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By Anna Palmer, Jake Sherman and Daniel Lippman

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DRIVING THE DAY
THERE ARE 49 DAYS until Election Day, and NEXT WEEK -- likely the last week with both chambers of Congress in session -- CHRISTINE BLASEY FORD will testify on Capitol Hill Monday about more than three-decade-old allegations of sexual assault by BRETT KAVANAUGH, the nominee for the Supreme Court. On Thursday, PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP will fundraise for House Republicans, an event that the GOP hopes will bring in an eight-figure sum for its efforts to keep the House. And on Friday, government funding is set to run out.

CLICKER ... JOHN BRESNAHAN and NOLAN MCCASKILL: "Meet the Democrats poised to torment Trump"

JUST POSTED ... NYT'S MAGGIE HABERMAN and MIKE SCHMIDT: "Trump's Growing Legal Team Has a Problem: It's Operating Partly in the Dark": "[Trump's] lawyers have only a limited sense of what many witnesses - including senior administration officials and the president's business associates - have told investigators and what the Justice Department plans to do with any incriminating information it has about Mr. Trump, according to interviews with more than a dozen people close to the president.

"What is more, it is not clear if Mr. Trump has given his lawyers a full account of some key events in which he has been involved as president or during his decades running the Trump Organization." NYT

TINDERBOX UPDATE ... AP/MOSCOW: "Russia says Syrian missile brought down aircraft": "Russia's Defense Ministry says one of its reconnaissance aircraft with 15 people on board has been brought down by a Syrian surface-to-air missile over the Mediterranean Sea. Rescuers are searching for wreckage but do not expect survivors.

"The Russian military said on Tuesday that the plane was hit by accident by one of the missiles, which were aimed at four Israeli fighter jets that were attacking targets in the coastal province of Latakia late on Monday.

"Russia said the Israeli aircraft 'pushed' the Russian plane into the line of fire. The ministry accused the Israeli army of 'intentional provocation' and said Israel did not warn Russia of its operation in the area until one minute before the strike." AP

THE LATEST ON BRETT KAVANAUGH ... "McConnell works feverishly behind the scenes to save Kavanaugh: The Senate leader's legacy on the judiciary is on the line," by Burgess Everett and John Bresnahan: "Mitch McConnell, preeminent cut-throat political tactician, is going with a softer touch to salvage Brett Kavanaugh's suddenly endangered Supreme Court confirmation.

"With Kavanaugh's seemingly slam-dunk elevation to the Supreme Court facing resistance from a handful of key GOP senators, McConnell convened a marathon meeting with Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans and his leadership team on Monday.

"Holed up for nearly two hours in McConnell's Senate office, they devised a process to satisfy Kavanaugh's defenders and appease Republicans uncomfortable with forging ahead until the nominee's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, gets a full public hearing.

"The majority leader was calm and even-keeled throughout the session, making clear he's 100 percent behind Kavanaugh and never suggesting the party bail on the nomination, according to interviews with more than a half-dozen GOP senators close to McConnell. He and the party committed to following Senate and committee rules, noticing a hearing for Ford and Kavanaugh to appear in a week, rather than trying to change precedent and rush a hearing this week." POLITICO

WHERE TRUMP IS ... "Trump sticks with Kavanaugh as scandal escalates," by Nancy Cook: "President Donald Trump's first instinct after learning the identity of the woman who claims Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school was to fight back, displaying what one Republican close to the White House described as a 'bring it on' attitude.

"Instead, the president followed the advice of top White House attorney Don McGahn and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and stayed out of the rapidly escalating #MeToo scandal, which has thrown Trump's second Supreme Court nomination into turmoil just weeks before Republicans had hoped to have Kavanaugh seated on the bench - and in the crucial run-up to the midterm elections.

