(Reuters) – Seven people were wounded by gunfire that erupted in a park in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday as high school graduates and their families emerged from a theater where commencement exercises had just concluded, police said.

Two suspects were taken into custody following the shooting, which erupted shortly after 5 p.m. EDT on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University, where local high school graduation ceremonies were being held, interim Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards and other officials told reporters.

(By Steve Gorman; Editing by Tom Hogue)

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) -Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday launched his 2024 presidential campaign by presenting himself as the only candidate in the growing Republican field willing to go toe-to-toe with the “self-serving” front-runner, Donald Trump.

Christie was an adviser to Trump’s successful 2016 White House campaign but has since become a vocal critic over the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

A former federal prosecutor, Christie kicked off his White House bid at a town hall-style event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. He wasted little time attacking Trump directly, accusing him of shirking responsibility for mistakes while caring only about himself.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog is not a leader,” he said.

At another point, he adopted a mocking impression of Trump claiming he would build a southern border wall at Mexico’s expense and said Trump, more than Biden, was to blame for the country’s failed immigration policy.

In a post on his social media site, Trump called Christie a “failed governor” and said his rival’s speech “rambled all over the place.”

Christie, 60, has not fared well in public opinion polling thus far. He netted just 1% support from potential Republican primary voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, compared to Trump’s 49% support and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19% support.

Other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge President Joe Biden include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, is set to enter the race on Wednesday.

Taking the stage to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen, Christie sought to present himself as a sensible alternative to Trump, saying the former president “made us smaller” by dividing Americans and criticizing Biden for doing the same thing “on the other side.”

When an attendee asked him what he thought of the recent debt ceiling agreement struck by Biden and congressional Republicans, Christie said he was not sure if it was the best possible deal but praised both sides for averting catastrophe.

“Governing is about compromising,” he said. “When did compromise become such a dirty word?”

Christie ran for president in 2016 but ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary and became the first major figure in the party to back Trump.

He since has urged Republicans to disavow Trump’s assertions about the 2020 election and told reporters he would not vote for Trump in 2024, even if Trump won the nomination.

That strategy may entice Republican voters who are ready to move past Trump, but it remains unclear whether any Republican can prevail without the support of Trump’s still-loyal base.

As an underdog, Christie could end up playing the role of spoiler, a position he found himself occupying in 2016, when his dissection of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at a debate days before Christie dropped out of the race blunted Rubio’s momentum.

Christie first emerged as a national figure on the strength of his two terms from 2009 to 2017 as governor of Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where his confrontational approach to politics earned him plaudits from admirers and accusations of bullying from detractors.

His tenure was tarnished by the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal, in which two allies deliberately shut down lanes at the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election.

Christie has said he was unaware of the plot at the time, but witnesses at a criminal trial for the two allies testified that the governor knew about the lane closures.

Despite his early support for Trump, Christie was passed over for vice president and for attorney general, and was fired as the head of Trump’s transition team just three days after the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Alistair Bell and Stephen Coates)

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will conduct safety assessments of all major U.S. railroads following the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern operated train in Ohio, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) reviews were sought by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. They will be similar to a recently completed review of Norfolk Southern’s safety culture practices and compliance after its train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, catching fire and releasing over a million gallons of hazardous materials and pollutants.

FRA Administrator Amit Bose told Schumer the agency in a previously unreported June 1 letter the agency will conduct assessments on each major railroad over the next year and it plans to release “an overarching final report assessing issues, trends, and commonalities across all railroads reviewed.”

Bose’s letter said each major railroad will be asked to “develop corrective actions in response to FRA’s recommendations, and FRA will track those to completion.”

Schumer’s office said the actions of the past few months “make it clear that the freight rail industry has perpetuated a culture of cost-cutting and shortcuts that has led to horrific damages in communities, injured workers, and even death.”

Schumer said the reports “will be a good first step to identifying the problems that persist in individual companies as well as what endemic problems permeate across the whole industry.”

The Association of American Railroads, a trade group, said “railroads safety culture is grounded in a commitment to continuous safety improvements, and FRA data continues to validate that rail remains a safe, responsible transportation solution.”

In March, the National Transportation Safety Board opened a special investigation into Norfolk Southern, urging the railroad to take immediate action to review and assess its safety practices.

NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy told Schumer in a previously unreported April 7 letter the board did not have the resources to expand its safety review to all major railroads saying it “would strain our already limited resources and delay completion of current investigations.”

Last month, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee approved rail safety legislation that tightens rules on trains carrying explosive substances.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese, Nick Zieminski and Lincoln Feast.)

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) – The state of Florida on Tuesday acknowledged a role in sending two flights of migrants to California, saying all of them traveled voluntarily.

