AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT
Tennessee "hero" says Georgia fugitives surrendered to him
SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The man credited by law enforcement with holding two Georgia prison escapees at gunpoint until police arrived rejected the "hero" label on Friday, and said credit should go to forces well beyond his control.
Patrick Hale said friends had just alerted him that the fugitives wanted in the slayings of two prison guards had been spotted in his area of rural Tennessee, so he quickly loaded his guns. Moments later, he saw them climb over his fence and approach his home, where he was alone with his little girl.
He decided to flee - getting into his car with his girl - but then realized he had left a loaded shotgun at his door, possibly within reach of the escapees.
Then, just as he prepared for the worst, the inmates took off their shirts and waved them in the air in a sign of surrender. He thinks they mistook his car for a law enforcement vehicle. He never had to pull out his weapon.
"I realized I had two ex-cons wanted for murder who had just shot at law enforcement who had nothing to lose and for some reason they surrendered and laid down on the concrete in my driveway," Hale said. "If that doesn't make you believe in Jesus Christ, I don't know what does."
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Trump thrusts US, Cuba back toward hostile relations
MIAMI (AP) - Pressing "pause" on a historic detente, President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back on a path toward open hostility Friday with a blistering denunciation of the island's communist government. He clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened.
Even as Trump predicted a quick end to President Raul Castro's regime, he challenged Cuba to negotiate better agreements for Americans, Cubans and those whose identities lie somewhere in between. Diplomatic relations, restored only two years ago, will remain intact. But, in a shift from Obama's approach, Trump said trade and other penalties would stay in place until a long list of prerequisites was met.
"America has rejected the Cuban people's oppressors," Trump said in Miami's Little Havana, the cradle of Cuban-American resistance to Castro's government. "Officially, today, they are rejected."
Declaring Obama's pact with Castro a "completely one-sided deal," Trump said he was canceling it. In practice, however, many recent changes to boost ties to Cuba will stay as they are. Trump cast that as a sign the U.S. still wanted to engage with Cuba in hopes of forging "a much stronger and better path."
Embassies in Havana and Washington will remain open. U.S. airlines and cruise ships will still be allowed to serve the island 90 miles south of Florida. The "wet foot, dry foot" policy, which once let most Cuban migrants stay if they made it to U.S. soil but was terminated under Obama, will remain terminated. Remittances from people in America to Cubans won't be cut off.
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Trump confirms he's under investigation, fires angry tweets
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump confirmed Friday he is under federal investigation and appeared to single out a senior Justice Department official for criticism, underscoring his growing frustration with the persistent focus on Russia's involvement in the 2016 election and possibly his campaign.
"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," the president wrote.
The morning missive appeared to refer to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general. Last month, Rosenstein sent a memo to Trump raising concerns over FBI Director James Comey - concerns the White House then cited as a central reason for Comey's firing.
Days after Comey was abruptly ousted, Rosenstein appointed Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Mueller also has expansive powers to investigate any matters that develop from his initial investigation.
It was unclear whether the president's comment confirming he was under investigation was based on direct knowledge or media reports that Mueller is examining whether the president obstructed justice by firing Comey. Still, the snowballing investigation has deeply angered Trump, who denies he has any nefarious ties to Russia. He's increasingly focused his anger at both Rosenstein and Mueller, according to advisers and confidants, viewing the two as part of a biased effort to undermine his presidency.
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Scalise doctor hopes for 'excellent recovery' despite risk
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congressman Steve Scalise can hope to make an "excellent recovery," his trauma surgeon said Friday, even though the lawmaker arrived at the hospital Wednesday at imminent risk of death after getting shot at a congressional baseball practice.
In his first public comments since the shooting, Dr. Jack Sava of MedStar Washington Hospital Center said it's a "good possibility" that the Louisiana Republican will be able to return to work in his full capacity.
Sava declined to put a timeline on when that would happen or when Scalise, 51, would be able to leave the hospital. The doctor described how a bullet from an assault rifle entered Scalise's hip and traversed his pelvis, shattering blood vessels, bones and internal organs along the way.
For now, Scalise remains in critical condition in the hospital's intensive care unit.
Scalise, the No. 3 House Republican, arrived at the hospital via helicopter in shock, with intense internal bleeding and "an imminent risk of death," Sava said.
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Troop plan for Afghanistan seeks to regain battlefield edge
WASHINGTON (AP) - A coming deployment of up to 4,000 more U.S. forces to Afghanistan, expected as part of a new Trump administration approach to America's longest war, reflects the Pentagon's view that beefing up its training-advising role and its counterterrorism effort can help turn around recent Taliban gains and snuff out a growing Islamic State threat.
But adding troops is a U.S. tactic that has failed in the past and much will depend on the president's broader strategy for stabilizing Afghanistan.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis's chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, said Friday that Mattis had made no decision on a troop increase. She was responding to an Associated Press report Thursday, citing an administration official, that Mattis has settled on a plan to send almost 4,000 more troops and that it could be announced as early as next week. Another option is to hold off on the troop numbers until the new strategy is ready, which Mattis has said would be in July.
White said in a written statement that "any decision about troop numbers will be made only after consultations" with other U.S. government agencies, NATO allies and Afghanistan. Such consultations have been ongoing for weeks. Mattis is due to attend a NATO defense ministers meeting later this month.
