Politics briefly

President Donald Trump is rejecting a central conclusion of a dire report on the economic costs of climate change released Friday by his own administration. The National Climate Assessment, quietly unveiled Friday, warns that natural disasters are worsening in the U.S. because of global warming. It says warming-charged extremes "have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration." Trump said to reporters, "I don't believe it."

Author Jerome Corsi, an associate of Trump confident Roger Stone, said Monday that he has rejected a deal offered by special counsel Robert Mueller to plead guilty to one count of perjury, saying he would have been forced to untruthfully say that he intentionally lied about his interactions with WikiLeaks. Corsi said he was merely forgetful when investigators spent hours pressing him about his contacts with WikiLeaks, which released hacked Democratic e-mails during the 2016 campaign. He said that he does not want to plead guilty to intentionally lying.

Mississippi police are investigating two nooses and six signs found on the State Capitol grounds on Monday, a day before a U.S. Senate runoff that has focused attention on the state's history of racist violence. It was not immediately known who put the nooses up or why. The Senate runoff Tuesday is between Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Democrat Mike Espy in a contest that has increasingly taken on racial overtones.

news services