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McAuliffe:Won't surrender for Clinton

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- The head of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign refused to concede Sunday that she has no chance to win the Democratic presidential nomination.

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Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Terry McCauliffe said it is still possible for Clinton to win the nomination, even though most pundits have concluded that she cannot overtake her rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, to become the Democratic Party nominee.

"Look, tomorrow -- something new could happen," said McCauliffe. "Nothing's impossible. You are talking to Terry McAuliffe. I don't believe anything in life is impossible."

McAuliffe argued that Clinton would be a stronger candidate than Obama against Sen. John McCain, the likely Republican nominee. He said she would beat McCain in Florida, a major swing state.

Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., who endorsed Obama after abandoning his own presidential campaign, said he expects Clinton and her supporters to rally behind Obama if and when Obama when he becomes the nominee.

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"This is not 1968 when we were highly divided, racial tensions in the country, the anti-war movement, Democrats split over those issues," Dodd said. "The difference between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on substantive issues is rather narrow."


Judge blocks deportation of comatose woman

PHOENIX, May 11 (UPI) -- An Arizona judge has blocked a hospital from sending a comatose woman, who is in the United States legally, back to her native Honduras, papers show.

Sonia del Cid Iscoa has been in a coma in St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center since she gave birth to a daughter prematurely April 20, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

The newspaper reported that Iscoa is in the United States legally through temporary-protection status.

The hospital, part of Catholic Healthcare West, can treat patients for acute emergency needs but because the facilities aren't built to provide long-term care, patients must be transferred when the medical crisis has passed.

John Curtin, Iscoa's attorney, said the hospital is attempting to deport Iscoa.

"You don't take someone who's unconscious and helpless and move them out of the country over the objections of their family," Curtin said. "I understand the hospital's concerns about being paid. But the hospital cannot do what the U.S. government would not be allowed to do."

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A Maricopa County judge Friday gave Iscoa's family until noon Tuesday to put up a bond of $20,000 to ensure Iscoa's care while the case is heard.


Sect case may test Texas' anti-bigamy laws

ABILENE, Texas, May 11 (UPI) -- In his first sermon since being freed from jail, Texas sect leader Yisrayl "Buffalo Bill" Hawkins said his followers are getting ready for global tribulation.

Hawkins is the leader of the House of Yahweh, a religious group that believes in brimstone prophecies, adheres to a lifestyle of abject poverty and is suspected of practicing polygamy, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

"No, we're not getting ready to kill ourselves," Hawkins said. "We're getting ready to live through the greatest tribulation that ever will be."

The 73-year-old Hawkins was arrested and indicted in February. He is facing four counts of promoting bigamy.

Shannon Edmonds, director of governmental relations for the Texas District and County Attorneys Association, believes the Callahan County case will be the first prosecution of a polygamy suspect under bigamy statutes that were strengthened in 2005.

"They can be very difficult cases to prove because there is no CSI-type evidence. There's no blood. There's no DNA," Edmonds said.

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Hawkins also faces a misdemeanor charge of breaking child labor laws, accused of having up to 40 children working weekdays "in the fields, in a canning operation, in a cafeteria and in the butter making process."


Admiral dogged by sex scandal

WASHINGTON, May 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Navy Vice Adm. John Stufflebeem is entangled in an 18-year-old sex scandal that cost him a White House job many years ago, papers show.

Stufflebeem, who went on to command 6th Fleet and, last year, became director of the Navy Staff, is being dogged by an eight-month affair he had with a female State Department staffer while the two were assigned to the White House in 1990, the Navy Times reported Sunday.

Stufflebeem, then a 37-year-old commander, pretended to be a widower, telling the woman his wife had died of breast cancer and he was raising his two children on his own, the newspaper said. In fact, Stufflebeem was still living with his wife at the time.

An inspector general's report said Stufflebeem had sex with the State Department staffer in sleeping quarters in the White House basement.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead fired Stufflebeem March 21 as director of the Navy Staff.

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Stufflebeem told the newspaper he never intentionally misled anybody about the affair.

"It is regrettable that an investigation into an 18-year-old accusation has caused embarrassment to the Navy and my family. It was never my intent to harm or deceive either of them," said Stufflebeem, who has put in paperwork requesting retirement.

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