The Hill’s 12:30 Report

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The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Trump tweets about Ex-Miss Universe ‘sex tape’ | Dean apologizes for Trump cocaine tweet | How White House got beat on Saudi-9/11 bill | Clinton, Johnson rack up newspaper endorsements | National Hot Mulled Cider Day!

NEWS OF THE MORNING — NOTHING GOOD IS TWEETED BEFORE 6 A.M.: Donald Trump went after a former Miss Universe in a string of early-morning tweets Friday, encouraging voters to “check out” an alleged sex tape involving Alicia Machado. “Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an ‘angel’ without checking her past, which is terrible!” http://bit.ly/2dd3fEV

@Darth retweeted Trump, adding: “wat u want in a president is some one who exhorts everyone to ‘check out sex tape’ like some twitter sex bot” http://bit.ly/2dj1BOp Context: This is part of @Darth’s ongoing “what u want in a president is …” series on Twitter. It’s pretty funny: http://bit.ly/2dB4m0w

Hillary Clinton reacts: Clinton went on a tweetstorm in response to Trump. “This is … unhinged, even for Trump. A few notes … What kind of man stays up all night to smear a woman with lies and conspiracy theories? … Trump obsessively bullies Rosie O’Donnell — an accomplished actor. He insulted Kim Kardashian for her weight — when she was pregnant. Pathetic.” You get the idea. Here’s the full string of tweets: http://bit.ly/2dqpYM5

Ex-Miss Universe responds: “The Republican candidate and his campaign team are again generating attacks, insults and trying to revive defamations and false accusations about my life,” Machado said in Spanish on Instagram. “The attacks are slander and cheap lies generated with bad intentions and no basis that have been spread by tabloids.” http://bit.ly/2cGwr5U

Happy Friday! Tomorrow kicks off October — what the?? I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of what you missed this morning and what’s on tap for the rest of the day. Send comments, story ideas and weekend plans to cmartel@digital-staging.thehill.com, @CateMartel and on Facebook.

DEVELOPING NOW – THIS SHOULD BE … INTERESTING: Video of Donald Trump testifying under oath about derogatory comments he’s made about Hispanics will be released as soon as Friday. How it went down: D.C. Superior Court Judge Brian Holeman on Thursday night ordered that the deposition be made public, rejecting Trump’s attorneys’ argument that the footage would be used in campaign commercials against the real estate mogul. http://bit.ly/2dqtYMi

{mosads}WORTH THE READ — HOW THE WHITE HOUSE GOT BEAT ON 9/11 BILL: The Hill’s Jordan Fabian and Katie Bo Williams have a fascinating play-by-play of how the Saudi-9/11 bill became a snowball rolling downhill, with all but the White House and Saudi government getting out of the way. http://bit.ly/2d1596r

LET’S WIN THIS THING!: The Hill’s Niall Stanage outlines five pieces of advice for GOP nominee Donald Trump to regain momentum in the presidential race. http://bit.ly/2cGI087 

1. Stop talking about the debate — Making excuses for the debate is looking petty. Move on from it.
2. Hit the themes that worked — I.e., focus on being the candidate of change.
3. Get an assist from his running mate — The VP debate is next week. Best line: “Neither Pence, nor Kaine is over-endowed with charisma.” Lol, well said.
4. Flip the script — A lil less about Miss Universe, a lil more on policy.
5. Do better next time — haha, yes, this is actual advice. Prep for the next debate!

MEANWHILE, HERE’S CLINTON’S NEW STRATEGY — ‘LOVE ME’: One surrogate for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said the campaign understands that it needs to continue to “give people a reason to vote for her. … People need to be inspired by her.” At the same time, the surrogate said the campaign shouldn’t lose sight of trying to make Donald Trump “as toxic as possible.” http://bit.ly/2dKv467

NOW, DOESN’T THAT FEEL BETTER, HOWARD?: Howard Dean apologized Friday for insinuating that Donald Trump uses cocaine, arguing his remarks were as a critique of media coverage of the businessman’s presidential bid. “I apologize for using innuendo. I don’t think it’s a good thing to do …” http://bit.ly/2dgWheb

YES, I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE ON THIS: Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson‘s running mate, Bill Weld, said that “pop quizzes” on television are not Johnson’s “forte.” http://bit.ly/2diP4e2

A DAY OF ENDORSEMENTS:

Wall Street Journal editorial board member: Dorothy Rabinowitz, a member of the Wall Street Journal’s traditionally conservative editorial board has endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, calling her “eminently sane” and bashing Donald Trump as the candidate of “white supremacists and swastika devotees.” But note: This is just a member, not the whole board. http://bit.ly/2cQD3Nx

The Chicago Tribune: President Obama‘s hometown newspaper has picked Libertarian Gary Johnson,expressing distain for both Donald Trump (R) and Clinton (D). http://trib.in/2dgKjkR

Reaction from David Axelrod: Obviously impressed by his grasp of global affairs, the Chicago Tribune endorses Gary Johnson for POTUS. http://bit.ly/2dKh64l

USA Today: USA Today’s editorial board, which has never endorsed a candidate before, recommends voting for anyone but Trump. Why: The editorial says he is “unfit for the presidency.” http://usat.ly/2cGbs3d

NOTABLE TWEETS:

Kyle Harbaugh (The photo is of a watermelon on the track of the D.C. metro.)
We enter Day 2 of #melonwatch2016 on WMATA http://bit.ly/2dwy2wt

Metro responds: Hi, we’d like to report this to Plant Maintenance. What station did you see the watermelon in?

Harbaugh responds: kinda want to see if you guys can figure this out on your own

Metro responds: Pentagon City! We’re on it! Thanks, Kyle.

Harbaugh responds: happy to help report rogue fruit.

Metro responds: The watermelon has been removed. Thanks again.

ON TAP:

The House and Senate are both outta here. Time to campaign!

Overnight: President Obama attended a funeral for former Israeli President Shimon Peres. Read his moving eulogy: http://ti.me/2cGetQM

Noon: Mike Pence is holding a rally in Fort Wayne, Ind.

12:30 p.m. EDT: Chelsea Clinton campaigns in Green Bay, Wis.

3:30 p.m. EDT: Hillary Clinton campaigns in Coral Springs, Fla.

5 p.m. EDT: Donald Trump holds a rally in Novi, Mich.

7 p.m. EDT Saturday: Donald Trump holds a rally in Manheim, Pa.

NOW FOR THE FUN STUFF …:

Today is National Gum Day and Mulled Cider Day! And tomorrow kicks off National Apple Month!

LOOK, BILL! PRINCESS CHARLOTTE LOVES BALLOONS, TOO!: The former President Clinton and British Princess Charlotte have very similar reactions to playing with balloons. http://bzfd.it/2dBavKc

KEEP WORKING ON YOUR FLEXIBILITY, BARACK: No, I don’t even mean that metaphorically this time. President Obama tried doing splits with the “Final Five” U.S. women’s gymnastic gold medalists. Instagram from Aly Raisman: http://bit.ly/2cQNPTX

And to get your weekend off to a great start, here’s a best friend combo of a husky and a ferret. It’s adorable: http://bit.ly/2cGhBvX

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