In Brief: Nation & World: 4-25-16

Clinton, Trump stream ahead as rivals show signs of fading

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump surged Sunday toward another round of pivotal presidential primaries as their party leaders faced new questions about internal divisions that could complicate their nominees’ general election chances.

With less than 48 hours before voting begins across five Northeastern states, GOP front-runner Donald Trump looked to Tuesday’s contests, where he’s poised to do well, and to a foreign policy speech later in the week. Republican challenger Ted Cruz, meanwhile, abandoned the Tuesday states and instead campaigned in Indiana, which votes May 3.

On the Democratic side, underdog Bernie Sanders rallied thousands of voters in two New England states, seeking momentum even as he offered mixed signals on how hard he would push his differences with Clinton.

At a Providence, Rhode Island, park the Vermont senator largely steered clear of Clinton, but hours later ramped up his critique before more than 14,000 supporters in New Haven, Connecticut. Near Yale University, Sanders reiterated his call for Clinton to release transcripts of lucrative Wall Street speeches she delivered after leaving the State Department in early 2013.

“This campaign, unlike Secretary Clinton’s, has not raised $15 million from Wall Street and millions more from other special interests,” he said as the crowd booed at the mention of Clinton’s name. “This candidate has not given speeches behind closed doors on Wall Street for $225,000 a speech.”

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Ohio attorney general: Slayings of 8 ‘pre-planned execution’

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The slayings of eight family members in rural southern Ohio were sophisticated, planned executions, authorities said Sunday, as they also revealed that several marijuana-growing operations were found at the crime scenes.

Investigators said at a news conference that it’s unclear what, if any, role the marijuana growing had in Friday’s killings at four homes near Piketon. Marijuana, both recreational and medicinal, is illegal in the state.

They also told residents they are safe but to arm themselves if they’re fearful.

The killings were “a sophisticated operation,” Attorney General Mike DeWine said at a news conference in the small community that has been on edge since seven adults and one teenage boy were found shot in the head. Authorities remained tight-lipped Sunday about details of the investigation, any suspects or motives for the crime.

Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said that in his 20 years in law enforcement, he never interacted with the Rhoden family “in a criminal nature.” He said it was clear the family was targeted, however, and he’s told the victims’ relatives to arm themselves.

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Obama pushes for global trade deals in face of opposition

HANNOVER, Germany — President Barack Obama mounted a strong defense of international trade deals Sunday in the face of domestic and foreign opposition, saying it’s “indisputable” that such agreements strengthen the economy and make U.S. businesses more competitive worldwide. But he acknowledged that the clock is ticking on his faltering trade agenda.

Obama, on a farewell visit to Germany as president, is trying to light a fire under stalled talks about a trans-Atlantic trade deal, a massive pact that would rewrite the rules for the billions in trade and investment between the European Union and the U.S. At a press conference, a trade show and a private dinner with chief executives, Obama tried to counter public skepticism about the unfinished deal with Europe, while also brushing off opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates to a pending Asia-Pacific trade pact.

Despite all that, Obama said, “the majority of people still favor trade. They still recognize, on balance, that it’s a good idea.”

“If you look at the benefits to the United States or to Germany of free trade around the world, it is indisputable that it has made our economies stronger,” Obama said.

The president said he was confident negotiations on the trans-Atlantic trade deal could be completed by the end of year, with ratification to follow. And he said that once the U.S. presidential primary season is over and politics settle down, the trans-Pacific pact, awaiting ratification, can “start moving forward” in Congress.

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White House poised to release secret pages from 9/11 inquiry

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will likely soon release at least part of a 28-page secret chapter from a congressional inquiry into 9/11 that may shed light on possible Saudi connections to the attackers.

The documents, kept in a secure room in the basement of the Capitol, contain information from the joint congressional inquiry into “specific sources of foreign support for some of the Sept. 11 hijackers while they were in the United States.”

Bob Graham, who was co-chairman of that bipartisan panel, and others say the documents point suspicion at the Saudis. The former Democratic senator from Florida says an administration official told him that intelligence officials will decide in the next several weeks whether to release at least parts of the documents. The disclosure would come at a time of strained U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia, a long-time American ally.

“I hope that decision is to honor the American people and make it available,” Graham told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. “The most important unanswered question of 9/11 is, did these 19 people conduct this very sophisticated plot alone, or were they supported?”

Tim Roemer, who was a member of both the joint congressional inquiry as well as the 9/11 Commission and has read the secret chapter three times, described the 28 pages as a “preliminary police report.”

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Decades after Chernobyl, another chance for a Paralympian

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — There was no stuffed animal to hug. Constant hunger pains. Hope a mom would show up and rescue her.

Those were some of the memories that flooded back when Paralympian Oksana Masters recently returned to Ukraine, where she spent her first 7½ years shuttled among three orphanages. Masters visited with orphaned children that stared at her with an “Are you here to adopt me?” gaze.

Two decades ago, that face was hers.

She was adopted by an American woman who took in a malnourished Masters with birth defects believed to be from the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. On the 30th anniversary of Chernobyl this week, Masters is now in a much different place.

She’s become a three-time Paralympic medalist in rowing and cross-country skiing, with her sights now set on making the cycling squad for the Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games later this summer. She’s appeared in ESPN The Magazine Body Issue.

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Beyond music, Prince’s legacy includes black activism

Prince accepted a standing ovation as he strolled out carrying a cane and rocking an Afro to present the 2015 Grammy for album of the year. Then he stole the show with a line that reminded everyone he was more than just a pop superstar; he was a black activist.

“Albums still matter,” he said. “Like books and black lives, albums still matter. Tonight and always.”

