USADA to Strip Armstrong of Tour de France Titles

By NEAL KARLINSKY

It's being called one of the greatest frauds in the history of sport: Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs to cheat his way to the top, according to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, whose allegations will no longer be challenged by Armstrong.

Armstrong, 40, essentially walked away from the doping case the USADA brought against him, calling it an "unconstitutional witch hunt" and declining to fight it in arbitration. But even as he did so, Armstrong maintained his innocence.

"If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA's process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and -- once and for all -- put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance," Armstrong said in a lengthy prepared statement Thursday evening. "But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair."

Read Lance Armstrong's full statement by clicking here.

USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart reacted late Thursday to reports of Armstrong's decision not to enter arbitration, though the group said it had not yet received formal notice.

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Lance Armstrong Faces Doping Charges Watch Video

"It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes," Tygart said in a written statement. "This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all-costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance-enhancing drugs."

Armstrong will now face a lifetime ban from all elite-level sports and the stripping of his tour titles, according to the USADA.

Armstrong, who is retired, argued that he never failed a drug test and that the USADA should not have the right to strip him of his titles.

"USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles," Armstrong said. "I know who won those seven tours, my teammates know who won those seven tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart."

The battle to avoid this moment has been epic. Armstrong enlisted help from Congress to pressure the Anti-Doping Agency and, through his team of high-powered lawyers, he sued USADA in federal court.

None of it worked, leaving Armstrong to face a reported 10 former teammates under oath and more damaging revelations. Rather than face them, he walked away.

So if he never failed a drug test, how did he cheat? A former teammate widely believed to be one of the Armstrong witnesses, Jonathan Vaughters, confessed his own doping on the New York Times opinion pages just two weeks ago, writing, "When I was racing in the 1990s and early 2000s, the rules were easily circumvented by any and all."

Convicted doper Floyd Landis, another Armstrong teammate, said he saw Armstrong using the performance enhancing drug EPO.

"I also received some from him," Landis told ABC News. "You know, rather than go into entire detail of every single time I've seen it: Yes, I saw Lance Armstrong using drugs."

Armstrong always boasted he was the most tested athlete in sports history -- but that may not have been quite true.

Romney announces Paul Ryan as running mate

From Peter Hamby, CNN Political Reporter

Romney introduces Paul Ryan as VP choice

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Romney calls Ryan "a faithful Catholic"
• Romney called several Republicans to say they didn't make the cut
• The announcement was at U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia
• Paul Ryan makes appearance at Romney's four-day, four-state bus tour

Richmond, Virginia (CNN) -- Mitt Romney on Saturday officially announced U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin -- considered a rising Republican star and the party's leader on fiscal and budgetary issues -- as his running mate in the presidential race.

Ryan, appearing at the beginning of a four-day, four-state bus tour in Norfolk, Virginia, moved quickly to position himself and Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, as champions of voters dissatisfied with the economy.

"I represent a part of America that includes inner cities, rural areas, suburbs and factory towns," he said Saturday morning, the U.S.S. Wisconsin in the backdrop. "Over the years I have seen and heard from a lot of families, from a lot of those running small businesses, and from people who are in need. But what I have heard lately, that's what troubles me the most. There is something different in their voice and in their words. What I hear from them are diminished dreams, lowered expectations, uncertain futures.

"I hear some people say that this is just 'the new normal.' Higher unemployment, declining incomes and crushing debt is not a new normal. It's the result of misguided policies. And next January, our economy will begin a comeback with the Romney plan for a stronger middle class that will lead to more jobs and more take-home pay for working Americans."

Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin

Wait -- who's running for what again?

Paul Ryan: I'm a policy person

Romney campaign: Ryan is V.P. choice

Rep. Paul Ryan up close

GOP sources told CNN on Friday that Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio had all been told that they were not getting the nod.

A campaign aide told CNN that Romney had made his decision August 1.

Paul Ryan, top GOP voice on fiscal matters

Romney, 65, initially flubbed his big line, announcing, "Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States, Paul Ryan!" He recovered moments later when Ryan took the stage, saying, "Every now and then, I'm known to make a mistake. I did not make a mistake with this guy, but I can tell you this: He's going to be the next vice president of the United States."

Romney called Ryan, 42, "a faithful Catholic" who "believes in the worth and dignity of every human life." He lauded the fifth-generation Wisconsin native serving his seventh term in Congress as "an intellectual leader of the Republican Party" and a person who will help lead the country "to widespread and shared prosperity."

Romney had called several of the candidates on his vice presidential shortlist on Friday evening to tell them he had selected a running mate and to thank them for assisting with his campaign, a Republican familiar with the calls told CNN. Romney did not indicate on the calls whom he had selected, the source said.

