Analysis: With Pierce and Garnett, Nets Get Upgrade in Scoring and Snarling

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

When the Nets swung a deal to obtain Paul Pierce, left, and Kevin Garnett from Boston, a trade that is not official until July 10, they acquired more than talent.

The lights will go up, the "Broook-lyn" chants will resume and, in the giddy haze of opening night at Barclays Center next fall, a brooding, solitary figure will approach the basket stanchion closest to the home team's bench — and ram his head into it. Repeatedly.

Kevin Garnett will fiddle with his waistband. He will mutter things only he can hear or comprehend. Then he will skip around the court, right fist clenched, thumping his chest, howling into the night, rousing the masses.

When the Nets swung a deal late Thursday to obtain Garnett and Paul Pierce from Boston — a trade agreed to in principle but not official until July 10 — they acquired more than talent, more than marquee value, more than Hall of Fame credibility. They acquired a new attitude, which — aside from shooting and athleticism — was their greatest need of all.

The Nets were perfectly competent in their maiden season in Brooklyn, winning 49 games and making the playoffs on the strength of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez. But they inspired neither fear nor loathing. The Nets had poise but no pulse, a personality that fell somewhere between "eh" and "meh." They didn't play much defense, either.

When a Chicago columnist reported during the playoffs that the Bulls viewed the Nets as "heartless and gutless," few people disagreed (even some wearing Nets ID badges).

These are no longer relevant concerns.

Garnett and Pierce built their brilliant careers on tenacity and fire, driving the Celtics to five straight Atlantic Division titles, two finals appearances and the 2008 championship, which ended with Pierce clutching the Most Valuable Player trophy. Their commitment and professionalism are unquestioned, and they will become the Nets' most important voices on Day 1.

Despite their advanced ages — Garnett is 37; Pierce will be 36 next fall — they will also significantly improve the Nets' lineup.

Pierce is still an effective scorer who averaged 18.6 points a game last season, and he is a feared clutch shooter who converted 38 percent of his 3-pointers. An underrated playmaker, Pierce also averaged 4.8 assists, often directing the offense after Rajon Rondo was lost to a knee injury.

Garnett is among the best jump-shooting big men of his era and, when inclined, a solid post scorer.

They are directly replacing Gerald Wallace and Reggie Evans, two nonscorers who were easily ignored when opponents double-teamed Johnson or Lopez. The Nets will have All-Stars at every position, players who will demand attention and keep defenses honest. (Also, no one sets an illegal screen as well as Garnett.)

While Garnett and Pierce have each slowed a bit, they are still stout, smart defenders who will help close the lane and relieve some pressure on Lopez. Their presence alone should raise the Nets' defensive efficiency rating, which ranked 18th last season.

Durability is always a concern, but Pierce played 77 games last season and Garnett 68, more than Carmelo Anthony (67 games). After six years of carrying the Celtics, Pierce and Garnett will have the luxury of playing a supporting role in Brooklyn, with Williams, Johnson and Lopez already carrying the offense.

While the trade for two aging stars will inspire obvious comparisons to the Knicks' go-old campaign last summer, the Nets can expect much better results. Pierce and Garnett are not who they were in 2008, but they are still playing at a high level, each ranking in the top 40 in John Hollinger's player efficiency ratings last season. The Knicks, by contrast, imported players who were either already retired (Rasheed Wallace) or played like it (Marcus Camby, Kurt Thomas, Jason Kidd).

Kidd is now the Nets' rookie head coach, and while expectations keep rising, his job perhaps just got a little easier. As the former star guard Tim Hardaway noted on Friday, Kidd now has two dominant personalities to rule the locker room.

"Now he really don't have to coach," Hardaway said. "He's got guys that can coach themselves."

Still, the Nets have a two-year window at best to win a championship before Pierce and Garnett fade into history. Or possibly one year, if Pierce were to leave as a free agent or retire in 2014.

In the short term, this was an easy gamble for General Manager Billy King to take, costing him no key players and no erosion in payroll flexibility — because the Nets had no flexibility for the next few years anyway.

The final deal will send Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans and Kris Joseph to Boston. Brooks replaced Reggie Evans, who was originally in the deal. The Nets will miss none of them, although they now have a lot of holes to fill on the bench.

The real risk is the three first-round picks the Nets surrendered, in 2014, 2016 and 2018, the latter two unprotected, plus a right to swap picks in 2017. If the Nets crash and burn, those picks will haunt them.

