Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Death toll from Hawaii wildfires drops to 97- Hawaii governor

The death toll from last month's wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui has dropped to 97 and the number of people missing is now 31, Hawaii Governor Josh Green told CNN in an interview on Friday. Green said last week the death toll was 115 and 66 people were missing.

Biden weighed by economic concerns, age in potential 2024 rematch with Trump -Reuters/Ipsos poll

U.S. President Joe Biden's chances of re-election are being jeopardized by voters' concerns over his age, the economy and crime, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, creating an opportunity for Republican challenger Donald Trump to return to the White House. The opinion poll found Democrat Biden, 80, tied in a hypothetical November 2024 election against Trump, 77, the former president who is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, with both receiving 39% of the vote and one in five voters undecided.

Special counsel seeks limits on Trump's statements in elections case

U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking a judge to impose limits on statements from former President Donald Trump regarding a Washington, D.C., court case over his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat, according to a court filing on Friday. "The defendant has an established practice of issuing inflammatory public statements targeted at individuals or institutions that present an obstacle or challenge to him," Smith said in a filing in U.S. District Court asking Judge Tanya Chutkan to impose some "narrow" limits on Trump's statements outside of court.

US Supreme Court's Jackson urges nation's history of racism to be taught

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson on Friday called for a commitment to remember and teach the history of racism and violence in the United States as she commemorated the deaths of four Black girls killed by white supremacists in a Birmingham, Alabama, church bombing. Jackson delivered the keynote address at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, where members of the Ku Klux Klan carried out the bombing 60 years ago on Sept. 15, 1963.

Three defendants acquitted of plotting to kidnap Michigan governor

The last three men to face charges in a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer were acquitted on Friday in a trial in state court on terrorism and firearms charges. Eric Molitor and brothers William and Michael Null each faced one count of providing material support for terrorist acts and carrying or possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Can Joe Biden and a fistful of cash win rural America for Democrats?

Rhiannon Hampson drives hundreds of miles across Maine's countryside each week as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's top rural development official in the state, and says she's never seen so many newly paved roads and rebuilt bridges as in the past year. Replacement of Maine's century-old Ticonic Bridge in Waterville and upgrades to the airport in Presque Isle are among the thousands of projects nationwide funded by President Joe Biden's bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure law.

'80 is the new 40,' White House quips, pressed on Biden’s election bid

The White House on Friday addressed a fresh round of questions about President Joe Biden's ability to run for reelection given his age with a one-liner: "80 is the new 40." Biden, 80, already the oldest American president ever, is running for re-election in 2024 and would be 82 when his second four-year term begins in January 2025 if he wins.

New Mexico governor suspends guns in city's parks, playgrounds

New Mexico's governor on Friday narrowed her heavily criticized blanket suspension on the right to carry guns in the state's largest metropolitan area to one just covering parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque and its surrounding county. Michelle Lujan Grisham framed the initial suspension, which a federal judge blocked after gun rights activists challenged it, and Friday's new order as a public health response to deaths of children in gun violence, including the killing last week of an 11-year-old boy in an apparent Albuquerque road rage incident. Her unusual moved pulled New Mexico into a national debate on gun rights and public safety.

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis converge on U.S. capital to court evangelical vote

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis descended on Washington on Friday, both looking to win over evangelical Republicans, a voting bloc likely to play a pivotal role in selecting a 2024 presidential nominee. DeSantis, who along with the rest of a crowded field trails Trump for the nomination, leaned into the culture war rhetoric that features prominently in his campaign, seeking support from social conservatives at a conference hosted by the evangelical Christian group Concerned Women for America.

UAW, automakers to resume talks as strike starts to create parts shortage

The United Auto Workers said it plans to resume bargaining on Saturday after launching its first simultaneous strikes at General Motors, Ford Motor and Chrysler parent Stellantis, with effects of the limited shutdown starting to spread on Friday. The most ambitious U.S. industrial labor action in decades has halted production at three plants producing the Ford Bronco, Jeep Wrangler and Chevrolet Colorado, along with other popular models.