Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Hurricane Melissa “is edging toward Jamaica and is set to make landfall as a historic Category 5 storm, with winds of more than 170 mph. Jamaica is bracing for what the National Hurricane Center said would be catastrophic flash flooding and landslides caused by up to 40 inches of rain in some places. The storm is due to make landfall early tomorrow.”
* In Ukraine: “Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine overnight into Saturday killed at least four people and wounded 16 others, local officials said. In the capital, Kyiv, two people were killed and nine were wounded in a ballistic missile attack in the early hours of Saturday, Timur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s city military administration, said.”
* In Latin America: “A U.S. warship docked in Trinidad and Tobago’s capital Sunday as the Trump administration boosts military pressure on neighboring Venezuela and its President Nicolás Maduro.”
* Closely watched election results: “The party of Argentina’s budget-slashing president, Javier Milei, won a resounding victory in legislative elections on Sunday, a crucial test for his administration that President Trump had said would decide whether the United States extended a financial lifeline to the country.”
* The pro-pollution administration: “President Trump on Friday reversed environmental regulations governing copper smelters, giving them a two-year exemption from having to comply with stricter emissions standards imposed by the Biden administration.”
* Updating our earlier reporting on the Office of Net Assessment: “Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has restored but downgraded an independent, internal Pentagon think tank focused on future wars, seven months after dismantling the agency in the name of accountability and efficiency, according to a memo obtained by The Washington Post and people familiar with the matter.”
* Trump’s next pardon recipient? “A former state lawmaker whose testimony under a plea deal about a taxpayer-funded mail business scheme helped prosecutors land the conviction of a former Tennessee House speaker has been sentenced to eight months in prison. Former state Rep. Robin Smith, a Republican who had pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud more than 3 1/2 years ago, said during her sentencing hearing that she had ‘failed the trust of the public,’ the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.” * Keep an eye on this one: “It is a bold plan. A team of defense industry start-ups envisions a new fleet of miniaturized, unmanned aircraft carriers stuffed with autonomous killer drones, antiaircraft missiles and torpedoes that will take on just about any enemy at sea. And this group pitching the Pentagon comes with an unusual sweetener: close financial ties to President Trump’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who is positioned to profit considerably if this ambitious but unproven venture succeeds.” * Given that Dickerson is one of the best in the business, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the future of CBS News: “John Dickerson, co-anchor of CBS Evening News who has been with the network since 2009, said that he is exiting at the end of this year.” See you tomorrow.
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."
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