 Elizabeth Warren waves to the crowd after finishing her speech Thursday night at the American Constitution Society convention in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass) THE BIG IDEA: Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton will meet privately later this morning, according to two knowledgeable Democrats. The 10:45 a.m. sit-down at Clinton's home on Whitehaven St. in Northwest Washington, coming just hours after the Massachusetts senator formally endorsed the presumptive Democratic nominee, will fuel speculation about her prospects as a potential vice presidential pick. The women have had several conversations over the past month, including one that lasted around half an hour, sources tell The Daily 202. The conversations were broad and focused on large topics and issues, rather than the nitty-gritty of the campaign. Their staffs have been engaged in more tactical discussions. There were three big endorsements that could have meaningfully helped Clinton wrap up the nomination battle: Warren, President Obama and Vice President Biden. Clinton secured all three yesterday. HRC is expected to chat with Warren about how she might embrace pieces of the progressive agenda that allowed Bernie Sanders to win more than 20 states. The two women do not have a particularly deep relationship, but that could change. Our sources say Warren is very clearly intrigued by the possibility of becoming vice president, but Friday's meeting is not necessarily some kind of interview for the job. Warren told Rachel Maddow on MSNBC last night that she is not currently being vetted. Today's session could also be a way for Clinton to signal to the progressive wing of the party that she still cares about their priorities even after vanquishing Sanders. Here is how Donald Trump responded: WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING: -- Clinton has inched above Trump in new polling. She edges out the Republican 42 percent to 39 percent in a Fox News survey. Though her lead is within the poll's margin of error, it reflects a statistically significant dip for Trump, who has fallen six points since the last poll and 11 points among independent voters. - The floor: Exactly 57 percent of supporters for both Trump and Clinton say there is "no chance at all" that they would change their mind, no matter what their favored candidate did.
- Not good for Clinton: A majority of voters think the former secretary of state is lying about how she handled her email server, with 60 percent saying they believe she was dishonest, and 57 percent saying her private email use posed a national security risk.
-- A series of emails involving planned drone strikes in Pakistan were forwarded to Clinton's private email during her tenure as Secretary of State, and are "a key part" of the ongoing FBI investigation into her server," The Wall Street Journal reports. Officials said the messages were vaguely worded and did not mention "CIA," "drones," or details about militant targets. GET SMART FAST: - The Obama administration has granted American forces in Afghanistan new authorities to assist Afghan troops, signaling a return to broader military action against the Taliban and ramping up U.S. involvement in the country's ongoing war. (Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Missy Ryan)
- The World Health Organization recommended that people living in Zika-affected countries consider delaying pregnancy to avoid having children with serious brain damage. Experts say the announcement is likely to have "enormous" social implications. (Lena H. Sun)
- The House passed a long-awaited Puerto Rico rescue bill, "overwhelmingly" voting to advance legislation that allows the country to restructure its $72 billion debt. The legislation comes just before a critical July 1 deadline for the beleaguered country, and has been sent to the Senate for approval. (Mike DeBonis)
- A one-star Navy admiral pleaded guilty for lying to prosecutors in the "Fat Leonard" corruption scandal, making him one of only a handful of admirals who have faced criminal prosecution for his actions while in uniform. (Craig Whitlock)
- The Ninth Circuit court ruled that the Second Amendment does not guarantee the right of gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public areas, upholding a 2014 law that imposes restrictions on concealed carry permits in California. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)
- Former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, sentenced to just six months in prison after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, has been banned for life by USA Swimming. The ban makes Turner ineligible to compete in any sanctioned swimming event, including Olympic trials. (Jeremy Gottlieb)
- Meanwhile, Joe Biden penned an open letter to the Stanford survivor, saying he is "filled with furious anger" after reading her powerful court testimony. "A lot of people failed you," he told her. "I do not know your name … but your words are forever seared on my soul." (Read the full letter on Buzzeed.)
