Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Heartbreaking tallies: “Over the last seven days, a grim new COVID-19 calculus has emerged: one person died every 80 seconds from the coronavirus in America. And the pace at which those 7,486 people died appears to be accelerating, a new NBC News tally revealed Wednesday.”
* The latest out of Beirut: “Although the exact trigger of the blast remains unclear, tons of ammonium nitrate stored at a warehouse at the Beirut port have been blamed, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab said, promising a full investigation.”
* Isaias’ damage: “At least six deaths have been linked to Isaias after it made landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina and then sped north, lashing areas in its path with heavy rain and high winds that caused flooding and prompted rescues, officials said. The storm-related deaths occurred in North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York City.”
* Word from the Hill: “Congressional leaders and White House negotiators were discussing a compromise framework on Wednesday for another round of coronavirus aid that could include a $400 weekly boosted unemployment payment, according to three Democratic sources familiar with the conversations.”
* National Guard: “When President Donald Trump directed late Monday that states now pick up some of the tab for the nationwide deployment of the National Guard to respond to the coronavirus, he carved out two big exceptions: Texas and Florida.”
* Antifa: “U.S. federal prosecutors have produced no evidence linking dozens of people arrested in anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon, to the antifa or anarchist movements, despite President Donald Trump’s assertions they are fueling the unrest.” * A political culture shows signs of sickness: “Dr. Anthony Fauci said that receiving death threats for advocating public health principles has been stressful for him and his family, during an interview on Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health forum with CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta. ‘Getting death threats for me and my family and harassing my daughters to the point where I have to get security, it just, it’s amazing,’ Fauci told Gupta.” * People are going on cruises? Really? “While most of the global cruise industry remains on pause as coronavirus continues to sweep the world, some cruise lines have begun to resume operations on some ships in international waters. And while ships are sailing with new precautions, problems because of the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, are already on the rise.” 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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