Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Watch developments with Iran closely: “In another sign that Iran and America’s ice-cold relationship is beginning to melt, Iran’s new president Hassan Rouhani says his administration ‘will never develop nuclear weapons.’ Rouhani told NBC News’ Ann Curry in Tehran on Wednesday that he has the ‘full authority to make a nuclear deal with the West” and everything is on the negotiating table.’”
* No-brainer: “House Republican leaders announced Wednesday that they have cancelled a recess scheduled for next week in order to deal with a government spending bill needed to avoid an Oct. 1 shutdown of the government.”
* Pentagon: “Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday acknowledged that the process used to grant security clearances and access to military installations was in need of review, and most likely repair, two days after a former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. Mr. Hagel admitted that “red flags” about the gunman’s past behavior were missed.”
* Syria: “The trajectory of the rockets that delivered the nerve agent sarin in last month’s deadly attack is among the key evidence linking elite Syrian troops based in the mountains overlooking Damascus to the strike that killed hundreds of people, diplomats and human rights officials said Wednesday.”
* Jay Carney’s right: “The White House said Wednesday that the GOP was engaged in ‘essentially an all-out civil war’ and accused Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) of bending to ‘the will’ of a small group of House conservatives after deciding to press forward with a government funding bill that would strip funds for ObamaCare.”
* NSA: “The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday offered its most extensive public explanation for why it has allowed the government to keep records of all Americans’ phone calls, releasing a previously classified opinion in which it said the program was constitutional and did not violate Americans’ privacy rights.”
* Fed: “Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Janet Yellen is the leading candidate to be President Obama’s nominee to lead the Fed as chairman, a White House official said Wednesday.” * Contraception access: “The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday sided with the Obama administration in the nationwide legal battle over the mandate to cover contraception services, marking the second time a federal appeals court rebuffed a company that argued the mandatory coverage of birth control violates its religious beliefs.” * Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) explains mass shootings: “I see a lot of problems here and blaming this on guns is like saying the big problem with obesity is we’ve got too many spoons.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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