Today's edition of quick hits:
* Texas has the White House's attention: "President Joe Biden said that Texas' restrictive new abortion law that went into effect Wednesday violates the Constitution and pledged to 'protect and defend' abortion rights. He said in a statement that the law, Texas SB 8, will 'significantly impair women's access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with low incomes.'"
* Important diplomacy: "President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met at the White House on Wednesday as Ukraine pushes for increased military aid in its war with Russia as well as entry into NATO."
* Elijah McClain's case: "Two police officers, one former officer and two paramedics in Aurora, Colorado, will face charges in the death of Elijah McClain, a young Black man who was detained, placed in a chokehold and given a powerful sedative in a confrontation with police in 2019. The indictment comes after an eight-month grand jury investigation convened by Colorado's top prosecutor."
* A strange story: "The call to the U.S. ambassador to Tajikistan came in Monday. On the line, two U.S. officials said, was Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) with an unusual and urgent request: He needed assistance in transporting a huge amount of cash into the country, saying he was going to neighboring Afghanistan to rescue five American citizens, a woman and her four children, stuck in the country. They planned to hire a helicopter for the effort."
* Judges shouldn't pretend to be physicians: "A Ohio judge ordered a hospital to give the horse drug ivermectin to a Covid-19 patient last month despite the doctors' protest."
* Remember this one? "A Florida real estate developer was arrested on Tuesday by the Justice Department for his role in a scheme to bilk $25 million from the family of Representative Matt Gaetz in exchange for a purported presidential pardon that would have ended a sex trafficking investigation into Mr. Gaetz."
* Endorse: "The Supreme Court is, no doubt, the nation's most powerful court. But the 5th Circuit, the federal appeals court that covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, is staking out a claim to be the most dangerous — the least wedded to respecting precedent or following an orderly judicial process."
* A story I've been keeping an eye on: "Mississippi police issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for an Ohio man who they say confronted NBC News' Shaquille Brewster on live television."
* Occasionally, spelling really does matter: "A woman from suburban Chicago has been arrested and charged with using a fake vaccine card with Moderna misspelled on it in an alleged attempt to avoid quarantining during a trip to Hawaii, authorities said. Chloe Mrozak, of Oak Lawn, was accused of using falsified vaccination documents and was being held at the Honolulu Police Department, according to court records."
See you tomorrow.