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Dallas police arrest suspect in triple shooting

Authorities have arrested the man accused of shooting three people, including two police officers, in North Dallas on Tuesday.

Armando Juarez, 29, earlier identified as a person of interest, and an unidentified female were apprehended after a police pursuit that ended near uptown, authorities said.

“We got our man,” Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said at a press briefing.

Rawlings did not take questions, but he did ask for prayers for those who were shot. All three victims were out of surgery.

Emergency dispatchers received a call shortly after 4:12 p.m. to go to a Home Depot, Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall said in a press conference Tuesday night. After the responding officers arrived, a subsequent call for assistance was made after the shooting began.

Two officers were critically wounded, the Dallas Police Department posted on Twitter shortly after the shooting. The civilian who was shot is a loss-prevention officer for Home Depot, Hall said.

ABC News
A view of the scene where a police-involved shooting took place, April 24, 2018, in Dallas, Texas.

The officers were transported by the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department to the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. Police didn’t immediately release their names out of respect for their families, Hall said.

Rawlings earlier had described the aftermath of the shooting as a “two-front battle,” referring to the victims’ battles for their lives at the hospital as well as “the battle out in the community” to find the person of interest.

WFAA
A view of the scene where a police-involved shooting took place, April 24, 2018, in Dallas, Texas.

“I want to ask each and every one of you for your prayers … for our officers, for their families and for our entire DPD family, because we need you right now,” Hall said. “Our hearts are very heavy.”

WFAA
A view of the scene where a police-involved shooting took place, April 24, 2018, in Dallas, Texas.

State, local and federal law enforcement agencies responded to the scene.

In 2016, five Dallas law-enforcement officers were shot and killed and seven more injured after they were ambushed by a 25-year-old former Army reservist named Micah Xavier Johnson, who later died in a standoff with police.

Former Dallas Police Chief and ABC News contributor David Brown said the most recent shooting of two Dallas police officers is “too much to bear for one department in such a short time frame.”

“Once again,” Rawlings said, “it sobers us to realize what officers walk into day in and day out, how quickly they can become victims.”

Dallas Police Department
The Dallas Police Department released this handout in relation to the shooting at a Home Depot in Dallas, Texas, April 24, 2018.

Republicans win closely watched special election in Arizona

Republicans won a closely watched special election in Arizona Tuesday, turning back a spirited challenge from a first-time Democratic candidate to keep a U.S. House seat in GOP hands.

The Associated Press called the race on the basis of the Republican’s lead in early voting. Debbie Lesko, a former state lawmaker, had the edge over Hiral Tipirneni, a Democratic physician making her first run for office, by 52.9 percent to 47.1 percent.

Cheers erupted at a private home in the western Phoenix suburbs at Lesko’s election watch party, where Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) and around 70 supporters had gathered.

“Here’s to success. Here’s to Republicans winning this year!” a jubilant Lesko told the group in a toast.

Republicans, rattled by the loss last month in a special election for a congressional seat in Pennsylvania, welcomed the results in Arizona as energized Democrats have turned even the most reliable GOP seats competitive. The GOP faces fierce political head winds, the drag of an unpopular president and the retirement of its House leader, Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). The GOP control of the House is in jeopardy in November’s midterm elections.

“Debbie ran a smart campaign and focused in on the issues that voters cared about, like having more take-home pay, fewer regulations and a secure border,” Ryan said. “Her victory proves that Republicans have a positive record to run on this fall, and we need to spend the next seven months aggressively selling our message to the American people.”

Arizona 8th Congressional District special election results View Graphic Arizona 8th special election results

Republicans had been cautiously optimistic about prevailing in the 8th Congressional District where President Trump won by 21 percentage points in 2016 and Trent Franks, who resigned last year, had won by 37 points. Still, the GOP took nothing for granted, with party committees and PACs investing more than $1.1 million in ads and get-out-the-vote efforts, and tapping Trump for robo-calls to voters.

Lesko will replace Franks, who stepped down in December after he reportedly offered to pay a female staff member $5 million to carry his child as a surrogate.

The president made a last-minute appeal for Lesko on Tuesday.

“Arizona, please get out today and vote @DebbieLesko for Congress in #AZ08. Strong on Border, Immigration and Crime. Great on the Military. Time is ticking down – get out and VOTE today. We need Debbie in Congress!” he said via Twitter.

Democrats, who did not invest in the race as heavily as they had in other special elections, said that the numbers represented a promising swing toward their party.

In the days leading up to the special election, Republicans ramped up the rhetoric in hopes of getting their voters to the polls.

