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Is Trump the one-man, 2016 Tea Party wave?

Donald Trump’s run for the Republican presidential nomination is channeling the kind of energy that helped 2010 Tea Party-backed candidates sweep establishment Republicans and Democrats alike out of Congress, Michael Needham, leader of the conservative Heritage Action for America group, suggested Sunday.
“There’s going to be a candidate who says it’s time for us to change,” Needham, the super-PAC’s executive officer, told “Fox News Sunday.” “That candidate is going to be someone who unites traditional Republicans, the Tea Party, all sorts of independents and former Democrats. … It’s not just Tea Partiers. For a lot of Americans right now, they feel disconnected from Washington.”
Needham and his group, the political arm of the long-influential Heritage Foundation, have frequently led the charge against the positions of GOP House and Senate leadership, most recently House Speaker John Boehner’s support of the Export-Import Bank, which critics say perpetuates "crony capitalism" by giving disproportionate government assistance to large corporations that don't need it.
The group also supported Tea Party-backed Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2013 successful attempt to partially shut down the federal government over funding ObamaCare.
The self-funded Trump, a billionaire New York real estate tycoon, now sits at or near the top of numerous polls.
He has eschewed the support of wealth political donors and the Washington establishment, including at times the Republican National Committee.
And he has repeatedly attempted to take down some of the Republican guard’s most established members, including senior Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a member of the Bush family political dynasty who also is at the top of most polls.
The Tea Party movement was a grass-roots effort based on the principals of less taxes and smaller government.
“People are sick of the establishment and hate their party,” said Needham, who is not a Trump supporter. “And that’s what needs to be addressed. The reason Donald Trump is generating a lot of enthusiasm is that he's ticking off the right people."

Hillary Clinton campaign launches first TV ads Tuesday in Iowa, New Hampshire

The first television advertisements in support of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign will air Tuesday in the early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire in a move to shore up support for the Democratic front-runner.
People close to the Clinton campaign told Fox News late Sunday that they felt it was time to enter the next phase of the 2016 campaign amid a strengthening challenge from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and increased speculation that Vice President Joe Biden will make a late entry into the race.
The ads will focus on Clinton's legal work on behalf of families and her relationship with her late mother Dorothy, central themes of her early campaign.
"After law school she could have gone to a big firm but instead went to work for the Children's Defense Fund. In Arkansas, she fought for school reform to change lives forever. Then as first lady she helped get health care for eight million kids," says a narrator in one of the ads. " You probably know the rest."
Though Clinton remains the heavy favorite for the 2016 Democratic nomination, recent surveys have show declines in her favorability and trustworthiness ratings amid ongoing controversy over her use of a private e-mail address to handle correspondence while secretary of state.
On Thursday, Fox News reported that Clinton aides were growing increasingly nervous about the possibility of a Biden run after the vice president’s White House chief of staff was spotted having breakfast recently with major Democratic donor Louis Susman, a Clinton friend who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom under President Obama. The New York Times reported Sunday that Biden had discussed entering the race with friends, family, and Democratic donors.
Meanwhile, Sanders has drawn large crowds in early voting states with his left-wing populist economic message. However, the self-described socialist has resisted attacking Clinton, focusing instead on contrasting his more liberal views with hers on issues like Wall Street regulations and the Keystone pipeline.
"I have a lot of respect for Hillary Clinton," he ABC News' "This Week" on Sunday. But, he added: "She and I disagree on many issues."
Clinton aides, meanwhile, have been trying to lower expectations for her primary performance by arguing that both Iowa, where the state's caucuses bring out the most passionate party voters, and New Hampshire, next door to Sanders home state of Vermont, favor their competition.
The emphasis on family issues is a change in course from Clinton's failed White House bid in 2008, when her campaign focused on her experience and toughness. Though Clinton has spent decades on the American political stage, her team insists that voters don't really know much about her background. They've focused on reintroducing the former Secretary of State, presidential candidate, and New York senator as a grandmother-in-chief, highlighting her family relationships and embracing her role in history as the first potential female president.
A number of Republican candidates have already begun airing ads, attempting to distinguish themselves in a crowded primary field. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's campaign has invested more than $12 million in ads that start airing at the end of the year in Iowa, New Hampshire and other states. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has spent $1 million and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's presidential campaign nearly $500,000 on spots in New Hampshire.

Authorities identify suspect wanted in fatal shooting of Memphis police officer during traffic stop

