ST LOUIS (LALATE) – A Chris Christie press conference today will reportedly confirm news that Christie is not running for President. Chris Christie during today’s October 4, 2011 press conference will announce, that despite urging from key GOP donors, he is not running for President.

Leading GOP donors have reportedly been pushing Christie to run after recent troubles in key GOP candidates. For some, however, the news comes as no surprise. Christie told news earlier this year that he didn’t have the “heart to be president”.

While Christie asserted that he does not have the urge to be President, political analysts today believe that his stances on key issues would have caused difficulty for a GOP ticket. And yet, GOP donors have still wanted Christie to run.

Yet, new political polls showed less than forty-five percent of voters are interested in Christie running for President. When asked of the same question about Sarah Palin, roughly sixty-percent were opposed to her running for the Office.

“I hear exactly what you’re saying and I feel the passion with which you say it, and it touches me,” Christie previously told news. “I’m just a kid from Jersey who feels like he’s the luckiest guy in the world to have the opportunity that I have to be the governor of my state.”

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – Herman Cain has won the Florida GOP straw poll. Republican Presidential candidate Herman Cain delivered a massive win in Saturday’s Florida Straw Poll, official confirm to news moments ago. Cain beat Rick Perry by nearly a two-to-one margin.

Even though Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney didn’t spend a lot of time in Florida, final results of the Florida GOP Straw Poll today put Cain with thirty-seven percent of the votes. Rick Perry earned only fifteen percent and Mitt Romeny with fourteen. Rick Santorum and Ron Paul followed with ten percent respectively.

Cain picked up 996 votes today. “It shows you something,” said Gov. Rick Scott to news. “The road to the White House is right through Florida. It pays to be here.” Michele Bachmann earned less than two percent with only 40 votes. Newt Gingrich earned nine percent and Jon Huntsman with two percent.

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – John Fleming’s salary and opposition Obama’s tax increase is prompting debate today. How much money does John Fleming make? Not enough, claims the Republican congressman from Louisiana, to be taxed more under the Obama plan (video below). Fleming’s assertion, however, is not evoking a favorable response from liberal and moderate critics.

Fleming’s business endeavors include Subway sandwich shops and UPS store franchises. The Wall Street Journal reports that those businesses made $6.3 million in gross income (not gross sales) just last year alone. A report claimed that Fleming earned $200,000 personally last year. Fleming however is still angry with Obama’s new tax plan.

“The amount that I have to reinvest in my business and feed my family is more like $600,000 of that $6.3 million,” Fleming explained. “So by the time I feed my family I have, maybe, $400,000 left over to invest in new locations, upgrade my locations, and buy more equipment.”

Fleming said he and other people who make “certain” incomes are under “attack”. “This is all about creating jobs, Chris, this is not about attacking people who make certain incomes. You know in this country, most people feel that being successful in their business is a virtue, not a vice, and once we begin to identify it as a vice, this country is going down.”

Fleming did make it clear to news that his complaint was with the tax on business not personal income. He asserts that new taxes on businesses will prevent reinvestment.

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LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Funds allocated for Rielle Hunter during John Edwards’ 2008 campaign will result in Edwards being charged today, claims reports. Rielle Hunter funds designated during Edwards’ 2008 presidential campaign have be the subject of federal grand jury investigation for over a year. In recent weeks, multiple news reports have incorrectly predicted an indictment was hours away. Today, another report claims the Edwards indictment is set for Friday.

A North Carolina federal grand jury has been investigating Edwards’ used of campaign funds during his 2008 presidential run. Stacy Lloyd III, son of heiress Rachel Mellon, and his sons, Stacy IV and Thomas along with Thomas Lloyd’s wife, Ricki, have reportedly been among the persons called to the grand jury.

One of the reported hey witnesses has been Dallas attorney Lisa Blue-Baron. She is the widow of Fred Baron who worked as Edwards’ finance chairman during his presidential runs in 2004 and 2008. Fred Baron told the Dallas Morning News in 2008 that he paid for Hunter’s relocation. But Baron said the money was not campaign funds but his own money.

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The twist has been not just Hunter but also Andrew Young. Baron claimed he had paid for Hunter and Edward’s former aide Andrew Young to move to California. Initially, Young claimed to be Hunter’s baby daddy even though Hunter knew it was Edwards’ child. Young in his book “The Politician” claimed that Lisa Blue-Baron would comfort Hunter regularly during the debacle.

The grand jury investigation has reportedly focused on whether (1) Edwards knew about the money and (2) whether it was deemed a gift or as rather part of the campaign. The spending on Hunter was reportedly lavish. She had a new BMW and was staying in a Santa Barbara estate near Oprah at a possible price tag of $20,000 a month.

In July 2008, the Enquirer claimed that Edwards and Hunter had an affair and a child. By summer 2008, Edwards admitted to the affair, but did not admit to being Hunter’s baby daddy. “Two years ago I made a very serious mistake which fed a self-focus, an egotism, a narcissism that leads you to believe that you can do whatever you want” he said in a news statement at the time. It would not be until January 2010, three years later, that he would admit publicly to paternity of Hunter’s child.

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – Gabrielle Giffords watched husband Mark Kelly’s space shuttle launch today of Endeavour. “Peace-Love-Gabby” bracelets were worn by all six of Kelly’s fellow Endeavour astronauts today, NASA officials tell news. Giffords was in attendance on April 29 when Endeavour was first slated to take off. Her staff told news today that she was pleased she was able to return for the rescheduled launch Monday morning.

Giffords and her husband switched wedding rings in advance of today’s take off. Shortly after the launch, her reps issued the following news statement on Twitter. “From Team Giffords to @ShuttleCDRKelly & entire #STS134 crew: God Speed–We’ll see you in about two weeks. #NASATweetup”. Kelly tweeted earlier “Launch day. We should be pulling off Earth in a couple hours. Liftoff at 8:56a ET. “

Giffords was not available to news following her appearance today. Today’s Endeavour launch will be the last for the Endeavour and next to last for the entire fleet. This was Giffords’ most recent launch to watch since Kelly’s service on the Discovery in 2008.

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