. There are 2,100 ads. We have about ten ads in here. Or eight ads. We would have to, after signing this decree, put 'equal housing opportunity' underneath each of our ten ads. They are only small ads, like one-inch … but we would have ten and we would have to put in this ten different places. … There isn't one other advertiser in the New York Times who does that. I think it is discriminatory against us; it is expensive and it makes us appear foolish and we will be the laughing stock of the real estate industry."

-- You can also read the full transcripts of all the Post reporter interviews with Donald. The June 9 interview is interesting in fill, for instance. Michael Kranish asked Trump about being a political chameleon, noting that has changed his party registration a half dozen times or so. "Well, I was thinking about running at different points under different parties," he replied. "I was a Democrat. … I went to the Reform Party and then ultimately I went back to the Republican Party. … [The Reform Party] was looking like it was good but after I checked it out, it wasn't so good. And then I changed it back to Republican. But I was thinking about running under the Reform Party. A little bit like Ross Perot did."

-- Other cool things you may want to check out: Thousands of pages of Casino Control Commission records on Trump casinos, Trump's military records, Trump ancestral records, Fred Trump arrest documents and records for Trump Mortgage or Trump University. It's all here.

Ted Strickland Columbus (Jay LaPrete/AP)

THE BATTLE FOR CONGRESS:

-- Amid questions about the strength of Ted Strickland's campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee canceled about $500,000 worth of advertising planned for Ohio. From Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane: The independent expenditure arm "had reserved advertising time on Ohio TV stations starting Sept. 13. Now, according to political ad trackers in both parties, the national Democrats won't launch that campaign until Sept. 22. ... Strickland campaign spokesman David Bergstein said the delay represented a shift in tactics, not a vote of no confidence from party honchos in Washington." Strickland has been pummeled by Sen. Rob Portman and his allies with ads disparaging his tenure as governor.

-- The Republican Senate candidate in Indiana declined repeatedly yesterday to say whether he's comfortable with Trump serving as commander in chief and possessing the nation's nuclear launch codes. From the Associated Press's Erica Werner: "Rep. Todd Young, a former Marine who's said he intends to back the GOP nominee, avoided directly answering the question several times in an interview … Young is running in a red state that Trump is all but certain to win, and whose governor, Mike Pence, is Trump's vice presidential running mate. Although Young has said he supports the GOP nominee, he's avoided appearing with Trump or talking much about him."

-- The main GOP super PAC focused on holding the Senate just reserved $4 million in airtime to drive up the negatives of Evan Bayh, Young's opponent. "That's on top of the $1 million the Senate Leadership Fund has already spent … and the roughly $800,000 the group spent to help Young win the GOP primary," the Indianapolis Star notes. And the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is also up with a new attack ad against the former senator, who is trying to make a comeback.

-- Stu Rothenberg mocks The Donald's "empty boasts" to put blue states like Connecticut, Oregon, New York and New Jersey in play. "The presidential electoral map shows Trump losing key swing states and even barely holding on in some GOP bastions. Given the current numbers, the major question is the size of Clinton's electoral vote victory," he writes in today's column. "State polls now show that the Midwest Rust Belt strategy of Trump has gone nowhere. Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin are not currently in play."

SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ:

This is how the Drudge Report is covering today's Arizona primary:

The senator's daughter responded:

The Trump campaign sent out a statement from Pastor Mark Burns on Sunday night touting Trump's outreach to African Americans. A few hours later, Burns posted a picture on Twitter that depicted Clinton in black-face. The Trump surrogate subsequently deleted the tweet and apologized under pressure. (Rebecca Sinderbrand has more.)

Burns also retweeted this doctored image of the Democratic nominee in dredlocks, which he has not deleted or apologized for:

This is what you see when trying to find Weiner on Twitter (don't worry, we're not judging!):

Here's some of the reaction to Weiner's idiocy and Abedin's announcement:

Many mocked Trump for advising Abedin to leave Weiner, considering that he does not have a stellar record when it comes to being faithful to one's spouse...

Some objected to the idea that Abedin was responsible for her husband's misbehavior:

"Morning" Joe Scarborough dubs Trump "AmnestyDon" for his shifting immigration stance:

Rick Perry seems to have found a new vocation:

From the political editor of the Dallas Morning News:

Rush Limbaugh tells a caller he never took Trump's hardline immigration stance seriously:

This Buzzfeed editor wonders whether to skip the new POTUS-Michelle rom-com:

Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) is on a motorcycle tour across his state:

A MESSAGE FROM ALLSTATE
Millennials are taking advantage of new opportunities to share political and social views.

DAYBOOK:

On the trail: Trump speaks late in Everett, Washington. Pence is in Georgia and North Carolina. Kaine is in Erie and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

At the White House: Obama meets with HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell at 2 p.m. in the Oval Office. Josh Earnest briefs at 11:15. Joe Biden is also in the White House.