On Saturday, Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) told volunteers at Lesko’s canvass launch that national liberals were using the special election to “radicalize” their base and raise money.

“It’s a group from the other side of the country trying to get a bunch of people to give them $25 to build a bigger list for the next election,” Schweikert said. “They basically are the parasite class using our community for their radical politics. We need to crush them.”

In one of Lesko’s final interviews before Tuesday’s vote, she told conservative activist Lloyd Marcus that a victory could hold off the Democrats who had grown more confident after election upsets in Alabama, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“Some of these radical groups really want to take over our country,” Lesko said. “They use protesters. They lie. They’re deceptive. They want to, in my opinion, destroy the principles that make this country great.”

Strategists for both parties had expected Lesko to win. Republican optimism was based in large part on early voters, who had cast 154,076 ballots by Friday. Nearly half of the returned ballots, 48.5 percent, were cast by Republicans; just 27.7 percent were cast by Democrats. The average age of all district residents is 43; the average early voter was 68 years old.

In the race’s final weeks, Tipirneni argued that crossover voters would keep the race close and give her a shot at an upset. Her campaign focused heavily on Medicare, telling voters that she would strengthen the program by allowing younger Americans to buy into it, and warning that the sort of tax cuts supported by Lesko would put the program at risk.

“In our office, not a day goes by that people don’t come in and say, ‘I’m a Republican, but I’m voting for you,’ ” Tipirneni told a local Fox News affiliate Sunday.

Lesko had the support of a trio of Republican groups that moved to shore up the seat after the upset win by Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election in Pennsylvania on March 13. Together, the Republican National Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee and Congressional Leadership Fund spent more than $900,000 on the Arizona race, almost all of it dedicated to turning out Republican votes.

In his robo-call, Trump warned that “illegal immigrants will pour right over your border” if Democrats win the House. “Nancy Pelosi wants to send a liberal Democrat to Congress to represent you,” Trump says in the call, referring to the House minority leader. “We can’t have that.”

After Trump Hints VA Nominee Might Drop Out, an Aggressive Show of Support

“We take very seriously our constitutional duty to thoroughly and carefully vet each nominee sent to the Senate for confirmation,” said Senators Johnny Isakson of Georgia, the committee chairman, and Jon Tester of Montana, its top Democrat, in a joint statement. “We will continue looking into these serious allegations.”

Dr. Jackson, speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill before meeting with a Republican senator Tuesday afternoon, gave no indication that he would withdraw his nomination. He also did not answer questions about the accusations.

But he added, “I’m looking forward to getting it rescheduled and answering everybody’s questions.”

Members of Mr. Tester’s staff said that they had been given several credible accounts of Dr. Jackson being intoxicated during official White House travel. In several cases, they said, he had apparently grabbed his medical bag and was “attempting to assert himself,” to show he was in charge.

On one trip during Barack Obama’s presidency, White House staff needed to reach Dr. Jackson for medical reasons and found him passed out in his hotel room after a night of drinking, Tester aides said. The staff members took the medical supplies they were looking for without waking Dr. Jackson.

“He is the primary attendant of the president, the most powerful man in the world,” Mr. Tester said in an interview late Tuesday. “You don’t know when he is going to need you.”

Mr. Tester said that there was no evidence before the committee that Dr. Jackson had shown up drunk to the White House.

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In response, White House officials described Dr. Jackson’s record as “impeccable,” and they distributed glowing comments that they said Mr. Obama wrote in Dr. Jackson’s annual military performance review.

“Ronny does a great job — genuine enthusiasm, poised under pressure, incredible work ethic and follow through,” Mr. Obama said of Dr. Jackson in 2016, according to information released Tuesday evening by White House officials.

Members of both parties also pushed back on the alcohol accusation. Senator Jerry Moran, Republican of Kansas, said that Dr. Jackson told him on Tuesday that “he has never had a drink while on duty.” Mr. Moran also said that Dr. Jackson did not specifically address other accusations against him.

Brian McKeon, who served as chief of staff for the Obama National Security Council, said he does not recall Dr. Jackson ever drinking to excess. “I am not even sure that I ever saw him in a hotel bar,” Mr. McKeon wrote in an email Tuesday.

Mr. Tester said that the committee had also received credible accusations that Dr. Jackson routinely distributed Ambien, a prescription sleep aid, which is not a narcotic, to White House staff and members of the news media flying on long overseas trips, as well as Provigil, a prescription drug for promoting wakefulness.

Mr. Tester said that he had spoken with John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff, about the accusations on Monday. Mr. Kelly, he said, told him that the distribution of sleep aids and wakefulness drugs was “standard operating procedure.” Mr. Tester said he disagreed.