"The president finally engaged with the issue late Monday afternoon, telling reporters at a workforce development event in the White House's Roosevelt Room that Kavanaugh was 'somebody very special' who 'never even had a blemish on his record.' Trump expressed openness to holding hearings to air the allegations, saying he'd like to see 'a complete process.' 'If it takes a little delay, it'll take a little delay,' he added. 'I'm sure it will work out very well.' When asked whether Kavanaugh had offered to withdraw from the confirmation process, the president snapped back that it was a 'ridiculous question.'" POLITICO

-- "White House Hasn't Asked FBI to Vet Kavanaugh Allegations, Sources Say," by Bloomberg's Chris Strohm and Shannon Pettypiece: "The White House hasn't asked the FBI to investigate the allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted a woman when they were in high school, a request required for the bureau to take further action, according to two people familiar with the matter." Bloomberg

-- @steveholland1: "NEW statement from the White House on Judge Brett Kavanaugh: 'Judge Kavanaugh looks forward to a hearing where he can clear his name of this false allegation. He stands ready to testify tomorrow if the Senate is ready to hear him.'"

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BEN SCHRECKINGER and DANIEL LIPPMAN, "Power elite of suburban Washington split over Kavanaugh allegations": "Their families have traveled for decades in the same prep school and country club circles, populated by Washington power players - including plenty of lawyers, lobbyists, and government officials whose shared goal is to avoid public embarrassment. ... Ford attended the elite Holton-Arms School at the time she alleges that Kavanaugh, who attended the equally elite Georgetown Preparatory School, attacked her. ... Ford's father, Ralph Blasey, was president of the all-male Burning Tree Golf Club in Bethesda where Kavanaugh's father, Ed ... has also been an active member, according to a
member of the club. Burning Tree declined to discuss its membership. ...

"Some who know both of the people involved said they weren't sure what to do with their divided sympathies. 'Brett Kavanaugh is as good a person as you're ever going to find,' said an attorney who grew up in Bethesda and knows Kavanaugh as well as some of Ford's siblings. Of the Blaseys, he said, 'They're a great, nice family. In other words, you're not going to be able to demonize this woman effectively. ... They have an excellent reputation.'" POLITICO

-- "Christine Blasey Ford feared an avalanche of attacks if she went public about Kavanaugh, friends say," by the Mercury News' Julia Prodis Sulek in Palo Alto: "'I can't really think of anyone better' to endure the grueling questions she is sure to face, said Rebecca White, one of Blasey Ford's neighbors and a good friend. ... In an interview Monday with this news organization, White said that Blasey Ford had told her about the alleged assault - without naming Kavanaugh - in late 2017 during the height of the #MeToo movement and long before Kavanaugh was a Supreme Court nominee.

"Last year, White had added her own #MeToo story about being raped as a teenager to a Facebook post. 'She reached out to me afterward, supporting me and my story and that she had something happen to her when she was really young and that the guy was a federal judge,' White said. 'She said she had been assaulted. She said hers had been violent as well, physically scary, fighting for her life.' It's been difficult for Blasey Ford over the years, she told White, because the judge's name would come up as 'a super powerful guy and he might be a contender for a Supreme Court position one day.'" Mercury News

CLICKER -- N.Y. POST cover (with old high school yearbook pictures of Kavanaugh and Ford), "'THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN'"

JOE WEIGHS IN -- "Joe Biden: When a woman alleges sexual assault, presume she is telling the truth," by WaPo's Phil Rucker: "Biden made his comments to a handful of reporters during a reception at the residence of Irish Ambassador Dan Mulhall to celebrate the publication of the new Cambridge History of Ireland, where the former vice president gave lengthy remarks about Ireland and his family's roots there. ... As the questions from reporters continued, Biden's staffers grew visibly uncomfortable with him holding forth on the topic. The former vice president ignored their nudges to move along and mingle with other guests - preferably non-journalists - who had packed into Mulhall's living
room to see him.

"Then one question got him to cut off the impromptu gaggle. Asked whether it mattered that Ford's claims of assault by Kavanaugh occurred when the judge was 17 and in high school, Biden demurred. 'What I'm going to do is I'm not going to answer any more questions,' the former vice president said, with a laugh. 'I'd be happy to talk about Ireland.'" WaPo

JOHN JAMES, the GOP nominee for Senate in Michigan, met with Trump in the Oval Office Monday. VP MIKE PENCE also did a fundraising event for him, and he attended the NRSC dinner at the Trump Hotel yesterday evening that the president headlined.

