10 things you need to know today: October 8, 2017

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

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1. Trump says 'mess' in North Korea will be fixed by 'only one thing'
2. Nate downgraded to tropical storm over Mississippi
3. Trump proposes 'temporary deal' on health care
4. Schumer rebuffs Trump on health care
5. Trump says Tillerson could be 'a little bit tougher'
6. Pence speaks at prayer service in Las Vegas
7. White nationalists return to Charlottesville
8. Several injured in London museum car crash
9. Rapper Nelly arrested on rape allegations
10. Jason Aldean opens SNL with Tom Petty's 'I won't back down'

last updated 8 October 2017

1. Trump says 'mess' in North Korea will be fixed by 'only one thing'

President Trump issued a new volley in his war of words with North Korea with a cryptic pair of tweets posted Saturday afternoon. "Presidents and their administrations have been talking to North Korea for 25 years, agreements made and massive amounts of money paid hasn't worked, agreements violated before the ink was dry, makings fools of U.S. negotiators," he wrote. "Sorry, but only one thing will work!" Trump did not specify what "one thing" he meant, though as with past tweeted threats, many observers have assumed it to be war. Trump reiterated the 25-year point in an interview with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee on TBN Saturday night, adding, "The truth is, Mike, I was handed a mess."

Hurricane Nate was expected to accelerate into a Category 2 storm as it made landfall in Gulf Coast states Saturday night, but instead the storm slowed and was downgraded to a tropical storm once again. Nate made landfall Saturday in the New Orleans area and then again around Biloxi, Mississippi. Sunday morning, the National Hurricane Center's forecast saw the storm moving northeast through Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky, weakening as it goes. Though the storm winds have slowed, Nate is still bringing heavy rains. Biloxi is experiencing some flooding and evacuation orders remain in effect for some low-lying areas near the Gulf.

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President Trump on Saturday proposed a "temporary deal" on health care so it could be settled during the midterm elections in 2018. "If we made a temporary deal, I think it would be a great thing for people, but it's really up to [Democrats]," Trump told reporters outside the White House. "If we could do a one-year deal or a two-year deal as a temporary measure, you'll have block granting ultimately to the states, which is what the Republicans want," he added. "That really is a repeal and replace." Speaking with Mike Huckabee in an interview broadcast on TBN later Saturday, Trump pledged to "have health care before the election."

President Trump called Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) about health-care policy on Friday and announced the call Saturday morning, tweeting, "I called Chuck Schumer yesterday to see if the Dems want to do a great HealthCare Bill. ObamaCare is badly broken, big premiums. Who knows!" Shortly after Trump's post, however, Schumer issued a statement saying he'd rebuffed the president's offer. "The president wanted to make another run at repeal and replace and I told the president that's off the table," he said, suggesting Democrats would consider negotiations if Trump would first stabilize the current system.

President Trump had mostly positive words about Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he spoke with reporters outside the White House Saturday. "I have a very good relationship" with Tillerson, the president said, though they "disagree on a couple of things." "Sometimes I'd like him to be a little bit tougher," Trump added, "but other than that we have a very good relationship." NBC News reported Wednesday that Tillerson called Trump a "moron" in July, and Trump tweeted last week that Tillerson is "wasting his time" with diplomatic efforts pertaining to North Korea.

Vice President Mike Pence spoke at Las Vegas City Hall Saturday evening at a prayer service commemorating the victims of last week's mass shooting. "It was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions," Pence said. "Those we lost were taken before their time, but their names and their stories will forever be etched into the hearts of the American people." Pence steered clear of policy but praised the work of law enforcement and other first responders who dealt with the crisis. The service concluded with the release of 58 doves, one for each person killed in the attack.

Several dozen white nationalists led by Richard Spencer again marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, with tiki torches Saturday night. As at the larger rally and counter-protest in August, they gathered near the city's statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, chanting slogans like "you will not replace us." Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer condemned the "despicable visit by neo-Nazi cowards" and told marchers to "Go home!" At the August event, an anti-racist activist named Heather Heyer was killed by a white nationalist marcher who allegedly intentionally drove his car in the crowd.

Several people were injured, none seriously, when a car drove into pedestrians on a sidewalk outside London's Natural History Museum Saturday afternoon. Authorities say they do not believe this to be an incident of terrorism, though the U.K.'s terror threat is currently set to "severe." "Inquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are under way," London police reported on Twitter, and Downing Street says Prime Minister Theresa May is "being kept up to date on events." One person was detained at the scene, but soon released under investigation.

Rapper Nelly was arrested early Saturday morning from his tour bus in Auburn, Washington, after a woman accused him of raping her in the bus Friday night. Nelly, whose real name is Cornell Iral Haynes Jr., was released later Saturday. "Let me say that I am beyond shocked that I have been targeted with this false allegation," he tweeted. "I am completely innocent." In follow-up tweets, he said no charges have been filed and no bail was required, pledging to "pursue every legal option to address this defaming claim."

Country star Jason Aldean opened Saturday Night Live with a performance of Tom Petty's "I won't back down" as a tribute to the 58 people killed and the hundreds more wounded at the mass shooting in Las Vegas last week. Aldean was performing at the musical festival in Vegas when the shooting began, and Petty died Monday at the age of 66. "So many people are hurting," Aldean said at SNL. "You can be sure that we are going to walk through these tough times together every step of the way, because when America is at its best, our bond and our spirit is unbreakable."

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.