In a statement, Portman called Ryan "a great choice." He added, "I look forward to working closely with a Romney-Ryan administration to restore fiscal sanity and enact pro-growth policies to create jobs."

Accolades poured in from Republicans. In a statement, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called Ryan, the House budget chairman, "a confirmation that Gov. Romney is serious about strengthening America's economic future, tackling the deficits and debt that have skyrocketed under President Obama, and returning to a path to solvency and security."

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said the new teammates "have the knowledge, expertise and vision we need to get America working again and get our fiscal house in order."

Pawlenty, in New Hampshire, called Ryan "a respected leader and a bold thinker regarding the changes needed to restore America."

But the Obama campaign was unenthused. "In naming Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney has chosen a leader of the House Republicans who shares his commitment to the flawed theory that new budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy, while placing greater burdens on the middle class and seniors, will somehow deliver a stronger economy," it said in a statement.

"The architect of the radical Republican House budget, Ryan, like Romney, proposed an additional $250,000 tax cut for millionaires, and deep cuts in education from Head Start to college aid. His plan also would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher system, shifting thousands of dollars in health care costs to seniors. As a member of Congress, Ryan rubber-stamped the reckless Bush economic policies that exploded our deficit and crashed our economy. Now the Romney-Ryan ticket would take us back by repeating the same, catastrophic mistakes."

Follow the latest announcements on the Political Ticker

Communications staffers for the Romney campaign were ordered to report to their Boston headquarters at 8 a.m. Saturday, an unusual directive for a weekend, a Republican familiar with the plans told CNN.

There were other signals that Romney was ramping up for a splashy weekend: Much of the Romney high command flew Friday afternoon with the candidate from Boston to Norfolk, including Beth Myers, the adviser tasked with running the vice presidential search process, and Will Ritter, the campaign's director of advance who rarely leaves his spacious corner office in Boston's North End.

Democratic attacks on Ryan focus on changes to Medicare and Medicaid

Ann Romney, the candidate's wife, landed in Norfolk after her trip to the Olympic Games in London.

The bus tour will take Romney through major media markets in four battleground states -- Virginia, North Carolina, Florida and Ohio.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, once a potential running mate, introduced Romney. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, a Richmond native, was set to join Romney at stops in the commonwealth on Saturday.

Prior to Saturday's announcement, many Republicans who spoke to CNN -- all of them granted anonymity to speak freely without angering Romney officials in Boston -- wondered why Romney would announce the pick on a weekend when millions of potential voters are likely to be distracted by the Olympics, PGA golf, late-season baseball and the box office release of the latest Bourne thriller.

'Kiss my a**': Romney's aide curses reporters at Polish holy site

By MICHAEL ZENNIE and ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER

Lashing out: Press secretary Rick Gorka was forced to apologize after telling reporters to 'kiss my a**'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181571/Kiss--Romneys-aide-curses-reporters-Poland-latest-world-tour-gaffe.html#ixzz22DXf21Hh

He drew criticism and accusations of racism in Jerusalem on Monday when he said Israel's economic superiority to the Palestinian territories was a matter of 'culture.'

His campaign has vehemently denied those allegations. 

Mr Gorka's remarks came hours before a major foreign policy speech in the Polish capital in which Romney praised the central European nation for becoming what he said was a model of small government and free enterprise.

The former Massachusetts governor said that 'rather than heeding the false promise of a government-dominated economy, Poland sought to stimulate innovation, attract investment, expand trade and live within its means' after the Communist era.

'The world should pay close attention to the transformation of Poland’s economy,' Romney said. 

'A march toward economic liberty and smaller government has meant a march toward higher living standards, a strong military that defends liberty at home and abroad, and an important and growing role on the international stage.'

Mr Gorka's angry words to reporters were made Tuesday morning when Romney visited a monument to Poland's war dead with the Warsaw mayor. 

Reporters began shouting questions at the presumptive Republican nominee from behind a rope line because, they said, he has answered only three queries from the traveling press corps.

A CNN reporter shouted: 'Gov Romney are you concerned about some of the mishaps of your trip?'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181571/Kiss--Romneys-aide-curses-reporters-Poland-latest-world-tour-gaffe.html#ixzz22DWTbV00

Official: Trap in Colorado suspect's home had 30 homemade grenades, gasoline

By Poppy Harlow and Ed Payne, CNN

The public gets its first glimpse of James Holmes, 24, the suspect in the Colorado theater shooting during his initial court appearance Monday, July 23. With his hair dyed reddish-orange, Holmes, here with public defender Tamara Brady, showed little emotion. He is accused of opening fire in a movie theater Friday, July 20, in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding 58 others.

