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NATION/WORLD Saturday, August 8, 2015 East Oregonian Page 9A James Holmes will spend life behind bars AP Photo/David Goldman Republican presidential candidate, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, waves to the crowd as he steps to the podium to speak at the RedState Gathering, Friday in Atlanta. AP Photo/David Goldman Republican presidential candidate, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, speaks at the RedState Gathering, Friday in Atlanta. GOP: Debate was the most-watched program in Fox news history Continued from 1A is an unsettled affair that’s just getting started. “Party donors, party leaders need to take a deep breath, put down the sharp objects, step away from the window,” Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said at the RedState Gathering of conservative activists in Atlanta. “The voters will decide who our nominee is. They’ll decide who the president is.” And the voters seem to be loving the show. Thursday night’s debate wasn’t just the most-watched program in the history of Fox News Channel, it drew more than twice as many views as the previous record-setter — the 2012 election night. Undoubtedly, the reason for the record ratings was Trump. On CNN late Friday, he crowed about it: “If I wasn’t in the event, they probably would’ve done 2 or 3 million people max.” Earlier Friday, he told the morning TV talk shows he couldn’t recall insulting women in the past — rejecting the premise of a debate question posed by Fox News’ Megyn Kelly. “You know, some of the statements she made about the women, I don’t recog- nize those words whatso- ever,” Trump said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “We’re going to take a very serious look at it.” He won’t have to look far. Trump’s Twitter feed is sprinkled with insults to women — and some men — that use words such as “dog,” “ugly,” “dumb,” “stupid” and “disgusting.” In the early hours of Friday morning, he also repub- lished a tweet that referred to Kelly as a “bimbo” — and later Friday he called her a “lightweight.” That dust-up, and Trump’s refusal to say he would support the eventual GOP nominee if he’s not the party’s choice, earned him the top headlines from the debate, overshadowing some of the GOP’s biggest stars and creating space for some new faces to shine. But for all the attention on Trump, Bush said Friday the criticism lobbed at him by Democrats shows he is the candidate they fear most. “I’ll take that as a badge of honor,” he said. While Bush was thinking about the general election, many of the contenders headed south for RedState to work on shoring up their support among the party base. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that he’d been relegated to the pre-debate debate for the seven candi- dates who failed to qualify for the main event. “I was up late last night,” Perry said. “Not as late as I wanted to be.” But Perry campaigned as “Think about listening to this accent for eight years. ... You’ll just have to deal with the New Jersey thing. It will be fine. Don’t worry about it.” — N.J. Gov. Chris Christie if one of the party’s top-tier candidates, declaring that his 14 years as governor in Texas prove he’s worthy of a promotion. “It’s important for our country to have this discus- sion about executive experi- ence,” Perry said, knocking President Barack Obama as “an inexperienced senator” who has “driven this country into a ditch.” New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Hewl- ett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio also spoke Friday at RedState. Bush will be there Saturday, along with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Rubio was at ease with the crowd recalling his ¿UVW YLVLW WR WKH 5HG6WDWH Gathering in 2010, when he was a longshot U.S. Senate candidate in Florida. “I was an underdog against (former Florida Gov.) Charlie Crist and I was trailing by 40 points in the polls,” he said. “Now I’m here running for president.” Speaking before Rubio was another underdog, Carly Fiorina, who got rave reviews from conservatives with her standout debate performance. The RedState audience was equally impressed. Fiorina, who has never KHOG SXEOLF RI¿FH KRSHV that her welcome here marks a new routine for her campaign as she tries to vault into the top tier of GOP presidential hopefuls. “Well, I don’t know, I think we kind of rumbled last night, what do you think?” Fiorina said. “I had a lot of fun last night.” Christie told the RedState crowd that his leadership of a Democratic-leaning state makes him “battle tested for Washington.” During his Q&A, Christie ¿HOGHGTXHVWLRQVDERXWKRZ Southern conservatives can connect with his boisterous Jersey personality. Christie said Americans from all regions care about a sound economy, national security and individual liberty. Then he added: “Think about listening to this accent for eight years. ... You’ll just have to deal with the New -HUVH\WKLQJ,WZLOOEH¿QH Don’t worry about it.” CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — Twelve jurors failed to agree on a death sentence for Colorado theater shooter James Holmes on Friday, prompting shocked sobs IURP YLFWLPV SROLFH RI¿- cers and his own mother. The former neuroscience graduate student will instead spend the rest of his life in prison for mass murder. The nine women and three men said they could not reach a unanimous verdict on each murder count. That automatically eliminates the death penalty for Holmes, who blamed his killings of 12 people on mental illness. The verdict came as a surprise. The same jury earlier rejected Holmes’ LQVDQLW\GHIHQVH¿QGLQJKLP capable of understanding right