Officials try to account for hundreds missing in fire’s wake
CHICO, Calif. — With 63 people confirmed dead in the Northern California wildfire, authorities Friday tried to winnow down a slapped-together list of the missing more than 600 names long, hoping many of them got out safely in the chaos over a week ago.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, will travel to the disaster zone today to get a look at the grief and damage caused by the deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century, and he could face resentment from locals for blaming the inferno on poor forest management in California.
In an interview taped Friday and scheduled for broadcast on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump said he was surprised to see images of firefighters removing dried brush near a fire, adding, “This should have been all raked out.”
As the search for bodies continued, Butte County spokeswoman Miranda Bowersox said the “unaccounted for” list released by the sheriff’s office late Thursday was an effort to put names out there so people can call in to say they are OK.
The roster probably includes some who fled the blaze and do not realize they’ve been reported missing, Sheriff Kory Honea said.
CNN’s Acosta back at White House after judge’s ruling
WASHINGTON — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to immediately return the White House press credentials of CNN reporter Jim Acosta, though a lawsuit over the credentials’ revocation is continuing.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly, an appointee of President Donald Trump, announced his decision at a hearing Friday morning. The judge said Acosta’s credentials must be reactivated to allow him access to the White House complex for press briefings and other events.
Acosta, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, was back in the afternoon. The White House said it would be developing new rules for orderly press conferences.
The White House revoked Acosta’s credentials last week after he and Trump tangled verbally during a press conference following the midterm elections. CNN sued and asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order forcing the White House to give back Acosta’s credentials. The judge agreed.
WikiLeaks’ Assange faces charges; lawyer says he’d fight
WASHINGTON — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will not willingly travel to the United States to face charges filed under seal against him, one of his lawyers said Friday, foreshadowing a possible fight over extradition for a central figure in the U.S. special counsel’s Russia-Trump investigation.
Assange, who has taken cover in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has been granted asylum, has speculated publicly for years that the Justice Department had brought secret criminal charges against him for revealing highly sensitive government information on his website.
That hypothesis appeared closer to reality after prosecutors, in an errant court filing in an unrelated case, inadvertently revealed the existence of sealed charges. The filing, discovered Thursday night, said the charges and arrest warrant “would need to remain sealed until Assange is arrested in connection with the charges in the criminal complaint and can therefore no longer evade or avoid arrest and extradition in this matter.”
A person familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because the case had not been made public, confirmed that charges had been filed under seal. The exact charges Assange faces and when they might be unsealed remained uncertain Friday.
Trump says he’s ‘very easily’ answered Mueller questions
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Friday he had “very easily” answered written questions from special counsel Robert Mueller, though he speculated that the questions had been “tricked up” to try to catch him in a lie. He said he hadn’t submitted his answers to investigators yet.
“You have to always be careful when you answer questions with people that probably have bad intentions,” Trump told reporters in his latest swipe at the probe into 2016 election interference and possible ties between Moscow and the president’s campaign.
The president did not say when he would turn over the answers to Mueller, but his attorney, Rudy Giuliani, indicated it could happen next week. The special counsel has signaled a willingness to accept written answers on matters related to collusion with Russia. But Giuliani has said repeatedly the president would not answer Mueller’s questions on possible obstruction of justice.
During months of back-and-forth negotiations with the special counsel office, Trump’s lawyers have repeatedly counseled the president against sitting down for an in-person interview.
Trump’s written response, though not yet delivered, signals a new phase in the Mueller probe, the year-and-a-half-long investigation that has produced guilty pleas and convictions from several top Trump aides even as the special counsel and the White House have engaged in lengthy negotiations about how — or if — the president would testify.
Private funeral held for Stan Lee, more memorials in works
LOS ANGELES — A small, private funeral has been held to mourn Marvel Comics mogul Stan Lee, and his company is making more plans to memorialize him.
“Stan was always adamant that he did not want a large public funeral, and as such his family has conducted a private closed ceremony in accordance with his final wishes,” Lee’s company POW! Entertainment said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday.
