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.

Clinton and Trump Tied in North Carolina Poll, With Sharp Educational Divides  —  Greensboro  —  Raleigh  —  Asheville  —  Charlotte  —  Greensboro  —  Raleigh  —  Asheville  —  Charlotte  —  Greensboro  —  Durham  —  Raleigh  —  Asheville  —  Charlotte  —  Durham  —  Asheville

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 …

Charlotte police protests: Governor declares state of emergency as violence erupts for second night  —  Protests turned violent for a second night in Charlotte after Tuesday's fatal police shooting of a black man.  Late Wednesday, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for the city …

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 …

‘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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sanders to write a young adult book  —  (I-Vt.) is working on a young adult adaptation of his book “Our Revolution” which is set for release in April 2017.  —  The book will target teenagers between the age of 12 and 18 and will be priced at $17, CNN reported Wednesday.

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

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 …

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 …

1-on-1 with Donald Trump  —  TOLEDO — Donald Trump spoke one-on-one with ABC6/FOX28 before his latest campaign stop Wednesday in Toledo.  —  Trump was running late so he would only answer three questions before taking the stage.  —  Here is the full transcript of the interview:

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 …