The American Way: President Obama suffered the first veto override of his presidency yesterday. Both houses of Congress overwhelmingly voted in favor of a law that would allow 9/11 survivors to sue Saudi Arabia for damages over any complicity the country may have had in the terrorist plot.

The president and senior defense officials have warned that the override could have serious consequences for US forces overseas and open a Pandora’s box of countries suing other countries.

Almost every Democrat turned against the president on this one. “This is a decision I do not take lightly,” said NY Sen. Senator Chuck Schumer. “This bill is near and dear to my heart as a New Yorker, because it would allow the victims of 9/11 to pursue some small measure of justice, finally giving them a legal avenue to pursue foreign sponsors of the terrorist attack that took from them the lives of their loved ones.”

Carnegie Hall: The NY Times reports that Donald Trump and his staff have a new strategy for the next presidential debate: he’s going to prepare and practice for it. That suggests he knows he took a beating, even though he denies it. Trump has been on the trail citing phantom polls that say he won the debate.

“So I understand that we have a Reuters poll where we’re 10 points up!” he shouted to a crowd in Iowa yesterday. Only he knows where he got that number. The Ipsos/Reuters national tracking poll had Hillary Clinton six points ahead of Trump before the debate. He also cited a collection of flash online polls, which are notoriously unreliable. Trump tweeted, “Every on-line poll, Time Magazine, Drudge etc., has me winning the debate.”

He’s not winning the hearts and minds of newspaper editorial departments. The Arizona Republic has endorsed Hillary Clinton, granting the paper’s approval to a Democrat for the first time in its history.  The editorial says, “This reflects a deep philosophical appreciation for conservative ideals and Republican principles. This year is different. The 2016 Republican candidate is not conservative and he is not qualified.”

In other political news, Alec Baldwin is joining the cast of Saturday Night Live to play Donald Trump.

Permawar: The US is sending 600 more troops to Iraq to help the Iraqi government take back the city of Mosul from the Islamic State. “These are military forces that will be deployed to intensify the strategy that’s in place, to support Iraqi forces as they prepare for an offensive,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said. That will bring to 5,000 the number of American troops in Iraq seven years after President Obama withdrew US forces.

The Obit Page: Agnes Nixon, the creator of the soap operas “One Life to Live” and “All My Children” has died at 93. Nixon moved the soaps from passionate bodice busters to treatments of real social issues from the Vietnam War to cancer and Aids.

“All My Children” featured Susan Lucci playing Erica Kane, the bitch-goddess of daytime television. Lucci’s failure year after year to win a daytime Emmy Award became a soap opera unto itself.

Aleppo: Asked last night during a town hall meeting on MSNBC to name his favorite foreign leader, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson could name one. Flustered, he said, “I guess I’m having an Aleppo moment,” recalling the moment when he didn’t recognize the name of Syria’s embattled city. They don’t have “phone a friend” in political town halls.

-30-