- A Yale basketball player who was expelled on rape charges in February is now suing the university and asking to be reinstated, accusing the school of a "deeply flawed" investigation and claiming the incident in question was consensual. The university dismissed his claims as legally and factually baseless. (Susan Svrluga)
- Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry said he wants to bring back the threat of torture to fight terrorists, stopping short of advocating a return to waterboarding and other outlawed interrogation techniques. (Karoun Demirjian)
- At least 31 people have been killed in a series of Islamic State attacks near Baghdad. Dozens more were injured. (AP)
- Syria gave approval for humanitarian aid convoys to reach all besieged areas by the end of the month, allowing aid to be delivered to more than 17 hotspots throughout the country. U.N. officials stressed that this might only be a temporary permission, however, noting that similar approvals in the past have frequently been rescinded or compromised. (Karen DeYoung)
- The Virginia man who joined ISIS allegedly agreed to be a suicide bomber before getting cold feet and returning to the U.S. to be taken into custody: 26-year-old Mohamad Jamal Khweis purportedly told authorities he agreed to be a suicide bomber and in a safe house where recruits were trained before returning to their home countries to conduct attacks. (ABC News)
- The Supreme Court ruled that judges must recuse themselves from reviewing cases in which they served a "prior significant role," overturning the death penalty of a Pennsylvania man and ordering the case be reheard. (Robert Barnes)
- John Boehner's successor in the House, Warren Davidson, joined the Freedom Caucus, the group of conservative hardliners that helped drive the former Speaker out of office in 2015. (Politico)
- A 63-year-old Alabama man died after police were dispatched to the wrong house, fatally shooting the man when he emerged from his property. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
- Mel Gibson and "Braveheart" screenwriter Randall Wallace announced they are working on a sequel to the "Passion of the Christ" movie focusing on the story of the resurrection of Jesus. "Passion" is the most successful independent film of all time. (The Hollywood Reporter)
- Fox News has replaced Ed Henry on the Hillary beat. The correspondent has been benched since tabloids reported last month he had been carrying on an extramarital affair. (Erik Wemple)
 Donald Trump makes a point as he formally announces his campaign for the Republican nomination at Trump Tower on June 16, 2015. (Reuters/Brendan McDermid/File) -- The Daily 202 debuted one year ago this morning. For the launch, I interviewed several of the leading presidential candidates at the time about what they'd prioritize in their first 100 days – if they won. An adviser to Trump telephoned to say that the businessman was announcing his campaign the following week and would love to be included. I declined his request, explaining that we were only writing about the serious contenders because the field was so big. As Rick Perry, who I did interview for the project, once said: Oops. -- There is so much that we did not see coming on June 10, 2015. The Real Clear Politics polling average put Jeb Bush and Scott Walker at the top of the Republican pack. Based on name recognition from "The Apprentice," Trump pulled 4 percent when he joined the fray. On the Democratic side, a Washington Post/ABC poll conducted the week before the 202 launched found Hillary Clinton pulling 62 percent, with Joe Biden at 14 percent and Bernie Sanders at 10 percent. -- As the nominating contests wrap up and we focus on the five months that remain until Election Day on Nov. 8, it is instructive and important to reflect on the wild roller coaster of the past year. We only learn from our mistakes when we acknowledge them. -- Big picture: I believe we were caught off guard by the populist appeal of Trump and Sanders because we underestimated the potency of various atmospheric forces that were at play, both at home and abroad. It's more complicated than an anti-establishment, anti-Washington mood. We've known that existed for a long time. Here are seven of the forces that were way stronger than we understood at this time last year: 1. Protectionism The Trans-Pacific Partnership was one of the Democratic president's top priorities. Despite labor protests, bipartisan majorities in both chambers gave Obama trade promotion authority a year ago next week. Clinton was on record touting the TPP 45 times as Secretary of State, but with Sanders decrying the agreement, she came out against it while campaigning in Iowa. Free trade has been a central component of Republican orthodoxy for generations, but Trump said deals like NAFTA had destroyed jobs. He touched a nerve, and because it was something the president wanted, suddenly conservatives started referring to the TPP as "ObamaTrade." Traditional Republicans, seeing the rising frustration with the deals, were unwilling to make the case for open markets. Even Sen. Rob Portman, facing a tough reelection in Ohio, came out against the trade deal. And he is the former U.S. Trade Representative! Now, in the best case scenario for the White House, TPP will get through in the lame-duck session. But there's a good chance that it fails. In some ways, trade became a scapegoat for stagnant wages and the loss of manufacturing jobs, but it is also part of a broader a pattern of turning inward. 2. Xenophobia Trump's campaign has been as much about keeping foreigners out – whether calling for a temporary ban on Muslims or a wall to keep out Mexicans – as anything else. And that continues today, as he argues that an Indiana-born judge should not be able to preside over a lawsuit alleging fraud at Trump University because his parents were from Mexico. Trump embraced "America First" as a mantra, but he was not the only one who played on the public's fear of outsiders. The terrorist attacks in Paris last fall heightened concerns that refugees from Syria could be ISIS sympathizers who would create sleeper cells and attack the homeland if allowed entry into the United States. Most Republican governors publicly declared that refugees would not be welcomed into their states, and even some Democrats joined, including New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who thought it would boost her campaign for a U.S. Senate seat. But the xenophobia has been a global trend. Europe has been overwhelmed by the migrant crisis, and even countries like Germany – which at first was welcoming -- have taken hardline policies to keep more refugees out. Far-right parties have benefited in France, Austria and elsewhere from the backlash. Immigration is also a major factor in the push to remove Britain from the European Union in a referendum later this month.  