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LAS VEGAS (AP) —
Republican presidential candidates take the debate stage Tuesday night for the first time in a month, their race reshaped by national security threats but still dominated by outsider contenders. Now it's Ted Cruz challenging front-runner Donald Trump.
Trump will once again be standing at center stage, reflecting the billionaire businessman's surprising dominance in the GOP primary campaign. His newest test, at least in the leadoff Iowa caucus, comes from Texas Sen. Cruz, a chief antagonist of Republican leaders in Washington.
The debate will be the first for Republicans since the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, that increased concerns about terrorism in the United States. Hours before the debate was to begin, officials in Los Angeles closed all schools after an emailed threat.
Trump's response to the terror attacks was to call for a total ban on Muslims entering the U.S. The proposal was roundly criticized by his rivals but appears to be resonating with some of his supporters.
With less than two months until voting begins, Cruz is trying to pitch himself as a more electable alternative to Trump. The Texas senator has a robust campaign infrastructure and conservative appeal, though some Republican leaders believe his hardline positions and prickly demeanor would put him at a disadvantage in a general election contest against Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.
Trump and Cruz have maintained a friendly relationship for months, but signs of a split have emerged in recent days, with Cruz appearing to question Trump's judgment at a private fundraiser, according to audio obtained by The New York Times, and Trump calling Cruz "a little bit of a maniac."
Trump didn't go after Cruz by name during a Las Vegas rally on the eve of the debate, but said the prime-time faceoff could turn messy.
"I am giving them a chance for them to make total fools of themselves in front of millions of people," Trump said, adding that he was expecting to be attacked. "This will not be like an evening in paradise for me. Do we agree?" he asked.
Another dynamic in Tuesday's debate involves Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another first-term senator and Cuban-American.
Cruz and Rubio have been sparring from afar, particularly over national security. Rubio has tried to brand Cruz as an isolationist and has criticized his support for ending the bulk collection of Americans' phone records, saying it weakens the government's ability to identify potential terrorists.
"There are some differences in policy," Rubio said of Cruz in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I think we need to be the national security party, the party of strong national security, committed to ensuring we have the strongest military force in the world."
More broadly, Rubio's campaign is eager to cast Cruz, who prides himself on being a conservative "truth-teller," as a politically expedient flip-flopper who is willing to say whatever is necessary to win an election. Rubio's campaign has raised questions about Cruz's position on sending troops to the Middle East as well as whether he would allow immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to stay here.
Cruz's campaign has dismissed the criticism, with spokesman Rick Tyler saying, "Nobody believes Senator Cruz is weak on national defense and security."
The debate was being held at the Venetian Hotel, which is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, one of the GOP's prolific donors, and he and Trump were to meet beforehand.
"They are longtime friends," said Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks, via email. "Mr. Trump would be happy to have Mr. Adelson's support but doesn't want or need his money."
The debate is particularly crucial for some of the more experienced GOP politicians who have struggled to gain traction in a crowded field.
That's particularly true for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, the former front-runner and elite fundraiser who has been languishing for months. While Bush's advisers have brushed aside suggestions he should drop out of the race before voting begins, a weak performance would increase those calls.
One establishment candidate who does appear to be gaining ground is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. He's hanging his White House hopes on a strong finish in New Hampshire, where he's winning important endorsements and climbing in preference polls.
"I've been making executive decisions for 13 years and been held accountable for them," Christie told the AP Monday. "There's no other way to get ready for the presidency than that; you have to have executive experience to be successful."
Also on the main stage Tuesday night will be retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, whose campaign is on the decline after a surge in early fall; former business executive Carly Fiorina; Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. Four lower-polling candidates will appear at an earlier event: former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former New York Gov. George Pataki and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
The nation's two biggest school systems — New York City and Los Angeles — received threats of a large-scale attack Tuesday with guns and bombs, and LA reacted by shutting down the entire district, while New York dismissed the warning as an amateurish hoax and held class as usual.
The shutdown was a rare example of big city closing its entire school district because of fears of an attack. The decision also reflected lingering unease in the aftermath of the shooting that killed 14 people at an office holiday party less than two weeks ago in nearby San Bernardino.
In LA, the threat came in the form of an email to a school board member. Authorities in New York reported receiving the same "generic" email that was sent to other cities around the country. They decided there was no danger to schoolchildren, with Mayor Bill de Blasio concluding the threat contained "nothing credible."
