OBAMA AGENDA: GE blames GOP for moving jobs overseas
The Wall Street Journal: “General Electric Co. will move about 500 U.S. jobs overseas to avoid losing business to foreign rivals, a decision the company said was prompted by the lapse of the U.S. Export-Import Bank’s charter earlier this summer.”
CONGRESS: Hurtling toward a shutdown?
The New York Times: "Congress hurtled toward a government shutdown on Tuesday, with Republicans threatening to block a budget deal if it includes financing for Planned Parenthood, as President Obama prepared to join the fight by pushing Republicans to scrap a multibillion-dollar tax advantage for private equity managers."
Senate Democrats blocked a vote on the Iran deal for the second time.
OFF TO THE RACES: Debate Night, Part 2
A new New Hampshire poll from WBUR shows Carson at 18 percent, with Trump leading at 22 percent.
Republicans are hopeful that a more subdued debate setting - with far fewer audience members - will help dampen Trump's bombastic performance.
The Washington Post's preview notes that some Republicans are hoping that the debate's format, particularly with host Hugh Hewitt in the mix, could make for a more sober and substantive conversation.
What to expect from the hosts tonight? Here's what Jake Tapper told the New York Times: "My goal is more about: Let’s draw the contrasts between the candidates, and have them fight it out over these policies, over who has the best approach to Putin, over who has the best approach to taxes, over who believes what over immigration reform."
BIDEN: He said Trump's rhetoric on immigrants "will not prevail."
CLINTON: Alex Seitz-Wald reports that David Brock calls pro-Elizabeth Warren efforts "misguided."
CRUZ: He'll run a 30 second ad during the debate likening the threat of Islamic to a scorpion -- and evoking Ronald Reagan's 1984 "bear in the woods" line.
FIORINA: She told CNBC's John Harwood: "Mr. Trump's going to be hearing quite a lot from me."
From NPR: “Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina is known for her tenure running Hewlett-Packard in California. But Washington, D.C., is where she got her start in business. … The Washington office, called government communications, was in charge of selling phone equipment and services to federal agencies.”
KASICH: Gov. John Kasich is trying to expand his focus beyond New Hampshire, writes NBC's Alex Jaffe.
SANDERS: Bernie Sanders’ colleagues aren’t feeling “The Bern,” as one of us wrote yesterday.
The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent: “[I]t’s worth pointing out that there is one major difference between the 2008 and 2016 Democratic primaries that might help prevent a rerun of Clinton’s 2008 loss. That difference, in three words: The Iraq War.”
TRUMP: His address aboard the USS Iowa was fairly brief -- and was disrupted by protestors, writes NBC's Ali Vitali.
He focused on national security during his remarks, saying "We’re gonna make our military so big and so strong and so great and it will be so powerful that I don’t think we’re ever going to have to use it."
From the New York Times: "Something unmistakable has happened to Mr. Trump since he announced his campaign for president in June: He has become a better candidate."
The Wall Street Journal notes that, whoever the GOP nominee is, he or she will have to win over Trump's supporters -- and they're in a surly mood.
Clashes with those protesting his campaign are getting uglier, notes the Washington Post.
He'd like to paint himself as a favorite of Ronald Reagan, but a review of documents shows otherwise. "Aides in the Reagan White House, peppered with invitations to Trump events, mostly kept the real-estate mogul at arm’s length, except when they were trying to stop his donations to Democrats or soothe his “large ego,” as one memo put it,” writes the Wall Street Journal.
WALKER: He needs a big night on the debate stage, writes hometown paper Journal-Sentinel.
More, from NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell: “Aides tell NBC News Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker "will look for opportunities to inject himself into the debate" Wednesday night and "If he gets the chance to mix it up, he's going to" do that. That marks a tactical change for Walker who was criticized for fading in the first GOP presidential debate last month. “
PROGRAMMING NOTES.
*** Wednesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: Alex Witt speaks with Former RNC Chairman and MSNBC Political Analyst Michael Steele, Mother Jones Washington Bureau Chief and MSNBC Political Analyst David Corn, and MSNBC.com Senior Editor Beth Fouhy about the GOP debate and the latest political headlines; NBC’s Richard Engel about the refugee crisis; and Kent State University Football Player April Goss about making history as the second woman to score in a major college football game.
*** Wednesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell will interview Senator Dick Durbin, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Fmr. Romney campaign advisor Vin Weber, Fmr. McCain senior campaign strategist Steve Schmidt, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza, the Cook Political Report’s Amy Walter and NBC’s Luke Russert and Richard Engel.
*** Wednesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: Thomas interviews Author Ron Reagan, Fmr. RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Sr. Editor at The New Republic Brian Beutler and Washington Post Reporter David Farenthold about tonight’s GOP debate in Simi Valley, CA