AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

Liberal Gillum, Trump-backed DeSantis win Florida primaries

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (AP) — A liberal Florida Democrat pulled off an upset victory while President Donald Trump’s favoured candidate cruised to an easy win Tuesday, setting up a fierce showdown for the governor’s mansion in the nation’s largest political battleground.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, an unabashed progressive, won the Democratic primary, moving him a step away from becoming the state’s first black governor. He’ll face off against Trump-backed Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis gave Trump credit for his victory, saying that with one supportive tweet, the president “kind of put me on the map.” Gillum is his party’s third black gubernatorial nominee this year, along with Stacey Abrams in Georgia and Ben Jealous in Maryland.

The results immediately transformed the Florida race into one of the most closely watched gubernatorial campaigns in the country. Gillum’s primary victory could help Democrats boost enthusiasm among minorities who often don’t vote in large numbers in years when a presidential candidate isn’t on the ballot. Meanwhile, DeSantis will test Trump’s grip on a crucial state he won in 2016 and wants to keep in his column in 2020.

DeSantis was one of several Republicans running in contests Tuesday in Florida and Arizona — another closely watched political battleground — who hoped that cozying up to the president would be rewarded by voters. Trump has thrust himself into the forefront of the midterm campaign in hopes of motivating his supporters and offsetting Democratic enthusiasm.

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Trump accuses Google of biased searches, warns ‘be careful’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Google and other U.S. tech companies of rigging search results about him “so that almost all stories & news is BAD.” He offered no evidence of bias, but a top adviser said the White House is “taking a look” at whether Google should face federal regulation.

Google pushed back sharply, saying Trump’s claim simply wasn’t so: “We never rank search results to manipulate political sentiment.”

The president’s tweets echoed his familiar attacks on the news media — and a conservative talking point that California-based tech companies run by CEOs with liberal leanings don’t give equal weight to opposing political viewpoints. They also revealed anew his deep-seated frustration he doesn’t get the credit he believes he deserves.

The president, who has said he runs on little sleep, jumped onto Twitter before dawn Tuesday to rehash his recent complaints about alleged suppression of conservative voices and positive news about him.

He followed that up with vague threats in Oval Office comments.

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Ex-Texas cop guilty of murder for killing unarmed black teen

DALLAS (AP) — A white ex-police officer was convicted of murder Tuesday for fatally shooting a black, unarmed 15-year-old boy while firing into a car packed with teenagers in suburban Dallas, marking a rare guilty verdict in a police shooting case.

Dallas County jurors were not swayed by Roy Oliver’s claim that he feared for his partner’s life when he fired into the vehicle as it drove away from a large house party in Balch Springs in April 2017. The gunfire killed Jordan Edwards, who was sitting in the front passenger seat.

Gasps echoed around the courtroom as the verdict was read. Edwards’ relatives sobbed and hugged prosecutors, waved their hands in the air and proclaimed “Thank you, Jesus!” after the jury left.

His father, Odell Edwards, briefly spoke outside the courtroom before heading back in to begin listening to the sentencing phase of the trial. He said he was thankful for the decision of the jury — which featured two black members out of 12 jurors and two alternates — and felt like jumping for joy.

“I just want to say I’m happy, very happy,” he said, adding that it’s “been a long time” since he felt that way.

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New law to make California first state to end bail

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California will become the first state to eliminate bail for suspects awaiting trial and replace it with a still murky risk-assessment system under a bill signed Tuesday by Gov. Jerry Brown.

Brown’s signature gives the state’s judicial council broad authority to reshape pretrial detention policies ahead of the new law’s October 2019 start date.

Based on the council’s framework, each county’s superior court will set its own procedures for deciding who to release before trial, potentially creating a patchwork system based on where a suspect lives.

Most suspects accused of nonviolent felonies will be released within 12 hours of booking, while those charged with serious, violent felonies will stay in jail before trial.

The new law gives judges wide latitude to decide what to do with other suspects based on their likelihood of returning to court and the danger they pose to the public.

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Why Canada’s exclusion from US-Mexico deal raises obstacle

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s drive to revamp the North American Free Trade Agreement has taken an unexpected turn — one that complicates his effort to replace that deal with one more favourable to American workers.

Canada, America’s longtime ally and No. 2 trading partner, was left out of a proposed deal Trump just reached with Mexico and is scrambling to keep its place in the regional free-trade bloc — and fend off the threat of U.S. taxes on its vehicles.

By contrast, Mexico, long the target of Trump’s ire, has cut a preliminary deal with the United States to replace NAFTA with a pact that’s meant, among other things, to shift more manufacturing into the United States.

In announcing the deal Monday, Trump said he wanted to call it the “United States-Mexico Trade Agreement,” pointedly omitting Canada.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland hurried to Washington to try to repair the damage, meeting Tuesday with U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer.

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Catholic board seeks parishioner-led abuse investigation

A committee created by the Catholic Church specifically to prevent sexual misconduct by clergy on Tuesday issued a damning assessment of the failings to stem the abuse, calling it an “evil” caused by “a loss of moral leadership.”