Congress is in recess for one more week.

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Maybe he should find a country that works better for him," Trump said of San Francisco Quarterback Colin Kaepernick's refusal to stand during the national anthem. "Let him try. It won't happen."

FUN READ FROM ELSEWHERE:

-- Bloomberg, "Massachusetts Could Swap Time Zones for Later Winter Sunsets," by Tom Moroney and Anne Mostue: "Of all the major cities on America's eastern seaboard, none is as far north or east as Boston. Which creates a slight problem in winter: The sun sets really early. As in, for most of December, well before happy hour. The state, it appears, might do something about that. Governor Charles Baker recently signed a bill ordering a study of the wisdom of moving its 10,555 square miles into a time zone that would brighten the end of the day in the months the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun. The idea came from Quincy resident Tom Emswiler, who worries Massachusetts is losing college grads to sunnier climes. On Dec. 9 last year, the sun went down in Boston at 4:11 p.m., only 22 minutes later than in the Yukon. … Emswiler says Massachusetts should throw in with those who live in the Atlantic Time Zone, which covers eastern Canada, the Caribbean and parts of South America, and do away with changing the clocks in spring and summer. From November through March, the sun would set an hour later than it does now."

NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:

-- The final two days of August keep the summer sizzle going strong with above normal temperatures and moderate to high humidity, the Capital Weather Gang forecasts. "A big cold front arrives Thursday and promises a decrease in heat and humidity just in time for the holiday. Picture sunny skies, comfortable highs and cool nights, and you'll be visualizing your Labor Day weekend." For today: "Mostly sunny skies offer a general repeat of yesterday, but our humidity is slightly lower. By the time we hit the peak temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s this afternoon, heat indices may 'only' reach the middle 90s. It's still on the uncomfortable side for some of us."

-- The Nationals beat the Phillies 4-0.

-- With severe weather expected to hit the Tampa area Thursday, the Buccaneers announced that their preseason game against the Redskins will now take place a day earlier. The game will kick off at 8 p.m. Wednesday. (Mike Jones)

-- Redskins Coach Jay Gruden said his team will continue to "stand up and give respect" during the national anthem, citing the team's close relationship with the military. Gruden said he hadn't yet discussed Colin Kaepernick's controversial anthem protest with his team, but that he might bring it up at a scheduled meeting on Tuesday. ( Dan Steinberg)

-- The Virginia governor's race just got more crowded. State Sen. Frank Wagner is running for governor in 2017, joining three other Republicans vying for their party's nomination. Wagner (Virginia Beach) announced that he would run the day after the state party decided it would choose its candidate in a state-run primary. The others are former RNC chair Ed Gillespie, Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) and Trump state chairman Corey A. Stewart. ( Jenna Portnoy)

-- A tree fell on a car on Beach Drive NW in Rock Creek Park during rush hour last night, trapping a man inside, and police corralled about 30 onlookers to lift the tree off. This is near the Duke Ellington Bridge (aka Calvert Street Bridge). The man inside was transported to the hospital with serious injuries. (Martin Weil)

-- D.C. isn't working: The District's 911 emergency line went down for 90 minutes beginning late Saturday because a contractor trying to shut off an alarm accidentally hit a master turnoff switch. The contractor, working through a company hired by the Department of General Services, is no longer working at the Office of Unified Communications. The outage lasted from about 11:35 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. A backup center should have immediately begun accepting all 911 calls, but that system also failed. (Peter Hermann and Victoria St. Martin)

-- Three men who D.C. police say opened fire at 3 a.m. yesterday on a group of people in a parking lot in Cleveland Park were arrested after a downtown car chase. "No one was struck by the gunfire, but police said several bullet casings were found scattered in the 2500 block of Porter Street NW," per Peter Hermann. "Police said they later recovered three weapons — a .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol, a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol and a 7.62 caliber rifle. … The shooting occurred about one-third of a mile from the Cleveland Park Metro station and a line of shops along busy Connecticut Avenue."

-- A man broke into a residence around 6 a.m. Sunday near RRK stadium, sexually assaulted the occupant at gunpoint and left with some of the victim's property. The incident occurred in the 1200 block of Massachusetts Avenue SE. Police said the male victim awoke to find another man in his house. (Peter Hermann)

VIDEOS OF THE DAY:

Actor Gene Wilder passed away at 83 from complications due to Alzheimer's disease. Here's a 3-minute walk down memory lane, starting with "Willy Wonka":

No one could make us laugh like Gene Wilder

Every election cycle produces a slew of new ads that try to make voting appeal to younger people. Some ads work, while others are pretty hard to watch. Here's a 90-second mash-up by our Erin Patrick O'Connor:

Politicians and special interests will stop at nothing to make voting look cool

Christopher Jackson, who plays George Washington in the Broadway musical "Hamilton," freestyle rapped about the election on Bloomberg Politics' "With all due respect." Two minutes: