Donald Trump calls meeting with pastors successful
NEW YORK — Following a Monday meeting with approximately 100 African American pastors and religious leaders, Donald Trump emerged in the lobby of his signature Fifth Avenue property to declare it a success.
“There was great love in the room,” said the billionaire, who was swarmed by reporters gathered at Trump Tower.
A day earlier, a formal press conference was scrapped after some of the invited pastors complained that Trump’s campaign had incorrectly stated that the evangelical pastors were planning to endorse the candidate at the event.
“We actually didn’t think we were going to be having a press conference,” Trump explained at the center of the disorganized scrum. “But we all thought it was such a good meeting we would do that. And we have many, many endorsements that came out of the meeting.”
Darrell Scott, the pastor of the New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who had organized the meeting, was similarly upbeat. “We had a very productive, constructive meeting. We made history today because we had meaningful dialogue with Mr. Donald Trump.”
High court’s lineup rich in high-profile cases
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court’s lineup of new cases is fit for an election year.
Affirmative action, abortion and another look at the Obama health care law all are before the court, and they could well be joined by immigration, giving the justices a run of cases that reads like a campaign platform.
Also coming; disputes involving public-sector labor unions, the death penalty and the way electoral districts are drawn.
Decisions in these high-profile cases almost certainly will split the court along ideological lines, mirroring the country’s stark partisan split. What’s more, the most contentious issues won’t be resolved until late June, barely four months before the 2016 presidential election.
What started as a somewhat sleepy term — especially following major decisions last June on health care and same-sex marriage — has become much more interesting, says University of Pennsylvania law dean Theodore Ruger.
World leaders gather to try to save Earth from overheating
LE BOURGET, France — With dramatic vows to save future generations from an overheated planet, the largest gathering ever of world leaders began two weeks of talks Monday aimed at producing the most far-reaching pact yet to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and avert environmental havoc.
Even before the gathering, more than 180 countries pledged to cut or curb their emissions, but scientific analyses show that much bigger reductions would be needed to limit man-made warming of the Earth to 3.8 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial times, the internationally agreed-upon goal.
The biggest issue facing the 151 heads of state and government at the summit is who should bear most of the burden of closing that gap: wealthy Western nations that have polluted the most historically, or developing countries like China and India that are now the biggest and third-biggest emitters of greenhouse gases?
Turkey won’t apologize to Russia for downing plane
Turkey won’t apologize to Russia for shooting down a warplane operating over Syria, the Turkish prime minister said Monday, stressing that the military was doing its job defending the country’s airspace.
Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey hopes Moscow will reconsider economic sanctions announced against Turkish interests following last week’s incident. The Turkish resort town of Antalya is “like a second home” to many Russian holidaymakers, he said, but refused to yield on Turkish security.
“No Turkish prime minister or president will apologize … because of doing our duty,” Davutoglu told reporters after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.
Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian warplane on Nov. 24, sparking Cold War-style tensions between Russia and NATO, of which Turkey is a member. One of the Russian pilots was killed, while a second was rescued.
Suspect in Planned Parenthood attack appears in court
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The man accused in the shooting rampage at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic made his first court appearance Monday and learned that he will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of three people killed in the standoff with police.
Speaking in a raspy voice, Robert Lewis Dear appeared via a video hookup from the El Paso County Jail, where he has been held since surrendering after Friday’s five-hour siege.
The white-bearded suspect wore a padded vest with black straps and gazed downward during most of the hearing. Victims’ relatives watched from a courtroom.
When asked by Chief District Judge Gilbert Martinez if he understood his rights, Dear replied, “no questions.”
Public defender Daniel King, who represented Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, stood beside Dear and will act as his attorney. The suspect is expected to be formally charged on Dec. 9.
By wire sources.