Obama Sanders through the Colonnade for a meeting in the Oval Office yesterday. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images 3. Socialism had shocking resonance. It turned out not to be on the ash heap of history. Sanders, who did not become a Democrat until after he decided to run for president, has for decades called himself a democratic socialist. The conventional wisdom when he got in the race was that a socialist could never get real traction. But it turned out Millenials were too young to understand the Cold War contexts of the term, and they were attracted to the promise of free college. (The vast majority of Bernie supporters were under 45.) Even mainstream folks were so eager to shake up the system, which they felt had failed them, that they embraced the S-word. Sanders, of course, did not become the nominee, but he was an unapologetic proponent of embracing a Denmark-style social welfare system, which is completely at odds with the American ethos. The Clinton campaign grew alarmed when a Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll, just two weeks before Iowa, found that 43 percent of likely caucus-going Democrats described themselves as socialists. "That meant that all Bernie had to do to win the Iowa caucuses, literally, was get 7 percent of everyone else who didn't call themselves a socialist," Jerry Crawford, Clinton's Iowa chairman, told The Post last week. "To me, it's still a miracle that he didn't." In another eye-popping poll, 54 percent of Americans agreed with the statement that "a political revolution might be necessary to redistribute money from the wealthiest Americans to the middle class." Just 30 percent said they disagreed, according to the survey, which was conducted by the Morning Consult for Vox in January. 4. The yearning for authenticity – and the primacy of personality over policy Trump said after losing Iowa that he never fully appreciated the importance of building a ground game. He had a terrible delegate counting operation. He never read briefing books, got up to speed on the issues or built a traditional campaign apparatus. Despite all that, he's the presumptive nominee. Sanders, for his part, struggled to give detailed answers about how exactly he would enact his bold promises. (Remember the disastrous session with the New York Daily News editorial board?) Their supporters did not care. Trump showed the power of good branding. We think of "low energy" Jeb, "Little Marco" and "Lyin' Ted" because he repeated the attacks so often they stuck. And the West Virginia primary results showed Sanders's appeal was about much more than his ideology. He beat Clinton among conservative Democrats. Conservatives also seemed to care little about ideological purity or consistency. Trump got slammed for flip-flopping on everything from abortion and an assault weapons ban to the minimum wages and taxes. Clinton got hit for lurching to the left to beat back the Sanders challenge. Both won anyway. 5. Evolving social mores The backlash to bathroom bills showed how rapidly public opinion on gay rights has shifted. Just days after the 202 debuted, the Supreme Court recognized a national right to gay marriage. But, even then, majorities were uncomfortable with the T part of LGBT. In the past few months, opposing rights for transgender individuals became politically perilous. North Carolina Republicans called a special session to pass a law that would require people to use the bathroom that matched the gender on their birth certificate. People involved in pushing the bill through thought it would gin up social conservatives with relatively small public opposition, but a massive backlash from the business community has turned it into a huge liability for the GOP governor, who might lose reelection in November because of it. Interestingly, in the midst of a GOP primary, both Trump and John Kasich spoke out against that North Carolina law. Ted Cruz attacked Trump hard for that and tried to use it as a wedge to turn out evangelicals ahead of the Indiana primary. The gambit failed. Even many Republican who still oppose gay rights became ambivalent this past year. 6. A bipartisan distaste for money in politics helped create the perception that the system is rigged. This is the fourth election cycle after the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, which opened the floodgates of outside money. After being on the backburner since 2010, it emerged as a major issue. The Beatles were right that money can't buy you love. Bush had a shock-and-awe strategy to win the nomination, and his super PAC Right to Rise raised more than $100 million in the first six months of last year. Not only did the money do no good, but it helped generate a backlash. Some of the biggest cheers at Trump's early rallies came when he talked about how many politicians are bought off by contributions. He played that game as a developer, he explained, and used cash to get elected officials to do his bidding. His commitment to self-funding, which he has since discarded, proved remarkably popular with the rank-and-file. Sanders wound up raising $212,803,370.92 through the end of April, almost all of it in small-dollar contributions, by decrying the outsize influence of billionaires. While Clinton held countless high-dollar fundraisers, Sanders only had a few. Almost all of his money came online. There were several months that he outraised Clinton with this approach. This, in and of itself, became a huge part of his stump speech. "In solidarity," Sanders signed his many fundraising solicitations.  The Donald and Jeb at the Reagan Library debate last September. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
