Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The background check: “The White House on Monday eased some of the limits it had placed on the FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, authorizing the FBI to interview whoever agents thought was necessary, a senior U.S. official and another well-placed source told NBC News.”
* The rush continues: “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday slammed Democrats for ‘obstructing’ and ‘delaying’ Republican efforts to confirm Brett Kavanaugh and vowed that President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee would be voted on this week.”
* The death toll in Indonesia is nearing 400: “Dozens of rescuers have been deployed to areas devastated by an earthquake and tsunami that killed hundreds of people — but damaged roads and limited communication were hampering efforts.”
* Another round of deadly violence in Israel: “At least seven Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces on the Gaza-Israel border Friday, after militant group Hamas issued calls for bigger protests amid growing frustrations over stalled cease-fire talks with its neighbor.”
* China “canceled an important annual security meeting planned for mid-October with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Beijing, saying a senior Chinese military officer would not be available to meet him, an American official said on Sunday.”
* Migrant children: “In shelters from Kansas to New York, hundreds of migrant children have been roused in the middle of the night in recent weeks and loaded onto buses with backpacks and snacks for a cross-country journey to their new home: a barren tent city on a sprawling patch of desert in West Texas.”
* A story worth watching: “Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office has been ordered by a judge to turn over emails between then-Gov. Mike Pence, President-elect Donald Trump and Carrier Corp. about Trump’s negotiations to prevent the company from moving most of its operations from Indianapolis to Mexico.”
* Oh, to be a fly on the wall: “Paul Manafort met Monday with special counsel Robert Mueller’s office as part of his cooperation agreement in the special counsel’s investigation into Russia interference in the 2016 presidential election.” * Net neutrality: “The Justice Department is suing California to block a recently signed law restoring net neutrality rules that the Federal Communications Commission discarded last year, setting up a high-stakes legal bout between the Trump administration and the nation’s most populous state.” * I’ve been meaning to mention this Associated Press analysis: “President Donald Trump made reducing drug prices a key promise during his election campaign, repeatedly accusing drugmakers of ‘getting away with murder.’ At the end of May, he promised that drug companies would be announcing ‘massive’ voluntary drug price cuts within two weeks. That hasn’t happened.” * A different kind of White House: “The slow fade out of the daily briefing has coincided with a particularly fraught period for the Trump White House, as Kavanaugh’s nomination has become an epic political crisis and the fate of deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, appears to hang in the balance…. As those stories have exploded, the James S. Brady Briefing Room has sat virtually unused.” 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