California officials have reported two such flights arriving without warning in the capital Sacramento in recent days, and said the migrants carried documents indicating their transportation involved the state of Florida.

The migrants apparently never passed through Florida, but were moved from Texas to New Mexico and then flown to Sacramento. Sixteen South American asylum seekers arrived on Friday, and another 20 migrants on Monday.

In a similar incident last year, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arranged to transport dozens of migrants to the Massachusetts vacation island of Martha’s Vineyard as part of a campaign by Republican governors in Texas and Florida to shift some of the immigration burden to Democratic-run cities further north.

The buses and planes of migrants have increased partisan tension on immigration as DeSantis pursues the 2024 Republican nomination for U.S. president.

Florida’s state’s Division of Emergency responded to media queries on Tuesday after state officials remained silent on the issue for days.

“Florida’s voluntary relocation is precisely that – voluntary. Through verbal and written consent, these volunteers indicated they wanted to go to California,” Alecia Collins, an emergency management spokesperson, said in a statement.

The statement included a link to video of Spanish-speakers apparently traveling voluntarily, with one man saying he had arrived in California and others saying they were treated well on their journey. The exact circumstances in the video could not immediately be verified by Reuters.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, suggested on Monday that DeSantis may be subject to kidnapping charges related to the flights.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has also said he was investigating whether there was criminal or civil liability for those who arranged the flights.

Florida’s response on Tuesday did not confirm specifics about the flights, but addressed more general criticism directed toward the state.

“From left-leaning mayors in El Paso, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, the relocation of those illegally crossing the United States border is not new. But suddenly, when Florida sends illegal aliens to a sanctuary city, it’s false imprisonment and kidnapping,” Collins said.

Florida said a contractor, whom it declined to name, was present for an unspecified part of the journey and “ensured they made it safely to a third-party NGO,” namely Catholic Charities.

Advocates who aided the migrants in California said the first group was dropped at the doorstep of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento. They also said the migrants reported being unaware of where they were being taken and had been promised jobs.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Mary Milliken and Richard Chang)

By Steve Gorman and Tyler Clifford

(Reuters) -A man who fatally shot two Missouri jail guards in 2000 was scheduled to be executed as early as Tuesday after the governor and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene, even though several jurors in the case petitioned for a reduced sentence.

Michael Tisius, 42, was convicted in 2001 of murdering Randolph County sheriff’s deputies Jason Acton and Leon Egley, both unarmed, during a failed attempt to help a former cellmate escape from jail.

Lawyers for Tisius have argued in petitions seeking a reprieve that he should be spared the death penalty given that he was 19 at the time of the killings and suffered from lifelong brain impairments and mental illness.

According to his attorneys, Tisius was traumatized by severe physical abuse and neglect as a child, aggravating cognitive deficits that rendered him vulnerable to manipulation by others, including his older cellmate, Roy Vance, who persuaded Tisius to go along with the ill-fated escape plan.

Six former jurors among the 12 who voted unanimously to recommend the death penalty for Tisius at his trial in 2010 said in sworn affidavits as part of a separate clemency petition that they now favored or would accept life imprisonment instead of capital punishment.

Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, declined the clemency bid on Monday.

“Missouri’s judicial system provided Mr. Tisius with due process and fair proceedings for his brutal murders of two Randolph County jail guards,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied two petitions for a stay of execution on Monday and two more on Tuesday, paving the way for the Missouri Department of Corrections to put him to death by lethal injection sometime between 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Tuesday and 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tisius was accused of plotting with Tracie Bulington, Vance’s then-girlfriend, to help Vance escape from jail after Tisius was released from the lockup. He had met Vance while serving time for a probation violation stemming from a misdemeanor theft case, according to his attorneys.

The two guards were shot and killed when the breakout attempt went awry. Burlington and Vance were later sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the incident.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Tyler Clifford in New York; editing by Paul Simao and Sonali Paul)

By Steve Gorman and Tyler Clifford

(Reuters) -A man who fatally shot two Missouri jail guards in 2000 was scheduled to be executed as early as Tuesday after the governor and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene, even though several jurors in the case petitioned for a reduced sentence.

Michael Tisius, 42, was convicted in 2001 of murdering Randolph County sheriff’s deputies Jason Acton and Leon Egley, both unarmed, during a failed attempt to help a former cellmate escape from jail.

Lawyers for Tisius have argued in petitions seeking a reprieve that he should be spared the death penalty given that he was 19 at the time of the killings and suffered from lifelong brain impairments and mental illness.