But those are concerns for another day. With one bold stroke Thursday night, the Nets got deeper, sturdier, tougher, much more compelling and considerably more snarly. They sent another shot across the bow of the Knicks. They stole all the headlines on draft night. With a little good fortune, they might even steal a title.

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A Calm Close to a Volatile Month

Richard Drew/Associated Press

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, wrapping up the month.

Given the wild trading of late, it was a calm close to the month.

After flitting between tiny gains and losses most of Friday, the stock market closed mostly lower, a peaceful end to the most volatile month in nearly two years.

"It's a dull Friday," said Gary Flam, a stock manager at Bel Air Investment Advisors. A bull market, he added, is "rarely a straight march up."

The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index ended its bumpy ride in June down 1.5 percent, the first monthly loss since October. The index still had its best first half of a year since 1998.

Investors seemed unsure how to react to recent statements by Federal Reserve officials about when the central bank might end its support for the economy.

Mixed economic news on Friday added to investor uncertainty after big stock gains. An index of consumer confidence was up, but a gauge of business activity in the Chicago area plunged.

"Investors don't know what to make of the news," said John Toohey, vice president for stock investments at USAA Investment Management. "I wouldn't be surprised to see more ups and downs."

The S.& P. 500 closed down 6.92 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,606.28. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 114.89 points, or 0.8 percent, to 14,909.60. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.38 points, or 0.04 percent, to 3,403.25.

Stocks have jumped around in June. By contrast, the first five months of the year were mostly calm, with small but steady gains as investors bought on news of higher home prices, record corporate earnings and an improving jobs market.

By May 21, the S.& P. 500 had climbed to a record 1,669, up 18 percent for the year. The Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, spoke the next day and prices began seesawing.

Investors have long known that the central bank would eventually pull back from its bond purchases, which are intended to lower interest rates and get people to borrow and spend more. Last week, Mr. Bernanke got more specific about the timing, saying the Fed could start purchasing fewer bonds later this year and stop buying them completely by the middle of next year if the economy continued to strengthen.

Investors dumped stocks, but then had second thoughts this week as other Fed officials stressed that the central bank would not pull back on its support soon.

Bonds have also been on a bumpy ride in recent weeks, mostly down.

The prospect of fewer purchases by the Fed sent investors fleeing from all sorts of bonds — municipals, United States Treasury securities, corporate bonds, foreign government debt and high-yield bonds. Investors withdrew a record $23 billion from bond mutual funds in the five trading days that ended Wednesday, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Bond yields, which move in the opposite direction of bond prices, have rocketed. On Friday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell 3/32 to 93 19/32, bringing the yield up to 2.49 percent, from 2.47 percent late Thursday. Last month, the yield was as low as 1.63 percent.

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Visit by Obama Is Overshadowed by Mandela Vigil

Joao Silva/The New York Times

People visited a small shrine to Nelson Mandela in Pretoria, South Africa, where he was hospitalized and is in critical condition with a lung infection. More Photos »

JOHANNESBURG — Nelson Mandela always wanted to go quietly. Despite his stature as a global icon, he sought a dignified withdrawal from public life in recent years; privately he told aides of his desire for a quiet funeral, stripped of pomp.

That is not how it is happening now. With Mr. Mandela in critical condition in a hospital from a serious lung infection, and as President Obama arrived Friday for a state visit, the country was in the grip of passions, ceremony and controversy as its people come to terms with finally bidding Mr. Mandela farewell.

Outside the hospital gates, South Africans of all races prayed, sang and dropped flowers for their revered father figure. Less harmoniously, a simmering family feud over his funeral arrangements burst into public view. A 65-year-old woman claiming to be his illegitimate daughter stepped forward, demanding to be let into the hospital to meet him.

In the evening, Mr. Obama entered the fray, faced with a delicate diplomatic balancing act involving statesmanship, policy and respect for a fading hero. Mr. Obama, who had planned weeks ago to visit Mr. Mandela during this trip, wishes to honor the man who inspired his career in politics, mindful that he is arriving as South Africans are sorrowful over their beloved former president's condition.

"I don't need a photo-op," Mr. Obama said while on his way to South Africa, where he landed just a few miles from the Pretoria hospital where Mr. Mandela has been lying in intensive care. "Right now, our main concern is with his well-being, his comfort, and with the family's well-being and comfort."