In the wake of his death Thursday at 57, radio stations played his biggest hits and fans came together to grieve. But beyond the chart-toppers and dance parties, the legacy of Prince Rogers Nelson grew to include political stances, challenges to record execs and an overarching focus on African-American empowerment.

At the Grammys in Los Angeles, Prince was referring to the Black Lives Matter Movement that was galvanized by the 2014 police killing of an unarmed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

But Prince didn’t stop there. After protests rocked Baltimore over the death of a black man who suffered a spinal injury while riding in a police van, Prince stepped in and performed a tribute song named for the city that included the line, “Does anybody hear us pray for Michael Brown or Freddie Gray?”

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Obama dismisses NKorea proposal on halting nuke tests

NEW YORK — A day after North Korea’s foreign minister told The Associated Press that his country is ready to halt its nuclear tests if the United States suspends its annual military exercises with South Korea, President Barack Obama said Sunday that Washington isn’t taking the proposal seriously and Pyongyang would “have to do better than that.”

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong, interviewed Saturday by the AP, also defended his country’s right to maintain a nuclear deterrent and warned that Pyongyang won’t be cowed by international sanctions. And for those waiting for the North’s regime to collapse, he had this to say: Don’t hold your breath.

“Stop the nuclear war exercises in the Korean Peninsula, then we should also cease our nuclear tests,” he said in his first interview Saturday with a Western news organization.

Obama dismissed North Korea’s latest overture at a news conference Sunday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Hannover, Germany.

“We don’t take seriously a promise to simply halt until the next time they decide to do a test these kinds of activities,” Obama said. “What we’ve said consistently … is that if North Korea shows seriousness in denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, then we’ll be prepared to enter into some serious conversations with them about reducing tensions and our approach to protecting our allies in the region. But that’s not something that happens based on a press release in the wake of a series of provocative behaviors. They’re going to have to do better than that.”

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For Hillary Clinton, church offers a trusted comfort zone

PHILADELPHIA — Sunday mornings at Baptist churches fall right into Hillary Clinton’s comfort zone.

“This is the day the Lord has made,” Clinton said recently at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York, as sunshine streamed through the stained-glass windows and hit the packed pews. “Being here at this church with these beautiful people, knowing how grateful I am for this spring day. I feel blessed and grace is all around us.”

Black Baptist churches may not seem like an obvious match for Clinton, a white Methodist from the Chicago suburbs. But the Democratic presidential candidate, who’s been criticized for her tentative, even awkward political skills, often seems most at ease in houses of worship. It’s where she’s shared her faith for many years and earned a loyal following.

“One thing not a lot of people really understand about her is the central role of faith in her life,” said Mo Elleithee, Clinton’s spokesman in her 2008 White House campaign.

Clinton points to her faith as having sustained her through hard times and informing her approach to public service. Her days in Arkansas, coupled with her strong religious beliefs, have helped her connect to churchgoers in black communities, where she enjoys overwhelming support. Democratic rival Bernie Sanders has visited churches, too, during the campaign, but doesn’t have the same rapport from the altar.

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Gunman wounds 2 outside Wisconsin prom before cops kill him

ANTIGO, Wis. — An 18-year-old man opened fire with a high-powered rifle outside of a high school prom in northern Wisconsin, wounding two students before a police officer who was in the parking lot fatally shot him, authorities said Sunday.

Investigators did not say whether they believe the two students were specifically targeted or discuss a possible motive for the shooting outside Antigo High School late Saturday. But a school administrator said it appeared that the gunman — identified by police as Jakob E. Wagner — intended to go into the dance and start shooting randomly.

The two prom-goers who were wounded were shot as they exited the building, according to Eric Roller, the chief of police in Antigo, a community of about 8,000 people roughly 150 miles north of Milwaukee.

“Officers were in the parking lot patrolling the activities and heard the shots and an officer immediately fired upon the shooter, stopping the threat,” Roller said. He said the gunman was then taken into custody. Wagner died at a hospital.

In a statement, the Unified School District of Antigo said Wagner approached the school with a high-powered rifle and a large ammunition clip. The district said the “quick actions” taken by police and district staff to secure the building “prevented what might have otherwise been a disaster of unimaginable proportions.”

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Black Lives Matter gave him fame, but Baltimore isn’t biting

BALTIMORE — DeRay Mckesson, the Black Lives Matter activist turned mayoral candidate, is door-knocking on the streets of Charles Village. This is not the Baltimore of “The Wire,” but rather a tidy neighborhood of pastel townhomes in the shadow of Johns Hopkins University.

For two blocks, nobody answers a rap. Then Ralph Moore, himself an activist and a lifelong resident, rushes up to Mckesson to shake his hand — and to break the bad news: Moore is voting for Sheila Dixon, the former mayor who resigned amid ethics charges and is running again. She’s one of the front-runners in polls ahead of Tuesday’s Democratic primary — the de facto election in this majority African-American city.

“The problem is people don’t know you here,” Moore tells Mckesson, who has held court with President Barack Obama, been endorsed by actress Susan Sarandon and has 365,000-plus Twitter followers, including Beyonce. “I saw you in Stephen Colbert’s chair when I was channel surfing, but I don’t know you.”

Mckesson is one of the most recognizable faces to emerge from the Black Lives Matter movement — a former educator who built a national following after he left his then-home and job in Minneapolis in August 2014 for Ferguson, Missouri, to document the rising anger over race relations after the police shooting of Michael Brown.

But before Black Lives Matter birthed DeRay, he was a self-proclaimed “son of Baltimore,” born and raised in this city still striving to move past its own racial strife a year after Freddie Gray died from an injury suffered in police custody and riots erupted.