According to his attorneys, Tisius was traumatized by severe physical abuse and neglect as a child, aggravating cognitive deficits that rendered him vulnerable to manipulation by others, including his older cellmate, Roy Vance, who persuaded Tisius to go along with the ill-fated escape plan.

Six former jurors among the 12 who voted unanimously to recommend the death penalty for Tisius at his trial in 2010 said in sworn affidavits as part of a separate clemency petition that they now favored or would accept life imprisonment instead of capital punishment.

Governor Mike Parson, a Republican, declined the clemency bid on Monday.

“Missouri’s judicial system provided Mr. Tisius with due process and fair proceedings for his brutal murders of two Randolph County jail guards,” the Republican governor said in a statement.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied two petitions for a stay of execution on Monday and two more on Tuesday, paving the way for the Missouri Department of Corrections to put him to death by lethal injection sometime between 6 p.m. (2300 GMT) on Tuesday and 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Tisius was accused of plotting with Tracie Bulington, Vance’s then-girlfriend, to help Vance escape from jail after Tisius was released from the lockup. He had met Vance while serving time for a probation violation stemming from a misdemeanor theft case, according to his attorneys.

The two guards were shot and killed when the breakout attempt went awry. Burlington and Vance were later sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the incident.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles and Tyler Clifford in New York; editing by Paul Simao and Sonali Paul)

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) -Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday launched his 2024 presidential campaign by presenting himself as the only candidate in the growing Republican field willing to go toe-to-toe with the “self-serving” front-runner, Donald Trump.

Christie was an adviser to Trump’s successful 2016 White House campaign but has since become a vocal critic over the former president’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

A former federal prosecutor, Christie kicked off his White House bid at a town hall-style event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. He wasted little time attacking Trump directly, accusing him of shirking responsibility for mistakes while caring only about himself.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog is not a leader,” he said.

At another point, he adopted a mocking impression of Trump claiming he would build a southern border wall at Mexico’s expense and said Trump, more than Biden, was to blame for the country’s failed immigration policy.

In a post on his social media site, Trump called Christie a “failed governor” and said his rival’s speech “rambled all over the place.”

Christie, 60, has not fared well in public opinion polling thus far. He netted just 1% support from potential Republican primary voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, compared to Trump’s 49% support and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19% support.

Other Republicans seeking the party’s nomination to challenge President Joe Biden include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, is set to enter the race on Wednesday.

Taking the stage to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen, Christie sought to present himself as a sensible alternative to Trump, saying the former president “made us smaller” by dividing Americans and criticizing Biden for doing the same thing “on the other side.”

When an attendee asked him what he thought of the recent debt ceiling agreement struck by Biden and congressional Republicans, Christie said he was not sure if it was the best possible deal but praised both sides for averting catastrophe.

“Governing is about compromising,” he said. “When did compromise become such a dirty word?”

Christie ran for president in 2016 but ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary and became the first major figure in the party to back Trump.

He since has urged Republicans to disavow Trump’s assertions about the 2020 election and told reporters he would not vote for Trump in 2024, even if Trump won the nomination.

That strategy may entice Republican voters who are ready to move past Trump, but it remains unclear whether any Republican can prevail without the support of Trump’s still-loyal base.

As an underdog, Christie could end up playing the role of spoiler, a position he found himself occupying in 2016, when his dissection of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at a debate days before Christie dropped out of the race blunted Rubio’s momentum.

Christie first emerged as a national figure on the strength of his two terms from 2009 to 2017 as governor of Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where his confrontational approach to politics earned him plaudits from admirers and accusations of bullying from detractors.

His tenure was tarnished by the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal, in which two allies deliberately shut down lanes at the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election.

Christie has said he was unaware of the plot at the time, but witnesses at a criminal trial for the two allies testified that the governor knew about the lane closures.

Despite his early support for Trump, Christie was passed over for vice president and for attorney general, and was fired as the head of Trump’s transition team just three days after the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Additional reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Alistair Bell and Stephen Coates)

By Richard Cowan and Gram Slattery

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A small group of Republicans in the House of Representatives on Tuesday stopped their leaders’ drive to protect gas-fueled stoves from regulation, raising questions about the party’s ability to advance other legislation this year.

The revolt had nothing to do with the kitchen appliances, stemming instead from lingering bitterness over a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

In a surprise move, roughly a dozen conservatives sided with Democrats in a 220-206 vote that prevented the House from taking up a gas-stove bill backed by Republican leadership.

The effort underscored the ability of a handful of conservatives to challenge the leadership of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who presides over a narrow Republican

The next steps are unclear. McCarthy met with some of the rebels behind closed doors after the failed vote, but the chamber wrapped up business for the day without announcing whether they would try again.

