10 things you need to know today: August 3, 2016

1. Obama calls Trump 'unfit' for presidency

President Obama on Tuesday urged Republicans to withdraw their support for GOP nominee Donald Trump, saying that the billionaire businessman and former reality TV star is "unfit to serve" as president. Obama, who has endorsed fellow Democrat Hillary Clinton, noted that leading Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump over his criticism of the parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq, and said their remarks will "ring hollow" if they keep supporting him. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley called Obama's comments "almost unprecedented" for a sitting president.

The New York Times

2. The Democratic National Committee's CEO resigns over hack

Democratic National Committee CEO Amy Dacey has stepped down in continuing fallout from hacked emails that suggested some party officials were biased against Sen. Bernie Sanders in favor of Hillary Clinton. The DNC also announced on Tuesday that CFO Brad Marshall and Communications Director Luis Miranda were leaving. The DNC reportedly intends to completely shake up its leadership over the appearance of favoritism, which fueled criticism from diehard Sanders supporters who still say he was robbed of the nomination, even though Sanders has endorsed Clinton and vowed to help her defeat GOP nominee Donald Trump.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

CNN

3. Trump says he is 'not quite' ready to endorse Paul Ryan

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump refused to endorse his party's highest ranking congressional leader, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in his primary race. "I'm not quite there yet," Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post released Tuesday, echoing words Ryan used while he delayed endorsing Trump, which he eventually did in June. Trump also said he would not back Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in his reelection bid, and called Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) "weak and disloyal." Both have criticized him.

The Washington Post

4. HP CEO Meg Whitman endorses Hillary Clinton in latest Republican defection

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise CEO Meg Whitman, a prominent Republican fund-raiser, endorsed Hillary Clinton for president Wednesday night, becoming the latest high-profile Republican to openly oppose Republican nominee Donald Trump. Whitman called Trump a dangerous demagogue and said in a Facebook post that his "unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more." Whitman, who ran unsuccessfully for governor of California in 2010, praised Clinton for her "stable and aspirational leadership."

The Washington Post

5. Florida responds to Zika outbreak with aerial spraying

Florida will start aerial insecticide spraying on Wednesday to kill mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus after a surge in cases in Miami, officials said. The campaign will cover an area that includes a square-mile just north of downtown Miami where 11 new cases were reported recently. A day earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned pregnant women not to travel to the area due to Zika's apparent link to devastating birth defects, the first such travel warning for a part of the continental U.S.

Reuters

6. Judge rules Trump University lawsuit can proceed

A federal judge in San Diego, California, ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit by former Trump University students can proceed against school founder Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. Judge Gonzalo Curiel said the students had raised legitimate questions about whether Trump "knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud" them. Trump has publicly denounced the case and questioned whether Curiel, a Mexican-American born in Indiana, could be fair to him given his controversial comments about Mexicans. A Trump lawyer said the case had "no merit" and should have been dismissed. The judge rejected a media request to release Trump's videotaped testimony in the case.

The New York Times The Washington Post

7. North Korea fires two ballistic missiles into sea

North Korea on Wednesday fired two ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korea's military said Wednesday. One of the medium-range Rodong missiles came down inside Japan's exclusive economic zone within 125 miles of its coast in what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called a "grave threat." It was the latest in a series of provocative tests defying United Nations Security Council resolutions aiming to rein in Pyongyang's missile and nuclear weapons programs. North Korea fired three ballistic missiles into the sea on July 19.

The Korea Herald Reuters

8. U.S. payment to Iran coincided with detainees' release

The Obama administration sent $400 million in cash to Iran around the time Tehran released four detained Americans in January, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The money marked the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement to resolve a dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 Iranian revolution. The deal came as the U.S. and other world powers implemented a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. President Obama said in January that "the time was right" to settle the matter. Some Republicans say the arrangement amounted to paying Iran's ayatollahs ransom; administration officials say there was no quid pro quo.

The Wall Street Journal New York Daily News

9. Delaware top court rules death penalty law unconstitutional

Delaware's Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled the state's death penalty law to be unconstitutional because it allows a judge, rather than a jury, to impose capital punishment. The ruling "probably means, as a practical matter, the end of the death penalty in Delaware," says Hofstra University death penalty expert Eric Freedman. Delaware has 14 prisoners on death row and carried out its most recent execution in 2012. The state's Senate voted to abolish capital punishment earlier this year, and Gov. Jack Markell (D) said he would sign such a bill.

10. Devastating California wildfire started with illegal campfire

California authorities said Tuesday that a massive wildfire that has destroyed 57 homes and caused one death in the Big Sur area was started by an illegal campfire. The campfire was abandoned around July 22 in the Garrapata State Park and has spread to burn more than 43,000 acres. State firefighting officials appealed to the public for information on whoever set the fire.

USA Today