Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/695013
ByJillColvinandSteve Peoples The Associated Press NEW YORK DonaldTrump abruptly fired campaign manager Corey Lewan- dowski on Monday in a dra- matic shake-up designed to calm panicked Republican leaders and end an inter- nal power struggle plagu- ing the billionaire busi- nessman's unconventional White House bid. In dismissing his long- time campaign chief — just a month before the party's national convention, Trump signaled, at least for a day, a departure from the seat-of- the-pants style that has fu- eled his unlikely rise in Re- publican politics. Perhaps more than anyone else in Trump's inner circle, the ousted aide has preached a simple mantra: "Let Trump be Trump." "I have no regrets," Le- wandowski told CNN, just hours after he was escorted out of Trump's Manhattan campaign headquarters. Still, the former conserva- tive activist seemed to ac- knowledge the limitations of his approach, which has sparked widespread con- cern among the GOP's top donors, operatives, elected officials, and even some of Trump's family members. "The campaign needs to continue to grow to be suc- cessful," he said. Trump, the presump- tive GOP presidential nom- inee, did not address the move publicly on Mon- day. Spokeswoman Hope Hicks described the depar- ture merely as a "parting of ways." A person close to Trump said Lewandowski was forced out largely because of the campaign's worsen- ing relationship with the Republican National Com- mittee, donors and GOP of- ficials, who have increas- ingly criticized the candi- date in recent weeks. That person spoke on the condi- tion of anonymity because the person was not autho- rized to discuss internal de- liberations. While Trump dismissed his critics publicly, he has been privately concerned that so many party lead- ers — House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell among them — have been reluctant to support him, the person said. Trump at least partially blamed Le- wandowski. People close to Trump, including adult children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr., also had long-simmer- ing concerns about Lewan- dowski, who had limited experience on the national scale before becoming Trump's campaign leader. Some of them were among those urging the billionaire businessman to change tac- tics for the general election. "Firing your campaign manager in June is never a good thing," said veteran Republican operative Kevin Madden. "The campaign will have to show dramatic changes immediately on ev- erything from fundraising and organizing to candi- date performance and dis- cipline in order to demon- strate there's been a course correction. Otherwise it's just cosmetics." Lewandowski's chief in- ternal rival, campaign chairman Paul Manafort, largely inherits the cam- paign reins. The political veteran has long advocated a more scripted approach backed by a larger and more professional campaign ap- paratus, although Trump has shown little willing- ness to embrace a whole- sale change in his approach. Lewandowski, speaking to The Associated Press, noted that Manafort actu- ally has been in charge of major campaign functions, including media strategy and Washington outreach, for months. "Paul Manafort has been in operational control of the campaign since April 7. That's a fact," Lewandowski said. Lewandowski has long been a controversial figure inTrump'scampaign,buthe benefitedfromhisproximity to the presumptive Republi- can nominee. Often mis- taken for a member of the candidate's security team, he traveled with Trump on his private plane to nearly every campaign stop. His aggressive approach produced internal enemies. Just minutes after his departure was announced, Trump adviser Michael Ca- puto tweeted, "Ding dong the witch is dead!" and in- cluded a link to the song from the film, "The Wizard of Oz." POLITICS Tr um p fi re s hi s cam pa ig n manager in dramatic shake-up GERALDHERBERT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFILE Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski listens at le are Trump speaks in Palm Beach, Fla. The Associated Press WASHINGTON The Su- preme Court has rejected challenges to assault weap- ons bans in Connecticut and New York, in the af- termath of the shooting at- tack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that left 50 people dead. The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that upheld laws that were passed in response to another mass shooting in- volving a semi-automatic weapon, the elementary school attack in Newtown, Connecticut. The Supreme Court has repeatedly turned away challenges to gun restric- tions since two landmark decisions that spelled out the right to a handgun to defend one's own home. In December, less than a month after a mass shooting in San Ber- nardino, California, Jus- tices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia dis- sented when the court refused to hear an ap- peal to overturn a Chi- cago suburb's ban on as- sault weapons. Scalia died in February. Seven states and the Dis- trict of Columbia have en- acted laws banning assault weapons. The others are California, Hawaii, Mary- land, Massachusetts and New Jersey, according to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. In addition, Minnesota and Virginia regulate assault weapons, the center said. Connecticut and New York enacted bans on as- sault weapons