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: It looks like the booby trapped apartment was "rigged" to explode, the official says
• The setup resembled those used in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the official
• Fifteen people remain hospitalized, five in critical condition
• Holmes will be formally charged on July 30

Aurora, Colorado (CNN) -- The suspect in last week's deadly shooting rampage at a crowded Colorado movie theater boobytrapped his apartment with more than 30 homemade grenades and 10 gallons of gasoline, a law enforcement official who viewed video from inside the apartment told CNN Monday night.

The sophisticated set up at the sparsely furnished Aurora home of James E. Holmes was meant to harm, or possibly kill, anyone who entered -- and tested the skills of bomb squad members charged with clearing it.

"Imagine that fireball ... you would have an explosion that would knock down the wall of (nearby) apartments," the official said. "That flame would have consumed the entire third floor (of the apartment complex)."

"By the time a fire truck would have arrived, they would have arrived to a building that would have been completely consumed in flames."

The grenades were wired to a control box in the kitchen, which bomb technicians disabled with the help of a remote-controlled robot that squirted water on it.

"It looked like spaghetti," according to the official, who said it resembled setups that are used in Iraq and Afghanistan, but rarely in the United States.

The control box has been sent to Quantico, Virginia, for forensic analysis at the FBI laboratory, the official said.

But the setup appears to have been "rigged" so that it would have exploded, according to the official. A "post-blast analysis" will determine if it would have worked.

The gasoline was divvied up into glass containers and gas cans in order to "enhance the thermal effect of the explosion," the official said.

Over the weekend, Aurora Police Chief Daniel Oates told reporters there was "evidence of ... some calculation and deliberation" in the Friday attack at the Century Aurora 16 multiplex.

Holmes received deliveries over the past four months at his home and work addresses, which begins to explain how he may have obtained some of the materials used in the attack and those found at his apartment, Oates said.

The University of Colorado School of Medicine, where Holmes enrolled as a doctoral candidate in its neuroscience program but later withdrew, was investigating whether he received any of the alleged shipments while working as a research assistant at the Anschutz Medical Campus.

Authorities have been tight-lipped about a possible motive in the case, though police spokesman Frank Fania told CNN that Holmes has been uncooperative with investigators and requested an attorney.

The movie multiplex, where the shootings occurred during a midnight screening of the new Batman move "The Dark Knight Returns," will remain shuttered at least until Wednesday to give police time to complete their investigation and allow the suspect's defense team access Tuesday.

Aurora, meanwhile, is bracing for another emotional week as families begin making funeral arrangements. It was not immediately known when the coroner would release the bodies.

On Monday, Holmes made his first court appearance.

Looking dazed at times, Holmes -- who after the attack identified himself to police as "The Joker" -- wore a maroon jumpsuit over a white T-shirt and gave little indication that he was paying attention to the courtroom procedure that ensured he will continue to be held without bond.

Grief counselors offer solace amid tragedy

Booking photograph of James Eagan Holmes, accused of killing 12 in Aurora, Colorado Theater Shooting.

He was then led from the courtroom and back to the Arapahoe County Jail, where he is being held in isolation. Formal charges are expected to be filed July 30.

"The charges on which the court found cause included first-degree murder," Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters outside the courthouse. She said prosecutors have a lot of work to do.

"I would say there's no such thing as a slam-dunk case," she said. "We're still looking at the enormous amount of evidence."

Deciding whether to pursue the death penalty is a long process that involves input from victims and their relatives, she said.

A capital case would require a finding of either extreme indifference or deliberation, she said.

Holmes is being held in connection with the shootings that killed 12 people and left 58 others wounded. As of late Monday, at least 15 people remained hospitalized -- five in critical condition -- in four area hospitals.

Four of those killed were active members of the the U.S. military. The Department of Defense is flying flags at half-staff in their honor.

"These acts of heroism and sacrifice are the essence of what military service is about -- putting your life on the line to defend those who are part of the American family," Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said in a statement Monday.

Analysis: Why gun controls are off the agenda in America

Meanwhile, Lisa Damiani, an attorney representing the Holmes family but not the suspect, said his family members were keeping their location secret. "I don't think they would like the media to know where they are," she said, adding that she feared for their safety.

"They're doing as well as they can, under the circumstances," Damiani told reporters at her office in San Diego, California, where the family lives. "I think everyone can imagine how they're feeling -- anyone who's ever been a parent."

She added, "The family has elected not to discuss James or their relationship with James at this time."

The family issued a statement Friday saying, "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." It added, "We are still trying to process this information."