At any other time, Mr. Obama's arrival would have been a symbolically potent moment with resonance for both countries: America's first black president visiting a nation that only two decades ago shook off the yoke of white minority rule.

But for South Africans, their hearts, if not their eyes, were focused on something else.

"This trip is overshadowed by Nelson Mandela's illness," said Justice Malala, a political commentator and columnist. "Its impact will be blunted because people's attention is elsewhere."

Some unfolding events seemed to be exactly what Mr. Mandela had hoped to avoid. A court hearing in a provincial town on Friday exposed a bitter family rift over arrangements for his funeral.

Mr. Mandela has long been painfully aware of the divides within his family, and on Friday lawyers and magistrates confirmed that 16 Mandela relatives, led by his eldest daughter, Makaziwe Mandela, had filed a lawsuit against a grandson, Mandla Mandela, a tribal chief.

A report from South Africa's national broadcaster pointed to a macabre squabble at work: the plaintiffs want to compel Mandla to rebury three relatives, who had been exhumed and moved some years ago from the family graveyard at Qunu, Nelson Mandela's home village, back in their original graves.

The court action appeared to stem from an argument over where Mr. Mandela should be buried. Mandla prefers a site at the headquarters of his tribal village of Mvezo, where Mr. Mandela was born; the rest of the family wants him to be buried at Qunu, where he grew up.

Among some South Africans, the government's careful management of news about Mr. Mandela even stoked speculation that it was somehow keeping him alive in order to facilitate Mr. Obama's trip. The government flatly rejected such rumors.

"Urban legend," said Mac Maharaj, the presidential spokesman. "That has been put to us before, and it is wrong. People take the government's report as accurate."

Mr. Obama, who is accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Sasha and Malia, arrived from Senegal and was due to travel to Tanzania on Sunday. His long-awaited African tour is intended to stress the importance of trade, not aid, for the continent.

"Everything we do is designed to make sure that Africa is not viewed as a dependent, as a charity case, but is instead viewed as a partner," he told reporters on Friday.

In South Africa, Mr. Obama plans to salute Mr. Mandela's life with a visit on Sunday to Robben Island, the prison where Mr. Mandela spent 18 years in a tiny cell, now a somber tourist attraction inhabited mainly by penguins.

Mr. Obama's host here will be President Jacob Zuma, a controversial figure who in some ways epitomizes the disappointments of the post-Mandela era.

Rick Lyman contributed reporting from Johannesburg, Lydia Polgreen from New York and Alan Cowell from London.

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Publisher Drops Book Deal With TV Chef Paula Deen

Sponsors have cut ties with Paula Deen, who has admitted using racist language. But some fans have rallied to her side.

Paula Deen got a rare bit of good news on Thursday: Her new cookbook hit No. 1 on the best-seller list at Amazon.com, as thousands of fans — many of them springing to her defense as she faces accusations of racism — ordered the book months before its October release.

But on Friday, its publisher, Random House, said it would not publish the cookbook, and would cancel a five-book contract it signed with Ms. Deen last year.

The book deal was one of the last remaining lucrative business relationships for the embattled celebrity chef. Its cancellation came on a day when Sears, Kmart and J. C. Penney announced that they would stop selling products, including cookbooks, branded with her name.

Since last week, the Food Network, Smithfield Foods, Walmart, Target, Caesars Entertainment, QVC and the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk have decided to suspend or sever ties with Ms. Deen after her admission in a legal deposition that she had used racist language in the past and allowed racist, sexist, homophobic and anti-Semitic jokes in one of her restaurants. Ms. Deen was deposed on video as part of a discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a former employee.

Her frantic efforts to stanch the flow of negative opinion by defending herself on the "Today" show and posting apologetic videos on YouTube have rallied many of her admirers. They have threatened boycotts of Walmart, created a "We Support Paula Deen" Facebook page that has well over half a million "likes," and started a campaign to flood the Food Network offices with empty butter wrappers, a symbol of Ms. Deen's indulgent cooking style.

But these efforts have not, apparently, made a difference to Ms. Deen's corporate partners.

