NATION/WORLD
Thursday, May 5, 2016
East Oregonian
Page 7A
Trump’s open path causes agony for some in GOP
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Donald
Trump’s last Republican foe,
Ohio Gov. John Kasich, ended his
quixotic presidential campaign
Wednesday, cementing Trump’s
remarkable triumph as his party’s
presumptive nominee and launching
him toward a likely fall battle with
Hillary Clinton. Some Republican
leaders began reluctantly rallying
around Trump, but others agonized
over their party’s future.
The billionaire businessman
vowed to unite the splintered GOP,
even as he was bitingly dismissive
of members who have been critical
of his campaign.
“Those people can go away and
maybe come back in eight years after
we served two terms,” he said on
NBC’s “Today” Show. “Honestly,
there are some people I really don’t
want.”
Trump’s challenge in uniting
Republicans was abundantly clear
Wednesday. Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell issued a frosty
statement saying he had committed
to backing the GOP nominee and
noting Trump’s “obligation” to bring
the party together. And in a remark-
able move, the last two Republicans
to occupy the Oval Ofice — Pres-
ident George H.W. Bush and Presi-
dent George W. Bush — made clear
they would not be helping Trump
win the White House.
Clinton, in her irst remarks since
Trump’s new status was crystalized,
said she was more than prepared to
handle the kind of deeply personal
attacks that helped defeat Trump’s
Republican rivals.
“To me, this is the classic case
AP Photo/Seth Perlman
In this May 1 ile photo, Republican presidential candidate
Donald Trump reacts to a song during a campaign rally at the
Indiana Theater in Terre Haute, Ind.
of a blustering, bullying guy,” the
all-but-certain Democratic nominee
told CNN.
The long and chaotic Republican
primary came to an abrupt end after
Trump’s decisive victory Tuesday in
Indiana. His win pushed Texas Sen.
Ted Cruz, his closest rival, out of
the race, with Kasich following on
Wednesday.
“The people of our country
changed me,” Kasich said during an
emotional speech announcing the
end of his campaign. “They changed
me with the stories of their lives.”
Trump’s takeover of the GOP
marks one of the most stunning
political feats in modern political
history.
A irst-time candidate, he
eschewed traditional fundraising
and relied more on his own star
power than television advertising
BRIEFLY
U.S. government:
North Carolina
LGBT law violates
civil rights
RALEIGH, N.C.
(AP) — A North Carolina
law limiting protections
to LGBT people violates
federal civil rights laws and
can’t be enforced, the U.S.
Justice Department said
Wednesday, putting the state
on notice that it is in danger
of being sued and losing
hundreds of millions of
dollars in federal funding.
The law, which requires
transgender people to use
public bathrooms that
conform to the sex on
their birth certiicate, has
been broadly condemned
by gay-rights groups,
businesses and entertainers.
Some have relocated ofices
or canceled shows in the
state. Several other states
have proposed similar laws
in recent months limiting
protections to lesbian, gay,
bisexual and transgender
people.
In a letter to Gov. Pat
McCrory, the Justice
Department said federal
oficials view the state law
as violating federal Civil
Rights Act protections
barring workplace
discrimination based on sex.
Provisions of the state law
directed at transgender state
employees violate their anti-
discrimination protections,
the letter said.
“The State is engaging
in a pattern or practice
of discrimination against
transgender state employees
and both you, in your oficial
capacity, and the state are
engaging in a pattern or
practice of resistance” of
their rights, the letter said.
The DOJ notiication
appeared to be an attempt by
President Barack Obama’s
administration to extend a
new requirement involving
which bathrooms and locker
rooms transgender people
will be allowed to use,
McCrory said.
U.S. declares
Aleppo cease-ire
DAMASCUS, Syria
(AP) — Sporadic violence
persisted in Aleppo on
Wednesday as U.S. oficials
announced an agreement
had been reached with
Russia to extend Syria’s
fragile cease-ire to the
deeply contested northern
city. The Syrian military said
the truce would last only 48
hours.
Restoration of a partial
truce would bring relief to
residents on both sides of
Syria’s largest city after two
weeks of relentless violence
that has killed nearly 300
people, destroyed hospitals
and brought it to the brink of
humanitarian disaster.
It was not immediately
clear whether the new effort
will be observed or for how
long. The U.S. and Russia
inalized a nationwide
cease-ire in late February,
but have struggled to make
it stick.
The agreement was
reached late Tuesday and
took effect at 12:01 a.m.
Wednesday Damascus time,
Secretary of State John
Kerry said.
The U.S. and Russia have
been working to salvage
the cease-ire they brokered
together, which held
surprisingly well until two
weeks ago amid an alarming
uptick of violence around
Aleppo. Shells slammed
into hospitals and residential
areas on both sides of the
divided city, plunging it
into renewed violence that
quickly escalated to levels
unseen in months.
The agreement on Aleppo
follows an earlier deal to
reafirm the truce in the
Damascus suburbs and in
coastal Latakia province.
The Syrian military
conirmed the truce but said
it would not take effect until
12:01 a.m. Thursday and last
for only 48 hours. It did not
elaborate and there was no
immediate explanation for
the discrepancy.
to draw attention. He louted polit-
ical decorum with controversial
statements about women and
minorities, leaving some Republi-
cans convinced he won’t be able to
cobble together the diverse coalition
needed to win the general election.
“It’s his party between now and
November, but I don’t think it’s going
to be his party after November,” said
Peter Wehner, a former adviser to
President George W. Bush. Wehner
is among the Republicans vowing
to never vote for Trump, even if that
means essentially handing Clinton
the presidency.
