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Trump Visits Colorado In Effort To Close Gap In Polls

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Now we're going to go to Colorado. That is where Donald Trump is today and where NPR's Scott Detrow is traveling with the campaign. Hi there, Scott.

SCOTT DETROW, BYLINE: Hey, Kelly.

MCEVERS: So let's start with that news that we mentioned about the Trump Foundation. Give us some more details about what New York's attorney general is doing.

DETROW: Yeah, so he's ordering the Trump Foundation to stop fundraising immediately. This follows one of many Washington Post revelations about the charity. This one was that it doesn't - wasn't properly registered with the state to solicit donations. That's a registration that would have opened the foundation up to state audits among other things.

The papers also reported over the past few weeks that Donald Trump himself has not contributed to the foundation since 2008 but that he's been using the charity's money to settle business-related lawsuits.

MCEVERS: Trump has been on the defensive between, you know, the story about his taxes and this latest story about his foundation. Did he address these at the rally that you were at today?

DETROW: So he didn't say anything about the Trump Foundation or what Attorney General Schneiderman is doing, but he did talk at length about taxes. Trump did not directly deny the story. In fact he said fixing the broken tax code is a main reason why he's running for president, that he understands the tax code himself, and he's taken advantage of it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: As a businessman and real estate developer, I have legally used the tax laws to my benefit and to the benefit of my company, my investors and my employees. I mean honestly, I brilliantly used those laws.

DETROW: So Trump went on to talk a lot about how he suffered financial losses in the early '90s, that he used the tax code to his benefit and then that he rebuilt. So it sounded like Trump was confirming the story and actually saying he's proud of how he used the tax law.

And the crowd cheered him when he said that. And when I talked to people afterwards, many of them agreed. One man said, you know, hey, I don't pay any more taxes that - than I need to.

MCEVERS: So as you said, you are in Colorado today. Where else is Donald Trump spending his time this week?

DETROW: It's a Western swing. He's in Colorado today, Arizona tomorrow and then Nevada on Wednesday. And it's a really interesting set of states this year. Colorado - it's been increasingly blue in recent years. Hillary Clinton has had a lead here all year, but polls had really tightened in recent weeks. A new poll out today has Clinton with a double-digit lead. Democrats are hoping that maybe the debate took the pressure off in Colorado.

But tomorrow Trump is in Arizona, and that's kind of the flipside. It's a Republican state traditionally, but Democrats are hopeful enough there to invest in offices and run some ads on TV if not doing a lot of on-the-ground campaigning there. But they're hoping that with a lot of turnout from Latino voters based on how many of them view Trump, that they could compete in high turnout.

Nevada - you know, it's really close. It's a tough state to poll, and it's one of the biggest unknowns on the map this year.

MCEVERS: And this tough new cycle for Trump started when he didn't really prepare for the first presidential debate. Do you have any indication of how much time he's spending prepping for the next one on Sunday?

DETROW: Well, I think it's worth noting that he has a really busy week. He has this Western swing, then he's up and down the East Coast and the Midwest later this week. According to some reports, Trump did do debate prep yesterday. But right now we don't see him carving out several days to do preparation like Hillary Clinton had been doing before the first debate.

And we should point out the next one is a totally different format. It's a town hall with interactions with voters. That's a whole new set of challenges for someone like Trump who doesn't have a lot of experience in these one-on-one debates.

MCEVERS: That's NPR's Scott Detrow traveling with the Donald Trump campaign. Thanks.

DETROW: Anytime.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

And a reminder that the vice presidential debate is tomorrow night. That will be airing on many NPR stations, and our live coverage will begin at 9 p.m. Eastern. Robert Siegel will be your host, and keep an eye, too, on npr.org where we will be fact-checking the debate in real time. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Scott Detrow is a White House correspondent for NPR and co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

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