Stuart Applebaum, a spokesman for Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, said in a statement Friday afternoon, "After careful consideration, Ballantine Books has made the difficult decision to cancel the publication of 'Paula Deen's New Testament: 250 Favorite Recipes, All Lightened Up.' "

The book, co-written by Melissa Clark, a dining columnist for The New York Times, was to feature lighter fare than the fat- and sugar-laden recipes Ms. Deen has promoted in previous books and on her television shows.

A person with knowledge of Random House's decision to cancel the contract said, "When Walmart, Target and J. C. Penney all announced they are discontinuing their Paula Deen business, including books, it is awfully tough to stay the course of a publication. It was a business decision."

Ms. Deen has published 14 cookbooks, starting in 1998 with "The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook." Together, they have sold more than eight million copies.

But many of the sales outlets that normally sell thousands of Ms. Deen's books — like Walmart, Target, Kmart and QVC — would have refused to carry the new one.

Random House would not disclose the amount Ms. Deen was to be paid, but a person with knowledge of the contract said it involved millions of dollars. It is unclear whether Ms. Deen will have to return any of it, or whether a clause in the contract would allow the publisher to cancel the pact because of Ms. Deen's behavior.

"That's why God invented lawyers," said Mr. Applebaum.

On Thursday, the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it was suspending its use of Ms. Deen as a spokeswoman for the drug. The company, which has the top-selling portfolio of diabetes medications in the United States, has reached out vigorously to black Americans in its marketing and medical sponsorships.

Ms. Deen began a multiplatform campaign to promote the drug on the same day last year she revealed she had Type 2 diabetes. That set off public criticism that she had misserved her audience. She had received the diagnosis two years earlier, yet had continued to promote recipes high in sugar and fat.

Didra Brown Taylor, the executive director of the Beautyshop Project, a national diabetes screening initiative that offers free blood tests in hair salons in low-income neighborhoods, said that Ms. Deen's conflict of interest was noted by program participants at the time, and that the current crisis had confirmed many in their beliefs that Ms. Deen might be more opportunistic than honest.

"She was cooking food that a diabetic would not eat," Ms. Taylor said. "And to profit from that and then to profit from a diabetes drug, that's hypocrisy."

She said African-Americans were unlikely to forget Ms. Deen's more recent admission that she used racial epithets. "It's more than a rumor," Ms. Taylor said. "She can't say that she didn't say it."

Leslie Kaufman contributed reporting.

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Gay Couples Who Sued in California Are Married

Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, who have been together for more than 15 years and have four sons, were married at San Francisco City Hall by Attorney General Kamala Harris on Friday.

LOS ANGELES — The two couples who sued to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage were married late Friday afternoon, just hours after the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, lifted the stay that had been in place.

The court had stopped same-sex marriages while the case wound its way through the Supreme Court, which issued its decision to clear the path for same-sex marriages in California on Wednesday.

Attorney General Kamala Harris rushed to San Francisco City Hall within minutes of the ruling to perform the wedding for Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, who have been together for more than 15 years and have four sons.

Many legal experts and advocates had expected the court to wait for an official decision from the Supreme Court, as is the normal practice. But after the initial ruling was issued on Wednesday, Ms. Harris urged the Circuit Court to act immediately and said she would ensure that all counties in the state were prepared to issue licenses to same-sex couples.

Just after 3 p.m. Friday, the three-judge panel issued a one-sentence ruling lifting the stay on a district judge's injunction to not enforce the ban on same-sex marriages.

Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement late Friday afternoon saying that he had directed the state's Department of Health to notify all 58 counties in the state that "same-sex marriage is now legal in California and that marriage licenses must be issued to same-sex couples immediately."

While Sacramento County officials said they planned to stay open late Friday to issue licenses, most applicants were probably waiting until Monday, when all counties will be open for regular business.

Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, on his last workday in office, officiated at the Friday evening wedding of Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo, the two other plaintiffs in the case. Until Friday afternoon, they had no idea when their marriage could take place.

"Nobody really knew; that's what our lawyers are there for. We don't really care about any of that at this point, but we're on our way to see the mayor," Mr. Zarrillo told KCRW, a public radio station in Los Angeles.

The pair were stuck in traffic en route from their home to the county office to obtain their marriage license and then to City Hall downtown. But by 6:30 they walked in front of dozens of television cameras, kissed Mayor Villaraigosa and were pronounced married.

"Your relationship is an inspiration to us all," Mr. Villaraigosa said. "Today, your wait is finally over."

 "Equal feels different," Mr. Katami said. Mr. Zarrillo added, "Equal feels good."

