Today's edition of quick hits:
* Afghanistan: "Two Americans were among seven people killed in a massive car bomb near the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital Tuesday, a U.S. military official said. One of the U.S. citizens was a service member, the other a civilian, the official said."
* Ebola response: "The United States will intervene to help confront the global threat posed by the recent Ebola outbreak, President Barack Obama said during a speech announcing a new effort to assist the West African countries that have been overwhelmed by the spread of the deadly virus.... In what he said is the largest international response in the history of the CDC, Obama made public his plans to increase U.S. aid to combat Ebola by sending thousands of personnel and millions of dollars to West Africa to avoid a humanitarian disaster."
* Dempsey tackles a hypothetical: "Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress on Tuesday that he would recommend deploying United States combat forces against Islamic extremists in specific operations if the current strategy of airstrikes was not successful, offering a more expansive view of the American role in the ground war than that of President Obama."
* Capitol Hill: "Despite lingering reservations on both sides of the aisle, a coalition of Republicans and Democrats is coming together behind proposals to arm Syrian rebels and fund the government beyond Sept. 30."
* The child poverty rate in the United States saw its "largest one-year drop since 1966." That's pretty amazing.
* Ferguson: "A judge has given the grand jury considering whether to indict Darren Wilson, the Ferguson. Mo., police officer who killed 18-year-old Michael Brown, an extension of 60 days to make a decision. The jury must decide by Jan. 7 whether Officer Wilson will be criminally charged in Mr. Brown's death."
* Pennsylvania: "A manhunt is under way Tuesday for an anti-cop 'survivalist' with mass-murder fantasies who is wanted in last week's deadly ambush of Pennsylvania state police barracks, authorities said. Arrest warrants have been issued for Eric Matthew Frein, 31, of Canadensis, Pa., for the Friday night shooting that killed one trooper and left another critically wounded."
* Good: "President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden plan to announce a campus sexual assault awareness campaign from the White House Friday, with a special focus on engaging men in the fight against a largely hidden problem."
* "Obsession" is the only word that seems to apply: "Fox News' evening lineup ran nearly 1,100 segments on the Benghazi attacks and their aftermath in the first 20 months following the attacks."
* Space taxis: "NASA is going back to the future with $6.8 billion in backing for Apollo-style spaceships designed by Boeing and SpaceX. Both companies have been given the go-ahead to build, test and fly their gumdrop-shaped 'space taxis,' with the aim of transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station starting in 2017."
* And if you’ve missed Rachel talking about it on the show, we’ve been updating an online whip count, listing the members of Congress who support a congressional debate and vote on authorizing force against ISIS targets. Have your representatives weighed in? If so, and their names aren’t on our list, email us at Rachel@msnbc.com.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.