10 things you need to know today: August 29, 2023

1. Judge sets Trump's federal election interference trial for March

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., on Monday set an early March trial date for former President Donald Trump's federal election interference case. The March 4 start date, a day before Trump competes in the Super Tuesday presidential primaries, could result in conflicts with some of the three other criminal cases against Trump. Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed an early March trial for her election conspiracy case against Trump and some of his allies. Trump faces a March 25 trial in New York on charges of falsifying business records related to hush money payments to a porn actress. His legal team is seeking to delay the cases until long after the 2024 election.

The New York Times

2. UNC-Chapel Hill faculty member killed in campus shooting

A gunman killed a University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill faculty member in a campus building on Monday. Administrators shut down the campus for three hours, warning students to take shelter. The lockdown ended after police detained a suspect. Students said the crime disrupted the normally exciting start of the new school year, sparking fear and confusion. "To be honest, I'm feeling pretty terrified right now," said master's student Jackie Ruiz, who ran to a nearby building on the main campus when the alert went out; she and other students hid in a closet until receiving an "all clear" message. Classes were canceled through Tuesday, and Caudill Laboratories, where the shooting occurred, will remain closed as police collect evidence.

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The News & Observer The Washington Post

3. Idalia intensifies to hurricane strength on path to Florida

Forecasters upgraded Hurricane Idalia from tropical storm status early Tuesday and warned it would continue to intensify rapidly into a major hurricane as it crosses over warm Gulf of Mexico waters toward Florida's Gulf Coast. At 4 a.m. ET, Idalia had top sustained winds of 75 miles per hour. It was moving north near Cuba's western tip at 14 mph and could hit the Tampa area on Wednesday, continuing across Georgia to the Carolina coast by Thursday. The National Hurricane Center warned that Idalia could bring "life-threatening storm surge and dangerous winds" to Florida's Gulf Coast. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 46 counties in the northern half of the state.

National Hurricane Center USA Today

4. Meadows testifies that Georgia election inquiries were part of his job

Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows testified in an Atlanta federal court Monday that he was carrying out his official duties when he contacted Georgia officials as part of former President Donald Trump's push to overturn President Biden's 2020 election win in the state. "I don't know that I did anything that was outside my scope as chief of staff," Meadows said. Meadows is one of Trump's 18 co-defendants accused in a Fulton County indictment of criminally conspiring to interfere in the election, and he is trying to have his case transferred to federal court. Fulton County prosecutors oppose his request and say pushing false election fraud claims wasn't part of his official duties.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution The Wall Street Journal

5. Ukraine says it broke through Russian defenses to liberate southern village

Ukraine said Monday its forces had liberated the southeastern settlement of Robotyne, a sign of hard-won progress in their counteroffensive to reclaim territory seized by Russia. The settlement is six miles south of the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region. Ukraine's military is confident it has broken through key Russian defenses in the south, which may allow faster progress, though two more formidable defensive lines remain. Ukraine has its sights set on the nearby road-and-rail hub of Tokmak, a strategically important prize on the push toward the Sea of Asov to split Russia's forces. "Everything is going according to the plan," Ukraine's defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said Monday.

Reuters

6. Russian hardliners demand military honors for Prigozhin

The Kremlin on Monday dodged calls from Russian hardliners to bury Wagner mercenary leaders Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin with full military honors. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said no decision had been made on whether President Vladimir Putin would attend the funerals, adding that the details of the ceremonies were mostly up to the families. Prigozhin and Utkin, along with several other Wagner insiders, were killed last week when their private jet crashed on a flight from Moscow to St. Petersburg, exactly two months after Wagner's brief mutiny against Russia's military leadership. Most Western observers and many inside Russia assume Prigozhin was assassinated under Putin's orders. Russian propagandists blame Ukraine and Western intelligence agencies.

The Washington Post

7. Spanish prosecutors investigate soccer chief over unwanted kiss

Spanish prosecutors announced Monday they were investigating whether national soccer federation president Luis Rubiales could face sexual aggression charges for kissing a member of the women's national team, Jenni Hermoso, on the lips after Spain beat England to win the Women's World Cup. Rubiales has defied calls to resign, accusing his critics of "false feminism" and "social assassination" and saying Hermoso was the one who moved him "close to her body." Hermoso said "at no time did I consent to the kiss." The group Rubiales leads, the Royal Spanish Football Federation, has defended him but faces mounting pressure to punish him. The government has called Rubiales' conduct unacceptable, and Spain's players have said they won't compete again until he's replaced.

The New York Times

8. Poll: Many Americans see Biden as 'old,' Trump as 'corrupt'

A significant number of Americans express objections to the front-runners in the 2024 presidential primaries, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released Monday. The survey found that 26% of respondents used words like "old" or "outdated" to describe President Biden, who is expected to be the Democratic nominee. On the other side, 15% called the Republican front-runner, former President Donald Trump, "corrupt" or "crooked," while another 8% used words like "liar" and "dishonest." The poll found that 24% want Biden to run again while 30% want Trump to be a candidate. Sixty-two percent said they had an unfavorable opinion of Trump, compared to 52% who said that about Biden.

The Associated Press

9. Toyota halts production at 14 Japan assembly plants

Toyota said Tuesday it had to suspend operations at its 14 assembly plants in Japan after its production system malfunctioned. The world's top-selling automaker said the breakdown was "likely not due to a cyberattack" but the cause was still under investigation. The plants in Toyota's home country account for about a third of its global production. Domestic output averaged about 13,500 vehicles per day in the first half of 2023, according to Reuters. Toyota had to halt operations for a day last year due to a cyberattack against one of its suppliers, forcing the company to use a backup network so it could resume production.

Reuters

10. 'Joe the Plumber' dies at 49

Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, who became known as "Joe the Plumber" after questioning Barack Obama about small-business taxes during the 2008 presidential campaign, has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 49. Wurzelbacher asked Obama, who was campaigning in his working-class Toledo, Ohio, neighborhood, about the then-Democratic nominee's proposed tax increase for some small businesses. Wurzelbacher said he was concerned he would have to pay higher taxes just as he was close to having enough money to buy a plumbing business. Wurzelbacher became a household name when Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), brought him up repeatedly in the campaign's final debate three days later.

The New York Times CNN