John J. Duran, a councilman from West Hollywood, said that within hours of the court ruling Friday he had promised to officiate at two weddings next week.

Andy Pugno, the general counsel for ProtectMarriage.com, said the court had rushed a decision on Proposition 8, the state's ban on same-sex marriage, and called it a "disgraceful day for California."

"This outrageous act tops off a chronic pattern of lawlessness, throughout this case, by judges and politicians hellbent on thwarting the vote of the people to redefine marriage by any means, even outright corruption," he said in a statement.

Six months after the State Supreme Court ruled that gay men and lesbians had the right to be married, California voters approved the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.

An estimated 18,000 couples were married during that six-month window in 2008, and while the state's highest court ruled that the ban was legal, it said same-sex marriages that had already occurred remained valid.

In City Hall in San Francisco, hundreds packed the rotunda — some weeping with joy — to watch Ms. Perry, in a beige suit, and Ms. Stier, in an eggshell dress, marry.

After standing in silence for the ceremony, the crowd erupted into cheers when Ms. Harris announced them "spouses for life."

"These marriages are legitimate, they are legal and they are going to continue, and it's about time," Ms. Harris said.

Dozens of couples were lined up to follow the brides. The San Francisco County Clerk planned to stay open three hours later on Friday and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Saturday to issue marriage licenses and perform weddings.

Cathy Sutton, 57, and Christina Segatto, 56, were having lunch in their apartment nearby when they heard the news that weddings would begin immediately.

"We ran over here," said Ms. Sutton, her brow still sweaty. "We didn't even have time to change."

So Ms. Sutton was married wearing a faded Super Bowl sweatshirt and Ms. Segatto in jeans. They planned to celebrate over drinks Friday night.

"Since we didn't have time to plan our wedding we're going to go plan our honeymoon," Ms. Segatto said.

Malia Wollan contributed reporting from San Francisco, and Ian Lovett from Los Angeles.

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Hernandez Is Investigated in Two More Killings

George Rizer for The Boston Globe, via Getty Images

Aaron Hernandez was taken into custody at his home in Massachusetts, less than a mile from where a 27-year-old man was found dead.

The N.F.L. player Aaron Hernandez, who was charged with murder Wednesday, is also being investigated as the possible gunman in a double homicide in Boston in 2012, according to a law enforcement official. A second law enforcement official confirmed that Hernandez had been connected to the homicides, which occurred after a fight in a Boston nightclub.

The twin killing at a city intersection early one morning last July remains unsolved. The police knew that Hernandez had been in the nightclub, Cure, that night but considered his presence of no significance.

"They knew he was in there," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was continuing, said of the club. "But it was thought that he was just a sports star at the bar."

When Hernandez was linked last week to the killing of Odin Lloyd, a 27-year-old Boston semiprofessional football player, the Boston police decided to take another look at his possible role in last year's killings.

Further investigation led the police to tie Hernandez to that killing, said the official, who declined to discuss any evidence in the case. The official said that Hernandez was believed to have fired the shots that killed the two men, Daniel Abreu, 29, and Safiro Furtado, 28.

The fight inside the club took place between Abreu and Furtado and a group of men that the police have now been told included Hernandez.

Abreu and Furtado, childhood friends who grew up in Cape Verde, left the club with three other men in a BMW sedan. Abreu, who was driving, came to a stop at a traffic light when an S.U.V. with Rhode Island license plates pulled alongside. The BMW was then sprayed with gunfire, which killed Abreu and Furtado. The three other men in the car survived. No suspects were identified, but the Boston police never closed the investigation.

The killings took place about a week before Hernandez reported to the New England Patriots' 2012 training camp. The next month, the team gave him a $40 million contract extension. Hernandez, a tight end, appeared in 10 games last season and had five touchdowns.

On Wednesday, Hernandez, 23, was charged with murder and five gun-related offenses in Attleboro District Court in Massachusetts in connection with the June 17 murder of Lloyd, whose body was found in a secluded section of an industrial park less than a mile from Hernandez's home in North Attleborough, Mass.

Hernandez pleaded not guilty and was held without bail. On the murder charge, he faces a life sentence without parole.

One official said investigators were exploring a possible connection between the two cases that could explain a motive for the Lloyd killing. The person said investigators were examining the possibility that Lloyd was killed because he had information about Hernandez's suspected involvement in the 2012 double homicide, but cautioned that that was somewhat speculative at this point.