"It was so outlandish," he said.
New York Police Commissioner William Bratton agreed, quipping that it looked like the sender of the threat had watched a lot of the Showtime terrorism drama "Homeland."
The shutdown abruptly closed more than 900 public schools and 187 charter schools attended by 640,000 students across Los Angeles.
LA officials defended the move.
"It is very easy in hindsight to criticize a decision based on results the decider could never have known," LA Police Chief Charlie Beck said at a news conference.
The threatening email sent to the New York City school superintendent warned that schools would be attacked with pressure cooker bombs, nerve agents and machine guns. It claimed the writer and "138 comrades" would carry out the attack.
Students "at every school in the New York City school district will be massacred, mercilessly. And there is nothing you can do to stop it," the message said.
The anonymous writer claimed to be a student at a district high school who had been bullied.
A law enforcement official with access to the document provided the email to The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to disclose details of an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The person who wrote the note also claimed to be a jihadist but made errors that suggested the writer was really a prankster, including spelling the word "Allah" with a lowercase "a."
The threats came in simultaneously to New York and LA school officials at about 1:20 a.m. EST Tuesday, or about 10:20 p.m. Monday in Los Angeles.
According to LA school police, the FBI and LA police were contacted late Monday, which would mean within 90 minutes or so of the threat arriving.
The decision to close Los Angeles schools was announced at 6:25 a.m. PST, well after NYC had already concluded the threat was a hoax and decided to keep schools open.
Los Angeles Superintendent Ramon Cortines said every campus would be searched before schools reopened.
Bratton called the closure in Los Angeles a "significant overreaction."
"We cannot allow ourselves to raise levels of fear," said Bratton, who once ran the LA Police Department.
Hours later, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee also said the threat was believed to be a hoax.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said he would not second-guess the decisions made in Los Angeles or New York.
The decision to close the district disrupted the morning routines of many Los Angeles families.
Lupita Vela, who has a daughter in the third grade and a son who is a high school senior, called the threat "absolutely terrifying" in light of the San Bernardino attack.
"I know the kids are anxious," she said.
Beck said the email was specific to all the campuses in the district.
The LA schools commonly get threats, but Cortines called this one rare and said the San Bernardino attack influenced his decision to close the entire district.
The threat "was not to one school, two schools or three schools," he said at a news conference. "It was many schools, not specifically identified. ... That's the reason I took the action that I did."
The superintendent said the district police chief informed him about the threat shortly after 5 a.m.
The person who sent the threat used an "anonymizer," which uses a proxy server to mask the origin of Internet traffic, and the email was routed through a German IP address on its way to the school board member's email box, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. The official, who was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation, spoke on condition of anonymity.
Vela said she worries about talking to her kids about the threat and terrorism in general. She's concerned about her daughter feeling safe in class.
"I don't want this to be in the back of her head," she said. "Who knows what it does psychologically to kids? Is this going to cause her some kind of trauma so that she's not going to feel safe at school?"
The closure came the same day classes were canceled at San Bernardino Valley College because of a bomb threat.
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) —
Nominees for the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Thursday in Beverly Hills, California, by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association:
MOTION PICTURES
—Picture, Drama: "Carol," ''Mad Max: Fury Road," ''The Revenant," ''Room," ''Spotlight."
—Picture, Musical or Comedy: "The Big Short," ''Joy," ''The Martian," ''Spy," ''Trainwreck."
—Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, "Trumbo"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Revenant"; Michael Fassbender, "Steve Jobs"; Eddie Redmayne, "The Danish Girl"; Will Smith, "Concussion."
—Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, "Carol"; Brie Larson, "Room"; Rooney Mara, "Carol"; Saoirse Ronan, "Brooklyn"; Alicia Vikander, "The Danish Girl."
—Director: Todd Haynes, "Carol"; Alejandro Inarritu, "The Revenant"; Tom McCarthy, "Spotlight"; George Miller, "Mad Max: Fury Road"; Ridley Scott, "The Martian."
—Actor, Musical or Comedy: Christian Bale, "The Big Short"; Steve Carell, "The Big Short"; Matt Damon, "The Martian"; Al Pacino, "Danny Collins"; Mark Ruffalo, "Infinitely Polar Bear."