“We have a prescription drug problem in this country, and if we have doctors at the highest levels who are just handing them out like candy, we have a problem,” Mr. Tester said.

In a letter to the president on Tuesday, Mr. Tester and Mr. Isakson requested “any and all communication” between the Defense Department, the White House Military Office and the White House medical unit “regarding allegations or incidents” involving Dr. Jackson date to 2006.

Mr. Tester said the committee had also received reports of a “toxic work environment” in the White House medical unit, which Dr. Jackson has overseen since 2013.

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“That would involve belittling, screaming, verbally abusing the staff to the point where he would explode and the staff would feel they were on eggshells,” Mr. Tester said. He added that several of the people the committee had spoken with still work in the medical unit and are fearful of reprisals.

In 2012, a six-page report by the Navy’s medical inspector general found low morale and “unprofessional behaviors” as Dr. Jackson and his superior, Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, battled for control of the White House medical office.

Mr. Tester, a moderate Democrat up for re-election this fall, firmly rejected Mr. Trump’s assertion that the accusations had been politically motivated by partisan Democrats in Congress.

“We’ve had 12 appointees come before the committee, and I’ve supported every damn one of them,” he said. “I don’t want to play politics with the V.A.”

Republicans agreed the accusations are serious. Senator Thom Tillis, Republican of North Carolina and a member of the committee, said, “If the allegations were based in fact, it would be concerning.”

Dr. Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy, was already expected to face difficult questioning during his testimony before the committee. Last month, Mr. Trump fired his first Veterans Affairs secretary, David J. Shulkin, an experienced hospital administrator and veteran of the department’s medical system, and then chose Dr. Jackson largely out of personal affinity.

As White House physician, Dr. Jackson had undergone intense vetting for a position that gives him unusually close access to the president. But Mr. Trump’s abrupt nomination of his personal doctor to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs pre-empted any review of Dr. Jackson’s qualifications to manage a large bureaucracy. Officials said there was virtually no examination of Dr. Jackson’s policy views before the announcement.

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Before serving as a White House physician, Dr. Jackson had deployed as an emergency medicine physician to Taqaddum, Iraq, during the Iraq war.

Mr. Tester and Mr. Isakson said they would withhold a final judgment until they completed their investigation.

More than a half-dozen former White House officials who served with Dr. Jackson in Mr. Obama’s administration expressed support for him. None said they recalled him ever being drunk or loosely dispensing medications.

“He always seemed to be to be alert, responsive, responsible,” said David Axelrod, who served as Mr. Obama’s senior adviser. “My impressions were positive. My interactions were positive. I never heard any complaints.”

The turmoil around his nomination all but ensures that the Department of Veterans Affairs, the federal government’s second largest, will remain without a permanent leader for at least several weeks at a moment when it was supposed to be adopting systematic changes to its electronic health records system and to programs that allow veterans to seek care from private doctors at government expense.

The Senate received paperwork from the Trump administration formalizing Dr. Jackson’s nomination only last week.

“It has been really careless, maybe even negligent, about the vetting in a number of these nominations,” Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, said of the White House.

Asked if he still supported the nominee, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, offered only, “We’re going to wait and see what Senator Isakson and the administration recommend.”

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The White House defended Dr. Jackson’s record in a statement, but did not address the nature of the claims against him.

“Admiral Jackson has been on the front lines of deadly combat and saved the lives of many others in service to this country,” said Hogan Gidley, a deputy White House press secretary. “He’s served as the physician to three presidents — Republican and Democrat — and been praised by them all.”

Lawmakers were already preparing to press Dr. Jackson on his views on the role of private medical care for veterans, instead of the department’s government-run health care system. Senators also planned to challenge his lack of management experience running a large organization — the department employs more than 370,000 people and operates sprawling health and veterans benefits systems.

Before his nomination, Dr. Jackson had garnered little public attention. He took a rare turn in the spotlight in January, when he appeared on national television to announce the results of Mr. Trump’s first physical while in office. At the time, there was speculation over the president’s physical and mental health, and Dr. Jackson offered effusive compliments on both. Mr. Trump was pleased with the performance.

At one point, Dr. Jackson even quipped that given Mr. Trump’s genetics, he might live to 200 years old if he had a healthier diet.


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Remnants of Mexico migrant caravan closer to US border



MEXICO CITY (AP) The remnants of a caravan of Central American migrants protested in northern Mexico on Monday, even as once again they drew angry tweets from U.S. President Donald Trump.


The mainly Central American migrants are demanding better treatment and many are planning to request asylum, either in the United States or Mexico.