Good Tuesday morning. SNEAK PEEK ... THE DNC is hosting a fundraiser Sept. 28 in Austin, Texas, with South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

NEW ... THE CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP FUND is spending $450,000 on an ad against Democrat Randy Bryce in Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) district. Here's the twist: The ad features James Bryce, Randy's brother, who briefly considered a run against him. In the ad, James Bryce says: "When people refer to police officers as terrorists, that hits a little close to home. I don't think people want to be represented by someone who's shown contempt for those in law enforcement. That's one of the many reasons why I'm voting for Bryan Steil for Congress." The 30-second spot

A TOP ONLY DAVID ROGERS CAN WRITE -- "Feds accused of stacking deck for Chickasaw gaming empire": "Along the Old Chisholm Trail, it's not cattle crossing the Red River these days but two-legged Texans driving north on U.S. 81 to try their luck at Oklahoma's tribal casinos. Move over Zane Grey, a new Western's in town: a tangled tale of money and politics that reaches well beyond Oklahoma into Texas and Congress itself.

"Who but the House Rules Committee gets a cameo, riding shotgun for the powerful Chickasaw Nation. On the opposite side are the legendary Comanche, fighting Washington's armies. It will all land next in the grandly marbled, federal courthouse in Denver - home to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and Neil Gorsuch before he moved up to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"There, amid the inscribed names of Pony Express riders, this same appellate court shook up all of Oklahoma just last year on a separate Indian law case. And come September 26, the Comanche will make oral arguments in a precedent-setting lawsuit against the Interior Department." POLITICO

SCOOP -- BLOOMBERG'S JOSH GREEN: "A private survey conducted for the [RNC] and obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek contains alarming news for Republicans hoping to hold onto control of Congress in November: Most Trump supporters don't believe there's a threat that Democrats will win back the House. President Trump's boasts that a 'red wave' could increase Republican majorities appear to have lulled GOP voters into complacency, raising the question of whether they'll turn up at the polls.

"While most election forecasters, as well as strategists in both parties, believe Democrats are likely to win the 23 seats necessary to take control of the House of Representatives, Republican voters aren't convinced, the survey shows.

"According to the RNC study, completed on Sept. 2 by the polling firm Public Opinion Strategies, most voters believe Democrats will win back the House - just not Republican voters. Fully half of self-identified Republicans don't believe Democrats are likely to win back the House. And within that group, 57 percent of people who describe themselves as strong Trump supporters don't believe Democrats have a chance (37 percent believe they do)." Bloomberg

UPDATE -- "Probe of FEMA Chief Brock Long Referred to Prosecutors," by WSJ's Mike Bender: "An investigation targeting President Trump's top emergency-management official has been referred to federal prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges should be pursued, according to people familiar with the probe.

"Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and two other federal employees may have broken as many as six laws as they commuted frequently between Washington and Mr. Long's home in Hickory, N.C., at taxpayers' expense, said one of the people briefed on the investigation." WSJ

FOR YOUR RADAR -- "U.S. Says Russia Is Hiding North Korea Sanctions Violations," by WSJ's Farnaz Fassihi at the U.N.: "The U.S. and Russia reached an impasse during a United Nations Security Council debate Monday on North Korea, threatening to upset a tenuous consensus on international efforts to pressure Pyongyang with economic sanctions days before world leaders gather for an annual meeting in New York. ...

"The U.S. and Russia at the Security Council exchanged accusations that the other was to blame for impeding the goal of convincing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs. U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said Russia had 'cheated' and 'lied' to help North Korea evade international economic sanctions and had pressured the U.N. to cover Moscow's tracks by blocking the release of a U.N. investigative report detailing Russia's actions." WSJ

THE INVESTIGATIONS -- "Trump-proof aspects of Manafort deal rankle lawyers," by Josh Gerstein: "Special counsel Robert Mueller's Friday plea agreement with Paul Manafort took unusual and possibly unprecedented steps to undercut President Donald Trump's ability to pardon his former campaign chairman.

"The plea deal Mueller struck with the former Trump campaign chairman contains several provisions that appear intended to discourage the former Trump aide both from seeking a pardon and to rein in the impact of any pardon Trump might grant.