7. The hollowness of the Bush brand made the Republican Party riper for a takeover. Jeb's announcement of his intention to run was greeted with great fanfare by the governing class, and he was treated by some as a frontrunner. His mother hit the trail with him, and George W. Bush headlined a big rally on his behalf in South Carolina. It was not just that the base was ready to turn the page and crown a new generation of leaders. Trump actively attacked the former president, even accusing him of lying to get the country to invade Iraq. And he paid little, or no, political price for it. The tea party movement had grown, in part, from conservative frustration with the spending and bailouts of the Bush years. The Bushes came to represent a bygone Republican Party, even if they had all the money. But 2016 was not a wholesale rejection of dynasties. See: Clinton, Hillary. -- Most importantly, THANK YOU! We are so grateful for such amazing readers. We know how much competition there is for your mindshare every morning, and we're grateful that you welcome us into your inbox. We do our best to be as interesting and insightful as possible. Our goal is for there to be at least one thing every single day that you did not know and are glad to learn, either because it makes you smarter or better at your job or helps make sense of an often confusing world. Elise Viebeck has done a masterful job curating social media since day one. Breanne Deppisch, who joined the team in January, is an exceptionally talented researcher with a knack for finding and excerpting compelling and rich stories. Rachel Van Dongen, the 202's editor, has kept us sharp and crisp. We all work grueling hours, but it's a labor of love. And I am so grateful to work at a place like The Washington Post, which is investing in high-quality journalism. I realize how fortunate I am to have reported from 24 states over the past 12 months. -- Walk down memory lane with us. Elise looked back at editions from over the past year and chose some of the buzziest social media posts that have run in the 202 and stand the test of time. Keep reading to the end, past the videos section, to check them out. And, if you enjoy the 202, please encourage your friends and staffers to sign up here. SANDERS SIGNALS THE END IS NEAR:  Sanders takes the stage at RFK Stadium last night. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) -- Sanders struck a conciliatory note after Obama endorsed Clinton, saying he is looking forward to meeting with HRC "in the near future" to talk about how they can work together to defeat Trump. "Needless to say, I'm going to do everything in my power, and I'm going to work as hard as I can, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States," he told reporters after meeting with the president in the Oval Office. The senator also hit on issues he would like to see incorporated into the Democratic Party platform, such as college affordability, fixing crumbling infrastructure, and ensuring corporate America and the wealthy pay a "fair share" of taxes. "Only all that was eclipsed — much like his upstart presidential campaign itself — by Clinton and the muscle of the Democratic establishment," writes John Wagner. "The theme of the day soon became Democratic unity, drowning out the conversation about what policy changes and other concessions Sanders might exact in exchange for exiting the race." -- "I don't think there's ever been someone so qualified to hold this office," Obama said in the video announcing his endorsement. "From the decision we made in the Situation Room to get bin Laden, to our pursuit of diplomacy in capitals around the world, I have seen her judgment, I've seen her toughness. I've seen her commitment to our values up close.""The short video provides a preview of the central theme Obama is likely to hammer away at for months to come: that Clinton's experience, toughness and values make her more qualified to lead the country than a real estate magnate who has never held public office," write John Wagner, Juliet Eilperin and Robert Costa. Here's the video:  | | President Barack Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for president | Hillary Clinton | -- Obama will join Clinton on the trail next week in Wisconsin, and is expected to lead a number of outreach efforts in industrial states and among young voters and minorities. -- Sanders will stay in the race at least through next Tuesday's D.C. primary. He said he will heavily emphasize his support for statehood. -- Obama's endorsement, while coming months later than some in the Clinton camp may have liked, was expertly timed. "Sitting presidents often endorse their favorites much earlier in the primary process, writes Politico's Glenn Thrush. "But Obama and his team deferred an announcement … to protect the president – and Clinton – from a backlash born from the belief that the election was rigged. It was a characteristically cool political calculation: Loyalty was a powerful motive to jump sooner but preserving Obama's credibility with rebellious progressives was even more important." "The president, by hanging back, ultimately did her a service," said former Obama adviser David Axelrod. "If he had jumped too soon, he would have just reinforced the notion that the establishment was conspiring – and his goal was to be an honest broker who reknit the progressive movement back together." -- Rising POTUS approval ratings help Hillary: 50 percent of Americans approve of Obama, according to a HuffPost survey, making him roughly as popular as Ronald Reagan was during this point in his presidency. And he enjoys 81 percent approval from Democrats, with the majority saying both the economy and their own lives have approved since he became president. He's particularly popular among young people: 65 percent of people under 30 approve of him, a demographic that Clinton desperately needs to win. As Philip Bump notes, "There's probably no better Democrat to make the case to young people for why they should support Clinton than Obama. Even Bill Clinton is only viewed favorably by 48 percent of those under the age of 35, according to recent Quinnipiac polling. Obama's the guy to turn to." -- Clinton has hired Sanders's director of student organizing, the first major hire from the Vermont senator's team in an area where she urgently needs to shore up support. Kunoor Ojha will come on board to work with state teams and mobilize young voters, Politico reports. -- Not that anyone cares, but Martin O'Malley also threw his support behind Clinton after keeping a low profile since dropping out after the Iowa caucuses. The former Maryland governor said he is "committing his energies" to help his former rival defeat Trump. -- Clinton will criticize Trump's positions on women's issues today in her first speech since Tuesday night. He team hopes for "a historic gender gap" in November. A Trump presidency would be "frightening" when it comes to rights, Clinton plans to say at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event in D.C. She will also highlight his opposition to abortion, equal pay legislation and paid family leave. (Abby Phillip)  Mitt Romney (Scott Sommerdorf/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP) NEVER TRUMP REPUBLICANS LOOK AHEAD TO A POST-TRUMP WORLD: -- Philip Rucker and Dan Balz are in Utah at Mitt Romney's annual summit, where establishment leaders are pondering the future of the GOP: "The Experts and Enthusiasts summit, or E2, is not a 'Stop Trump' confab by design. Still, the gathering of mostly Republican business and political leaders is sure to showcase their desperation for a viable candidate other than Trump and serve as a reminder of the futility of their efforts so far to defeat him." (Attendees include politicians and strategists both opposed and amenable to Trump, including Gov. Scott Walker and Sens. Tom Cotton and Ben Sasse, as well as Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus.) The E2 summit is the first of what will be many events in which Republican elites begin to talk and think about a post-Trump era, in the event that he loses to Clinton in November. "Many of the roughly 300 people assembling at the five-star Stein Eriksen Lodge Deer Valley for three days of colloquiums and seminars will be thinking about who might lead their party after November. 