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SECRETARY OF STATE
Trump dumps Tillerson in shakeup CIA Director Mike Pompeo to take top diplomat’s place By Josh Lederman and Matthew Lee A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump unceremoniously dumped Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday — by tweet — and picked CIA Director Mike Pompeo to take his place, abruptly ending Tillerson’s turbulent tenure as America’s top diplomat and escalating the administration’s chaotic secondyear shake-up. Tillerson was ousted barely four hours after he returned from an Africa mission and with no faceto-face conversation with
the president, the latest casualty of an unruly White House that Pompeo has seen multiple top officials depart in recent weeks. Citing the Iran nuclear deal and other issues, Trump said he and Tillerson were “not really thinking the same.” “We disagreed on things,” Trump told reporters at the White House — a diplomatic take on a fractious relationship that included reports that Tillerson had
privately called the president a “moron.” Appearing in the State Department briefing room for likely the last time, Tillerson’s voice quavered as he described successes of his roughly one-year tenure: an economic pressure campaign on North Korea and a new Afghanistan plan. “I will now return to private life, private citizen, a proud American, proud of the opportunity I’ve had to serve my country.” He did not mention Trump — other than to say that he’d spoken by phone to the president Tuesday while Trump Shakeup continues on A6
Jabin Botsford / The Washington Post
President Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Tuesday and nominated CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him, in a major staff reshuffle.
AUSTIN, TEXAS
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High school band’s tour bus plunges into ravine Disney World trip turns grim By Jay Reeves and Dan Anderson ASSOCIATED PRE SS
Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman/AP
Authorities hold a press conference after multiple explosions in Austin on Monday injured several people. All the victims were minorities, and investigators are looking into whether race was a factor.
Though all victims were minorities, police back off suggestion that hate crimes could be core cause By Will Weissert and Paul J. Weber A S S OCIAT E D PRE SS
AUSTIN — Three package bombs left on doorsteps in suburban neighborhoods have exploded in less than two weeks in Texas’ capital city, killing two people, wounding two others and leaving investigators searching for any possible explanation or motive. Police said the bomb-
ings in eastern Austin — two Monday and one on March 2 — are likely linked. All the victims were minorities, and investigators are looking into whether race was a factor. However, they backed off initial suggestions that hate crimes could be a core cause. The attacks unfolded as tens of thousands of visitors arrived for the busiest days of the Bombs continues on A6
Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman / AP
Authorities investigate an explosion at a home in Austin on Monday. Investigators believe the fatal explosion is linked to another deadly bombing elsewhere in the city this month.
LOXLEY, Ala. — A bus carrying high school band members home to Texas from Disney World ran off a highway and plunged into a deep ravine Tuesday in Alabama, killing the driver and injuring dozens, authorities said. First responders used ropes to rappel down the 50-foot ravine in the middle of Interstate 10 and then had to cut some of the victims from the wreckage, said Baldwin County Sheriff Huey Hoss Mack. About 45 people were on the bus, the sheriff said. The driver was killed, said Capt. John Malone, who commands state troopers in the Mobile district. At least 37 people, most of them teenagers, were treated at hospitals or other facilities in Pensacola and southwest Alabama for injuries that ranged from minor to very serious, medical officials said. The sheriff said it wasn’t immediately clear what caused the bus to enter the grassy median, which abruptly ends at a steep embankment where the interstate passes over Cowpen Creek. The crash happened at about 5:30 a.m., crunching the bus and leaving the passengers exposed to chilly temperatures. Rescuers used every piece of equipment on every truck to reach them, Mack said: “This is what we call an all-out.” Josh Torres said his 17-yearold sister, Bianca Torres, was sitting at the rear of the bus when the impact of the wreck tossed her forward several rows. She had pain in her legs and bruising but was otherwise unscathed, and taken to a hospital for evaluation, he said. Bus continues on A6