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BySadieGurman The Associated Press CENTENNIAL, COLO. Ju- rors declined to rule out death for James Holmes on Monday as they moved toward sentencing the Colorado theater shooter. The decision clears the way for one last attempt from both sides to sway the jury, with gripping testimony from victims about their harm and suffering, as well as more appeals for mercy for the man convicted of murder- ing 12 people and trying to kill 70 more. Holmes, his reactions dulled by anti-psychotic drugs, stood as ordered and appeared emotion- less as the judge read the decisions. Holmes' parents Rob- ert and Arlene Homes held hands, their fingers interlaced, and held their eyes on the floor while Judge Carlos Samour, Jr., read the verdicts. With each unanimous "yes," it became ever more clear that jurors did not be- lieve their testimony outweighed their son's crimes. Arlene Holmes be- gan to cry. Robert held a box of tissues for her. There were more tears elsewhere in the court- room. Rena Medek began silently sobbing when the judge read the name of her 23-year-old daughter Micayla. Ian Sullivan, the father of Holmes' young- est victim, 6-year-old Ve- ronica Moser-Sullivan, closed his eyes when her name was read. During the trial, Now- lan used the cane he has to walkwithnow asaprop,to show how Holmes used an assault rifle to spray gun- fireathimandothersinthe audience.Hesaidhe's"very happy with the results." The jury was sent home and told to return Tues- day morning for the fi- nal phase. Then, the nine women and three men will finally decide whether the 27-year-old should receive a lethal in- jection, or spend life in prison without parole. The same jury rejected the defense claim that mental illness so warped his mind that Holmes could not tell right from wrong when he carried out the theater attack in the Denver suburb of Au- rora on July 20, 2012. In the first step of Col- orado's complicated death sentencing process, pros- ecutors then argued, and jurors agreed, that capital punishment could be ap- propriate because Holmes sprang a terrifying and cruel ambush on hundreds of unsuspecting victims. In the second step, de- fense lawyers argued that mental illness nev- ertheless reduced Holmes' "moral culpability," and that his personal his- tory made him worthy of mercy. They said it was schizophrenia, not free will, that drove Holmes to murder. COLORADO THEATER SHOOTING Holmes jury keeps execution as option By Alan Fram The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Senate blocked a Republican drive Monday to terminate fed- eral funds for Planned Par- enthood, setting the stage for the GOP to try again this fall amid higher stakes — a potential government shut- down that could echo into next year's presidential and congressional elections. The derailed legislation was the Republican response to videos, recorded secretly by anti-abortion activists, showing Planned Parent- hood officials dispassion- ately discussing how they sometimes provide medical researchers with tissue from aborted fetuses. Those vid- eos have led conservatives to accuse the group of ille- gally selling the organs for profit — strongly denied by Planned Parenthood — and inserted abortion and wom- en's health into the mix of is- sues to be argued in the 2016 campaign. Monday's mostly party- line vote was 53-46 to halt Democratic delays aimed at derailing the bill, seven short of the 60 votes Repub- licans needed. Even so, the GOP is hoping to reap polit- ical gains because the vid- eos have ignited the par- ty's core conservative, anti- abortion voters. The fight is already cre- ating heated talking points for Republican presidential candidates, who convene Thursday for their first de- bate of the 2016 campaign. Several of them, including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky, are calling for Congress to end Planned Parenthood's fed- eral payments. Longer term, GOP lead- ers are hoping that three congressional committees' investigations, plus sev- eral state probes and the expected release of addi- tional videos, will produce evidence of Planned Parent- hood wrongdoing and make it harder for Democrats to defend the organization. Planned Parenthood pro- vides contraception, test- ing for sexually transmitted diseases and abortions in clinics from coast to coast. Democrats were largely muted when the videos were first distributed, but their defense of Planned Parenthood has grown more robust. They sounded a theme Monday that they have employed in recent elections, characterizing the GOP drive as an assault on health care for women. "It's our obligation to pro- tect our wives, our sisters, our daughters, our grand- daughters" from the GOP's "absurd policies," said Sen- ate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "The Republi- can Party has lost its moral compass." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Democrats should not pro- tect Planned Parenthood's federal funds "just to pro- tect some political group," an apparent reference to the or- ganization's one-sided cam- paign contributions to Dem- ocratic candidates. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa said, "The American taxpayer should not be asked to fund an or- ganization like Planned Par- enthood that has shown a sheer disdain for human dig- nity and complete disregard for women and their babies." Ernst sponsored the mea- sure as party leaders sought ways to blunt Democratic charges of GOP insensitiv- ity to women. The only senators to cross party lines were Dem- ocrats Joe Donnelly of In- diana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Illinois Republican Mark Kirk, who faces a tough re-election fight next year. McConnell joined Democrats in voting to block the bill, a proce- dural move that allows him to force a fresh vote later. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., a presidential candi- date, was in New Hamp- shire and didn't vote. Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards said Monday's vote showed the bill was "a political non- starter." Tony Perkins, pres- ident of the ant-abortion Family Research Center, said Congress "must take the next step" and remove Planned Parenthood's fund- ing when lawmakers return next month from summer recess. The anti-abortion Center for Medical Progress has re- leased four videos in which people posing as represen- tatives of a company that purchases fetal tissue con- verse with Planned Parent- hood officials. The videos have been especially con- troversial because of the casual descriptions by the Planned Parenthood offi- cials of the abortion proce- dures they use to obtain tis- sue, and because they show close-ups of fetal organs in laboratories. The center and some of its GOP supporters have said the videos show that Planned Parenthood sells the tissue for profit, which is illegal under federal law. Planned Parenthood says the videos are selectively edited and that the organi- zation only recovers costs of the procedures — which is legal — and only gives the tissue to researchers with a mother's advance con- sent and in fewer than five states. SECRET VIDEOS Senate blocks bill to halt Planned Parenthood funds J.SCOTTAPPLEWHITE—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Manchin backed a Republican bill cutting off federal aid for Planned Parenthood. By Julie Pace The Associated Press WASHINGTON President Barack Obama's sweeping new power plant regula- tions are thrusting the di- visive debate over climate change into the race for the White House, with can- didates in both parties see- ing an opportunity to cap- italize. To Democrats, rally- ing around global climate change is a way to energize liberal supporters and paint Republicans as out of touch with the majority of Amer- icans. To the GOP, Obama's executive actions to curb greenhouse gas emissions are burdensome to business and block job creation, an argument targeting Amer- icans' worries about the economy. The president unveiled the plan at the White House Monday, calling it the "sin- gle most important step" the U.S. has taken to com- bat a major global threat. Broad support for the rules by Democratic candi- dates and universal opposi- tion from Republicans puts the parties' eventual nom- inees on a general-elec- tion collision course. Most of the changes Obama out- lined would have to be im- plemented by the next pres- ident, if the rules survive court challenges. Republicans gave little in- dication of what they would do differently to curb emis- sions from U.S. power plants, if anything at all. They cast the measure requiring states to cut carbon dioxide emis- sions by 32 percent by 2030 as unnecessary and costly White House overreach that will raise energy costs for Americans. The Obama administra- tion itself estimated the emissions limits will cost $8.4 billion annually by 2030, though the actual price won't be clear un- til states decide how they would reach their targets. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, said the regulations would be an economic "buzz saw" that would "cost hard-working Americans jobs and raise their energy rates." Jeb Bush, the former GOP gov- ernor of Florida, said the rules "run over state gov- ernments, will throw count- less people out of work and increases everyone's energy prices." Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz questioned whether climate change is really occurring. "I'm saying the data and facts don't support it," Cruz said at a retreat spon- sored by billionaire broth- ers Charles and David Koch, heavily courted donors who strongly oppose Obama's climate change agenda. The issue has also fueled the fundraising race for Democrats. Billionaire en- vironmentalist Tom Steyer dropped $74 million into the 2014 midterm elections for candidates who sup- port policies to curb cli- mate change. Despite such spending, Democrats gave up control of the Senate, lost seats in the House and suffered embarrassing de- feats in gubernatorial races. Steyer hosted a fund- raiser earlier this year for Hillary Clinton, the front- runner for the Democratic nomination. Clinton called Obama's power plant mea- sure a "significant step for- ward" and said she would defend it if elected presi- dent. Her Democratic chal- lengers were similarly sup- portive. Power plants account for roughly one-third of all U.S. emissions of the heat- trapping gases blamed for global warming, mak- ing them the largest sin- gle source. Obama has al- ready used executive ac- tions to curb greenhouse gas emissions from other major sources, including cars and trucks. Building on Obama's ag- gressive actions, Democrats have cast climate change as one in a long list of is- sues — along with gay mar- riage, immigration and dip- lomatic relations with Cuba — where Republicans are out of step with the major- ity of Americans. A Wash- ington Post/ABC News poll conducted in March showed 59 percent of Americans said they'd like the next president to be someone who favors government action to address climate change, while 31 percent would prefer someone who opposes it. Dan Pfeiffer, a longtime Obama adviser, said climate change is also a "litmus test" for many of the young voters who backed the president in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Some Democrats fear Clin- ton, if she wins the nomina- tion, will struggle to repli- cate the high turnout among young people and minorities that helped propel Obama into the White House. "They see candidates who deny the science as rel- ics from the past not wor- thy of their support," said Pfeiffer, who left the White House earlier this year. "Motivating the younger voters that were core to the Obama coalition will be one of the biggest tasks for the Democrats in 2016 and climate change is one the best issues to get them to the polls." 'SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT STEP' Obama power plant rules spark 2016 fight over climate change JIM COLE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Steam billows from the coal-fired Merrimack Station in Bow, N.H. 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