The potential connection to another lethal crime was just one of several developments Thursday concerning Hernandez, who was released by the Patriots after his arrest Wednesday.

In a bail review court hearing, the prosecutor William McCauley revealed that additional search warrants had discovered .45-caliber bullets in a condominium Hernandez rented and in a car linked to him. While the weapon in the Lloyd case has not been found, prosecutors have said that Lloyd was killed with a .45-caliber handgun.

Hernandez's lawyers were hoping to have bail set with conditions like a G.P.S. monitoring bracelet, a $250,000 cash bond and house arrest. James Sultan, a lawyer for Hernandez, also called the prosecution's depiction of Hernandez's role in Lloyd's murder "their theory."

He added that he looked forward to testing the quality of the prosecution's evidence.

While denying the bail request, Bristol Superior Court Judge Renee Dupuis said Hernandez should remain imprisoned and called the case against him "circumstantial to be sure, but a very, very strong circumstantial case."

Joe Drape contributed reporting.

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Senate, 68 to 32, Passes Overhaul for Immigration

Christopher Gregory/The New York Times

From left, Senators John McCain, Charles E. Schumer, Lindsey Graham and Robert Menendez.

WASHINGTON — The Senate on Thursday approved the most significant overhaul of the nation's immigration laws in a generation with broad support generated by a sense among leading Republicans that the party needed to join with Democrats to remove a wedge between Republicans and Hispanic voters.

The strong 68-to-32 vote in the often polarized Senate tossed the issue into the House, where the Republican leadership has said that it will not take up the Senate measure and is instead focused on much narrower legislation that would not provide a path to citizenship for the 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the country. Party leaders hope that the Senate action will put pressure on the House.

Leading up to the final votes, which the senators cast at their desks to mark the import of the moment, members of the bipartisan "Gang of Eight," who drafted the framework of the legislation, took to the Senate floor to make a final argument for the measure. Among them was Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, who is one of his party's leading Hispanic voices. When Mr. Rubio finished, the other senators in the group surrounded him on the floor, patting him on the back and offering words of encouragement. "Good job," one said. "I'm proud of you," another offered.

The future will show whether voters in Republican presidential primaries share that pride.

After Mitt Romney's loss in November, top Republicans immediately began formulating a way to improve the party's standing with Hispanics, who have flocked to Democrats. A group of top Republican political and business officials who support an immigration overhaul met at the downtown Washington office of the anti-tax leader Grover Norquist on Jan. 17 with memories of Mr. Romney's poor showing in their minds.

Optimism ran high at the session, which included Mr. Norquist, the former national party chairman Ed Gillespie and representatives of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Republican "super PACs." Reeling from a second consecutive presidential loss and with Mr. Rubio taking the place of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, as the face of the immigration reform movement, the strategists were hopeful that the wall of conservative opposition that blocked immigration legislation under President George W. Bush could be breached.

Now, even after the lopsided Senate vote, the prospects appear grim for the pro-overhaul Republicans. And Mr. Rubio, the 42-year-old Cuban-American who is seen as a prime White House contender in 2016, is confronting rising criticism from conservatives for pushing legislation with Democratic boogeymen like President Obama and Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York.

"Before the Gang of Eight and the immigration debate, I think many conservatives as well as some establishment Republican folks saw Senator Rubio as a possible bridge candidate between the conservative Tea Party base of the G.O.P. and more establishment G.O.P. voters," said Greg Mueller, a conservative public relations executive who opposed the Senate bill. "That position is on much shakier ground today because conservatives and the Tea Party see the immigration bill as a big-government piece of legislation resembling Obamacare."

Republicans strongly opposed to the immigration bill said they had little sympathy for Mr. Rubio.

"I don't think we're doing any damage to him," said Representative Tim Huelskamp, Republican of Kansas. "I think he's done damage to himself with the amnesty bill."

Alex Conant, Mr. Rubio's spokesman, said: "Immigration is a personal issue for Senator Rubio, and he took it on because he thought it was the right thing to do. There may be some political implications, especially in the short term, but it wasn't an issue he believed he could ignore. We don't expect any parades for our work on this."

