Trump: ‘Surprise’ question about Pence led him to hesitate

Trump: ‘Surprise’ question about Pence led him to hesitate

WASHINGTON

President Donald Trump says he hesitated to back a possible 2024 presidential run by Vice President Mike Pence because he was caught off-guard by the question. Given a chance at a do-over, however, Trump still did not endorse his loyal lieutenant.

“You can’t put me in that position,” Trump said June 14 when a host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox and Friends” asked him about endorsing Pence should the vice president seek to succeed Trump in 2024. Pence hasn’t explicitly said he’ll run in 2024, but is widely expected to.

Offered a chance to explain, Trump told NBC News he hesitated “because it was a surprise question.”

“I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out,” Trump told “Meet the Press” in a wide-ranging interview taped Friday and broadcast Sunday. “Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.”

Also in the interview, Trump criticized Fed chairman Jerome Powell and said his biggest mistake was choosing Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.

Bikers bid goodbye to seven motorcyclists killed in NH crash

COLUMBIA, N.H.

A long-planned Blessing of the Bikes ceremony for motorcycle enthusiasts became a scene of mourning and reflection Sunday as about 400 people paid tribute to seven bikers killed in a devastating collision with a pickup truck .

The victims of the wreck Friday evening were members or supporters of the Marine JarHeads – a New England motorcycle club that includes Marines and their spouses – and ranged in age from 42 to 62.

“When they fall, we all fall,” said Laura Cardinal, vice president of the Manchester Motorcycle Club, adding that fellow bikers will support the families of those who died. “Those families, they’re going to go through a lot now. They have a new world ahead of them.”

A pickup truck towing a flatbed trailer collided with a group of 10 motorcycles on a two-lane highway in the small town of Randolph, leaving victims strewn on the grass amid their shattered bikes. The cause of the crash was under investigation, and no immediate charges were filed.

Blessing of the Bikes ceremonies are held in many locations as a way to give prayers for a safe season. Sunday’s event, situated about an hour from the accident site, was expected to draw 100 or 200 people before it was transformed by tragedy.

Census, redistricting top remaining Supreme Court cases

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court enters its final week of decisions with two politically charged issues unresolved, whether to rein in political line-drawing for partisan gain and allow a citizenship question on the 2020 census.

Both decisions could affect the distribution of political power for the next decade, and both also may test Chief Justice John Roberts’ professed desire to keep his court of five conservatives appointed by Republican presidents and four liberals appointed by Democrats from looking like the other, elected branches of government. Decisions that break along the court’s political and ideological divide are more likely to generate criticism of the court as yet another political institution.

In addition, the justices could say as early as today whether they will add to their election-year calendar a test of President Donald Trump’s effort to end an Obama-era program that shields young immigrants from deportation. The court’s new term begins in October.

Twelve cases that were argued between November and April remain to be decided. They include disputes over: a trademark sought by the FUCT clothing line, control of a large swatch of eastern Oklahoma that once belonged to Indian tribes and when courts should defer to decisions made by executive branch agencies.

But the biggest cases by far involve the citizenship question the Trump administration wants to add to the census and two cases in which lower courts found that Republicans in North Carolina and Democrats in Maryland went too far in drawing congressional districts to benefit their party at the expense of the other party’s voters.

Memorial proposed for fallen journalists year after shooting

ANNAPOLIS, Md.

The publisher of a Maryland newspaper where a gunman killed five people last year is pushing for a national monument to fallen journalists.

Tribune Publishing Chairman David Dreier announced Sunday that a bipartisan group of lawmakers will introduce legislation this week to establish the “Fallen Journalists Memorial” in Washington, D.C.

Dreier says a new foundation has been created to oversee the design and construction of the memorial and the Annenberg Foundation and the Ferro Foundation have provided initial funding.

He said the foundation would honor journalists who “sacrificed their lives in the name of a free press.”

Santa Anita season ends after 30 horse deaths, trainer ban

ARCADIA, Calif.

Santa Anita’s troubled racing season has come to a close after the deaths of 30 horses at the Southern California track rattled the industry and led to Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer being banned when four of his horses were among the casualties.

There were no incidents during morning training hours or in the 10 races Sunday.

About 20 protesters briefly toted signs outside an entrance to the track, calling attention to the deaths and condemning the sport.

Hollendorfer had two horses entered to run closing day, but they, along with two others Saturday, were scratched by track stewards on the recommendation of a special panel convened to review horses’ medical, training and racing history.

Average US price of gas drops 11 cents per gallon to $2.73

CAMARILLO, Calif.

The average U.S. price of regular-grade gasoline dropped 11 cents per gallon over the past two weeks, to $2.73.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that lower crude oil prices contributed to the drop at the pump. Oil prices rose last week, however, because of tensions between the United States and Iran, as well as following the Federal Reserve signal of a potential interest rate cut.

The price is 22 cents lower than what it was a year ago.

In Ohio, the average was $2.56, with Youngstown/Warren motorists paying $2.50, according to AAA.

The highest average price in the nation is $3.78 a gallon in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The lowest average is $2.17 in Baton Rouge, La.

The average price of diesel fell by 6 cents since June 7, to $3.06.

Jackpot: More than 2,000 winners in North Carolina lottery

RALEIGH, N.C.

Turns out that zero can be a lucky number.

North Carolina’s state lottery Saturday said it set a record payout after the winning numbers in a Pick 4 game came back “0-0-0-0.”

The lottery said about 1,000 tickets at $1 were sold and will pay out at $5,000. Another 1,000 tickets were sold for 50 cents, and they will pay out at $2,500. Lottery officials said winners should expect “extended waiting times” when picking up their prizes.

The state said the total payout is $7.8 million. The previous record was $7.5 million in 2012, when the winning Pick 4 numbers were “1-1-1-1.”

Associated Press