“We are asking the government and migration authorities to respect the right to seek asylum,” said caravan organizer Irineo Mujica. “Those who request asylum shouldn’t be criminalized. It is a right … families shouldn’t be separated or punished.”


The approximately 600 migrants arrived in the northern city of Hermosillo aboard trains over the weekend.






Mujica has said the migrants plan to arrive in Tijuana later this week.


Trump tweeted Monday that “I have instructed the Secretary of Homeland Security not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.”


“Mexico, whose laws on immigration are very tough, must stop people from going through Mexico and into the U.S. We may make this a condition of the new NAFTA Agreement,” Trump tweeted.


In response, Mexico’s Secretary of Foreign Affairs Luis Videgaray tweeted, “It would be unacceptable to condition the NAFTA negotiations on immigration actions that are outside that framework.”


“Mexico decides its own immigration policy in a sovereign manner, and Mexico’s cooperation on immigration matters with the United States occurs because Mexico considers it in its own interest,” Videgaray wrote.


Many of the migrants say they are fleeing gang violence and extortion in Honduras and El Salvador.


The U.S. government “should be more understanding of the women and children in this caravan … and the dangers they face in their countries,” Mujica said.


U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Monday that he told his offices in border states to “take whatever immediate action to ensure that we have sufficient prosecutors available” and that he may transfer immigration judges to the border. He said caravan members have ignored the Mexican government’s willingness to let them stay in Mexico.


“Let today’s message be clear: Our nation has the most generous immigration system in the world, but this is a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system,” Sessions said.


U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Monday that “DHS continues to monitor the remnants of the ‘caravan’ of individuals headed to our Southern border with the apparent intention of entering the United States illegally.”


“If members of the ‘caravan’ enter the country illegally, they will be referred for prosecution for illegal entry in accordance with existing law,” Nielsen said in a statement. “For those seeking asylum, all individuals may be detained while their claims are adjudicated efficiently and expeditiously, and those found not to have a claim will be promptly removed from the United States.”


She said her agency was working with the Justice Department in “taking a number of steps to ensure that all cases and claims are adjudicated promptly – including sending additional USCIS asylum officers, ICE attorneys, DOJ Immigration Judges, and DOJ prosecutors to the Southern border.”


“DHS encourages persons with asylum or other similar claims to seek protections in the first safe country they enter, including Mexico,” the statement said.

Senate panel narrowly endorses Mike Pompeo for secretary of state after Trump intervenes with key Republican

Secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo narrowly eked out an endorsement from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Monday after President Trump and a Democratic senator intervened at the last minute, all but guaranteeing that he will be confirmed by the full Senate later this week.

Pompeo had seemed unlikely to secure a majority of the panel’s support. But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who had pledged to oppose him, tweeted moments before the vote that Trump had talked with him and changed his mind.

Paul’s key concern had been that Pompeo, currently director of the CIA, would not support Trump’s campaign pledge to pull troops out of Afghanistan. The senator also had called on Pompeo “to support President Trump’s belief that the Iraq war was a mistake.”

“Having received assurances from President Trump and Director Pompeo that he agrees with the President on these important issues, I have decided to support his nomination to be our next secretary of state,” Paul said.

The panel’s vote was largely symbolic, since Pompeo had secured enough votes to be confirmed by the full Senate earlier in the day, when two Democrats facing difficult reelection challenges in 2018 — Sens. Joe Manchin III (W.Va.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) — announced that they would back his nomination on the floor.

But Trump’s supporters were determined to have Pompeo enter office without the mark of being the first secretary of state in almost a century to fail a committee vote.

The committee ultimately voted 11 to 10 along party lines to endorse Pompeo. But because of a quirk in the Senate rules, the panel could not send its recommendation to the full Senate, as one of those 11 Republicans — Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) — was not present for the vote. He was out of town delivering a eulogy at his best friend’s funeral, senators said.

A negative vote on Pompeo’s nomination would not necessarily have precluded the full Senate from taking it up. But for GOP leaders, time was of the essence: They want Pompeo to be confirmed in time to attend a meeting of NATO foreign ministers Friday.

At the urging of panel chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), Democratic Sen. Christopher A. Coons (Del.) volunteered to change his vote to “present” — making the vote 11 in favor, 9 opposed and 1 present, and enabling the committee to quickly push Pompeo’s nomination to the floor.

“Senator Isakson is one of my closest friends here . . . and he’s been through an incredibly hard day,” Coons told reporters. He said it would have been “heartless” to shuttle Isakson off his return flight straight to a delayed committee vote when the outcome was a foregone conclusion.

