Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The latest from Las Vegas: “A lone gunman released a rapid-fire barrage of bullets from the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas hotel late Sunday, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500 others attending a country music festival below, officials said.”
* A different mass shooting happened yesterday in Kansas: “Lawrence Police are investigating after at least five people were shot — three fatally — in downtown Lawrence just before 1:40 Sunday morning, according to a news release from Officer Derrick Smith.”
* It’s hard to imagine Spain dealing with this in a worse way: “Catalonia will press ahead with next steps in its push for independence from Spain, its government said late Sunday after clashes between riot police and voters marred a referendum rejected as illegal by Spain.”
* Canada’s suspected terrorist attack: “Canadian officials identified the man who stabbed a police officer and drove a van into four pedestrians in a suspected terrorist attack in Edmonton, Alberta, Saturday night as Somali refugee who had been known to police.”
* Big, long-term news from GM: “General Motors plans to go 100 percent electric, the Detroit automaker announced Monday.”
* Trump-Russia: “Investigators have begun questioning White House staffers as part of the special counsel’s Russia probe, two sources confirmed to Fox News.”
* On a related note: “The special prosecutor investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has subpoenaed an associate of Gen. Michael Flynn’s Turkish lobbying client. The subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by ProPublica, ordered Sezgin Baran Korkmaz to testify before a grand jury in Washington on Sept. 22.”
* Speaking of Russia: “Two months after signing it, President Donald Trump has not begun enforcing a law imposing new sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, Senators John McCain and Ben Cardin said in a letter seen by Reuters on Friday.” * Congressional ineptitude: “A college student loan program with bipartisan support will expire Saturday after key Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander blocked legislation to extend it. The need-based program will lapse midnight Saturday, depriving tens of thousands of college students of a source of financial aid that is a mix of federal dollars and college contributions.” * Fine-tuned machine: “White House Counsel Don McGahn this summer was so frustrated about the lack of protocols surrounding meetings between President Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, his son-in-law whose activities are under scrutiny in the Russia probe, that West Wing officials expressed concerns the top lawyer would quit, according to people familiar with the conversations.” * If athletes who take a knee before the national anthem get booed anyway, then maybe the controversy isn’t about respect for the national anthem? 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