A suspect has been identified in the search for a gunman who shot and killed a Memphis police officer during a traffic stop, the city's police director said Sunday night.
A warrant for first-degree murder has been issued for 29-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn, who is believed to be the shooter, Police Director Toney Armstrong said at a Sunday evening press conference.
Wilbourn is currently on supervised release for a 121 month sentence for robbery of a banking institution, Armstrong said.
Officer Sean Bolton, 33, may have interrupted an illicit drug transaction when he encountered a Mercedes-Benz illegally parked on a Memphis street Saturday night, according to Armstrong.
After Bolton illuminated the Mercedes with his spotlight, he approached the vehicle and was confronted by its passenger, who allegedly shot Bolton multiple times after a struggle, the director said.
Armstrong told reporters that 1.7 grams of marijuana was found inside the vehicle.
 "He's a coward," Armstrong said of the suspect, Wilbourn, "you gunned down, you murdered a police officer, for less than 2 grams of marijuana. You literally destroyed a family."
“Last night we lost an officer and a great man, a dedicated servant and family member,” Armstrong said.
The police director said that the White House has contacted the department and is aware of the incident.
The United States Marshals Service has offered a $10,000 reward for Wilbourn’s capture.
The driver of the vehicle turned himself in to authorities Sunday morning, and has since been released without charge, Armstrong said at the press conference.
Police were initially alerted about 9:18 p.m. Saturday that an officer had been shot multiple times. Armstrong said the officer was transported in critical condition to a hospital, where he died.
In a statement Sunday morning, Memphis Police said that a civilian had used Bolton's radio to notify police about the shooting.
Armstrong said police are using all available resources to find the shooter and that officers are grieving, adding that "this is just a reminder of how dangerous" the job is.
"Sadly to say, we've been here before," he said.
Bolton is the third Memphis officer to be fatally shot in slightly more than four years. Officer Tim Warren was killed while responding to a shooting at a downtown Memphis hotel in July 2011. In December 2012, Officer Martoiya Lang was killed while serving a warrant.
Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton Jr. said Bolton's death "speaks volumes about the inherent danger of police work" and asked others to "pray for the family and pray for our city."
"The men and women in blue have certain rules of engagement that they have to follow, but at any given minute in a 24-hour day they're dealing with folks who have no rules of engagement

Senate to vote Monday to defund Planned Parenthood, first step in renewed battle

The Republican-controlled Senate is set to vote Monday to halt federal aid to Planned Parenthood, a fast response to the series of unsettling videos exposing the group's little-noticed practice of providing fetal tissue to researchers.
The measure is not expected to pass because Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the other 53 Republican senators will need support from several Democrats to reach the 60-vote threshold, with some moderates on both sides still apparently undecided.
However, the effort appears to be another step in the effort by pro-life groups and others to ban abortions and put an end to Planned Parenthood, which provides health services, family planning and abortions in clinics across the country.
"I think most Americans don't want their tax dollars going to this,” 2016 presidential candidate and Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “So I think when something is so morally repugnant to so many people, why should tax dollars go to this?”
Paul and other Republicans want the millions that go to Planned Parenthood given instead to community health centers across the country that provide similar services with the exception of abortions.  
"So it would be much less emotional for everyone if we just funded community health centers and didn't fund Planned Parenthood,” Paul said.
Democrats largely supported the group and argue the videos and the congressional Republican response is politically motivated and another attack on women.
"They're attacking women's health,” said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada.
The White House says it would block legislation to defund the pro-choice group.
Still, the furtively recorded videos -- with close-ups of aborted fetal organs and Planned Parenthood officials dispassionately describing how "I'm not going to crush that part" -- have forced the group and its Democratic champions into a defensive crouch.
The Center for Medical Progress, which recorded the videos and started releasing them late last month, accuses Planned Parenthood of profiting from selling fetal organs, which violates a federal criminal statute that lets providers recover only their expenses.
They also say Planned Parenthood is altering abortion procedures to better recover usable tissue.
Conservatives view the videos as a huge political opportunity to galvanize support for banning abortions and, some hope, prohibiting fetal tissue research. But the issue is cutting both ways, with both sides using it for fundraising solicitations.
Planned Parenthood has apologized for comments in the video but says it has broken no laws.
There are roughly 1 million U.S. abortions yearly. In its most recent annual report, Planned Parenthood said it performed 328,000 of them.
The group and its supporters have sought to shift the focus, saying abortions represent just 3 percent of the 10.9 million services the organization provides annually in nearly 700 clinics.
Group officials also says the yearly workload includes 4.5 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted diseases; 3.6 million contraception procedures and devices; 1.1 million pregnancy tests and 900,000 cancer tests and treatments.
Of Planned Parenthood's 2.7 million annual clients, mostly women, it says 4 in 5 earn 150 percent of the federal poverty level or less. Democrats say an attack on Planned Parenthood is an effort to keep women, many of them poor, from needed health services.
Planned Parenthood says of $1.3 billion in revenue last year, $528 million came from taxpayers, including state funds that help finance Medicaid.
Supporters of Planned Parenthood say cutting federal aid wouldn't affect the abortions it provides because federal money cannot be used for abortions except for cases of rape, incest or when a woman's life is in peril.
Opponents say squeezing money from Planned Parenthood makes it choose between spending its remaining funds on abortions or other services.
Republicans say the nearly 9,100 federally funded community health centers, more than 10 times the number of Planned Parenthood locations, could pick up the slack.
Planned Parenthood disagrees, saying their sites serve disproportionate numbers of low-income women and are often where no other alternatives exist.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, is sponsor of the Senate bill, a female face Republicans hope will blunt repeated Democratic accusations that the GOP is waging war on women.
Underscoring the sensitivity, some of the moderates will likely cross party lines Monday. Sens. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are among several saying little about how they will vote.
Some Republicans, include the more socially conservative members, say they won't vote for spending bills keeping the government open starting Oct. 1 with any Planned Parenthood funds.
 But GOP leaders are reluctant to force a shutdown fight that could haunt them in the 2016 elections, as are some of the party's presidential candidates.