Bob Vander Plaats, an inluential
evangelical leader who backed Cruz,
withheld his support for Trump
Wednesday, saying the real estate
mogul needs to prove his conserva-
tive credentials with his vice presi-
dential pick and more information
about what kind of judges he would
appoint. “It’s kind of a wait-and-see
moment with Mr. Trump,” he said.
Vander Plaats and a handful of
other Republicans are clinging to
the hope that an alternative option
might yet emerge. Operatives have
loated former Texas Gov. Rick
Perry, Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse
and former Oklahoma Sen. Tom
Coburn as possible candidates for a
third-party or independent bid. But
that is a long shot at best, with iling
deadlines for getting on state ballots
fast approaching.
There was notable silence from
House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has
spoken critically of Trump. Aides to
both Ryan and McConnell said the
Republican leaders had not spoken
with Trump since his Indiana victory.
A spokesman for George W.
Bush said the former president “does
not plan to participate in or comment
on the presidential campaign.” And
a spokesman for Bush’s father said
simply, “At age 91, President Bush
is retired from politics.”
Still, several GOP governors and
senators said they would support
Trump, according to a survey by The
Associated Press.
“Our irst and foremost goal is to
elect a conservative, pro-business,
strong on national defense, a man
who will stand behind our freedoms
and our rights, and that person is
Donald Trump,” Oklahoma Gov.
Mary Fallin said. “It is not Hillary
Clinton.”
Clinton has yet to shake
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders,
the democratic socialist who
has energized young people and
liberals with his calls for sweeping
government-run health care and
education programs. Still, Clinton
has 93 percent of the delegates she
needs to clinch the Democratic
nomination and now is focusing
her attention on Trump.
“He is a loose cannon and loose
cannons tend to misire,” Clinton
said Wednesday.
Both Clinton and Trump head
into the general election with histor-
ically high unfavorable ratings.
But Clinton is generally popular
within her own party, particularly
with women and minority voters
who are crucial to winning general
election battleground states like
Florida, Colorado and Nevada.
Some Republicans fear Trump’s
poor standing with those voters will
not only cost the party the White
House for a third straight term
but the GOP’s Senate majority as
well. Some Republican senators in
tough races struggled Wednesday
to position themselves in a party
with Trump at the helm. One, New
Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, said
that while she would support him in
the election, she would not endorse
his candidacy.
Trump turned quickly to the
general election, saying he’s plan-
ning to work with the Republican
National Committee to fundraise,
a departure from his largely self-
funded primary campaign. “We’re
going to try over $1 billion, which
is what’s going to be necessary,”
he told NBC. He also said he was
starting to vet potential running
mates.
He later said he could consider
Kasich, predicting the Ohio
governor would be helpful this fall
in any role given his state’s signii-
cance in the general election.
Fires threaten Canada oil sands town
FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta (AP)
— A raging wildire emptied Canada’s
main oil sands city, destroying entire
neighborhoods of Fort McMurray,
Alberta, where oficials warned
Wednesday that all efforts to suppress
the ire have failed.
About 88,000 residents successfully
evacuated as lames moved into the
city surrounded by wilderness in the
heart of Canada’s oil sands. No injuries
have been reported.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley said
all 105 patients at the local hospital
had been safely airlifted to other care
centers. She said, so far, the ire had
destroyed or damaged an estimated
1,600 structures.
Unseasonably hot temperatures
combined with dry conditions have
transformed the boreal forest in much
of Alberta into a tinder box.
Danielle Larivee, Alberta’s Minister
of Municipal Affairs, said the province
has declared a state of emergency and
said the ire is actively burning in resi-
dential areas. Over 200 ireighters are
battling the blaze. Fatalities have been
reported from a collision on a nearby
highway but she was unaware if it was
related to the evacuation.
“This is a nasty, dirty ire. There are
certainly areas of the city that have not
Jason Franson /The Canadian Press via AP
An evacuee puts gas in his car on his way out of Fort McMurray, Alberta,
as a wildire burns in the background Wednesday.
been burned, but this ire will look for
them and it will ind them and it will
want to take them,” Fort McMurray
Fire Chief Darby Allen
Oficials estimated the ire at 18,500
acres and said they expect it to worsen
Wednesday as strong winds and high
temperatures “create explosive condi-
tions.”
Fireighters were working to protect
critical infrastructure, including the
only bridge across the Athabasca River
and Highway 63, the only major route
to the city in or out, said Scott Long of
the Alberta Emergency Management
Agency.
“It’s a possibility that we may lose a
large portion of the town,” Long said.
New rule would
permit thousands
of eagle deaths
WASHINGTON (AP) —
The Obama administration
is revising a federal rule
that allows wind-energy
companies to operate
high-speed turbines for up
to 30 years, even if means
killing or injuring thousands
of federally protected bald
and golden eagles.
Under the plan
announced Wednesday,
wind companies and other
power providers could
kill or injure up to 4,200
bald eagles a year without
penalty — nearly four times
the current limit. Golden
eagles could only be killed
if companies take steps to
minimize the losses, for
instance, by retroitting
power poles to reduce the
risk of electrocution.
Fish and Wildlife Service
Director Dan Ashe said the
proposal will “provide a path
forward” for maintaining
eagle populations while also
spurring development of a
pollution-free energy source
that’s intended to ease global
warming, a cornerstone of
President Barack Obama’s
energy plan.
Ashe said the 162-page
proposal would protect
eagles and at the same
time “help the country
reduce its reliance on fossil
fuels” such as coal and oil
that contribute to global
warming.
5K RUN, 5K WALK, 10K RUN, KID'S BUTTE SCOOT
All races begin & end at Hermiston's Butte Park
DRAWINGS • FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
p
U
n
Sig
Now!
Online registration & race information at
WWW.BUTTECHALLENGE.COM
All proceeds benefit
THE HERMISTON CROSS COUNTRY PROGRAM
Thank you for your support!