and large- capacity magazines in re- sponse to the December 2012 massacre of 20 chil- dren and six educators at the Sandy Hook Elemen- tary School in Newtown, Connecticut. The gun- man, Adam Lanza, shot and killed his mother be- fore driving to the school where he gunned down the victims with a Bushmas- ter AR-15 rifle. Lanza then killed himself. In Orlando, gunman Omar Mateen used a Sig Sauer MCX semi-automatic rifle and a pistol during the attack at Pulse night- club. Mateen was killed in a shootout with police after killing 49 others. WASHINGTON Supreme Court defers on issue, leaves state assault weapons bans in place By Alan Fram and Mary Clare Jalonick The Associated Press WASHINGTON A divided Senate rejected rival plans to bolster the federal back- ground check system and moved toward blocking other proposed curbs on guns Monday, eight days after the horror of Orlan- do's mass shooting inten- sified pressure on law- makers to act but knot- ted them in election-year gridlock anyway — even over restricting firearms for terrorists. Each party offered a proposal it said would keep terrorists from ob- taining firearms and a sec- ond shoring up the exist- ing system of background checks for gun purchases. With the Senate visi- tors' galleries unusually crowded for a Monday evening, lawmakers voted 53-47 for the Republican background check plan and 44-56 for the Demo- cratic version — both short of the 60 needed to move ahead. The two competing measures for keeping fire- arms from terrorists also faced defeat along mostly party lines, with each side accusing the other of dan- gerous political grand- standing and inflexibility. Democrats said the GOP proposals were unaccept- ably weak while Repub- licans faulted the Demo- crats' plans as overly re- strictive. The proposals' gloomy fates underscored the pressure on each party to give little ground on the emotional gun issue go- ing into November's pres- idential and congressio- nal elections. It also high- lighted the potency of the National Rifle Association, which was urging its huge and fiercely loyal mem- bership to lobby senators to oppose the Democratic bills. "Republicans should be embarrassed, but they're not," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Republicans need to put the lives of innocent Amer- icans ahead of the NRA." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the Orlando shoot- ings — in which the FBI says the American-born gunman swore allegiance to a leader of the Islamic State extremist group — show the best way to pre- vent attacks by extremists is to defeat such groups overseas. "Look, no one wants terrorists to be able to buy guns or explosives," McConnell said. He sug- gested that Democrats were using the day's votes "as an opportunity to push a partisan agenda or craft the next 30-sec- ond campaign ad," while Republicans wanted "real solutions." That Monday's four roll-call votes were oc- curring at all was tes- tament to the political currents buffeting law- makers after gunman Omar Mateen's June 12 attack on a gay night- club. The 49 victims who died made it the largest mass shooting in recent U.S. history, topping the string of such incidents that have punctuated re- cent years. The FBI said Matteen — a focus of two terror investigations that were dropped — described him- self as an Islamic soldier in a 911 call during the shoot- ings. That let gun control advocates add national se- curity and the specter of terrorism to their argu- ments for firearms curbs. Gun control groups were also working the is- sue, with relatives of vic- tims of past mass shoot- ings and others visiting lawmakers and watching the day's debate from the visitors' galleries. WASHINGTON Se na te r ej ec ts g un c ur bs , despite Orlando tragedy FD652 -BurialorCremation - Personalized Services - Pre Planning - Customized Burial Option 816 Walnut St., Red Bluff, CA (530) 527-1174 www.chapeloftheflowers.net You can have peace of mind knowing your loved one has rested with dignity. Hoyt-ColeChapeloftheFlowers GrowneyMotors 1160 Main St, Red Bluff • (530) 527-1034 PLEASE EXCUSE OUR DUST WE ARE OPEN TO SERVE YOU DURING OUR REMODEL Red Truck Rock Yard, LLC 6041 Hwy 99W Corning 530-824-0773 • Standard Blends • Premium Blends • Special Blends • Also Available: Mushroom Compost Mulch • Worm Castings Open Monday through Friday 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. We'llalsodeliverstraighttoyou. Pre-Spring Specials 10% off Mountain White and Purple Rock SUMMER SPECIAL MODERNCLEANERS 609WalnutSt.,RedBluff•527-4308 20 % off DRAPERIES Wetakedown & rehang your drapes Mustbepresentedwithincomingorder.Notgoodwithotheroffers.Expires6/30/16 Juli Foster Exclusive Agent 250 Walnut Street Red Bluff, CA 96080 Office 530-527-5534 Cell 530-339-1595 Fax 530-527-4808 julifoster@allstate.com CA Insurance License Number OD41159 24-Hour Customer Service 714WalnutSt., Red Bluff Your One Stop Convenience Store ONE STOP www.dalescarpetandflooringredbluff.com Come in and see us in our NEW LOCATION at 330 Walnut St. Red Bluff 530-529-4004 Summer is upon us once again! Beat the heat and protect your flooring with Hunter Douglas Window Fashions. Free estimates!' TheDarkside 840 Main St. Red Bluff CA 530-527-9700 2032 Pine St. Redding CA 530-246-1773 Darkside The 30% OFF STOREWIDE 4TH OF JULY, MONDAY, JULY 4 TH ONLY. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM TUESDAY, JUNE 21, 2016 4 B