Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest on the deadly school shooting in Minnesota: “At a news conference this morning, the interim CEO of Hennepin Healthcare, Thomas Klemond, said the hospital was currently treating nine patients injured in the school shooting. Of those, six — including five children — are in satisfactory condition. Two people, one adult and one child, are in serious condition, and another child is in critical condition.”
* Peace is not near: “An hourslong barrage of Russian missiles and drones killed at least 18 people in Ukraine’s capital, including four children, early on Thursday, officials said. The assault, less than two weeks after President Trump’s summit in Alaska with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, showed how the recent American diplomatic flurry has done little to change the Kremlin’s determination to continue fighting in Ukraine.”
* A lawsuit many will be watching: “Lisa Cook has filed her lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s attempt to remove her from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In her federal court complaint, Cook’s lawyers called Trump’s move ‘unprecedented and illegal,’ arguing that his ‘unsubstantiated allegation’ of mortgage fraud doesn’t meet the legal requirement of showing cause to remove her.”
* Primus is apparently planning to challenge his termination: “President Trump on Wednesday fired Robert Primus, a board member of the railroad regulator that is weighing the proposed megamerger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. Primus, a Democrat, was nominated by Trump to the Surface Transportation Board in 2020 and began serving in 2021. He was the only member of the board to oppose the merger of Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern, a tie-up was approved by the regulator in 2023. At the time, Primus said the deal wasn’t in the public interest.”
* The administration’s latest legal setback: “A federal judge in Washington blocked the Trump administration from firing Michael Abramowitz as Voice of America’s director Thursday, weeks after administration official Kari Lake first attempted to remove him from the post.” * That trade deal with Japan that Trump was excited about doesn’t appear to be going well: “Japan’s top trade negotiator Ryosei Akazawa canceled a trip to the United States on Thursday over issues related to the U.S.-Japan trade deal. In a statement, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said that his trip would have involved the discussion of U.S. tariff measures.” * Keep an eye on Venezuela’s coast: “The U.S. Navy is surging eight warships to the Caribbean and Pacific waters near several Central and South American countries, a significant buildup for a region that has rarely seen such a large presence of U.S. military vessels and a move that has escalated tensions with nearby Venezuela. The ships are part of an ‘enhanced counter narcotics operation’ to carry out drug interdiction missions in Latin America, a defense official told The Washington Post.” 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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