The New York Times - 30.07.2019

VOL. CLXVIII... No. 58,404 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

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WASHINGTON — President

Trump widened his war on critics

of color on Monday with new at-

tacks on the Rev. Al Sharpton and

other political opponents even as

he gathered his own African-

American allies at the White

House to defend him against

charges of racism.

In a third straight day of broad-

sides against black figures, Mr.

Trump denounced Mr. Sharpton

on Twitter as “a con man” who

“Hates Whites & Cops” and again

assailed Representative Elijah E.

Cummings and his Baltimore-

based district, drawing rebukes

from Maryland Republicans as

well as Democrats.

Mr. Trump’s determination to

intensify the furor rather than

move on guaranteed that it would

continue to dominate the political

debate in Washington and force

many of the president’s fellow Re-

publicans to choose whether to

stand by him, break with him or, in

the case of most, find a way to

keep out of the discussion.

The president linked the clash

with Mr. Cummings to his earlier

demand that four Democratic con-

gresswomen of color “go back” to

their home countries, and he cast

it in electoral terms. “If the Demo-

crats are going to defend the Radi-

cal Left ‘Squad’ and King Elijah’s

Baltimore Fail, it will be a long

road to 2020,” he tweeted. “The

good news for the Dems is that

they have the Fake News Media in

their pocket!”

To defend himself, Mr. Trump

enlisted a couple of his reliable

African-American supporters. He

brought a group of about 20 “In-

ner City Pastors,” as he called

them, to the White House for a

TRUMP BELITTLES

HIS BLACK CRITICS

AND SEEKS SHIELD

MEETING WITH PASTORS

President Calls In Allies

After Jabs at Sharpton

and Cummings

By PETER BAKER

and MAGGIE HABERMAN

Continued on Page A

BALTIMORE RESPONDSWhile acknowledging their city’s problems, residents said President Trump’s insults were out of line. Page A18.

ANNA MONEYMAKER/THE NEW YORK TIMES; MURAL BY F. MICHELLE SANTOS

WASHINGTON — Republicans
hesitated on Monday to embrace
President Trump’s choice for the
director of national intelligence,
and some privately expressed
doubts about his potential confir-
mation, echoing concerns of ex-
perts and Democrats that he was
too inexperienced and too parti-
san.
Mr. Trump’s pick, Representa-
tive John Ratcliffe of Texas, could
face an uphill battle, Senate Re-
publicans said in private conver-
sations. Several said they wanted
to keep the intelligence post
apolitical, and Mr. Ratcliffe will
need to show he can move beyond
the die-hard conservative per-
sona that has made him a star in
the House and on Fox News but
less well known among senators
who will decide whether to con-
firm him.
Republicans on the Senate In-
telligence Committee, including
its chairman, Richard M. Burr of
North Carolina, said they were un-
familiar with the congressman. “I
don’t know John Ratcliffe,” Mr.
Burr said. “I talked to him on the
phone last night — it’s the first
contact I’ve ever had with him. I
look forward to getting to know
him, and if I get an official nomina-
tion, I’ll process it through the
committee.”
Another Republican committee
member, Senator Susan Collins of
Maine, who helped shape the 2004
law that created the position of di-
rector of national intelligence,
said the job should be filled by
someone “with the integrity and
skill and ability to bring all the
members of the intelligence com-
munity together.”
The cool reception from mem-
bers of the president’s own party
reflected the split at hand: For
what is supposed to be perhaps
the most nonpartisan job in Wash-
ington, Mr. Trump selected one of
the capital’s fiercest political war-
riors.
One of Mr. Trump’s most ardent

Pick for Head

Of Intelligence

Faces Hurdles

Trump Defender Has

Skeptics in G.O.P.

This article is by Julian E. Barnes,
Nicholas Fandosand Adam Gold-
man.

John Ratcliffe was a strong

critic of the Russia inquiry.

ERIN SCHAFF/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A

MITCHELL, Neb. — For farm-

ers battered by floods and bliz-

zards and one of the rainiest

springs on record, this has been a

year tainted by too much water.

