Washington Gov. Jay Inslee says he’s ending presidential bid

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who made fighting climate change the central theme of his presidential campaign, announced Wednesday night that he is ending his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination.

Inslee said that he was confident that Democrats would select a nominee who would champion climate change issues but that it had become clear that he wouldn’t be the person selected. Inslee said he was not endorsing anyone but would support whoever is the nominee.

“I believe we’re going to have a candidate to fight this battle,” he said on MSNBC. “I’m inspired by the people I’ve met across the country. I’m not going to carry the ball but we’re going to make sure somebody is.”

Two people close to Inslee told The Associated Press that Inslee planned to announce in an email to supporters Thursday that he would be seeking a third term as governor. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the announcement publicly.

Inslee, 68, became the third Democrat to end his presidential bid after U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell of California pulled out of the primary last month followed by former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper last week.

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Trump moves to end limits on detention of migrant children

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is moving to end an agreement limiting how long migrant children can be kept in detention, the president’s latest effort to curb immigration at the Mexican border.

A court fight is almost certain to follow, challenging the attempt to hold migrant families until asylum cases are decided.

A current settlement overseen by the federal courts now requires the government to keep children in the least restrictive setting and to release them as quickly as possible, generally after 20 days in detention.

Homeland Security officials say they are adopting their own regulations that reflect the “Flores agreement,” which has been in effect since 1997. They say there is no longer a need for the court involvement, which was only meant to be temporary. But the new rules would allow the government to hold families in detention much longer than 20 days.

Tightening immigration is a signature issue for President Donald Trump, aimed at restricting the movement of asylum seekers in the country and deterring more migrants from crossing the border.

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Epstein may have gamed the system from beyond the grave

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The will that Jeffrey Epstein signed just two days before his jailhouse suicide puts more than $577 million in assets into a trust fund that could make it more difficult for his dozens of accusers to collect damages.

Estate lawyers and other experts say prying open the trust and dividing up the financier’s riches is not going to be easy and could take years.

“This is the last act of Epstein’s manipulation of the system, even in death,” said attorney Jennifer Freeman, who represents child sex abuse victims.

Epstein, 66, killed himself Aug. 10 in New York while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. The discovery of the will with its newly created 1953 Trust, named after the year of his birth, instantly raised suspicions he did it to hide money from the many women who say he sexually abused them when they were teenagers.

By putting his fortune in a trust, he shrouded from public view the identities of the beneficiaries, whether they be individuals, organizations or other entities. For the women trying to collect from his estate, the first order of business will be persuading a judge to pierce that veil and release the details.

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Trump flip-flops on tax cuts, citing ‘strong economy’

WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after considering cutting taxes to promote economic growth, President Donald Trump on Wednesday changed course and said he would abandon the idea because the nation already had “a strong economy.”

Trump’s flip-flop came after recent market volatility and economic uncertainty, and amid a debate about whether the United States was heading for a slowdown that would imperil his reelection chances. Trump earlier this week acknowledged, for the first time, that his China trade policies may mean economic pain for Americans, though he insisted the tariffs are needed for more important long-term benefits.

But his consideration of cutting payroll taxes appeared short-lived.

“I’m not looking at a tax cut now,” he told reporters at the White House. “We don’t need it. We have a strong economy.”

Trump also knocked down the idea of indexing to the capital gains tax, which applies when investors sell assets, to inflation. He said he feared “it will be perceived, if I do it, as somewhat elitist.”

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Report shows US deficit to exceed $1 trillion next year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal budget deficit is expected to balloon to more than $1 trillion in the next fiscal year under the first projections taking into account the big budget deal that President Donald Trump and Congress reached this summer, the Congressional Budget Office reported Wednesday.

The return of $1 trillion annual deficits comes despite Trump’s vow when running for office that he would not just balance the budget but pay down the entire national debt.

“The nation’s fiscal outlook is challenging,” said Phillip Swagel, director of the nonpartisan CBO. “Federal debt, which is already high by historical standards, is on an unsustainable course.”

