'Start Here': North Korea, Pope Francis pushback and Florida primary upset. What you need to know to start your day.
Progress between North Korea and the U.S. seems to have slowed in recent weeks.
It's Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2018. Here are some of the stories we're talking about on ABC News' new daily podcast, "Start Here."
1. Questions swirl around North Korea deal after Trump cancels Pompeo visit to Pyongyang
It's been about two months since President Donald Trump held his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
They emerged with a written agreement that said they'd keep working toward a goal where North Korea denuclearizes, and the U.S. eventually lifts its sanctions and military footprint.
ABC News Chief Global Affairs correspondent Martha Raddatz says the agreement could now be in jeopardy.
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2. Bernie Sanders-backed candidate wins Democratic gubernatorial primary in Florida
Voters went to the polls Tuesday in Arizona, Oklahoma and Florida. And one of the big shockers came early.
In the Florida governor's race, 39-year-old Andrew Gillum was projected by The Associated Press to be the Democratic nominee. The Tallahassee mayor beat out the favorite, Gwen Graham, a former congresswoman whose family is a big deal in Florida politics.
Elsewhere in the state, ABC News Deputy Political Director MaryAlice Parks says Republican female candidates are not embracing Trump.
3. Study: Puerto Rico death toll from Hurricane Maria nearly 3,000
A new independent study from George Washington University took a look at the deaths in Puerto Rico in the six months from September to February. And they said it wasn't 64 people who died in these hurricanes. It was nearly 3,000.
ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos says the poor and elderly were especially vulnerable after the storm.
4. Pope Francis standing firm amid mounting pressure
We're seeing something extraordinary right now at the Vatican. We already knew the pope was under fire from survivors of abuse by priests saying he wasn't doing enough to reform the church.
But then, out came a letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican and a regular conservative critic of the pope. He says Pope Francis knew that an American cardinal was accused of sexual abuse, and teamed up with church officials to protect him.
It's left ordinary Catholics to wonder: Is this a ploy to stop Francis from moving the church in a more liberal direction? Or was he complicit in a cover-up?
ABC News’ David Wright at the Vatican says there's no mechanism in place to force Francis out.
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