Trump defends self after comments, says: 'I'm not a racist'

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump, on the defensive in the wake of recent disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations that have revived questions about whether the leader of the world's melting pot is a racist, declared Sunday that he is not one.

"No, No. I'm not a racist," Trump told reporters who asked for his response to those who think he is a racist. "I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. That I can tell you."

Trump also denied making the statements attributed to him, but avoided delving into the specifics of what he did or did not say.

"Did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments?" he asked, referring to lawmakers who were meeting with him in the Oval Office on Thursday when Trump is said to have made the comments. "They weren't made."

Trump stands accused of using "shithole" to describe African countries during an immigration meeting with a bipartisan group of six senators. The president, in the meeting, also questioned the need to admit more Haitians to the U.S., according to people who were briefed on the conversation but were not authorized to describe the meeting publicly.

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Missile-alert mistake feeds doubts about a real emergency

HONOLULU (AP) — A blunder that caused more than a million people in Hawaii to fear that they were about to be struck by a nuclear missile fed skepticism Sunday about the government's ability to keep them informed in a real emergency.

Residents and tourists alike remained rattled a day after the mistaken alert was blasted out to cellphones across the islands with a warning to seek immediate shelter and the ominous statement "This is not a drill."

"My confidence in our so-called leaders' ability to disseminate this vital information has certainly been tarnished," said Patrick Day, who sprang from bed when the alert was issued Saturday morning. "I would have to think twice before acting on any future advisory."

The erroneous warning was sent during a shift change at the state's Emergency Management Agency when someone doing a routine test hit the live alert button, state officials said.

They tried to assure residents there would be no repeat false alarms. The agency changed protocols to require that two people send an alert and made it easier to cancel a false alarm — a process that took nearly 40 minutes.

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AP reporter recounts moments after Hawaii missile alert

HONOLULU (AP) — It was a beautiful Hawaii morning: nice breeze, blue skies, birds chirping. Then terror struck.

We were up early, my daughter and I, because this Saturday morning was her first day of ice skating lessons, a day we had been talking about and looking forward to for months.

We were also having construction done in our Honolulu apartment, which sits atop a hill overlooking the Nuuanu Valley and, in the distance, Pearl Harbor. So, I had been frantically clearing out the living room and covering our things with sheets so they wouldn't be smothered in sawdust.

We got her skating clothes on and tacked up the living room, and I was just about to hop in the shower when, around 8:07 a.m., my phone started the aggressive, long pulsating tone that normally accompanies a flash flood or other warning.

Emergency Alert: "BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL."

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Dozens escape casino shuttle boat off Florida's Gulf coast

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — First there were shouts, then screams and then black smoke billowing into sunny Florida skies as a shuttle boat used to carry patrons to a casino ship offshore rapidly became engulfed in flames. But all of the crew and dozens of passengers safely escaped by jumping overboard into chilly waters on an unusually cold winter day on the Gulf Coast.

Fire belched from the shuttle boat Sunday afternoon as it was heading out on one of its regular runs to a casino ship when the crew decided to turn around, said Port Richey Police Chief Gerard DeCanio.

He said the shuttle boat was close to shore near residential neighborhoods when it experienced engine problems after leaving the dock at Port Richey, a suburban community about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Tampa, said DeCanio. But as the vessel turned back, flames kicked up and people began jumping overboard into shallow water, according to witness accounts.

Fifteen people complaining of chest pain, smoke inhalation and other minor injuries were taken to the hospital to be checked, authorities said, adding no injuries were life-threatening.

Larry Santangelo, 57, said he had just driven into his neighborhood when he saw smoke and fire and thought a house — possibly his own — was ablaze. But then he realized it was the boat just about 100 yards (meters) offshore.

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Thai junta boss eyes staying on with little stopping him

BANGKOK (AP) — When Prayuth Chan-Ocha seized control of Thailand in a military coup, he vigorously denounced politicians as responsible for the country's ills and positioned himself and his fellow generals as the cure.

Four years on, with many of the country's problems still festering and the public growing impatient for long-delayed elections, the junta leader made a declaration that for many seemed to confirm suspicions that he planned to stay in power long past any polls.

"I am no longer a soldier. Understand? I'm just a politician who used to be a soldier," the 63-year-old former-army-chief-turned-prime-minister told reporters at the turn of the year, adding, "But I still have a soldier's traits."

The world's only nation still under formal military rule, Thailand is under increasing pressure both at home and abroad to return to civilian governance. The message now appears clear: In one form or another, the gruff general wants to be that civilian.

Should Prayuth decide to stay on, there's little stopping him. For one, he still holds absolute power under rules he implemented when he staged the 2014 coup and he could simply put off elections yet again.

