OPENED UP TWITTER TO SEE THIS:  —  Can't imagine why they'd do that, except that it seems to be happening to a lot of people for no obvious reason.  It's as if, despite assurances to the contrary, Twitter is out to silence voices it disagrees with or something.  —  UPDATE: Ah, it was about this tweet.

White House Watch: Trump 44%, Clinton 39%, Johnson 8%, Stein 2%  —  With the first presidential debate coming on Monday, Donald Trump has moved to a five-point lead over Hillary Clinton, his biggest advantage since mid-July.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports weekly White House Watch telephone …

A Trump campaign chair in Ohio says there was ‘no racism’ before Obama  —  Kathy Miller called the Black Lives Matter movement ‘a stupid waste of time’ and said low African American voter turnout could be due to 'the way they're raised'  —  Donald Trump's campaign chair in a prominent Ohio county …

Meet the black Charlotte police officer who shot Keith Lamont Scott  —  We wrote here about Keith Lamont Scott and his long criminal record which includes assault convictions and gun offenses.  But what about Brentley Vinson, the black police officer who fatally shot Scott?

Brad Pitt — Under Investigation for Child Abuse  —  EXCLUSIVE  —  Brad Pitt is under investigation by the LAPD and L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services for allegedly getting verbally abusive and physical with his children, and that's what triggered the divorce ... TMZ has learned.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson Hit in Face with Pie at Event, Assaults Protester in ‘Bloody’ Scene  —  Multiple sources have confirmed that Sacramento Mayor, former NBA star, and UC Berkeley standout Kevin Johnson was hit in the face with a pie tonight at a farm-to-table dinner event …

Yahoo is expected to confirm massive data breach, impacting hundreds of millions of users  —  A hacker named “Peace” is bringing chaos to the Internet giant just as its sale to Verizon is pending.  —  Kimberly White/Getty Images for Fortune  —  Yahoo is poised to confirm a massive data breach …

A conservative intellectual explains why the GOP has fallen to Donald Trump  —  Samuel Goldman is one of America's most thoughtful conservatives.  A professor of political theory at George Washington University and the executive director of its Loeb Institute for Religious Freedom …

‘You Wanna Make a F*cking Fabricated Story!’:  Charlotte Protester Confronts Fox Reporter  —  Fox News reporter Steve Harrigan is on the ground in Charlotte tonight covering the protests erupting tonight over a police shooting, and at one point, on live TV, one of the protesters got rather confrontational with him.

Trump's campaign paid his businesses $8.2 million  —  Donald Trump's presidential campaign has paid his family's businesses more than $8.2 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings, which reveals an integrated business and political operation without precedent in national politics.

Tale of Two Charities: Trump's Helps Trump While the Clintons' Is the Real Deal.  —  Let's do a reality check on the charitable giving of the two major presidential candidates in the hope of showing the reason that, to use my favorite Twitter hashtag, #factsmatter.

Spiritual Healing with Marla Maples, Trump's Ex-Wife  —  Marla Maples was taking Angelina Jolie's side.  —  Sitting outside Boulud Sud across from Lincoln Center on Wednesday afternoon, amid news of Brangelina's divorce, the woman who famously broke up Donald Trump's first marriage and went …

Trump's bizarre ad strategy  —  It's seven weeks before Election Day, five days before the highly anticipated first debate, and Donald Trump's television advertisements have all but vanished.  —  Trump's ads last ran nearly a week ago in four battleground states: Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Note: Pre-Debate Drama  —  NOTABLES  —WHAT'S WORRYING CLINTON AND TRUMP'S CAMPAIGNS AHEAD OF THE DEBATE: While Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump prepare for their first debate on Monday, aides in both their campaigns are expressing concern over how it will all go down, ABC's CECILIA VEGA, LIZ KREUTZ and CANDACE SMITH report.

Clinton gets awkward with Zach Galifianakis on ‘Between Two Ferns’  —  Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton  —  is kicking her millennial voter outreach into high gear with a campaign stop on “Between Two Ferns” with Zach Galifianakis.  —  “When you see how well it works for Donald Trump

Trump: 'We'll see what's going on' with Clinton at debate … on Thursday said he is hoping the first presidential debate will be cordial, adding that he wants to “see that's going on” with Hillary Clinton  —  “We'll stay cool,” he said on Fox News's “Fox & Friends.”  —  “We'll see what's going on with her,” he added.

Tulsa Police Officer Shares Her Side of the Story in Terence Crutcher's Shooting  —  Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, identified as the officer who shot 40-year-old Terence Crutcher on Friday night, has offered her side of the story in the fatal encounter.

Clinton asks why she isn't beating Trump by 50 points  —  ORLANDO — Hillary Clinton gave voice Wednesday to a question on the minds of many of her fiercest advocates in her race against the controversy-prone Donald Trump: Why isn't she way, way ahead?  —  The Democratic nominee raised …

Powell leakers strike again with alleged White House staffer emails, Michelle Obama passport  —  The hacker website that leaked Colin Powell's politically embarrassing emails struck again Thursday, this time releasing what appears to be the personal emails of a White House staffer working …