The Morning Report -- Tuesday February 25, 2013

Cities To Feel Budget Pain -- Trial Begins For 2010 Gulf Oil Spill -- Surgeon General Dies -- More Snow Hits Midwest -- Warrant Issued After Vegas Strip Shooting -- White House Seeks Sequester Solution

JOBLESS CITIES COULD BE FIRST TO FEEL BUDGET PAIN

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Who'll be the first to feel the sting?

Jobless Americans who have been out of work for a long time and local governments that are paying off loans to fix roads and schools are in tough spots when it comes to the automatic federal budget cuts that are scheduled to kick in Friday.

HIGH STAKES TRIAL BEGINS OVER 2010 GULF OIL SPILL 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- BP put profits ahead of safety and bears most of the blame for the disastrous 2010 spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a U.S. Justice Department attorney charged Monday at the opening of a trial that could result in the oil company and its partners being forced to pay tens of billions of dollars more in damages.

The London-based oil giant acknowledged it made "errors in judgment" before the deadly blowout, but it also cast blame on the owner of the drilling rig and the contractor involved in cementing the well. It denied it was grossly negligent, as the government contended.

KOOP, WHO TRANSFORMED SURGEON GENERAL POST, DIES

With his striking beard and starched uniform, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop became one of the most recognizable figures of the Reagan era - and one of the most unexpectedly enduring.

His nomination in 1981 met a wall of opposition from women's groups and liberal politicians, who complained President Ronald Reagan selected Koop, a pediatric surgeon and evangelical Christian from Philadelphia, only because of his conservative views, especially his staunch opposition to abortion.

2ND ROUND OF HEAVY SNOWS HIT PLAINS, MIDWEST

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) -- The nation's midsection again dealt with blizzard conditions Monday, closing highways, knocking out power to thousands in Texas and Oklahoma and even bringing hurricane-force winds to the Texas Panhandle. Two people have died.

Already under a deep snowpack from last week's storm, Kansas was preparing for another round of heavy snow Monday evening and overnight, prompting some to wonder what it could do for the drought.

WARRANT ISSUED FOR VEGAS STRIP SHOOTING SUSPECT

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Police said Monday they have a warrant for a 26-year-old ex-convict identified as the prime suspect in a shooting and fiery crash that killed three people last week on the Las Vegas Strip.

"We can say with certainty that Ammar Harris is the suspect who fired the fatal shots," Las Vegas police Capt. Chris Jones told reporters at an afternoon update about a manhunt that he said would be advertised on southern Nevada billboards.

WHITE HOUSE STEPS UP CAMPAIGN TO AVOID SPENDING CUTS

(Reuters) - The White House escalated a campaign on Monday to convince Americans dire consequences await if government spending cuts go ahead on March 1, warning of a slowdown in global trade, a stalled fight against cancer and Alzheimer's disease and compromised security at U.S. borders.

At the same time, prominent Republicans said President Barack Obama was overstating the potential damage of the $85 billion in government-wide cuts to frighten the public.