But suddenly, across more than

100,000 acres of Nebraska and

Wyoming, there is no water to be

found. The dirt is cracking. The

beans are turning a sickly yellow.

And the corn, which looked so

promising just two weeks ago, is

straining for fluid through long,

scorching days.

The countryside is suddenly

parched because a century-old

tunnel that carries irrigation wa-

ter across more than 100 miles,

from Wyoming to Nebraska, col-

lapsed this month. The cause of

the collapse was not yet clear but

the effect has been immediate:

A large expanse of farmland is

affected. And hundreds of farm-

ers, already reeling from years of

low grain prices, are without wa-

ter at the most critical point of the

growing cycle.

“Could you survive working

with no salary for a year?” said

Kendall Busch, who grows sugar

beets, beans and corn near

Mitchell, Neb. “That’s what we’re

doing.”

Across much of the Great

Plains, this growing season

seemed cursed even before the ir-

rigation crisis.

First came trade wars that

threw the grain markets into cha-

os.

Then floods covered cornfields

with ice chunks the size of golf

carts.

An abnormally wet spring de-

layed planting by weeks or

months.

Finally, just when conditions

were looking more stable, the irri-

gation canal split open and water

stopped flowing.

Not every problem hit every

farmer, but few in Midwestern ag-

riculture will make it to harvest

unscathed.

“It’s just been event after event

after event,” said Dave Kaufman,

Tariffs, Low Grain Prices, Floodwaters and Now No Water at All

By MITCH SMITH

The collapse of a century-old irrigation tunnel has left more than 100,000 acres of farmland in Nebraska and Wyoming without water.

THEO STROOMER FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A

As aides and allies watched Jo-
seph R. Biden Jr.’s first debate per-
formance last month, their initial
optimism about his abilities
turned to alarm as Senator Kama-
la Harris laced into him over race
and busing.
It wasn’t just Mr. Biden’s halting
answers that worried some of
them. They thought he was show-
ing his age — that, at 76, he ap-
peared slow off the mark, uncer-
tain about how to counterpunch as
he allowed Ms. Harris to land
clean hits without interruption.
Within minutes, aides sent talk-
ing points to supporters titled “re-
garding the civil rights exchange,”
and had information on his record

ready for a late-night conference

call. But his top advisers and other

Democrats knew his unsteady re-

sponse — ending with his listless

comment that his “time is up” —

would exacerbate questions about

whether Mr. Biden, a veteran de-

bater, was nimble enough to han-

dle intense campaign moments or

to beat President Trump on a de-

bate stage next year.

“It felt like he was a step slow,”

said Mike Lux, a Democratic

strategist who was a top Iowa

staffer for Mr. Biden during his

1988 presidential campaign and is

so far neutral this cycle. “If Joe

comes back strong in the next few

‘A Step Slow’: Democrats Fret

As Biden’s Age Becomes Issue

By KATIE GLUECK and JONATHAN MARTIN

Continued on Page A

Both were enduring characters

in New York, their names in head-

lines, their faces on television.

Both began their lives outside

Manhattan — one was born in

Brownsville, Brooklyn, the other

in Jamaica, Queens — and both

worked their way toward its irre-

sistibly sizzling spotlight. Both

were flamboyant attention-get-

ters who found fame on television,

Donald J. Trump as a reality-show

host, the Rev. Al Sharpton as a ca-

ble news commentator.

From time to time, they crossed

paths, drawing energy from each

other even as foes, as Mr. Trump

made claims that Mr. Sharpton

challenged — about five black and

Latino teenagers who were

charged with raping a white jog-

ger in Central Park in the 1980s,

and about whether Barack Obama

was born in the United States.

But sometimes they were

friends in the way that public fig-

ures in New York can be. Mr.

Trump cut the ribbon at Mr.

Sharpton’s National Action Net-

work annual convention in 2002,

returning four years later to pose

with Mr. Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse

Jackson and the singer James

Brown.

“Different tune now,” Mr.

Sharpton observed on Monday.

The two have once again found

themselves convenient foils, after

President Trump on Saturday de-

nounced Representative Elijah E.