The office upped this year’s deficit projection by $63 billion and the cumulative deficit projection for the next decade by $809 billion. The higher deficit projections come even as the CBO reduced its estimate for interest rates, which lowers borrowing costs, and as it raised projections for economic growth in the near term.

The number crunchers at CBO projected that the deficit for the current fiscal year will come to $960 billion. In the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, it will exceed $1 trillion.

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Where Garner died, changes in policing win little applause

NEW YORK (AP) — A police cruiser constantly sits a few feet from a small floral memorial to Eric Garner on the Staten Island sidewalk where he spent his dying moments five years ago.

Tompkinsville Park, which police were targeting for patrols when they encountered Garner selling loose, untaxed cigarettes, remains a gathering place for desperate people.

Expletives flew on a recent hot afternoon as park regulars discussed everything from drugs and mental illness to jail conditions and the bail paid so they could sit on a park bench.

It was the day after Police Commissioner James O’Neill announced his decision to fire the white officer who put Garner in a chokehold, hastening his death and making the man’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” a rallying cry for the Black Lives Matter movement.

On Wednesday, the police department said it had resolved a disciplinary case against a supervisor who responded to the chaotic scene.

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Greenland fallout: Trump scolds Denmark over rejection

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Escalating an international spat , President Donald Trump said Wednesday he scrapped his trip to Denmark because the prime minister made a “nasty” statement when she rejected his idea to buy Greenland as an absurdity.

“You don’t talk to the United States that way, at least under me,” Trump told reporters in Washington. “I thought it was not a nice statement, the way she blew me off.”

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the whole thing “an absurd discussion” and said she was “disappointed and surprised” that Trump had cancelled his visit.

Trump said Frederiksen’s comment labeling his idea as absurd “was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to say was say, ‘No, we wouldn’t be interested.’”

Greenland is a semi-autonomous territory of the U.S. ally, and Frederiksen said the U.S. remains one of Denmark’s close allies.

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Pilot says he had to bring down plane while cameras rolled

A pilot and self-professed thrill seeker said Wednesday he was forced to bring his new plane down into the ocean off Northern California as it lost power, recording dramatic videos as he and his passenger treaded water in the chilly ocean awaiting rescue.

Pilot David Lesh, a 34-year-old globe-trotting skier and the founder of Colorado-based outerwear company Virtika, had embarked on the flight Tuesday over Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

His plan was for friends in a second plane to photograph the first real trip of his single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza propeller plane with views of the coastline and Golden Gate Bridge to complement photos on his Instagram account showing him flying, skiing and snowmobiling worldwide. He had purchased the plane less than three months ago.

The plan was scrapped when the plane lost power while flying at 3,000 feet (915 metres).

“I just did everything I could to get the motor going again,” Lesh said. “Nothing was working.”

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Reported illness among vapers reaches 150 possible cases

NEW YORK (AP) — The number of breathing illnesses reported among people who vape is growing. Health officials are now looking into more than 150 possible cases in 16 states.

Officials on Wednesday said the Food and Drug Administration has joined the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states investigating reports from the last two months.

All the illnesses were in teens or adults who had used an electronic cigarette or some other kind of vaping device. Doctors say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the lungs apparently reacting to a caustic substance. So far infectious diseases have been ruled out.

No single vaping product or compound has been linked to all of the cases, and officials said it’s not clear if there’s a common cause.

No deaths have been reported.

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Taylor Swift says she plans to re-record her songs’ masters

NEW YORK (AP) — Taylor Swift plans to re-record her songs after her catalogue was purchased by popular music manager Scooter Braun.

“CBS Sunday Morning” previewed some of its pre-taped interview with Swift on Wednesday. The reporter asks Swift if she would consider re-recording her songs in order to own the new versions, and Swift said, “Oh yeah.” When asked if that was the plan, Swift replied with: “Yeah, absolutely.”

In late June, Braun’s Ithaca Holdings announced that it had acquired Big Machine Label Group, which was led by Scott Borchetta and home to Swift’s first six albums, including the Grammy winners for album of the year, 2008’s “Fearless” and 2014’s “1989.”

Swift said last November that she signed with Universal Music Group instead of staying at Big Machine because she knew that re-signing would only result in her not owning her future work.

Braun manages Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.