Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Future of Trump’s Muslim ban: “The White House could issue new requirements this weekend for travelers entering the United States, replacing President Donald Trump’s controversial ban on visitors from six Muslim countries, administration officials tell NBC News.”
* Puerto Rico’s financial difficulties make matters much worse: “As Hurricane Maria plowed on from a stricken and sodden Puerto Rico, residents on Friday faced the arduous work of rebuilding that awaited them, a task made all the more formidable by the fact that, for now, the island has no power.”
* Quite a story: “President Donald Trump’s attorneys in the probe of Russian election interference are being funded in part through a Republican Party account with a handful of wealthy donors — including a billionaire investor, a property developer seeking U.S. government visas and a Ukrainian-born American who has made billions of dollars doing business with Russian oligarchs.”
* More Trump-Russia: “Special counsel Robert Mueller has sought phone records concerning the statement written aboard Air Force One defending a meeting between Trump campaign officials and Russians at Trump Tower last year that was set up by Donald Trump Jr., according to two people familiar with the investigation.”
* Korean peninsula: “Army counterintelligence officials in South Korea are investigating fake mobile alerts and social media messages warning American military families and Defense Department personnel of orders to evacuate the volatile peninsula on Thursday.”
* Afghanistan: “President Donald Trump and Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani delivered contradictory assessments Thursday of the situation on the ground as the U.S. military operation there enters its 16th year.” * Military history: “For the first time, a woman is set to become a Marine Corps infantry officer, a milestone in the Corps’ 242-year history. The woman, whose name has not been released, is scheduled to graduate from the physically demanding infantry officer course Monday. She will be the first women to complete the 13-week course. Since it was opened to females in 2012, 36 women have enrolled in the course.” * Diversity matters: “The Trump administration truly is a boy’s club. According to a new analysis conducted by the liberal Super Pac American Bridge 21st Century, 80 percent of the people the president has nominated for jobs that require Senate approval have been men. American Bridge shared the findings, based on congressional records, press releases, and freedom of information requests, with the Guardian. “ Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