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Pope seeks to turn tide of Chilean church bruised by scandal

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Pope Francis' visit to Chile was always going to be fraught, but it has taken on an unprecedented degree of opposition with the firebombings of Catholic churches ahead of his arrival and protests by Chileans fed up with priest sex abuse and cover-up.

Francis is coming to a country where around 60 percent of Chileans declare themselves to be Roman Catholics, but where the church has lost the influence and moral authority it once enjoyed thanks to sex scandals, secularization and an out-of-touch clerical caste.

The pope will try to reverse the trend during his three-day visit, which gets underway in earnest Tuesday with a series of protocol visits for church and state, and will be followed by a three-day trip to neighboring Peru.

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2 Koreas discuss Northern art troupe's visit during Olympics

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Officials from the two Koreas met Monday to work out details about North Korea's plan to send an art troupe to the South during next month's Winter Olympics, as the rivals tried to follow up on the North's recent agreement to cooperate in the Games in a conciliatory gesture following months of nuclear tensions.

In a development that still shows their bitter animosities, the North issued a veiled threat on Sunday indicating it could cancel its plans to send an Olympic delegation to protest what it called South Korea's "sordid acts of chilling" the prospect for inter-Korean reconciliation. The warning is relatively milder than the North's typical fiery, bellicose rhetoric and it didn't appear to put the recent signs of warming Korean ties in imminent danger.

"They should know that train and bus carrying our delegation to the Olympics are still in Pyongyang," the North's official Korean Central News Agency said. "The South Korean authorities had better ponder over what unfavorable results may be entailed by their impolite behavior."

The KCNA criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in for crediting President Donald Trump for getting the North to sit down with the South. Trump has contended his tough stance helped persuade the North to hold talks. KCNA also accused South Korea of letting the United States deploy aircraft carriers and other strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula on the occasion of the Olympics.

Monday's talks at the border village of Panmunjom will likely focus on the makeup of an art troupe and when and where in South Korea they would perform, according to South Korean officials.

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Thousands attend vigil for California mudslide victims

MONTECITO, Calif. (AP) — Thousands of people gathered Sunday night at a candlelight vigil to pay tribute to the 20 people who were killed when mudslides ravaged a Southern California community.

Tears were shed and hugs and prayers were shared during the emotional service outside the Santa Barbara County courthouse. Mourners lit prayer candles and left flowers as a makeshift memorial for the victims.

"Tonight, we need to mourn," Santa Barbara County Supervisor Das Williams said. "It is breathtakingly horrible. Our community is going through something it has never gone through."

Those at the vigil included the family of 30-year-old Pinit Sutthithepa, whose body was discovered Saturday afternoon. His 2-year-old daughter, Lydia, remained missing. His 6-year-old son, Peerawat, nicknamed Pasta, and his 79-year-old father-in-law, Richard Loring Taylor, also were killed in the mudslides. Family members said they were too distraught to speak.

"This family is one of several that lost multiple family members," Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said. "And we know that the suffering of those who knew and loved all of the victims is immense."

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Trust and truth under Trump: Americans are in a quandary

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — When truck driver Chris Gromek wants to know what's really going on in Washington, he scans the internet and satellite radio. He no longer flips TV channels because networks such as Fox News and MSNBC deliver conflicting accounts tainted by politics, he says.

"Where is the truth?" asks the 47-year-old North Carolina resident.

Answering that question accurately is a cornerstone of any functioning democracy, according to none other than Thomas Jefferson. But a year into Donald Trump's fact-bending, media-bashing presidency, Americans are increasingly confused about who can be trusted to tell them reliably what their government and their commander in chief are doing.

Interviews across the polarized country as well as polling from Trump's first year suggest people seek out various outlets of information, including Trump's Twitter account, and trust none in particular.

Many say that practice is a new, Trump-era phenomenon in their lives as the president and the media he denigrates as "fake news" fight to be seen as the more credible source.

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Chelsea Manning confirms US Senate run

NORTH BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — Chelsea Manning on Sunday confirmed via Twitter that she is a candidate for U.S. Senate.

Three days after making her intention known to federal election officials, Manning tweeted "yup, we're running for senate" with an attached campaign video indicating her intention to run in the 2018 Maryland Democratic primary. She sent a subsequent tweet seeking donations to her campaign.

The 71-second video weaves together images of white supremacists holding tiki torches in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as protesters clashing with police elsewhere.

"We live in trying times . times of fear . of suppression . of hate," Manning said.

The montage shifts to the U.S. Capitol and President Donald Trump sitting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, both Democrats.