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WASHINGTON -- President-elect Donald Trump moved closer to nominating Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of State on Saturday, a decision that would bring a business leader with close ties to Russia into the Cabinet.Trump has privately signaled that he plans to tap Tillerson for the powerful Cabinet post, but had not formally offered him the job as of Saturday evening, according to people who have spoken with Trump and his transition team. Some advisers worry that Tillersons Russia connections would lead to a contentious Senate confirmation hearing and keep alive questions about Trumps own relationship with Moscow.Trump and Tillerson met privately in New York on Saturday, their second meeting in a week. The president-elects transition team said an announcement was not expected over the weekend.Tillerson rose to prominence through Exxons Russian energy business and was awarded Russias Order of Friendship. He has argued against sanctions the U.S. and European allies imposed on Russia after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.In an interview airing Sunday, Trump praised Tillerson as much more than a businessman.Hes a world-class player, Trump said on Fox News Sunday. To me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia, he does massive deals, not for himself, for the company.Trumps own relationship with Russia was an issue through much of the campaign. The CIA has concluded with high confidence that Russia sought to influence the U.S. election on behalf of the Republican, an assessment Trump has rejected.The president-elects deliberations over his pick to lead the State Department -- particularly his consideration of Mitt Romney for the post -- have exposed anew the deep rivalries within Trumps team. Campaign manager Kellyanne Conway warned publicly that Trump supporters would feel betrayed if he were to choose a fierce rival for the post, especially given that some loyal allies -- most notably former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- also wanted the job.Giuliani officially took himself out of consideration for the Cabinet on Friday, though his standing had already been diminished. In addition to Romney, Trump has also been considering Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker and John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Trumps team has discussed bringing Bolton on as a No. 2 to Tillerson.The people who have spoken to Trump and the transition team about the State Department decision insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the internal deliberations publicly.Internal divisions were also complicating efforts to set up Trumps senior White House staff. Longtime aides are fearful of being left out of the mix as incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus builds out the West Wing team. Trump had given Priebus wide authority in the decision-making over White House jobs.But four people involved in the transition said Trump was irritated after learning of his loyalists frustrations with Priebus in recent press reports. Trump made his displeasure clear to Priebus, who has begun outreach to some of the people who worked on Trumps campaign from the start.Two of those sources said Trumps irritation contributed to a decision to hold off on announcing his pick to succeed Priebus at the Republican National Committee. Priebus, who is fiercely protective of the RNC, is said to back Michigan GOP chair Ronna Romney McDaniel for the job. She appeared at Trumps rally in Michigan Friday night, but no announcement was made.McDaniel, who is Mitt Romneys niece, is still likely to get the RNC job, a Trump transition official said.Priebus was among a handful of Trump advisers who traveled with him to Maryland Saturday for the annual Army-Navy football game. The president-elect was cheered by the crowd as he joined decorated officers in private boxes at the stadium and he pumped his fist in the air a couple of times.The president-elect flew to Maryland from New York, where hed met privately with Tillerson. Trump is said to be intrigued by the prospect of putting an international businessman at the State Department. Hes already selected others with predominantly private sector experience to his Cabinet, including billionaire investor Wilbur Ross for Commerce.The 64-year-old Tillerson is a Texas native who joined Exxon straight out of college in 1975 and never left. Exxon also has operations in Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, and many other countries. Africa and Asia were its leading sources of oil production in 2015, ahead of the U.S. The company says it has a diverse portfolio of oil and gas projects around the world to mitigate risks, including political ones.Tillerson has held posts in the companys operations in both Yemen and Russia. Success in the latter post required aligning the companys interests with that of the Russian government.Early in the companys efforts to gain access to Russian market, Tillerson cut a deal with state-owned Rosneft. The neglected post-Soviet company didnt have a tremendous amount to offer, but Exxon partnered with it to be on the same side of the table, Tillerson said, according to Private Empire, an investigative history of Exxon by reporter Steve Coll.Tillerson, who became CEO on Jan. 1, 2006, is expected to retire in 2017. Tillersons heir apparent, Darren Woods, was put in place a year ago, so there would be virtually no additional disruption to Exxons succession plans if Tillerson were to become secretary of state.---Associated Press writers Ken Thomas and Dave Koenig contributed to this report.---On Twitter, follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC and Julie Bykowicz at http://twitter.com/bykowiczCyber Monday Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys . Manuel was offered a position the day he was fired. He accepted earlier this week and the team made the announcement Friday. Custom Nike Texas Rangers Jerseys .J. -- Marty Brodeur beat the Pittsburgh Penguins yet again. https://www.customjerseysnikebaseball.com/custom-nike-atlanta-braves-jerseys/ .5 seconds to play in the game, Kevin Love never stopped believing that they would come out of there with a win. Custom Nike Miami Marlins Jerseys .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Wholesale . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second.Alex Stewart, a heavyweight contender who fought Mike Tyson and nearly beat George Foreman, has died. He was 52.Stewart died last week after being rushed to a hospital in Mount Vernon, N.Y., said Mike Gilberg, a close friend of the former fighter. He had a blood clot in his lung, Gilberg said.One day he wasnt feeling good, the next this happened, Gilberg said.Stewart fought in a golden time for heavyweight boxing, and he fought almost all the big names of his time. A perennial contender, he was never able to win the big fights of his career but had a reputation as a smart and tough fighter.Stewart lost twice to Evander Holyfield, and was knocked out in the first round of his December 1990 fight with Tyson. But it was his April 1992 fight with Foreman in Las Vegas that was the highlight of his career.Foreman was in the middle of a comeback that he would cap two years later by knocking out Michael Moorer to become the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship at the age of 45 when he met Stewart in a scheduled 10-round bout.Foreman knocked Stewart down twice in the second round and was battering him in the third, when Foreman motioned to referee Richard Steele to stop the fight. But Steele let it continue, and Stewart began pummeling Foreman around tthe ring.ddddddddddddI thought I had him in the third round but the referee let it go on, Foreman said. I didnt want to hurt the kid and now the kid hurt me.Stewart would lose a controversial majority decision, but it was Foreman who looked like loser after the fight with his face hidden behind large sunglasses.Was that a fight or was that a fight? Stewart asked reporters afterward.Stewart lost his second fight to Holyfield the next year, then spent the remainder of his career mostly as an opponent for younger fighters to measure themselves against. He retired with a record of 43-10 with 40 knockouts after losing his last fight in 1999 to Jorge Luis Gonzalez by second round knockout.Stewart was born in London and raised in Jamaica and fought for Jamaica in the 1984 Olympics before turning pro.Gilberg said after retiring from boxing Stewart was a driver for a liquor distributor in the New York City area, and later worked in a factory making boxes for the same company.Gilberg said the fighter is survived by his wife, Angella, and a daughter, Ajay-Tenille. Services will be held Nov. 29 at the Pelham Funeral Home in Pelham, N.Y. ' ' '