'I am not expecting we will sit by the campfire singing 'We Shall Overcome' and group-hugging,' said GOP strategist Ana Navarro, a Trump critic. 'Mitt Romney and other like-minded leaders can have a big influence on the reconstruction of the post-Trump Republican Party. We need to start those conversations now.'" Some attendees said they will be "watching carefully" to see how Romney and Ryan interact. "The two have been close since running together on the GOP presidential ticket in 2012, but they split on the issue of Trump, with Romney vowing never to vote for him and Ryan offering his endorsement, though only after a period of awkward deliberation." "That's the $64,000 question," said one attendee. "There's the father figure and the mentee … with two very different viewpoints of what one ought to do in the election." REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS PRAY FOR A PIVOT: -- Not good for Trump: Half of voters believe his comments about Judge Gonzalo Curiel can be described as "racist," according to a Morning Consult survey. The comments were considered racist by 75 percent of Democrats and nearly 30 percent of Republicans. Among those who said his remarks were NOT racist, 60 percent said they still consider them "unacceptable." -- Mitch McConnell said he's comfortable supporting Trump, even though "it's pretty obvious he doesn't know a lot about the issues." But he would not rule out rescinding his endorsement. "For all of his obvious shortcomings, Trump is certainly a different direction, and I think if he is in the White House he'll have to respond to the right-of-center world which elected him," the Senate Majority Leader told Betsy Fischer Martin and Tammy Haddad for their Bloomberg podcast. "So I'm comfortable supporting him." McConnell also indicated the need for Trump to pick a "highly experienced" and knowledgeable running-mate: "It's pretty obvious he doesn't know a lot about the issues," he said. "You can see that in the debates which he's participated … It's why I have urged him to use a script more often." -- House Republicans heard from chief Trump strategist Paul Manafort yesterday, signaling afterwards that they are ready to put the firestorm over his attacks on Judge Gonzalo Curiel behind them and help him "pivot" towards the general. From Sean Sullivan: "The Republicans said Manafort called into the regularly scheduled Capitol Hill meeting to provide an update on general election and convention strategy and what House members can do to help. At least one Republican left the meeting optimistic that Trump would use the serious, subdued tone he struck Tuesday night more often as the next phase of the campaign unfolds." - "It was just a good, quick, touch base," agreed Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), "keeping everybody moving the same direction, making certain that as they've hit the pivot now."
- Newt Gingrich also popped into the meeting, saying afterwards he is "satisfied" with the way Trump has sought to move beyond the controversy. "No, I think it's fine," Gingrich responded when a reporter asked if Trump needed to do more to repair the damage. "I think he has to continue what he did Tuesday night with the specific speeches aimed at big topics drawing a clear distinction between where he is and where Hillary is."
-- Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) was among the exceptions. She suggested to The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza that she might be open to supporting Clinton. "This is a difficult choice," she said, saying Trump's remarks on the Latino judge were more serious than anything he had previously said. "It's not like we have perfect candidates from whom to choose in this election." Collins added that she worked "very well" with Hillary when they were Senate colleagues and during Clinton's tenure as Secretary. "I do not anticipate voting for her this fall … [but] I'm never going to say never." The senator's office pushed back: -- Marco Rubio – who says he supports Trump over Clinton – reiterated that he still believes the Republican nominee is not up for the job: "I stand by everything I said during the campaign, he told The Weekly Standard. "Asked if his support for Trump is now unconditional or if it's possible Trump could do something to lose Rubio's vote, Rubio declined to discuss the matter. 'I don't have anything new to add from what I've already said. I've talked about it all week long,' he said." -- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) continued to dodge questions on Trump, declining to say whether he believes the real estate mogul is fit to serve as president. "I just said I'm not going to talk about Trump anymore," Hogan told a reporter during a Thursday news conference, after deflecting three questions on the matter. "I have nothing to do with it." Hogan, whose preferred candidate Chris Christie left the race in February, has repeatedly said he is "disgusted with national politics." (Ovetta Wiggins)  Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus arrives at Trump Tower yesterday. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) -- With Trump unable or unwilling to build a national campaign, the RNC is trying to pick up the slack by absorbing more core campaign tasks. "We are kind of the infantry coming up behind the campaign saying, 'We're here, how can we be helpful?" said RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh. "And the Trump campaign has embraced that." Matea Gold goes deep on the party's field operation: - Trump's campaign has yet to build out its headquarters or national staff, ending the primaries with just 70 employees compared to 732 on Clinton' payroll. The RNC has already deployed 461 field staffers to 16 states - more than it has ever had on the ground at this point in an election.