Some state and local governments have begun prohibiting gas-fueled furnaces, water heaters and stoves in new buildings as a way of reducing fossil-fuel emissions contributing to climate change.

The Republican bill, if passed by the House, could have faced resistance in the Democratic-controlled Senate.

One of the conservative House Republicans who voted “no,” Representative Ralph Norman, accused McCarthy of a “bait and switch” in his negotiations to raise the debt ceiling with Democratic President Joe Biden. Norman and other far-right Republicans had pushed for far deeper spending cuts than the $1.3 trillion that were enacted into law.

Others said they were angry over McCarthy’s handling of an unrelated bill designed to roll back new federal restrictions on certain pistols.

“We’re not going to live in the era of the imperial speaker anymore,” said Republican Representative Matt Gaetz.

The House had been scheduled on Tuesday to vote on a bill that would prohibit the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from declaring gas stoves to be hazardous or otherwise restrict their sale.

Another bill, scheduled for Wednesday, would restrict energy conservation standards and block the Department of Energy from issuing rules that would raise the price of gas stoves or force them off the market.

Throughout this summer McCarthy will be responsible for passing spending bills through the House ahead of the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year.

Failure to do so could lead to the risk of a partial government shutdown, as has happened several times over the past decade.

(Reporting by Richard Cowan, Moira Warburton and David Morgan in Washington; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Stephen Coates)

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) – Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Tuesday announced his 2024 presidential campaign, presenting himself as the only candidate in the growing Republican field willing to go toe-to-toe with the front-runner, former President Donald Trump.

Christie, who served as an adviser to Trump’s successful 2016 campaign but has since become a vocal critic over his false claims that the 2020 election was rigged, launched his White House bid at a town hall-style event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire.

A former federal prosecutor, Christie, 60, went after Trump directly, accusing him of shirking responsibility for mistakes while caring only about his own ego.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog is not a leader,” he said.

Christie has not fared well in public opinion polling thus far, however. He netted just 1% support from potential Republican primary voters in a Reuters/Ipsos poll in May, compared to Trump’s 49% support and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ 19% support.

Other Republicans seeking to challenge President Joe Biden include former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott. Former Vice President Mike Pence is set to enter the race on Wednesday.

Christie ran for president in 2016 but ended his bid after a disappointing finish in the New Hampshire primary and became the first major party figure to throw his support behind Trump.

He since has urged Republicans to disavow Trump’s assertions about the 2020 election and told reporters he would not vote for Trump in 2024, even if Trump won the nomination.

That strategy may entice Republican voters who are ready to move past Trump, but it remains unclear whether any Republican can prevail without the support of Trump’s still-loyal base.

As an underdog, Christie could end up playing the role of spoiler, a position he found himself occupying in 2016, when his dissection of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio at a debate days before Christie dropped out of the race blunted Rubio’s momentum.

Christie first emerged as a national figure on the strength of his two terms from 2009 to 2017 as governor of Democratic-leaning New Jersey, where his confrontational approach to politics earned him plaudits from admirers and accusations of bullying from detractors.

His tenure was tarnished by the so-called “Bridgegate” scandal, in which two allies deliberately shut down lanes at the heavily trafficked George Washington Bridge between New Jersey and New York City to punish a local mayor for failing to endorse Christie’s re-election.

Christie has said he was unaware of the plot at the time, but witnesses at a criminal trial for the two allies testified that the governor knew about the lane closures.

Despite his early support for Trump, Christie was passed over for vice president and for attorney general, and was fired as the head of Trump’s transition team just three days after the 2016 election.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump’s former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has testified to a federal grand jury in a special counsel’s investigations of the former president, the New York Times reported on Tuesday, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is overseeing Justice Department investigations of whether Trump, who was president from 2017 to January of 2021, mishandled classified documents after leaving office, and whether he unlawfully tried to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Joe Biden.

It is not clear precisely when Meadows, who was Trump’s last chief of staff, testified or if investigators questioned him about one or both of the cases, the Times said.

A lawyer for Meadows, George Terwilliger, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters. Smith’s office declined to comment.

In a statement to the Times, Terwilliger said: “Without commenting on whether or not Mr. Meadows has testified before the grand jury or in any other proceeding, Mr. Meadows has maintained a commitment to tell the truth where he has a legal obligation to do so.”

Three lawyers for Trump this week visited the Justice Department amid reports that prosecutors are wrapping up the documents investigation.

Several media outlets reported that his legal team was at the Justice Department to argue that prosecutors should not bring charges against Trump for his handling of sensitive government materials he kept after leaving the White House in 2021.

(Reporting by Eric Beech and Karen Freifeld; editing by Jasper Ward and Bill Berkrot)