Trump says he won't declare national emergency before midterm vote

WASHINGTON— President Donald Trump says he does not intend to declare a national emergency in order to influence the midterm elections in his favor.

The president made his comments on Friday after a reporter asked him if he were considering that. It is unclear how a declaration of an emergency could affect the elections.

The Washington Post had previously reported that Trump supporters had encouraged the president to declare a state of emergency. This would give him far-reaching powers and influence the midterm elections this autumn.

Trump's supporters cite allegations that China interfered in the 2020 U.S. presidential election as the basis for the proposed action, the Washington Post story says.

—dpa

New Texas poll finds shift in Jasmine Crockett-James Talarico Senate race

State Rep. James Talarico has taken the lead in the Democratic race for the U.S. Senate nomination and Attorney General Ken Paxton has widened his lead in the Republican race going into an apparent May runoff, according to a new poll by a Democratic political firm.

Talarico has overtaken long-standing front-runner U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and now leads Crockett, 52%-40%, in a poll of 472 primary voters Feb. 23-24. It was conducted by Mississippi-based Chisum strategies, which also has an office in San Antonio, with an error margin of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points, meaning results can vary by that much in either direction.

It’s the second poll in just days to show a candidate in the heated race leading beyond the polling margin of error. But they swing in opposite directions: Crockett led Talarico, 56%-44%, in a University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll Feb. 2-16.

That poll was conducted before Talarico’s Feb, 16 interview on“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” aired on YouTube to avoid running afoul of FCC equal-time rules. The interview drew 9 million viewers within a week.

With Democrats approaching record turnout in early voting, the race appears difficult to forecast.

—Fort Worth Star-Telegram

No doubt feds will reimburse Florida for Alligator Alcatraz, attorney general says

MIAMI — Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Friday defended the state’s front-loaded spending on immigration enforcement, saying he expects the Trump administration to fully reimburse Florida despite ongoing legal fights and the absence of a formal repayment commitment.

The attorney general’s remarks come just days after Florida filed a court document in related litigation outlining the state’s position that it was acting under federal delegation and expects to be repaid for costs associated with detention facilities and other enforcement efforts. The filing underscored that reimbursement remains unresolved as the case moves through the courts.

Speaking at a news conference in Titusville focused on an illegal gambling crackdown, Uthmeier and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey pivoted to address questions about whether Washington will ultimately repay Florida for those expenses.

The attorney general said he has “no reason to believe” that Washington will fail to cover the costs, even as the dispute continues to bounce between trial and appellate courts. He argued that Florida stepped in while Congress and federal agencies worked through funding and policy disputes, describing immigration enforcement as a core federal responsibility. He has previously pointed to federal involvement in the launch of the state’s detention operations as evidence that Florida was acting with Washington’s blessing.

“The state’s footing of the bill, in the long term, won’t go down as the feds take leadership in an area that is a federal responsibility,” Uthmeier said on Friday. “But we were happy to help.”

—Miami Herald

MAGA troll ‘doesn’t remember’ setting Black woman’s boot on fire in NY clash

NEW YORK— One of the two social media trolls accused of trying to set a Black woman’s boot on fire during a clash on a Manhattan street filled with racist insults claimed Friday he had no memory of the crime — even though he recorded the entire thing.

“I don’t remember the incident,” Michael Santiago, 31, told The New York Daily News in Manhattan Criminal Court after he was arraigned on a slew of hate crime charges, including attempted assault, criminal mischief and menacing. “I’m not denying I was there, but I don’t remember the incident.”

Santiago is accused of filming his friend Michael James torch a 54-year-old woman’s furry boot during a hate-fueled tirade on W. 26th St. and Seventh Ave. in Chelsea on Feb. 19, then posting the video online.

Santiago and James — the latter who walks around the city proudly sporting a red “Make America Great Again” hat — are known online as “ScrubsNYC.” The pair of social media provocateurs post their bizarre arguments and interactions with everyday New Yorkers, which usually end with them being chased down the street and out of bodegas and residential buildings.

Prosecutors said that Santiago recorded James, 33, approaching and trying to kiss the victim. When she rebuffed him, he launched into a racist rant, prosecutors said.

—New York Daily News

Cuba and US take calm approach to investigating deadly boat incident

A chaotic encounter between Cuban security forces and a boatful of men who had set out from Florida this week could have lit a fuse at a time of increased tension between the U.S. and Havana. Instead, calmer heads are prevailing, for now.

Cuban officials have said that the men were terrorists who had planned and trained for an attack on the country in the U.S. But Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Carlos Fernandez de Cossio said in a statement Thursday that U.S. authorities had “shown their willingness to cooperate in clarifying the facts,” despite years of defiant posturing toward Washington by the communist regime.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio — an outspoken critic of the government in Havana during his years in the U.S. Senate— said that the U.S. would investigate the matter before taking any action.

—Bloomberg News