from wrong when he carried out the 2012 assault that injured 70. Jurors also previously moved closer to the death penalty when they quickly determined the heinousness of Holmes’ crimes outweighed his mental illness. As the sentence was read, Holmes’ mother, Arlene, who had asked the jury to spare her son’s life, leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder and began sobbing. Tears broke out across the courtroom. In the back, $XURUD SROLFH RI¿FHUV ZKR AP Photo/Brennan Linsley Dave Hoover, center left, whose nephew A.J. Boik was killed in the 2012 Aurora movie theatre attack, embraces Caren Teves, whose son Alex was also killed, as Teves’ husband Tom, left holds an umbrella, after a jury failed to agree on whether theater shoot- er James Holmes should get the death penalty Friday in Centennial, Colo. responded to the bloody scene of Holmes’ attacks began crying. Sandy Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed by Holmes, shook her head no and then held it in her hands. Ashley Moser, whose 6-year-old daughter died in the attack and who was herself paralyzed by Holmes’ bullets, also shook her head and then slowly leaned it against the wheel- chair of another paralyzed victim, Caleb Medley. Families of victims began to leave the courtroom as Judge Carlos Samour Jr. continued reading the verdict. Their wails were audible through the closed courtroom doors. As in previous proceed- ings, Holmes, who is on anti-psychotic medication that dulls his responses, showed no reaction. His attorneys left court without commenting. One juror told reporters outside court that there was a single juror who refused to give Holmes the death penalty and two others who were wavering. The key issue was Holmes’ mental illness. “All the jurors feel so much empathy for the victims. It’s a tragedy,” the juror said, refusing to give her name. “It’s a devastating result no matter what. I am deeply, deeply sorry -- that isn’t even the word.” Prosecutors argued Holmes deserved to die because he methodically planned the attack at a midnight screening of a Batman movie, even blasting techno music through earphones so he wouldn’t hear his victims scream. District Attorney George Brauchler said Friday he was frustrated that Holmes didn’t get the death penalty, but he praised jurors for doing a “hell of a job” throughout the grueling, four-month trial. He also acknowledged rejecting an offer by Holmes’ attorneys for a plea to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brauchler said he did so because the defense refused to let Holmes be examined by a state psychiatrist and produce the notebook in which he explained the attack. Holmes was eventu- ally subjected to two lengthy psychiatric evaluations and the notebook was entered as evidence. Obama suffers setback as Schumer rejects Iran deal WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama suffered a notable setback in his all-out campaign to secure Democratic support for the Iran nuclear deal when the leading Jewish Democrat in the Senate announced his opposition. The question is KRZVLJQL¿FDQWWKHEORZZLOO turn out to be. Republicans, infuriated by Obama’s recent compar- ison of GOP foes of the pact to “Death to America” Iranian hardliners, immedi- ately focused on the stunning break with the president by Chuck Schumer of New York, and they’re urging other Democrats to buck the administration. But there was no quick indication that the announce- ment by Schumer, the No. 3 Senate Democrat and party leader-in-waiting, would trigger a rush of Democratic opposition to the interna- tional accord, which aims to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from crip- pling economic sanctions. In fact, just hours after Schumer’s late Thursday statement, Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Vermont Independent Bernie Sanders endorsed the deal, bringing the number of Senate backers to 15. “The test of a great nation is not how many wars it can engage in, but how it can UHVROYHLQWHUQDWLRQDOFRQÀLFWV in a peaceful manner,” said Sanders, a Democratic presi- dential candidate who said he spoke to Obama on Friday. Still, a second New Yorker, Rep. Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and an additional Demo- cratic member of the panel, Brad Sherman of California, joined Schumer Friday in opposing the deal. Five weeks before crucial votes in Congress, Schumer’s decision was seen as a blow to the administration, whose intense lobbying on Capitol Hill since last month’s deal had produced a steady stream of support from Democrats who had been the most vocal in demanding congressional oversight, including Virgin- ia’s Tim Kaine and Florida’s Bill Nelson. But Democrats in the House and Senate said WKH\ UHPDLQHG FRQ¿GHQW WKDW D VXI¿FLHQW QXPEHU would ensure Obama’s deal survives. “I think there is every reason to be optimistic that we will be able to sustain a veto in the House,” said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., one of the party’s vote counters House and Senate Republicans have enough votes to pass a resolution of disapproval next month, but Obama is widely expected to veto that resolution and Republicans will then try to overturn the veto. OREGON MANUFACTURERS. LOCAL BUSINESSES. YOUR NEIGHBORS. ALL GETTING MORE FROM THEIR ENERGY. Here in Oregon, thousands of businesses and individuals are saving money with help from Energy Trust of Oregon. With cash incentives for energy improvements, we can help you get more from your energy. + Are you ready to get more from your energy? Visit www.energytrust.org/more or call us at 1.866.368.7878. Serving customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural and Cascade Natural Gas.