- Senior RNC officials are offering daily advice and resources to their less-experienced campaign counterparts. Communications strategist Sean Spicer is in constant contact with Trump press secretary Hope Hicks, while chief digital officer Gerrit Lansing is coordinating with Trump's small digital staff.
- Party officials have been making the case that the campaign needs to expand its footprint, but convincing Trump has been a slow process: "Trump scrutinizes proposed budgets, sending them back with skeptical queries ... His main argument: I only spent $56 million in the primary and I beat 16 opponents - why do I need all this?"
- Party insider say that round-the-clock media domination will not be enough to secure victory: "People can talk all they want to about how this race will be determined on the big-picture message and Hillary's [low] approval numbers," said Ohio GOP Chairman Matt Borges. "It always comes down to good, old-fashioned blocking and tackling."
-- Trump trying to catch up on the finance front. He kicked off his aggressive fundraising push Thursday, meeting with fundraisers, donors and RNC officials in New York as he seeks to expand his well of resources. From Jose A. DelReal and Matea: "In his remarks to the group, Trump stressed the need to rebuild the country, a central theme in his White House campaign. Reassuring supporters that he can win in November, Trump made the case that he will appeal broadly to Americans across demographic groups, saying that his strong performance in the GOP presidential primary contest proves that he has wide support." While Trump was not called to task for his controversial remarks towards Judge Curiel, he stressed that he will "convince Americans he has no biases." - Christie moved to defend Trump's comments during the meeting, saying that "people make mistakes, [then] they take it back." "I think Donald is learning how to be a candidate the way I learned how to be a candidate," said former Mayoral candidate and attendee John Catsimatidis, who has also donated to Clinton's campaign.
- The meeting comes as nearly 30 states have signed on to raise funds alongside the Trump Victory Campaign.
-- Ahead of Trump's planned Monday visit to New Hampshire, many Republicans are increasingly alarmed about his nearly nonexistent campaign. From The Boston Globe's James Pindell: "In a middle of a workday this week, Trump's state headquarters was locked, windows covered in paper, and displayed a note for visitors to call a phone number for access. By the door, there were about a half-dozen large blank posters, with this message clothes-pinned to the boards: 'For the Donald Trump campaign. He's embarrassing, but he's ours.' Meanwhile, just a few miles away, Hillary Clinton's New Hampshire office has five full-time staffers, including a state director, a deputy state director, a communications director, a digital director, and a political director. And they've all worked in New Hampshire politics for years. 'The concerning thing is that there appears to be no sense of urgency from the Trump campaign for the battle ahead,' said former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman Wayne McDonald. 'Our side is unnecessarily playing catch up, and I am not sure when it will get better.'" -- The billionaire conservative donor Charles Koch is launching a national campaign aimed at combatting a "rigged" economy that leaves behind the poor: In an interview with the AP's Julie Bykowicz, Koch said he is "fed up" with the vitriol of the presidential race. "Both the primaries and the general (election) seems it's more, 'You're the enemy, you're evil, or you're stupid,'" he said, "rather than trying to find common ground so different opposing views can learn from each other and we can find better solutions." So Koch is launching an "End the Divide" ad campaign, seeking to combat a perception that the GOP "does not care about its people." And though most of Koch's policy prescriptions align more closely with Republicans, he says he "could find common ground" with Democrats. "We're trying to encourage people to think about how do I succeed by helping others improve their lives," he told Julie, even if it involves doing things that "may not win me votes or get me a lot of money." Here's one of the ads:  | | It's time to end the divide. |
-- USA Today reports that Trump and his businesses have been accused of failing to pay their bills (for work done or services rendered) in at least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings. "Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others." Some highlights: - Trump's companies have been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage: "That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages."
- The review also found more than 200 liens range from a $75,000 claim by a New York air conditioning company to a $1 million claim from the president of a New York City real estate banking firm: "On just one project, Trump's Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, records released by the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in 1990 show that at least 253 subcontractors weren't paid in full or on time, including workers who installed walls, chandeliers and plumbing." (Check out the full deep-dive here.)