The gesture was an increasingly rare one in the politically divided Congress, where it is difficult for lawmakers to extend personal gestures without facing political scrutiny. As Coons explained his decision to reporters outside the committee room, a protester yelled at him: “You care more about your friend than you do this country!”

Coons said he still intended to vote against Pompeo’s nomination on the Senate floor. At this point, only three Democrats — Manchin, Donnelly and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), who announced her support last week — have committed to back Pompeo’s confirmation.

Last year, 14 Democrats voted to confirm Pompeo as CIA director, but several have already stated that they will not back him to serve as secretary of state.

On Monday, White House officials again urged Senate Democrats to support Pompeo’s nomination, with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders saying on Fox News Channel that the administration hoped “that some members will change their minds.”

Democrats have raised several objections to Pompeo’s nomination, arguing that his previous statements favoring the use of force over diplomatic options, his record of controversial quips about American Muslims and same-sex marriage, and concerns that he would not challenge Trump on matters of foreign policy made him unfit to serve as secretary of state.

Pompeo’s supporters appeared to be bracing for a negative outcome in the Foreign Relations Committee, arguing that the panel is not representative of the full Senate. Last week, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters that “the Senate will set [the panel] straight” if it refused to endorse Pompeo’s nomination. Cotton also issued a threat to Democratic senators such as Manchin and Heitkamp who are facing difficult elections, noting that if they oppose Pompeo “and they’re up for reelection, they may suffer the consequences.”

Senate leaders are expected to put the nomination to a floor vote later this week.

Trump’s supporters pointed to the integral role that Pompeo, as CIA director, has had in advising the president on national security and foreign policy matters, including how to approach the Iran nuclear deal, which is nearing a critical extension deadline of May 12, and promised denuclearization talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom Pompeo met to discuss the terms of the summit expected next month.

But politically, the tone for Pompeo’s tenure will be set in part by how his floor vote stacks up against that of his predecessor, Rex Tillerson, who was ousted earlier this year. Tillerson was confirmed as secretary of state by a vote of 56 to 43, “a remarkably low level of support,” said Jeff Rathke, a former career Foreign Service officer and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

If Pompeo secures more votes for his confirmation, “it could suggest marginally greater confidence from the Senate,” Rathke continued. But he noted that the strength of Pompeo’s bipartisan mandate will be “historically low” and “will mean a reinforcement of the partisan divide on foreign policy.”

Others say that Pompeo will make his reputation once in office — and that if he helps to rebuild the relevance of the department, which flagged in morale and staffing under Tillerson’s stewardship, the politics surrounding his confirmation vote will not matter.

“Opponents say they want the State Department rebuilt and the secretary to have positions different from the president. Pompeo has promised the first. The second is not reasonable,” said Ronald E. Neumann, president of the American Academy of Diplomacy and a former career diplomat. “If confirmed, he will be judged on his performance going forward.”

John Wagner and John Hudson contributed to this report.

In travel ban case, Supreme Court considers ‘the president’ vs. ‘this president’

The Supreme Court’s final oral argument of the term will be one of its most important and potentially far-reaching, an examination of the president’s authority to protect the country by banning some foreigners who seek entry.

But, similar to a debate that has consumed Washington for the past 15 months, a major issue for the court is separating “the president” from “this president.”

The justices on Wednesday will consider President Trump’s third iteration of a travel ban that bars most nationals from a small group of mostly Muslim nations. It is the first time the court has considered the merits of a policy that has consumed the administration since its start, and raises deep questions about the judiciary’s role in national security issues usually left to the political branches.

The first version of the ban was issued just a week after Trump took office, and lower courts have found that it and each reformulated version since exceeded the authority granted by Congress and was motivated by Trump’s prejudice — animus, as courts like to say — toward Muslims.

The state of Hawaii, which is leading the challenge of the ban, told the Supreme Court:

“For over a year, the president campaigned on the pledge, never retracted, that he would ban Muslims from entering the United States.

“And upon taking office, the president issued and reissued, and reissued again, a sweeping and unilateral order that purports to bar over 150 million aliens — the vast majority of them Muslim — from entering the United States.”

Hawaii’s brief, by Washington lawyer Neal K. Katyal, cites not only Trump’s campaign comments, but also his actions as president, including the time he retweeted “three anti-Muslim propaganda videos” from a widely condemned far-right British organization.

This led to a response by the solicitor general of the United States to the justices of the Supreme Court that could have been written only in this era, about this chief executive:

“The president’s retweets do not address the meaning of the proclamation at all.”

Solicitor General Noel J. Francisco urged the court not to get distracted by the president’s bluster — he has said nice things about Muslims, too, the brief states — and to keep its examination on the law.