Cummings, calling the African-

American congressman, a Demo-

crat who represents much of Balti-

more, “racist,” and his district a

“disgusting, rat- and rodent-in-

fested mess.”

That was enough to draw Mr.

Sharpton to Baltimore, only to

have Mr. Trump fire a pre-emptive

strike, using Twitter on Monday to

assail Mr. Sharpton as “a con

man” who “Hates Whites &

Cops!”

Mr. Trump has been irritated by

Mr. Sharpton’s increasing criti-

cism of him, believing that Mr.

Sharpton has long since broken an

informal truce, according to aides

and people who have spoken to

him. The president also believes

that his attacks on Mr. Sharpton

will appeal to his base.

The Fraught History of 2 New York Personalities

By JAMES BARRON

and JEFFERY C. MAYS

Continued on Page A

Trump and Sharpton

Find Friend and Foe

in Each Other

A boy, 6, and a girl, 13, were among
three people fatally shot at the Gilroy
Garlic Festival in California. PAGE A

NATIONAL A12-

2 Gilroy Victims Were Children

The 79-year-old musician talks about

Kendrick Lamar, a new album, and jazz

as a global phenomenon. PAGE C

ARTS C1-

Herbie Hancock, Rule Breaker

For the longest time, the fearsome

anglerfish was known only from blobby,

washed-up specimens, but recent video

has brought them to life. PAGE D

SCIENCE TIMES D1-

An Ugly Denizen of the Deep

As mass rallies rumble into a third

month, demonstrators, government

supporters and others reflect on where

the movement is headed. PAGE A

INTERNATIONAL A4-

Voices of Hong Kong

Samsung already assembles half of its

handsets in the country. Now, amid

American tariffs on Chinese goods,

Apple is homing in. PAGE B

BUSINESS B1-

An iPhone From Vietnam?

Supporters of the Russian opposition

leader Aleksei A. Navalny are linking

his illness to the Kremlin. PAGE A

A History of Silencing Rivals

Juan Rodriguez, charged with man-

slaughter, is grappling with how he

forgot his babies in a hot car. PAGE A

NEW YORK A24-

Grief Over Twins’ Death

New York’s cultural institutions were

asked to devise plans to make their

organizations more inclusive. PAGE C

Diversifying the Art World

Kyle Giersdorf, 16, who plays the video

game as “Bugha,” said he planned to

buy a new desk with the money he won

at the Fortnite World Cup. PAGE B

SPORTSTUESDAY B7-

A $3 Million Prize for Fortnite

David Brooks PAGE A

Democrats propose government alter- EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-
natives to private insurance, but they
could destabilize the A.C.A. PAGE A

Putting Health Law at Risk

A software engineer in Seattle

hacked into a server holding

customer information for Capital

One and obtained the personal

data of more than 100 million peo-

ple, federal prosecutors said on

Monday, in one of the largest

thefts of data from a bank.

The suspect, Paige Thompson,

33, left a trail online for investiga-

tors to follow as she boasted about

the hacking, according to court

documents in Seattle, where she

was arrested and charged with

one count of computer fraud and

abuse.

Ms. Thompson, who formerly

worked for Amazon Web Services,

which hosted the Capital One

database that was breached, was

not shy about her work as a

hacker. She is listed as the organ-

izer of a group on Meetup, a social

network, called Seattle Warez

Kiddies, described as a gathering

for “anybody with an appreciation

for distributed systems, program-

ming, hacking, cracking.”

The F.B.I. noticed her activity

on Meetup and used it to trace her

other online activities, eventually

linking her to posts describing the

data theft on Twitter and the Slack

messaging service.

“I’ve basically strapped myself

with a bomb vest,” Ms. Thompson

100 Million Hit

In Data Breach

At Capital One

By EMILY FLITTER

and KAREN WEISE

Continued on Page A

Late Edition

Today,sunshine, lower air quality,

high 92. Tonight,partly cloudy,

storms, low 75. Tomorrow, sunshine,

showers or thunderstorms, high 86.

Weather map appears on Page C8.

$3.