Donald Trump Still Making Up for First Debate

If you only read one thing: The Russian government is trying to influence the U.S. election, but not in the way you think, TIME’s Massimo Calabresi writes in the cover story this week. Vladimir Putin may like Donald Trump, but his hacking efforts have a far larger target: Americans’ trust in their system of government itself. It’s a playbook the strongman has used around the world before, and as he turns it on the 2016 both candidates may be playing into his hands. Calabresi reports that despite Trump’s seeming denials on the debate stage—including a joke about a 400-pound hacker—he was briefed on the U.S. government’s “high confidence” in Russia’s responsibility for the hack on the Democratic National Committee as part of his classified briefings as the GOP nominee. Trump told TIME that no one knows “with definitive certainty” that Russia was behind it, appearing to reveal information from that briefing. See the cover here.

More than two days after the first debate, Donald Trump is still trying to make good on all of the issues he failed to adequately address on stage. On Wednesday, Trump seemingly reoriented his campaign around the phrase “follow the money,” accusing Hillary Clinton of pay-for-play and saying she would sell the Oval Office if elected. Saying she is an insider only out for her donors, Trump put a finer point on his change-agent messaging, but he missed his surest opportunity to drive it home.

Meanwhile, Trump is still falling for Clinton’s bait, continuing to take shots at former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, including spreading questionable and debunked reports about her past in an interview with Fox News Wednesday night. Meanwhile his surrogates are not-so-quietly pushing stories about Bill Clinton’s past infidelities.

How Alicia Machado became the next Khan family. Questions in the U.S. and Mexico about Trump’s helicopter ride. And Trump’s latest show of hands moment.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

How Russia Wants to Undermine the U.S. Election
TIME’s Massimo Calabresi on what’s really behind Russia’s effort to influence the U.S. election

How Real Are the Risks of a Rigged Election?
TIME’s Haley Sweetland Edwards on what is and isn’t under threat

How a Reclusive Hedge-Fund Boss and His Daughter Are Reshaping the Republican Party
TIME’s Alex Altman on Robert and Rebekah Mercer, powerful players in Donald Trump’s campaign, not to mention the fight for the GOP’s future. What is it they want?

Mystery Surrounds Payment for Donald Trump’s Mexican Helicopter Ride
Mexican officials and U.S. watchdogs are both cry foul [TIME]

Congress Thwarts Obama on Bill Allowing 9/11 Lawsuits Against Saudi Arabia
White House and Congress trade barbs after first veto override [Washington Post]

Donald Trump’s Campaign Is Quietly Shouting About Clinton Sex Scandals
His people are saying… [NBC]

Sound Off

“And let me say … hurtful, deceitful questions deliberately designed to undermine his presidency. Questions that cannot be blamed on others or swept under the rug by an insincere sentence uttered at a press conference.” — First Lady Michelle Obama taking a swipe at Trump’s birther past without mentioning his name as she emerges as one of Hillary Clinton’s top surrogates

“Raise your hands, Christian Conservatives everybody. Raise your hand if you’re not a Christian conservative—I want to see this, right. …. That’s—oh, there’s a couple people, that’s all right. I think we’ll keep them, right? Should we keep them in the room, yes? I think so.” — Donald Trump in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Bits and Bites

Joe Klein: The Prepared Candidate and the One Who Is Still a Child [TIME]

Michelle Obama Slams Donald Trump’s Flip on Birtherism [TIME]

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, Odd Couple, Present College Plan in New Hampshire [TIME]

Gary Johnson Struggles to Name a Foreign Leader in Interview [TIME]

Gingrich on former Miss Universe: ‘You’re not supposed to gain 60 pounds’ [Politico]

Employees at Trump’s California golf course say he wanted to fire women who weren’t pretty enough [LA Times]

President Obama Wants Colin Kaepernick to Consider ‘Pain’ of Military Families [TIME]

President Obama Says Veto Override of 9/11 Saudi Arabia Bill Was a ‘Mistake’ [TIME]

The problem with Donald Trump’s ‘we won every poll’ claim [CNN]

Donald Trump Seemingly Asks If He Should Eject Non-Christian Conservatives From Rally [TIME]

‘She Has a Name,’ Alicia Machado, and It Is Everywhere [New York Times]

Donald Trump’s weight problem: He can’t stop talking about ‘fat’ people [Washington Post]