On Thursday, Mr. Rubio had little cover from his party's right flank, much less a parade.  Not wanting to tempt primary opponents next year, the top two Senate Republican leaders — Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and John Cornyn of Texas — cast "no" votes.  And a potential 2016 presidential primary rival for Mr. Rubio, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, also voted against the legislation, despite making a show of announcing his general support for an immigration overhaul earlier in the year.

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4 Are Named in Scheme to Pocket Aid for Israel

But Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York State, charged on Thursday that the operators of the charities "brazenly abused the generosity of the public" by withdrawing more than $2.5 million for their personal and family expenses from 2007 to 2013. He said the expenses included home mortgages, the remodeling of a second home, car loans, dentist visits, video rentals and a trip to the Borgata Casino in Atlantic City.

Only a small amount of the donated money actually wound up in Israel. The defendants even bounced at least 2,100 checks, and wasted $65,000 of charitable donations in overdraft fees, the attorney general charged.

The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, principally named Yaakov Weingarten, 52, a resident of the Midwood neighborhood. It also accused his wife, Rivka, 52, and two of Mr. Weingarten's employees, Simon Weiss, 28, and David Yifat, 66, of involvement in the scheme.

It accused the defendants of "preying on a vulnerable public's charitable instincts, and in particular the charitable impulses that many persons of the Jewish faith have for Israel" and using "deceptive and highly aggressive tactics to raise millions of dollars from donors in New York State and throughout North America."

The lawsuit asked the court to close the charities; it did not immediately address the issue of repayment.

Mr. Weingarten's lawyer, Sheldon Eisenberger, did not respond to a message left with his receptionist.

The lawsuit said that under questioning by lawyers for the attorney general's Charities Bureau, Mr. Weingarten repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

Mr. Schneiderman obtained a temporary restraining order barring the four defendants from soliciting contributions and freezing their bank accounts. Asked if criminal charges were likely to follow, Melissa Grace, a spokeswoman for Mr. Schneiderman, said she could not comment because the investigation was continuing.

Among the organizations named in the lawsuit are Hatzalah Rescue of Israel, Bnei Torah, the Israel Leukemia and Cancer Society and Zaka Israel. Only 2 of the 19 entities were even registered in Israel. Others did not file tax returns that protected their tax-exempt status, Mr. Schneiderman said.

The organizations solicited money by mail, telephone and the Internet, often falsely telling donors that they had failed to follow up on a pledge or that they had previously donated to the charity, the complaint said. The name of an organization like Magen Israel played off the Israeli equivalent of the Red Cross. The solicitations also used "doctored photographs" of workers and equipment belonging to actual Israeli emergency organizations, the complaint said.

"In these and other cases, the defendants employ the similar-sounding names to confuse donors into believing that they are contributing to a well-established charity or cause," the complaint said.

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U.N.L.V. Star Is No. 1, and Even He Is Surprised

Presiding over his last N.B.A. draft before he steps down as commissioner in February, David Stern soaked in the usual chorus of boos when he walked onstage at Barclays Center on Thursday.

For decades, Stern has served as an annual visual gag, with his height, perhaps a tad exaggerated at 5 feet 7 inches, serving as a sharp contrast to the supersized players he was introducing to the world. In his 30 years on the job, player fashion varied wildly, but Stern remained a constant.

Before Stern could say goodbye, the 2013 N.B.A. draft had some intrigue. At No. 1, the Cleveland Cavaliers pulled a surprise by selecting Anthony Bennett, a power forward from Nevada-Las Vegas, rather than Nerlens Noel, a player talked of as a future No. 1 pick since he was in high school.

The selection of Bennett, a big-bodied rebounding specialist who is expected to be an excellent pick-and-roll partner with Kyrie Irving, drew huge cheers from the crowd.

"I'm just as surprised as everyone else," Bennett said. "I didn't really have any idea who's going No. 1 or who was going No. 2. I heard everything was up for grabs."

Bennett is the seventh player born outside the United States taken with the first overall pick and the first Canadian. In his lone season at U.N.L.V., Bennett averaged 16.1 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 53.3 percent from the field.

Bennett seemed humbled by the pick, leaving himself open to big accomplishments in the future but remaining realistic about the current state of the Cavaliers.

"I just want to be successful, win championships," Bennett said. "And, you know, just win games."

It was the fourth consecutive year in which a freshman went with the top pick. Over all, freshman have gone first in six of the last seven years.