In an interview, Trump and Ivanka shrugged off the non-payments: "If a company or worker he hires isn't paid fully, the Trumps said, it's because The Trump Organization was unhappy with the work. 'Let's say that they do a job that's not good, or a job that they didn't finish, or a job that was way late. I'll deduct from their contract, absolutely,' Trump said. 'That's what the country should be doing.'" -- Not helping: Trump supporter David Duke blamed "Jewish tribal nature" for driving the opposition to Trump: "The Jewish establishment is absolutely zeroing in now on Donald Trump," the former Ku Klux Klan leader said on his radio show. "I think this whole Trump University case really, if we exploit it, can really expose the entire Jewish manipulation of the American media [and] the American political process …The viciousness of these Jews is unbelievable." (CBS News) WAPO HIGHLIGHTS: -- "A desperate woman's email from Iraq reveals the high toll of Obama's low-cost wars," by Greg Jaffe and Loveday Morris: From their cockpits, the U.S. pilots spotted their target, an Islamic State checkpoint south of Mosul. They struck, later giving an in-flight assessment of their mission: guard shack flattened, two vehicles destroyed, four enemy fighters dead. "There are no apparent civilian or other collateral concerns," their report concluded. The first sign that they had made a horrible mistake came in the form of an email, sent two weeks after the 2015 airstrike. "I am Raja'a Zidan al-Ekabee ..." the email began … "President Obama came to office promising to end … long and costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Instead of sending tens of thousands of ground troops to distant battlefields, he has increasingly relied on aerial drones, attack planes and small numbers of Special Operations forces. But as the checkpoint bombing outside Mosul demonstrates, even such narrowly defined missions can be morally fraught. Even the most surgical of strikes can carry unintended and deadly consequences … 'We anguish over this in a very serious way,' he said." -- "After more than $1.6 billion in U.S. aid, Iraq's army still struggles," by Loveday Morris and Missy Ryan: "In the days before his death last month, Col. Ihab Hashem al-Araji confided that his battle against the Islamic State too often felt like a suicide mission, despite the more than $1.6 billion in U.S. arms and training that has flowed to the Iraqi army over the past two years. After disbanding the army following the 2003 invasion, the United States spent more than $20 billion to rebuild the Iraqi military. Scrambling to respond to the Islamic State's rise, the Obama administration developed a plan to retrain and equip elements of Iraq's shattered military. The effort is centered on generating units capable of defeating the militants in Mosul, which U.S. commanders see as Iraq's crucial battle, rather than rebuilding the entire Iraqi army once again … But senior officials are also worried that army and police units may continue to struggle to provide basic support — such as food and fuel — to their units, while maintaining their vehicles and equipment." SOCIAL MEDIA SPEED READ: Trump tweeted this after Obama endorsed Clinton: That inspired this response from Clinton, which quickly became her most retweeted post ever: And Trump's reply: -- The snarky "delete your account" reply from Clinton meant that, for only the second day this year, she surpassed Trump in total mentions. Check out this chart from our analytics partners at Zignal Labs:  And here's what it looked like when Hillary broke the internet. The "delete your account" response garnered more than 300,000 media mentions in two hours alone:  Others tried to jump in: Twitter jumped on the bandwagon: Anthony Weiner might have won the day, though: Tulsi Gabbard said she does not want to become DNC chair: Website traffic to Clinton's site apparently spiked after Obama's endorsement: Check out these photos from Sanders's D.C. rally (Cornel West's face!): A few flashbacks -- to when John F. Kennedy clinched the Democratic nomination: When George H.W. Bush left this note for Bill Clinton at the White House: And when the Clintons attended Chelsea's graduation from Stanford, where Carly Fiorina was the speaker: Arnold Schwarzenegger was at the Capitol: Sean Duffy hung out with David Copperfield: Claire McCaskill is using this anti-Trump hat to raise funds: Jimmy Fallon wrote thank-you notes to his latest guests: Jason Chaffetz saw his name used on Jeopardy: Sixteen-year-old creamer found on the Hill: Jody Hice posted this photo of his grandchildren: GOOD READS FROM ELSEWHERE: | HOT ON THE LEFT "Turns out dating is really hard if you support Trump," from The New York Post: "Lifelong Republican David Goss, 35, was hanging out with his conservative friends in February when he came up with the idea of TrumpSingles.com, a dating website for supporters of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Goss' female pal, who's a die-hard Trump fan, told him that when she revealed her political leanings to a male Hillary Clinton supporter in the middle of a dinner date, he got up and left her with the check. 'At first I was concerned that people would think this was a parody site,' says Goss … 'But people have told me that they're so happy they can finally go on dates without worrying about political differences.'" | | HOT ON THE RIGHT "Student may be punished for insulting vegetarian," From the Ashbury Park Press: "A school district is allowed to discipline a sixth-grader for bullying because he made disparaging remarks about a classmate's vegetarianism. …The student's parent contested the district's finding that the remarks about vegetarianism constituted bullying, a finding that was later backed by a state administrative law judge." In a case that climbed up the legal ladder, authorities concluded the student's comments met the legal definition of harassment, intimidation and bullying under state law because they targeted a student's "distinguishing characteristic" and "substantially interfered with the rights of K.S. and had the effect of insulting or demeaning him." | DAYBOOK: On the campaign trail: Here's the rundown: - Clinton: Washington, D.C.