The National Review Board called for an investigation led by parishioners, saying a new wave of abuse scandals point to a “systematic problem” and that the bishops themselves can’t be trusted to lead an investigation.

Some survivors of clergy sex abuse said the call was a disingenuous attempt by the church to get around a true independent investigation.

The board was formed in 2002 in the wake of the clergy sex abuse scandal that started in the Boston Archdiocese and rocked the church globally. The committee said it was compelled to seek a lay-led investigation after recent revelations from a grand jury investigation into six Catholic dioceses in Pennsylvania and allegations that led to the resignation last month of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former archbishop of Washington, D.C.

The grand jury report estimated 300 Roman Catholic priests in Pennsylvania molested more than 1,000 children — and possibly many more — since the 1940s, and accused senior church officials, including McCarrick, of systematically covering up complaints. McCarrick formerly served the church in Pennsylvania.

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Hurricane’s death toll in Puerto Rico put at nearly 3,000

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor raised the U.S. territory’s official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975 on Tuesday after an independent study found that the number of people who succumbed in the desperate, sweltering aftermath had been severely undercounted.

The new estimate of nearly 3,000 dead in the six months after Maria devastated the island in September 2017 and knocked out the entire electrical grid was made by researchers with the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.

“We never anticipated a scenario of zero communication, zero energy, zero highway access,” Gov. Ricardo Rossello told reporters. “I think the lesson is to anticipate the worst. … Yes, I made mistakes. Yes, in hindsight, things could’ve been handled differently.”

He said he is creating a commission to study the hurricane response, and a registry of people vulnerable to the next hurricane, such as the elderly, the bedridden and kidney dialysis patients.

Rossello acknowledged Puerto Rico remains vulnerable to another major storm. He said the government has improved its communication systems and established a network to distribute food and medicine, but he noted that there are still 60,000 homes without a proper roof and that the power grid is still unstable.

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Fans mourn Aretha Franklin at gospel-infused public viewing

DETROIT (AP) — The regal presence Aretha Franklin exuded in life was captured at her viewing on Tuesday, with the late Queen of Soul in a gold-plated casket dressed completely in red, including high-heeled pumps, proving, as one person put it, that she was a “diva to the end.”

As Franklin’s powerful vocals from classic gospel performances were piped through the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer looked as if she was preparing for one more performance. She wore earrings, red lipstick and red nail polish, and her hair was cut short. Her dress — with its ornamental elements and sheer netting fabric — was reminiscent of an outfit she would wear onstage and “something she would have selected for herself,” her niece, Sabrina Owens, told The Associated Press.

Mourners poured into the museum to pay their final respects to Franklin, who died Aug. 16 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 76. The two-day viewing was part of a week of commemorations for the legend, who will be laid to rest on Friday.

The Wright Museum is a cultural landmark in Detroit , where Franklin grew up and spent most of her life. Museum board member Kelly Major Green said the goal was to create a dignified and respectful environment akin to a church, the place where Franklin got her start.

“What we wanted to do is be reflective of the Queen,” Green said. “It’s beautiful. She’s beautiful.”

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Archaeologists dig Native American fort found in Connecticut

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — A 1600s Native American fort uncovered as part of a rail bridge replacement project is shining some light on a tribe’s first dealings with Europeans, archeologists said on Tuesday during a tour of the site.

The find on a small sliver of land next to railroad tracks that carry Amtrak and Metro-North commuter trains is considered one of the most important discoveries in the Northeast for Native American history.

Not only did experts recently find the remains of the 17th century fort, they discovered some artifacts including arrow and spear tips that date back an estimated 3,000 years, indicating Native Americans were active at the site for generations. No evidence of human remains has been found.

“It’s one of the earliest historic period sites that has been found so far,” said archaeologist Ross Harper. “And it’s very rich in artifacts including Native American pottery and stone tools, as well as trade goods such as glass beads, wampum, hatchets and knives. It’s definitely one of the more important sites, not just for the area but New England in general.”

Harper said he believes the fort had wooden walls because what appeared to be post holes were found where vertical wood pieces were placed.

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Djokovic turns to ‘survival mode’ to win at steamy US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — His cheeks red, hair matted with sweat, Novak Djokovic appeared to be in such distress as he trudged to a changeover on a steamy U.S. Open afternoon that someone suggested it would be a good idea to have a trash can at the ready, just in case he lost his lunch.

Djokovic sat down and removed his shirt. He guzzled water from a plastic bottle. He placed one cold towel around his neck, a second across his lap and a third between his bare upper back and the seat.

He was not even 1 1/2 hours into his first match at Flushing Meadows in two years, and while Djokovic eventually would get past Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 Tuesday, it was a bit of an ordeal.

“Survival mode,” Djokovic called it.

With the temperature topping 95 degrees (33 Celsius) and the humidity approaching 50 per cent — and that combination making it feel more like 105 (40 C) — nearly everything became a struggle for every player across the grounds on Day 2 of the U.S. Open, so much so that no fewer than six quit their matches, with at least four citing cramps or heat exhaustion.