"Legal experts with sweeping views of executive power and attorneys who advocate for broad use of clemency criticized what they call an effort by Mueller's team to tie the president's hands." POLITICO

-- "Mueller Seeks to Have Flynn Sentenced as Soon as Nov. 28," by Bloomberg's Andrew M Harris: "Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn is set to be sentenced for lying to federal agents in an indication that his cooperation with Special Counsel Robert Mueller is finished. ... His sentencing has been repeatedly delayed but on Monday lawyers for both sides told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that they're available for a sentencing hearing on Nov. 28 or any of the following seven business days." Bloomberg

THE JUICE ...

-- MATT VISER is joining WaPo as a national political reporter. He has spent 16 years at the Boston Globe, most recently as deputy D.C. bureau chief. From the internal memo going out this morning: "As a member of our growing campaign team, Matt will play a leading role in covering the final stretch of the midterms while helping put The Post in position to dominate coverage of the 2020 presidential election."

-- "'Chasing Hillary': Amy Chozick's Clinton Presidential Campaign Memoir Nabbed By Warner Bros. TV For Series Development," by Deadline's Nellie Andreeva

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TRUMP'S TUESDAY -- The president will participate in a signing ceremony for the Biodefense National Security Presidential Memorandum. He and first lady Melania Trump will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda. Trump and Duda will participate in a bilateral working lunch and then press conference at 2:10 p.m. At 3 p.m., Trump will meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

HAPPENING THURSDAY -- JAKE and ANNA will be in Columbus, Ohio, for our latest Playbook Elections event. DEMOCRAT RICHARD CORDRAY, the former head of the CFPB who is running for governor, and REP. JIM RENACCI (R-OHIO), who is running for Senate, will join us for a conversation on what's happening in the midterms. Join us
PLAYBOOK READS


PHOTO DU JOUR: Reporters swarm around Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key swing vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, at the Capitol on Monday. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo

REVOLVING DOOR -- PHIL MUSSER leaving Boeing -- Seattle Times' Dominic Gates: "Just a year after joining Boeing as a senior vice president and head of its large corporate communications unit, Phil Musser announced Monday that he will step down next month. ... Musser cited family reasons. For the past year at Boeing, he's been based in Chicago and has traveled extensively all over the world while his family, including two young children, stayed in the Washington, D.C., area. Musser joined Boeing in September 2017 after a career mostly in political consulting and public relations with an emphasis on digital marketing and social media." Seattle Times

2020 WATCH ... DES MOINES REGISTER'S BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL: "Exclusive: Iowa TVs already tuned to 2020 as early presidential ads sweep into the state": "High-profile presidential contenders may be playing coy with Iowans, but televisions in the first-in-the-nation caucus state are already tuned to 2020.

"According to an exclusive Des Moines Register analysis of data from Kantar Media, more than 10,500 television ads related to the 2020 presidential elections have already aired on broadcast and cable channels across the United States this year. More than half of those ads have been on Iowa television channels.

"Nearly all of the ads come from two Democrats: U.S. Rep. John Delaney of Maryland, who has announced a run in 2020, as well as California billionaire Tom Steyer, who says he's focused on 2018 but has directed 90 percent of his groups' television advertising toward Iowa and other early-voting states.

"With or without Steyer's advertising, that's a dramatic shift from 2014. Like this one, that year was two years before the presidential election, but just two ads focused on the 2016 presidential election were broadcast a total of nine times in Iowa." Des Moines Register

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TED HESSON and NAHAL TOOSI -- "Trump administration to slash refugee cap": "The Trump administration will admit no more than 30,000 refugees to the U.S. in the coming year, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, down from the current cap of 45,000. Pompeo announced the lowered ceiling during a press conference Monday at the State Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom.

"Pompeo said the 30,000 cap 'must be considered in the context of the many other forms of protection and assistance offered by the United States' and should not be 'sole barometer' to measure the country's humanitarian efforts. ... When Trump took office, the refugee cap stood at 110,000. He lowered that to 50,000 shortly after he took office, and subsequently to 45,000 this fiscal year." POLITICO

-- ABOUT THAT CAP ... @seungminkim: "Dem and GOP aides on the Judiciary Committee both tell me they were not consulted nor notified as required under law."

COMEY WATCH -- "Trump orders declassification of surveillance application, release of Comey texts," by Kyle Cheney, Josh Gerstein and Darren Samuelsohn: "President Donald Trump moved on Monday to immediately release a tranche of former FBI Director James Comey's text messages and declassify 20 pages of a surveillance application that targeted former campaign adviser Carter Page, Trump's latest offensive against a Russia investigation that has ensnared associates and has consumed his attention for much of his presidency. ...