- Trump: Richmond, Va.
At the White House: Obama has no public events scheduled. Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett McGurk joins Josh Earnest for the press briefing. Vice President Biden attends an event for South Carolina Congressional candidate Fran Person in Ardmore, Pa. On Capitol Hill: The Senate resumes work on the NDAA at 8:15 a.m. The House meets at 9 a.m. for legislative business. NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.: -- Happy Friday! Enjoy this fabulous weather while you can – the Capital Weather Gang says a small heatwave is headed our way: "It's hard to be indoors today, but with a mini-heatwave possible this weekend, we may end up seeking indoors soon enough. Weather models used in forecasting have trended hotter for high temperatures this weekend, so drink that water since we aren't yet acclimated to the high heat days on the way. Humidity to accompany! Toasty weather lovers: enjoy." -- Former Mayor Vince Gray is trying to get elected to the D.C. Council by taking on an incumbent. "Tuesday's Democratic primary is a referendum on his past," Joe Heim writes. "This campaign marks his official return to politics after being voted out of office as mayor in 2014 under a cloud of suspicion that accompanied the scandal of a 2010 'shadow campaign' funding." VIDEOS OF THE DAY: Seth Meyers took a closer look at Clinton's primary win:  | | Hillary Wins: A Closer Look | Jimmy Fallon slow jammed the news with Obama:  | | "Slow Jam the News" with President Obama | Conan O'Brien joked about new corporate sponsors for the Republican convention:  | | Donald Trump's New RNC Sponsors - CONAN on TBS | Priorities USA hit Trump on the idea of mass deportations:  | | The Choice is Ours | D.L. Hughley said he thinks Paul Ryan believe it's "better to be racist than liberal" (click to watch the video): For D.C. readers: how Founding Farmers managed to receive zero stars from our food critic, Tom Sietsema:  | | How a restaurant gets zero stars | SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE FIRST YEAR OF THE 202—Here are some of the most engaged-with tweets, Instagrams and videos from the past year: Who can forget Marco Rubio pegging a kid with a football? Huma Abedin joins Twitter: This one speaks for itself: See Bernie make a surprise visit to a Trump rally: 2015 World Cup champs, the U.S. women's national soccer team, visited the White House: Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) makes good on a bet: Then-Kentucky GOP gubernatorial candidate visited Kim Davis in jail: The former Michigan congressman was epic on Twitter this year: Hillary parties with the first family of reality TV: Remember this Vine when Ted Cruz accidentally elbowed his own wife?  | | After dropping out of presidential race, Ted Cruz just hit his wife w a elbow headshot | Watch Mary Pat Christie listen to Trump talk about the "woman's card:"  | | Mary Pat Christie as Trump talks "woman's card." | Hillary shrugs off questions about her homebrew email server in a contentious August press conference:  | | Hillary be like: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ | Chris Christie's "hostage face" showed the perils of social media in modern campaigns:  | | OG vine via Nick Robinson | Some of our fave animal videos of the year:  | | A leap and a miss for this red fox at Yellowstone National Park | This guy Feels the Bern:  | | Feeling the Bern | Watch Bill Maher spoof Hillary mean tweeting:  | | Real Time with Bill Maher: Hillary Tweets Like Trump (HBO) | Lindsey Graham destroyed his cellphone on camera after Trump read his personal digits during a visit to South Carolina:  | | How to Destroy Your Cell Phone With Sen. Lindsey Graham | Oh, America:  | | What People Will Believe About U.S. History (Prank News Network) | Watch Sanders confront Black Lives Matters protesters:  | | Bernie Sanders Responds To Black Lives Matter Protesters - Netroots Nation | Watch POTUS call Trump with debate advice:  | | Obama Calls Donald Trump with Debate Advice | Watch Jimmy Fallon as Trump issue an apology to Megyn Kelly:  | | Donald Trump Clarifies Megyn Kelly Comment | See a fun video from 2015's class of Hill interns:  | | 2015: the "Fresh" interns of Capitol Hill | Buzzfeed showcases Ted Cruz auditioning for The Simpsons:  | | Ted Cruz Auditions For The Simpsons | Finally, see NASA's rover take pictures of Mars:  | | Rover's-Eye View of Marathon on Mars | | 
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