OFF TO THE RACES: Clinton’s lead down to 3 pts in NBC|SurveyMonkey tracking poll
Our new NBC/ News|SurveyMonkey poll shows Clinton lead shrinking again after the FBI/email story last week.
CLINTON: At long last, she'll get Bernie Sanders' endorsement today, Alex Seitz-Wald writes: "More than a month after losing the nomination, Sanders will appear with Clinton at an event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a city and state he won by wide margins. Sanders will speak first, followed by Clinton, who has been doing similar double-billings with President Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden in recent days. But the joint event with Sanders, an unexpectedly fierce challenger who tried to stage a hostile takeover of the Democratic Party, will carry special emotion and significance. The event will help fuse two wings of the Democratic party together that, despite their real differences, seem to be closer together than their counterparts across the aisle. Many of Trump's primary challengers have yet to endorse him."
What comes next? The Washington Post: "While they have a common enemy in Republican Donald Trump, Clinton and Sanders don’t have much of a personal or professional relationship. And many of their supporters remain deeply suspicious of the other candidate."
And more, from POLITICO: "For weeks now, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been engaged in a project to win over the staunchest — and loudest — of Bernie Sanders’ supporters in the places where they’ll matter most in November. Using one-on-one meetings, social gatherings, and public campaign events, Clinton’s operatives have been quietly working to court his backers in battleground states Sanders won during the primary or where they fought in especially contentious contests — in some cases relying on personal appeals from staffers as senior as campaign manager Robby Mook."
Clinton is still struggling to make inroads with young voters, the AP notes.
Paul Ryan's efforts to block classified intel briefings for Clinton has been denied.
TRUMP: Trump said yesterday his VP decision will come in the "next three to four days."
"Donald Trump is attacking Hillary Clinton these days, but eight years ago, in the midst of the 2008 Democratic primary race, he said she would “make a good president” and a lot of people thought pairing her with Barack Obama would be a “dream ticket," writes the Wall Street Journal. "His kind words for Mrs. Clinton came in a previously unreported clip from “Trumped!,” a syndicated radio feature that aired from 2004 to 2008 and consisted of a daily commentary of about 60 seconds from the real-estate mogul."
The NAACP says Trump hasn't responded to an invitation to speak.
From our NBC News team: "A federal judge blocked enforcement Monday of a Virginia law binding delegates to support the primary winner at the nominating convention. It was a victory for Carroll "Beau" Correll, a delegate to the Republican national convention who argued that the law violated his First Amendment rights to vote for his preferred candidate. Correll supported Ted Cruz in the primary, while Donald Trump received the most votes in the state." MORE: "As a practical matter, the decision appeared to affect at most only some of Virginia's delegates. Some legal experts even said the ruling may apply only to Correll himself, though it was filed as a class action on behalf of all the state's Republican delegates.But it could have a bigger impact on the upcoming Republican National Convention, as it gives some legal cover to delegates wishing to vote their "conscience," rather than for the candidate to whom they're bound."
The AP: "If elected president, Donald Trump would be the only head of state in the world to contend that climate change is a hoax, according to a study. The Sierra Club compiled public statements from the leaders of the 195 nations recognized by the State Department. An advance copy of the group's report, to be released Tuesday, was provided to The Associated Press."
From the New York Times: "Ohio’s open-carry laws mean that those who legally own guns can take them into the 1.7-square-mile area where many of the events and protests connected to the Republican convention will be held next week. Beginning Sunday, protesters are expected to flood into the city, with causes ranging from white supremacy to Palestinian rights."
From NBC's Leigh Ann Caldwell: "At the meeting to form the Republican Party's policy platform here, the committee for the first time was forced to vote on a resolution that would remove traditional marriage language and replace it with support of same-sex marriage.'
Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have crossed a line with her comments about Trump.