Today’s edition of quick hits:
* The offensive Trump allowed to happen: “Turkey launched airstrikes in northeastern Syria on Wednesday, Kurdish militia leaders and eyewitnesses said, prompting panic among civilians in the region and despair among the fighters who have been crucial U.S. allies in the war on the Islamic State militant group.”
* Germany: “Two people were shot to death and several were injured Wednesday after gunfire erupted at a synagogue and a nearby kebab shop in the city of Halle in eastern Germany, in violence that was livestreamed by the gunman and posted online. The shooting occurred on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur.”
* The point, apparently, is to prevent power lines from sparking wildfires: “The Pacific Gas and Electric Company said that early Wednesday it began implementing the first phase of a ‘public safety power shutoff,’ expected to affect 513,000 customers in northern California, and that at noon (3 p.m. ET) a second phase affecting around 234,000 customers would begin.”
* A story we’ve been following: “Democrats pursuing an impeachment inquiry of President Trump want to take a fresh look at whether the sale of anti-tank missiles to Kyiv last year was in any way connected to Ukraine’s decision to halt investigations into Trump’s campaign chairman.”
* I’m eager to see additional reporting on this: “President Donald Trump directed Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and two top State Department officials to deal with his private attorney Rudy Giuliani when the Ukrainian President sought to meet Trump, in a clear circumvention of official channels, according to two sources familiar with the conversation.” * Cohen keeps generating headlines: “Michael Cohen, the former attorney and fixer for President Donald Trump, is expected to be brought back to New York for a meeting with state prosecutors where he’s expected to tell them everything he knows, a law enforcement official tells CNN.” * Does Gaetz think Captain Kangaroo presided over kangaroo courts? “At a news conference Tuesday morning, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) had this to say about the latest developments in the impeachment inquiry being led by House Democrats: ‘What we see in this impeachment is a kangaroo court, and Chairman Schiff is acting like a malicious Captain Kangaroo.’” 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." Recommended
