What Donald Trump Will Say at a Black Church

If you only read one thing: Donald Trump is set to step up his outreach to African-American voters this weekend as he travels to Philadelphia Friday and Detroit Saturday. The Detroit stop—an interview with a prominent black pastor—has been carefully scripted, so much so that the campaign has requested the questions in advance and prepared answers for the candidate. Those proposed answers, which leaked to the New York Times sound nothing like Donald Trump, whose Trumpian pitch to voters of color has thus far been, “What do you have to lose.” The outreach is important since Trump is depending on lower turnout and gains in the black community in order to stand a chance at victory in November. That’s why Hillary Clinton is leaning on President Barack Obama so much, and is expected to deploy him extensively in the final weeks of the campaign.

Trump is also struggling to devise a plausible map to victory, facing consistent polling gaps in swing states that he has yet been able to narrow. After a puzzling August schedule, the GOP nominee is ramping up his efforts in Ohio in the coming weeks—a swing state he must win, but where he doesn’t have the support of the Republican governor, John Kasich.

The drip-drip-drip of Hillary Clinton email news continues, as top Bill Clinton aides were found to be soliciting a State Department diplomatic passport in emails to Huma Abedin. Meanwhile, the government will turn over a complete record of Clinton’s schedules from her time in office to the press before Election Day.

A government agency challenges “God” to prove he exists. Trump’s fuzzy math on criminals. And Clinton’s massive fundraising haul.

Here are your must reads:

Must Reads

Three Unanswered Questions About Donald Trump’s Immigration Policy
TIME’s Tessa Berenson on what we still don’t know

Leaked Script Shows What Advisers Want Donald Trump to Say at Black Church
The “unscripted” candidate sure is reading a lot off a teleprompter [New York Times]

Obama Visits Midway, Highlighting Monument and Commitment to Environment
Expresses hope he can continue climate fight after presidency [New York Times]

Black Vote Concentrated, But Key in Trump-Clinton Matchup
Trump needs to make a dent to have a chance [Associated Press]

New Batch of Hillary Clinton Emails Show Blurred Lines With Foundation Contacts
Conservative group Judicial Watch points to request for diplomatic passport for charity official’s trip to North Korea [Wall Street Journal]

Inside Trump Tower: Facing Grim Reality
Three weeks until early voting, the campaign scrambles to pick a path and stay on it [Politico]

Sound Off

“Every day you turn on the nightly news, you hear about how some self-interested banker or some Washington insider says they oppose our campaign. Or some encrusted old politician says they oppose our campaign. Or some big time lobbyist says they oppose our campaign. I wear their opposition as a badge of honor.” — Donald Trump in Ohio Thursday on the parade of Republicans endorsing his rival

“And then we’re going to make a decision at a later date once everything is stabilized. I think you’re going to see there’s really quite a bit of softening.” — Trump on his immigration plans to radio host Laura Ingraham just hours after his hardline speech on immigration

Bits and Bites

This Government Agency Just Asked ‘God’ to Prove He Exists [Center for Public Integrity]

State Dept. to give AP all Clinton schedules before election [Associated Press]

Trump’s fuzzy math on undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes [Washington Post]

Real Trumpettes of Bel Air [Politico]

Putin Says DNC Hack Was a Public Service, Russia Didn’t Do It [Bloomberg]

Excerpts From a Draft Script for Donald Trump’s Q&A With a Black Church’s Pastor [New York Times]

Hillary Clinton Raised $143 Million in August [Associated Press]

Hillary Clinton Wins Support From Two High-Ranking Generals [TIME]

Why Hillary Clinton Is Buying Ads in Red-State Arizona [TIME]

Trump to stump in Philly on Friday for African American votes [Philly.com]

Clinton proposes consumer response team to monitor drug price hikes [CNBC]