In the Nation

NEW MEXICO

Former CNN anchor

ducks robber's gunfire

A cross-country road trip got derailed for a former CNN anchor and her husband after a would-be robber forced his way into their motel room and a shootout ensued.

Lynne Russell told reporters Wednesday that she and her husband, Chuck de Caro, stopped at a motel on Albuquerque's western edge. When she went to the car to get something and returned, a man was at the door with a handgun.

"He pushed me into the room, and that's when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening," Russell said. "We tried to calm him, confuse him, and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece." After grabbing her husband's briefcase, the man started shooting at de Caro. Russell ducked behind the furniture and de Caro fired back, hitting the man.

The robber was killed, and de Caro was wounded. - AP

NEW YORK

Inclusive parade

After ending a long and controversial ban on gay groups this year, the nation's largest St. Patrick's Day parade, in New York City, has new leadership and plans to add another gay contingent to its ranks, organizers said Wednesday. John Lahey was elected chairman Tuesday, organizers said. The choice marked the first change in the top post in more than two decades.

- AP

WASHINGTON, D.C.

New Marines chief

Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Wednesday the White House is nominating Lt. Gen. Robert Neller, a commander who served in Iraq's western province during one of the most violent periods of the war, to be commandant of the Marine Corps. Carter called Neller a warrior, leader, and statesman and said the two had traveled together to war zones, collaborating on how to provide urgent support to troops in the field. - AP