Poll: Most say Trump crossed line with Russia contacts

Poll: Most say Trump crossed line with Russia contacts

WASHINGTON

Most Americans think Donald Trump did something illegal or at least unethical regarding ties between his presidential campaign and Russia – and they think he’s trying to obstruct the investigation looking into those possible connections.

The deeply divided country is more concerned about health care and the economy than any collusion with the Kremlin, according to a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. But the survey also shows that Americans are unhappy with the way Trump is dealing with the investigations led by Congress and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Most people believe Trump is trying to obstruct the investigations, which have produced charges against four of his campaign advisers and increasingly appear focused on the president’s inner circle.

Four in 10 Americans think the president has done something illegal when it comes to Russia, while an additional 3 in 10 say he’s at least done something unethical. And 68 percent disapprove of his response to the investigations.

4 children killed in bus-train collision in southern France

PARIS

A regional train hit a school bus on a crossing in southern France on Thursday, killing four children and critically injuring 11 other people on the bus, the French interior ministry said.

Photos from the scene tweeted by a local television station showed the train derailed and the bus shorn in half – with first-responders gathered around.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who flew to the scene Thursday night, said authorities still didn’t know what led to the accident at the crossing in Millas, some 9 miles west of Perpignan, close to the border with Spain.

Philippe said the “circumstances of this terrible drama are still undetermined.”

He confirmed that two inquiries were underway into the accident.

Disney buying large part of 21st Century Fox in $52.4B deal

BURBANK, Calif.

Disney is buying a large part of the Murdoch family’s 21st Century Fox in a $52.4 billion deal, including film and television studios, cable and international TV businesses as it tries to meet competition from technology companies in the entertainment business.

Before the buyout, 21st Century Fox will separate the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2 and Big Ten Network into a newly listed company that will be spun off to its shareholders.

The entertainment business is going through big changes. Tech companies are building video divisions. Advertisers are following consumer attention to the internet. And Disney is launching new streaming services, which could be helped with the addition of the Fox assets.

Suspect in car attack faces new charge: first-degree murder

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.

The man accused of driving into a crowd protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville faces a new charge of first-degree murder after a court hearing Thursday in which prosecutors presented surveillance video and other evidence against him.

Prosecutors announced at the start of a preliminary hearing for James Alex Fields that they were seeking to upgrade the second-degree murder charge he previously faced in the Aug. 12 collision in Charlottesville that left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead and dozens injured. The judge agreed to that and ruled there is probable cause for all charges against Fields to proceed.

Fields’ case will now be presented to a grand jury for an indictment.

Authorities say the 20-year-old, described by a former teacher as having a keen interest in Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler, drove his speeding car into a group of counter-protesters the day of the Unite the Right rally that drew hundreds of white nationalist from around the country.

Bill banning Down syndrome abortions heads to Ohio governor

COLUMBUS

In one of their last acts of the year, Ohio lawmakers moved Wednesday to ban abortions based on a diagnosis of Down syndrome and sent the measure to Republican Gov. John Kasich, who is likely to sign it.

Two states, Indiana and North Dakota, already have passed laws such as the one Ohio is advancing, touching off an emotional debate over women’s rights, parental love and the relationship between doctor and patient.

The Indiana measure, enacted in 2016, has been blocked by a federal judge, who ruled the state has no authority to limit a woman’s reasons for ending a pregnancy. An appeal by state officials is pending.

The ACLU of Ohio said 18 separate abortion restrictions have passed under Kasich’s watch and called on him to veto the latest bill.

Associated Press