The retired Marine general has said repeatedly that adding U.S. troops and other resources to Afghanistan would be just one part of a larger strategy, developed in conjunction with the State Department and other national security agencies. The plan envisions addressing the roles played by Pakistan, India, China and Iran and perhaps Russia. Pakistan is a particularly difficult problem because it has provided sanctuary for elements of the Taliban.
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At impasse, Bill Cosby jury tests patience of judge, defense
NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) - The jury in Bill Cosby's sexual assault case tested the patience of defense lawyers and even the judge on the fifth day of deliberations Friday as it repeatedly asked to run through testimony from the TV star, his accuser and others, struggling to break a deadlock that threatens to end the trial without a verdict.
With deliberations running about as long as the testimony of all the witnesses combined, the 79-year-old TV star's lawyer complained that jurors were seeking a replay of the entire trial.
Judge Steven O'Neill twice refused defense requests for a mistrial, declaring that jurors could talk as long as they wanted over allegations that Cosby drugged and molested a woman at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004.
But even the solicitous judge had his limits, putting his foot down late Friday afternoon when the jurors asked to hear a sliver of testimony they'd just had read back to them. The judge told them they had to rely on their collective memory.
As the panel deliberated charges that could send Cosby to prison for the rest of his life, Cosby tweeted thanks to his fans and supporters.
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Fate of program to protect young immigrants still undecided
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump administration said Friday it still has not decided the fate of a program protecting hundreds of thousands of young immigrants from deportation, despite a statement a day earlier that the program will continue.
The mixed signals reflect the political sensitivities behind the Obama administration program known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. As a candidate who put tough immigration policies at the core of his campaign, Donald Trump denounced the program as an "illegal amnesty" and said he would immediately end it.
Since taking office, Trump has expressed empathy for the participants often called "dreamers," many of whom have no memory of living anywhere but the United States. Cancelling the program could mean trying to deport more than 787,000 people who identified themselves to the government in exchange for temporary protection.
The Homeland Security Department said Thursday that the program would "remain in effect."
That statement was included at the end of an announcement of the cancellation of a related Obama program, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, which would have protected the immigrant parents of U.S. citizens. A court had blocked the program and it has never been implemented.
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Anger erupts over possible flaws at burned London tower
LONDON (AP) - Grief turned to outrage Friday over a deadly high-rise tower fire in London amid reports that materials used in the building's renovation could have fueled the inferno that left dozens dead and missing as it decimated the public housing block.
Engineering experts say outside insulation panels installed on the 24-story Grenfell Tower may have helped the fire spread rapidly from one floor to the next. The Guardian newspaper reported Friday that contractors installed a cheaper, less flame-resistant type of paneling in the renovation that ended in May 2016.
Tensions were high Friday two days after the overnight fire gutted the huge housing block, killing at least 30 people and leaving dozens missing and hundreds homeless.
Scuffles broke out near the Kensington and Chelsea town hall offices as demonstrators chanting "We want justice!" surged toward the doors.
London has a chronic housing shortage even in the best of times, and those left homeless by the fire - already angry over what they see as government inequity and incompetence - fear being forced out of the British capital.
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Amazon deal for Whole Foods could bring retail experiments
NEW YORK (AP) - Online retail giant Amazon is making a bold expansion into physical stores with a $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods, setting the stage for radical retail experiments that could revolutionize how people buy groceries and everything else.
Amazon could try to use automation and data analysis to draw more customers to stores while helping Whole Foods cut costs and perhaps prices. Meanwhile, the more than 460 Whole Foods stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. could be turned into distribution hubs - not just for delivering groceries but as pickup centers for online orders.
"The conventional grocery store should feel threatened and incapable of responding," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said.
Moody's lead retail analyst Charlie O'Shea said the deal could be "transformative, not just for food retail, but for retail in general."
Walmart, which has the largest share of the U.S. food market, has already been pushing harder into e-commerce to build on strength in its stores and groceries. It announced Friday that it's buying online men's clothing retailer Bonobos for $310 million, following a string of online acquisitions including ModCloth and Moosejaw.
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Q&A: The complex issues of the Russia probe, special counsel
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump's closest allies are attacking the integrity of those involved in the widening probe of Russian interference in the U.S. election, accusing special counsel Robert Mueller of driving a biased investigation. Trump himself took aim Friday at the senior Justice Department official responsible for appointing Mueller, accusing him on Twitter of leading a "Witch Hunt."
The rising criticism puts a new focus on the relationships between the president, special counsel and the Justice Department, especially as questions loom over whether Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein will recuse himself from overseeing Mueller's probe. Some questions and answers about what could happen:
HOW DID WE GET HERE?
Rosenstein appointed Mueller, a former FBI director, in May while facing questions about his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Rosenstein had written a scathing memo criticizing Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, which the White House initially cited as the impetus for Comey's ouster. But Trump later said in a television interview that he fired Comey at least in part because he was frustrated over the Russia investigation Comey was leading. Comey later revealed that he orchestrated a disclosure of details about conversations with Trump to prompt the appointment of a special counsel.
Rosenstein was the one to make the decision because Attorney General Jeff Sessions had already recused himself from the Russia investigation. That happened after Sessions disclosed previously unreported contacts with the Russian ambassador during the 2016 presidential campaign.
