Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Opioid crisis: ‘Purdue Pharma and its owners, members of the Sackler family, have tentatively reached the first comprehensive settlement with lawyers representing thousands of municipal governments, tribes and states nationwide that are suing the pharmaceutical industry for the devastation resulting from the opioid epidemic.”
* I’ll look forward to hearing an explanation for this: “The U.S. will not grant temporary protected status to people from the Bahamas displaced by Hurricane Dorian, an administration official told NBC News.”
* An important hearing: “Federal immigration officials are being questioned by House lawmakers over the Trump administration’s decision to stop considering requests from immigrants seeking to defer deportation for medical treatment and other hardships.”
* I’ll have more on this tomorrow: “The federal government will act to ban thousands of flavors used in e-cigarettes, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, responding to a recent surge in underage vaping that has alarmed parents, politicians and health authorities nationwide.”
* The obviously right decision: “North Dakota doctors will not be compelled to lie to their patients thanks to a federal court decision on Tuesday that blocked the state’s “abortion reversal” law.”
* For the record, that’s our money: “Ground transportation for Vice President Mike Pence’s stay at President Donald Trump’s Doonbeg, Ireland, resort cost taxpayers nearly $600,000, according to State Department receipts.” * The climate crisis doesn’t affect every part of the planet the exact same way: “A Washington Post analysis of multiple temperature data sets found numerous locations around the globe that have warmed by at least 2 degrees Celsius over the past century. That’s a number that scientists and policymakers have identified as a red line if the planet is to avoid catastrophic and irreversible consequences. But in regions large and small, that point has already been reached.” * The right-wing House Freedom Caucus has a new chairman: “The hard-line group has elected Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) to be the new Freedom Caucus chief, replacing Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).” 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
