Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Beirut: “A ‘colossal’ explosion rocked the port area of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on Tuesday, injuring thousands and causing widespread damage in a densely populated part of the city. At least 3,000 people have been injured and 50 killed, Minister of Health Hassan Hamad said at a press conference. Those numbers are likely to rise with hospitals filling up fast.”
* Nursing homes: “The Trump administration’s plan to provide every nursing home with a fast COVID-19 testing machine comes with an asterisk: The government won’t supply enough test kits to check staff and residents beyond an initial couple of rounds.”
* Fauci: “The United States will need to bring its daily coronavirus case count down to 10,000 by September to gain some level of control over the pandemic before fall, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, said Monday.”
* Worth watching: “The House Intelligence Committee has opened an investigation into the Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence arm, according to a letter its chairman sent to top DHS officials on Monday.”
* Merritt Corrigan: “The deputy White House liaison to the U.S. Agency for International Development was fired Monday after making a series of comments critical of gay marriage and LGBTQ rights, two former Trump administration officials confirmed to NBC News.”
* FBI: “An internal audit of 29 warrant applications submitted by the FBI to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court found only minor clerical errors in a process that has come under heavy political scrutiny in recent years.”
* Setting the record straight: “Through no fault of their own, 30 million jobless Americans just had their benefits slashed. Many may soon face eviction, hunger, bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the White House and Republican lawmakers are in no rush to help. Instead, GOP officials have essentially accused these desperate families of being lazy welfare queens, choosing to remain on cushy government benefits rather than savor the dignity of work. But five recent economic studies find no such thing is happening.” * Trump really doesn’t know how to pronounce “Yosemite.” * What a strange story: “A photo circulating on the internet that appears to show Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. on a yacht with his pants unzipped and arm around a woman is sparking backlash against the leader of the Christian college.” 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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