Noel was trying to remain upbeat. Most mock drafts had him going first despite concerns about his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament, his slight 206-pound frame and his raw offensive game. Instead, Noel sat in the players' waiting area in the center of the arena, trying to remain calm, until he was taken with the No. 6 pick by the newly renamed New Orleans Pelicans.

"You have to take the next step," Noel said when asked if he had regrets about how things played out. "Not look too much on the past."

It immediately seemed an odd choice for the Pelicans, whose center is last year's No. 1 overall pick, Anthony Davis, a one-and-done freshman from Kentucky like Noel.

There were reports shortly after the selection that a trade was agreed upon that would send Noel to the Philadelphia 76ers. In exchange for Noel, the Pelicans would receive Jrue Holiday, an All-Star point guard; a protected 2014 first-round pick; and the No. 42 pick in this year's draft.

The situation caused confusion in Noel's interviews; he discussed the possibility of playing alongside Davis before changing gears and discussing how he would fit in Philadelphia.

"I'm just staying positive about everything," he said.

Many players in this draft class were deemed N.B.A.-ready but lacking upside, a label that Damian Lillard turned on its head last season. Taken with the No. 6 pick, Lillard went on to win the 2013 rookie of the year award.

Victor Oladipo, a shooting guard from Indiana taken No. 2 by the Orlando Magic, could be a candidate for a similarly smooth transition to the pros.

Despite being 6-4, the tenacious Oladipo averaged 13.6 points and 6.3 rebounds a game, helping the Hoosiers earn a No. 1 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament. He became the first Indiana player selected in the top five since Isiah Thomas, who went to the Detroit Pistons with the No. 2 pick in 1981.

Oladipo did not even have a chance to get to the interview room before Indiana had another top-five pick, Cody Zeller, who was taken by the Charlotte Bobcats at No. 4.

"I was cheering just as loud as everyone else," Oladipo said of Zeller's selection.

For the players, Thursday represented the beginning, but for Stern the night was one of his last public outings before he handed the reins over to the league's deputy commissioner, Adam Silver.

Before the final pick of the first round, a video tribute to Stern's draft history was shown. But the man who helped build the N.B.A. since being brought in shortly after graduating from law school in 1966 was not asking for any applause. He repeatedly raised his hands throughout the night, asking for more Bronx cheers from a Brooklyn crowd.

But as he walked out to deliver his final pick, the crowd stood and cheered, chanting his name. The torch officially passed to Silver, who came out to join Stern onstage and was greeted with a chorus of boos.

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Retired U.S. General Is Focus of Inquiry Over Iran Leak

WASHINGTON — The former second-ranking officer in the United States military, retired Gen. James E. Cartwright of the Marines, is a target of an investigation into the leak of classified information about American cyberattacks on Iran's nuclear program, a person familiar with the investigation confirmed Thursday night.

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

Gen. James E. Cartwright in a Pentagon news briefing in Washington in 2011.

The leak investigation, being carried out by the United States attorney for Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein, was announced by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. after articles in The New York Times described an ambitious series of cyberattacks under the code name Olympic Games that were intended to slow Iran's progress toward a nuclear bomb. That General Cartwright is a focus of the leak inquiry was first reported by NBC News.

The general, 63, who served as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 to 2011, became a favorite adviser of President Obama and was considered an influential voice in the White House on security matters.

A lawyer for General Cartwright, Gregory B. Craig, who served as White House counsel early in the Obama administration, declined to comment.

Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for Mr. Rosenstein, declined to confirm or deny whether General Cartwright was being investigated. "We don't have any comment at all," Ms. Murphy said.

Since his retirement in 2011, General Cartwright has joined the Center for Strategic and International Studies and has spoken in favor of major cuts in nuclear weapons and warned of possible "blowback" from the use of drone aircraft by the United States in Pakistan and Yemen.

Asked about the NBC News report, Jill Abramson, executive editor of The New York Times, said, "We don't comment on our confidential sources."

Since President Obama took office in 2009, seven current or former government officials or contractors have been charged under the Espionage Act with leaking classified information, compared with three under all previous presidents. The seventh person charged was Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who has acknowledged giving classified documents to The Guardian and The Washington Post.

Press advocates have criticized the unprecedented crackdown on leaks, in which F.B.I. investigators have used e-mail and telephone records to track exchanges between reporters and sources, saying it endangers reporting on national security. But Mr. Obama and Mr. Holder have said that leaks can put American security at risk.

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