“The Constitution and acts of Congress . . . both confer on the President broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens outside the United States when he deems it in the nation’s interest,” Francisco wrote.

If the president’s comments and tweets were not a factor, many legal experts said, the court would be likely to extend the deference to the political branches it has shown in the past when considering issues of immigration and national security.

Washington lawyer Gregory G. Garre, who defended executive authority as President George W. Bush’s solicitor general, said the law makes such respect clear.

“No matter where the court ends up, the president starts with two significant pluses — the executive’s inherent constitutional authority over foreign affairs and a textually broad grant of authority by Congress to regulate the entry of aliens determined to be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” Garre said.

Los Angeles lawyer Theodore J. Boutrous Jr. agrees, with a caveat: But Trump.

“This case comes to the court with this backdrop of a president who has been shattering norms, even brazenly saying they don’t matter,” said Boutrous, who filed a brief on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops urging the court to strike down the ban.

His brief on behalf of the bishops said that the travel ban is a result of “blatant religious discrimination” and that it “poses a substantial threat to religious liberty that this court has never tolerated before and should not tolerate now.”

Trump’s efforts to ban certain travelers has a complicated backstory. He first issued a proclamation banning travel from certain countries a week after taking office. It went into effect immediately, causing chaos and protests at airports around the world.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit issued an injunction. Instead of appealing to the Supreme Court, the administration enacted a second version of the plan. That was stopped by two regional courts of appeals.

Before the Supreme Court could consider the merits of the second plan, the administration in September announced a new one.

It blocked entry into the United States of most people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, and certain visitors from North Korea and Venezuela. The latter two countries are not part of the challenge before the Supreme Court, and the administration on April 10 removed Chad from the list.

Francisco told the court that the third edition of the ban responds to the criticisms by lower courts of the first two, and was the result of a “worldwide review of the processes for vetting aliens seeking entry from abroad.”

The resulting ban was no different from what past presidents have occasionally imposed, he said. Congress specifically has granted authority that the president “may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens” after a finding that the entry “would be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” Francisco wrote.

But challengers to the ban point to another section of the law, which says a person may not be denied an immigration visa “because of the person’s race, sex, nationality, place of birth, or place of residence.”

Allowing the president to ban citizens of a nation, the challengers said, amounts to giving the president a “line-item veto over the entire immigration code.”

Besides examining the immigration statute, the court has said it will review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit that the ban violates the First Amendment’s guarantee against religious discrimination.

And the court will also consider whether the judiciary even has authority to “look behind” the face of an immigration proclamation to examine whether it was drawn with improper motives.

Again, the court was urged to look beyond Trump.

“The scope of this court’s decision here will have an impact on this (and future) president’s ability to protect our national security interests as he (and Congress) sees fit,” said a brief filed by national security experts supporting Trump. “At the end of the day, it is not the role of the judiciary to intercede in such matters, and this court should clearly say so.”

The challengers are backed by a large number of organizations that contend otherwise. Religious groups say it is the job of the court to guard constitutional protections against religious discrimination. Universities say the ban harms them in recruiting students and scholars. A different set of national security experts say the ban will harm U.S. interests in the long run.

The libertarian Cato Institute says its research leads to the conclusion that the ban is based more on discrimination than protection.

“Not a single person from these countries has killed anyone in a terrorist attack in the United States in over four decades,” the brief stated. “Nationals of the designated countries have also been much less likely to commit other serious crimes than U.S.-born persons or other foreign nationals.”

The justices may have already signaled that they are inclined to rule for the administration. In December, the court issued a stay of a lower court’s injunction and allowed the ban to take effect, with only Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor noting their objections.

Josh Blackman, a professor at the South Texas College of Law in Houston, said only once in the more-than-a-decade Roberts court have the justices granted a stay without later reversing the opinion of the lower court.

In a conference call with reporters sponsored by the Federalist Society, Blackman predicted the same would happen in this case. But he, too, addressed the question of how the court would view Trump, and made his case for reversing the lower courts in a way it is unlikely the Trump administration itself would endorse.

“If the court rules here for President Trump, I don’t see that many lingering problems; I don’t know that we’ll ever have a president again like Trump, who says such awful, awful things on a daily basis,” Blackman said.

“I worry much more if they rule against President Trump, and they give courts [a] green light to parse campaign statements and the like, this could potentially hamstring not just this president, but also future presidents.”

The case is Trump v. Hawaii.