—Actress, Musical or Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence, "Joy"; Melissa McCarthy, "Spy"; Amy Schumer, "Trainwreck"; Maggie Smith, "The Lady in the Van"; Lily Tomlin, "Grandma."
—Supporting Actor: Paul Dano, "Love & Mercy"; Idris Elba, "Beasts of No Nation"; Mark Rylance, "Bridge of Spies"; Michael Shannon, "99 Homes"; Sylvester Stallone, "Creed."
—Supporting Actress: Jane Fonda, "Youth"; Jennifer Jason Leigh, "The Hateful Eight"; Helen Mirren, "Trumbo"; Alicia Vikander, "Ex Machina"; Kate Winslet, "Steve Jobs."
—Foreign Language: "The Brand New Testament," ''The Club," ''The Fencer," ''Mustang," ''Son of Saul."
—Animated Film: "Anomalisa," ''The Good Dinosaur," ''Inside Out," ''The Peanuts Movie," ''Shaun the Sheep Movie."
—Screenplay: Emma Donoghue, "Room"; Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer, "Spotlight"; Charles Randolph, Adam McKay, "The Big Short"; Aaron Sorkin, "Steve Jobs"; Quentin Tarantino, "The Hateful Eight."
—Original Score: Carter Burwell, "Carol"; Alexandre Desplat, "The Danish Girl"; Ennio Morricone, "The Hateful Eight"; Daniel Pemberton, "Steve Jobs"; Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, "The Revenant."
—Original Song: "Love Me Like You Do" (music and lyrics by Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami, Ilya Salmanzadeh), "Fifty Shades of Grey"; "One Kind of Love" (music and lyrics by Brian Wilson, Scott Bennett), "Love & Mercy"; "See You Again" (music and lyrics by Justin Franks, Andrew Cedar, Charlie Puth, Cameron Thomaz), "Furious 7"; "Simple Song #3" (music and lyrics by David Lang), "Youth"; "Writing's on the Wall" (music and lyrics by Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes), "Spectre."
TELEVISION
—Series, Drama: "Empire," ''Mr. Robot," ''Game of Thrones," ''Outlander," ''Narcos."
—Actor, Drama: Liev Schreiber, "Ray Donovan"; Wagner Moura, "Narcos"; Bob Odenkirk, "Better Call Saul"; Rami Malek, "Mr. Robot"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men."
—Actress, Drama: Taraji P. Henson, "Empire"; Viola Davis, "How to Get Away With Murder"; Robin Wright, "House of Cards"; Caitriona Balfe, "Outlander"; Eva Green, "Penny Dreadful."
—Series, Musical or Comedy: "Orange is the New Black," ''Silicon Valley," ''Transparent," ''Veep," ''Casual," ''Mozart in the Jungle."
—Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"; Aziz Ansari, "Master of None"; Rob Lowe, "The Grinder"; Patrick Stewart, "Blunt Talk"; Gael Garcia Bernal, "Mozart in the Jungle."
—Actress, Musical or Comedy: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"; Gina Rodriguez, "Jane the Virgin"; Lily Tomlin, "Grace and Frankie"; Jamie Lee Curtis, "Scream Queens"; Rachel Bloom, "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend."
—Actor, Movie or Limited Series: Oscar Isaac, "Show Me a Hero"; Patrick Wilson, "Fargo"; Idris Elba, "Luther"; David Oyelowo, "Nightingale"; Mark Rylance, "Wolf Hall."
—Actress, Movie or Limited Series: Kirsten Dunst, "Fargo"; Lady Gaga, "American Horror Story: Hotel"; Sarah Hay, "Flesh & Bone"; Felicity Huffman, "American Crime"; Queen Latifah, "Bessie."
—Supporting Actor, Series, Limited Series or TV Movie: Damian Lewis, "Wolf Hall"; Christian Slater, "Mr. Robot"; Alan Cumming, "The Good Wife"; Ben Mendelsohn, "Bloodline"; Tobias Menzies, "Outlander."
—Supporting Actress, Series, Limited Series or TV Movie: Regina King, "American Crime"; Uzo Aduba, "Orange is the New Black"; Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey"; Maura Tierney, "The Affair"; Judith Light, "Transparent."
—Movie or Limited Series: "Fargo," ''American Crime," ''American Horror Story: Hotel," ''Wolf Hall," ''Flesh & Bone."