Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Hurricane Florence: “The storm was expected to make landfall late Thursday or Friday in coastal North Carolina and then potentially stall churning its way slowly down the coast, FEMA’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration liaison Steve Goldstein said at a news conference. ‘This could mean that parts of North and South Carolina near the coast will experience hurricane-force winds and hurricane conditions for 24 hours or more,’ he said.”
* The latest executive order: “President Trump issued a new order Wednesday authorizing additional sanctions against countries or individuals for interfering in upcoming U.S. elections, but lawmakers of both parties immediately said the effort does not go far enough.”
* Four different news organizations have similar reports on this: “Days before in-person jury selection is set to begin in his second trial, President Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort is in talks with the special counsel’s office about a possible plea deal, according to two people with knowledge of the discussions.”
* A case we’ve been keeping an eye on: “A federal appeals court on Tuesday shot down a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over alleged abuse protesters say they received at a campaign rally in 2016 after he repeatedly urged the crowd to ‘get ’em out of here.’”
* The White House’s campaign against the book isn’t having the intended effect: “Bob Woodward’s ‘Fear’ is spreading quickly. Woodward’s account of a dysfunctional Trump White House has already sold more than 750,000 copies, Simon & Schuster announced Wednesday, the day after the book arrived in stores.”
* Puerto Rico: “FEMA approved just 3% of applications for funeral assistance from more than 2,000 Puerto Rican families who lost loved ones after Hurricane Maria, according to a letter the agency head wrote to Sen. Elizabeth Warren.” * This seems unlikely to go well: “NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has directed the space agency to look at boosting its brand by selling naming rights to rockets and spacecraft and allowing its astronauts to appear in commercials and on cereal boxes, as if they were celebrity athletes.” * Conservative political correctness is weird: “The same day Colin Kaepernick shared his full-length Nike ad, a Louisiana mayor reportedly banned Nike products from booster clubs. Kenner Mayor Ben Zahn III ordered playground booster clubs to stop wearing and buying any Nike products in a leaked memorandum dated Sept. 5.” 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