Cavaliers vs. Pacers 2018 results: Cleveland stays alive behind LeBron James to tie series at 2-2

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a pulse. The Cavs outlasted the Indiana Pacers, 104-100, to win Game 4 and tie the series at 2-2. LeBron James again carried Cleveland, but it was the three-point shooting from his supporting cast that made the difference.

Cleveland secured the win with a 10-2 run late in the fourth quarter keyed by a huge three-pointer from Kyle Korver. Korver and J.R. Smith each knocked down four threes and combined for 30 points to give Cleveland the supplemental scoring punch it needed.

LeBron took it from there. James was brilliant again across 46 minutes, finishing with 32 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. He went 0-of-5 from three, but was a bull going to the basket and money (8-of-9) from the foul line. It’s the 100th time in James’ career he’s scored 30 points in a playoff game. Think about that.

Indiana was in this game until the very end. Victor Oladipo struggled, finishing with 17 points on 5-of-20 shooting. His teammates picked him up. Domantas Sabonis was automatic inside, leading Indiana with 19 points. Myles Turner (17 points) again played an efficient game and even hit three threes, while Lance Stephenson added 11 points and five assists while again irritating LeBron all night.

Jordan Clarkson also added 12 points for the Cavs.

The series is now tied at 2-2 entering Game 5 in Cleveland. The Cavs needed this win badly, and they got it.

Here’s a running blog of what happened during the game.

Cavaliers 104, Pacers 100, final.

A Victor Oladipo triple cuts the deficit to three, then Stephenson forced a tie-up following the inbound pass. The referees reviewed the play and decided Stephenson fouled Jeff Green on the play, Green got two free throws and the game was essentially sealed.

Here’s the call:

Cavaliers 99, Pacers 95 (2:20 in the fourth)

A huge three from Kyle Korver gives Cleveland a fourth-point lead. He’s got 16 points.

Pacers 91, Cavaliers 89 (6:12 in the fourth)

The Pacers have seven players in double figures in scoring, but no one with more than Domantas Sabonis’ 19 points. It’s a good representation of who these Pacers are as a team: so selfless and balanced, with every player on the floor capable of hitting an outside shot and defending their position.

The Cavs are in for a hell of a fight if they want to avoid going down 3-1 in this series.

Also: Lance Stephenson is being very Lance Stephenson.

Cavaliers 87, Pacers 87 (8:17 in the fourth)

That might even be an understatement when you consider how it plays into LeBron James’ free agency decision.

The Cavs led by as many as 16 in the first half. This is huge.

Cavaliers 73, Pacers 68 (5:44 in the third)

Last five scoring possessions:

— JR Smith three.

— Bojan Bogdanovic three.

— Jose Calderon three.

— Bojan Bogdanovic three (again).

— Kyle Korver three.

Let’s gooo.

Cavaliers 60, Pacers 50 (halftime)

Another game, another double-digit halftime lead for Cleveland, who got 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting from a scorching LeBron James in the first half to go with six rebounds and four assists. Jordan Clarkson added 12 points for the Cavs and didn’t miss a shot.

Cavaliers 40, Pacers 28 (8:53 2Q)

J.R. Smith has nine early points for Cleveland, including this three from beyond half court to end the first quarter.

Preview

The Cavaliers have their backs against the wall — well, figuratively. They inexplicably dropped Game 1 and find themselves in a 1-2 deficit against a raging Pacers team looking to protect home court. That doesn’t bode well for Cleveland in its efforts to return to the NBA Finals for a fourth straight season.

The Cavaliers can wear all the suits they want; that won’t help them play the defense they need to slow the fast-paced Pacers down. What Cleveland needs is continuity, and maybe a few other rotational pieces. It’s too late for either.

The Pacers and Cavaliers are facing off for what will be a ferocious Game 4 in Indiana. Victor Oladipo has been nothing short of outstanding. So has LeBron James. But Indy’s role players have run circles around Cleveland’s, and there are no signs that will change any time soon.

Cleveland is without George Hill, which means Jose Calderon will get the start. That’s a 36-year-old being tasked to dart around the court, chasing the speedster, Darren Collison. Good luck with that.

If the Cavaliers lose on Sunday, they’ll fall to a 1-3 deficit, and even though the series is shifting back home, they’ll need to win another game on the road if they’re going to make it out of the first round. LeBron James has never been eliminated this early into the playoffs. Will this be the year The King’s streak comes crashing down?

Climate change: Michael Bloomberg offers $4.5m for Paris deal

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Reuters

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Michael Bloomberg says he hopes the US will rejoin the climate agreement

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he will pay $4.5m (£3.2m) to cover the lapsed US financial commitment to the Paris climate accord.

He said he had a responsibility to help improve the environment because of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal.