"Trump demanded that the FBI produce 20 pages of the surveillance application - which Republicans on Capitol Hill have suggested would help show anti-Trump bias at the highest levels of the FBI. Trump also called for the release of senior Justice Department official Bruce Ohr's notes related to the Russia probe." POLITICO

-- THE IS A MASSIVE WIN for Freedom Caucus leaders Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio, who have pushed for this for months.

MEDIAWATCH -- "Marc Benioff Explains Why He Is Buying Time Magazine," by NYT's David Streitfeld: "While having a massage late Sunday, the West Coast-based tech billionaire discussed via text message why he was entering the East Coast-based media industry by acquiring Time Inc.'s flagship publication. ... Will you be involved spiritually? 'I feel our values are aligned. Trust is my highest value and it is Time's as well.' I thought journalism was Time's highest value. Did you read Time as a kid? Or an adult? 'Yes, always loved it.' ... Thanks for your time. How is the massage? 'Paulene is amazing. Let me know if you want her number.'" NYT

-- "Julie Chen, Wife of Les Moonves, to Leave 'The Talk' on CBS," by WSJ's Joe Flint: "Julie Chen, wife of former CBS Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Leslie Moonves, who last week resigned in the midst of sexual-harassment allegations, will quit her role as a host on the network's daytime talk show 'The Talk,' people familiar with the matter said. Ms. Chen hasn't been on 'The Talk' since Mr. Moonves resigned under pressure from CBS's board and controlling shareholder National Amusements Inc. She is expected to announce her departure from the show via a video on Tuesday's program." WSJ
PLAYBOOKERS
SPOTTED: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) last night at the Ritz bar.

WELCOME TO THE WORLD -- Jeff Forbes, founding partner of Forbes Tate Partners, and Elizabeth Kearney Forbes, an alum of Elmendorf Ryan/Subject Matter, welcomed twins Thomas Gordon and William Dennis. Pic

BIRTHWEEK (was Sunday): Josh Ginsberg, CEO and co-founder of Zignal Labs (hat tip: Blain Rethmeier)

BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Jackie Calmes, White House editor of L.A.
Times' D.C. bureau and an NYT and WSJ alum. How she got her start in journalism: "I've been a journalist since working on my high school paper at Toledo's Central Catholic H.S." Playbook Plus Q&A

BIRTHDAYS: HUD Secretary Ben Carson is 67 ... Corey Lewandowski is 45. He's celebrating by "putting the final touches" on his latest book "Trump's Enemies" due out in late November ... U.S. Ambassador to Germany Ric Grenell is 52 ... Sara Haines, co-host of "GMA Day" ... Gilead Science's Kacy Hutchison ... Kyle Laymen ... Griff Witte, WaPo Berlin bureau chief ... Jeff Sadosky, partner at Forbes Tate Partners ... Katrina Valdes, comms director to Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) ... Matt Stuart ... Nicole Duran ... Eric Terrell ... Tina Stoll (h/t Jon Haber) ... Joan Walsh, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and CNN political contributor ... Mark Walsh ... Safiya Ghori-Ahmad,
director at McLarty Associates ... Dayna Cade, president at DC Strategies ... Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble is 76 ...

... Adam Keiper, Weekly Standard books and arts editor ... Daniel Burnett, comms manager for FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education), is 3-0 (h/t Alex Booze) ... WaPo's Darryl Fears ... Jess Morales Rocketto, political director at the Domestic Workers Alliance (h/t Rob Flaherty) ... Erin Buechel Wieczorek, deputy director of legislative affairs at NPPD, is 4-0 (h/t Scott McConnell) ... Monica Pampell ... Erin Madigan White ... Isabelle Taylor Kenyon ... Cathy Jury ... AP's Desmond Butler ... Edelman's Andrew Church ... The Guardian's Chris Taylor ... Will Tienken ... Ben Dye ... Scott MacFarlane ... Angela Flood, principal at Cove Strategies ... Lauren Ransom ... Joe Davis ...
Devika Koppikar ... Chuck Supple ... Cyndi Pederson ... Kristen Crowell ... Luis Navarro ... Karl Struble (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

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