POW! Entertainment has set up a memorial wall on Lee’s website where friends, colleagues and fans can share thoughts, prayers and tributes to Lee, and messages from fellow creators and artists will be posted on Lee’s social media pages in the coming days.
The company says further memorial plans are in the works, and hopes to share more details soon.
“The grandeur of Stan makes this a monumental task,” the statement said.
From wire sources
Finger pointing, frustration in eastern US storm’s aftermath
TRENTON, N.J. — Exhausted commuters pointed fingers and demanded answers Friday, a day after a modest snowstorm stranded motorists on slippery roads for hours, paralyzed the public transit network serving New York City and its suburbs and even forced some New Jersey children to stay overnight in their schools.
How, they asked, could a few inches of snow in a region used to this sort of weather lead to such chaos?
“Clearly we could have done better and we will do better,” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio promised a “full review.”
“We’re all unhappy with what happened,” he said.
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Review: ‘Creed II’ goes more than the distance. It’s a KO
The weight of legacy hangs heavily over “Creed II.” Not just for most of the characters, who must come to grips with their own family histories. But also for the filmmakers, tasked with making a sequel to a successful spin-off of a beloved franchise. It would put any film on the ropes. Not this one.
“Creed II ” pulls off a rather amazing feat by adding to the luster of its predecessor and propelling the narrative into a bright future while also reaching back to honor its past, resurrecting unfinished business from “Rocky IV” and adding a dash of “Rocky III.” Pound per pound, the sequel might even be better than its predecessor.
Steven Caple Jr. replaced Ryan Coogler in the director’s chair this time but there is plenty of continuity: Michael B. Jordan returns as Adonis Creed, with Sylvester Stallone by his side as former heavyweight champ and trainer Rocky Balboa. Also back: Tessa Thompson as Creed’s love interest, Phylicia Rashad as Creed’s mom, and Wood Harris as a coach. Max Kellerman is ringside again as color commentator.
The sequel pits Creed against man-mountain Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago, who killed Adonis Creed’s father, Apollo Creed, in the ring in “Rocky IV.” That stirs up trauma for Rocky, who feels responsible for the elder Creed’s demise. Rocky went on to avenge the death by beating the elder Drago but we also now learn what that disgrace meant for the Dragos. This film is about ghosts as much as it is a meditation on fatherhood. At one point Kellerman says the showdown between the sons of Creed and Drago is almost like a Shakespearian drama and — laugh if you must — it feels sort of right here.
Desire — or lack of it — plays a key role in “Creed II” since we meet young Adonis as the new champion, at the top. Viktor Drago is at the bottom, hauling cement in Ukraine and burning for family redemption. “My son will break your boy,” Ivan Drago threatens Rocky, who sort of agrees. “When a fighter’s got nothing to lose he’s dangerous,” he warns Creed. “Listen, that kid was raised in hate. You weren’t.” Dolph Lungren returns as the elder Drago and there’s even an appearance by Brigitte Nielsen, who plays Drago’s wife in 1985 and was a real-life wife of Stallone. (Talk about keeping it in the family.)
Abrams says she can’t win Georgia governor’s race
ATLANTA — Democrat Stacey Abrams ended her challenge to Republican Brian Kemp in the Georgia governor’s race on Friday, but pledged to fight the former secretary of state’s “gross mismanagement” of the elections with a federal lawsuit.
Speaking defiantly to a news conference, Abrams said her actions did not constitute a concession, but she acknowledged that she had no further recourse under the law and that Kemp would be certified the winner.
“Let’s be clear: This is not a speech of concession,” she said. “Because concession means to acknowledge an action is right, true or proper. As a woman of conscience and faith I cannot concede that.”
Officials from Abrams’ campaign had told The Associated Press on Thursday that the candidate was considering the unprecedented move of invoking a state law that would let her challenge the results based on “misconduct, fraud or irregularities … sufficient to change or place in doubt the results.”
But ultimately she declined to do so.
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