The withdrawal was announced last June and sparked international condemnation.

It will make the US in effect the only country not to be part of the Paris accord.

The Paris agreement commits the US and 187 other countries to keeping rising global temperatures “well below” 2C above pre-industrial levels.

“America made a commitment and, as an American, if the government’s not going to do it then we all have a responsibility,” Mr Bloomberg said on CBS.

“I’m able to do it. So, yes, I’m going to send them a cheque for the monies that America had promised to the organisation as though they got it from the federal government.”

His charity, Bloomberg Philanthropies, offered $15m to cover a separate climate change shortfall last year.

It said the money would go to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In January, President Trump said the US could “conceivably” return to the deal if it treated America more fairly.

“It’s an agreement that I have no problem with but I had a problem with the agreement that they (the Obama administration) signed,” he told reporters.

Mr Bloomberg said he hoped that by next year Mr Trump will have reconsidered his position on the deal.

“He’s been known to change his mind, that is true,” he said. “America is a big part of the solution and we should go in and help the world stop a potential disaster.”

What is in the Paris climate agreement?

The deal unites all the world’s nations in a single agreement on tackling climate change for the first time in history.

Coming to a consensus among nearly 200 countries on the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions is regarded by many observers as an achievement in itself and has been hailed as “historic”.

As well as the limit on global temperatures, it includes a limit on the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity and a requirement for rich countries to help poorer nations by providing “climate finance”.

Jack Johnson, boxer jailed under Jim Crow, is being considered by Trump for pardon

President Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon that he will consider a posthumous pardon for boxer Jack Johnson after a call from actor Sylvester Stallone, who according to Trump explained the fighter’s “complex and controversial” life.

Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, was convicted in 1913 under the Mann Act, federal legislation that made it illegal to cross state lines with a woman “for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for any other immoral purpose.” Jim Crow era prosecutors often used the legislation as a type of anti-miscegenation law.

Johnson was widely despised for flaunting his title, his wealth and his affection for white women. He was convicted by an all-white jury. Johnson spent seven years abroad as a fugitive before returning to the United States and turning himself in. He served about a year in federal prison.

Congressional leaders have sought a pardon for Johnson for years. A bill requesting a pardon from George W. Bush passed the House of Representatives in 2008 but died in the Senate.

A 1,000-page education bill in 2015 included a provision requesting a pardon for Johnson. It called the boxer a “flamboyant, defiant, and controversial figure in the history of the United States who challenged racial biases.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), along with Congressmen Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) and Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), requested a pardon from President Obama in 2016.

John Arthur “Jack” Johnson, nicknamed the “Galveston Giant” in the ring, was born in 1878 southeast of Houston. By 1903, he became the unofficial “Negro heavyweight champion.” World heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries refused to fight him and instead retired. But in 1910, Johnson gained the championship belt, and Jeffries emerged from retirement to “reclaim the heavyweight championship for the white race.”

“Jeff, it’s up to you,” novelist Jack London wrote before the bout, according to NPR. “The White Man must be rescued.”

Instead, Johnson pummeled Jeffries for 15 rounds in “the battle of the century” and won the belt outright.

“I could never have whipped Johnson at my best,” Jeffries later said. “I couldn’t have hit him. No, I couldn’t have reached him in 1,000 years.”

The Mann Act was signed just weeks prior, though, and federal investigators almost immediately began looking into Johnson’s romantic life.

He married a white woman, Etta Terry Duryea, in 1911, but their relationship was rocky and she committed suicide a year later. Three months after that, he married Lucille Cameron, who was also white. Her mother was so disgusted with the relationship, she claimed Cameron had been kidnapped, but Cameron refused to cooperate with investigators.

But law enforcement agents found Belle Schreiber, a Chicago prostitute with whom Johnson had an affair years earlier. She agreed to testify against the boxer in 1913, and an all-white jury took less than two hours to convict him. He skipped bail after the trial and traveled Europe and South America with Cameron before surrendering to American agents at the Mexican border in 1920.

He served a one-year prison term in Leavenworth, Kan., and returned to find that society and the ring that wouldn’t accept him.

Before his incarceration, Johnson was known to prance around the ring with swagger. He owned a nightclub and wore gold teeth. He once reportedly purchased a pet leopard and took it for walks while sipping champagne.

But by 1921, he was past his prime, and boxing instituted a stricter color barrier. It would be another 16 years until Joe Louis defeated James Braddock in Chicago to win the world heavyweight title.

He fought, often for private audiences as celebrity appearances, until age 67 in 1945. He died a year later in a car wreck in North Carolina, speeding from a restaurant that refused him service.

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