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T-storm 88/73 • Tomorrow: Showers/t-storms, 84/72 B8 Democracy Dies in Darkness THURSDAY, AUGUST 1 , 2019. $

Sanctions on a top Iranian official

The Trump administration’s action against

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is

bound to escalate tensions. A

‘There are problems’ HUD chief and former

Johns Hopkins surgeon Ben Carson defended

President Trump’s criticism of Baltimore. B

LOCAL LIVING

Eeewww

Your gym is teeming with

germs. But there are

ways to avoid them.

OBITUARIES

Hal Prince dies

Broadway legend won a

record 21 Tonys. B5, C

In the news

THE NATION

The FAA’s top safety

manager defended its

oversight but said it

misjudged the risk of a

second Boeing 737 crash

coming so quickly. A

A Chinese billionaire

was indicted on charges

of smuggling aluminum

into the United States

and evading $1.8 billion

in tariffs. A

THE WORLD

Tel Aviv’s Central Bus

Station is a dilapidated

eyesore, making it a per-

fect urban playground for

artists of all kinds. A

Dozens of Hong Kong

protesters appeared in

court on charges of riot-

ing and could face up to

10 years in prison. A

THE ECONOMY

Can artificial intelli-

gence discern how peo-

ple are feeling from

their facial expression?

New research says it’s

not that simple. A

THE REGION

Virginia Democrats and

Republicans sparred over

a delegate heckling Presi-

dent Trump during his

Jamestown speech. B

The College of William

& Mary will use a $1 mil-

lion grant to examine the

experiences of people en-

slaved by the school and

the Founding Fathers. B

BUSINESS NEWS ........................ A

COMICS........................................C

OPINION PAGES..........................A

LOTTERIES ................................... B

OBITUARIES ................................. B

TELEVISION..................................C

WORLD NEWS.............................A

DAILY CODE, DETAILS, B

2190

CONTENT © 2019

The Washington Post / Year 142, No. 239

BY HEATHER LONG

The Federal Reserve reduced
the benchmark interest rate
Wednesday for the first time in
more than a decade, lowering it
by a quarter-point to just below
2.25 percent in an effort to bolster
the U.S. economy amid early signs
of a global slowdown.
However, the central bank also
inadvertently caused confusion
about what it plans to do next,
disquieting the stock market.
Fed Chair Jerome H. Powell
said at a news conference that the
Fed was going to do whatever it
takes to “sustain the expansion,”
but he stopped short of commit-
ting to a series of interest rate
reductions as Wall Street and
President Trump have demand-
ed.
“Let me be clear. What I said
was, it’s not the beginning of a
long series of rate cuts,” Powell
said.
His comments triggered a
sharp fall in the markets as inves-
tors questioned whether the Fed
would cut again at its next meet-
ing, in September. By the end of
the trading day, the Dow Jones
industrial average had shed 333
points, or 1.2 percent.
And Trump, watching the mar-
ket slide, blasted Powell for not
going far enough to stimulate the
economy.
“What the Market wanted to
hear from Jay Powell and the
Federal Reserve was that this was
the beginning of a lengthy and
SEE FED ON A

After Fed’s

1st rate cut

since 2008,

confusion

BY MATTHEW CAPPUCCI,

JULIET EILPERIN,

ANDREW FREEDMAN

AND BRADY DENNIS

Steve Perrins didn’t see the
lightning, but he couldn’t miss
the smoke that followed.
It was around dinnertime on
July 23 at Alaska’s oldest hunting
lodge, nestled in the wilderness
more than 100 miles northwest of
Anchorage. What began as a qui-
et evening at the Rainy Pass
Lodge soon turned frantic as
Alaska’s latest wildfire spread
fast.
The Alaska National Guard
soon evacuated 26 people and
two dogs by helicopter from the
lodge, which serves as a check-
point for the Iditarod Trail Sled
Dog Race.
The fire came within a half-
mile of the lodge. In the days that
followed, Perrins and his family
housed and fed dozens of federal
and state firefighters who rushed
to contain the blaze — one of
many raging across Alaska.
“It’s the hottest summer we’ve
had, ever,” said Perrins, who be-
gan working at the lodge in 1977.
The nation’s 49th state is
warming faster than any other,
having heated up more than 2 de-
grees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahren-
heit) over the past century —
SEE ALASKA ON A

BY NICK MIROFF

In court, at the border and

through arm-bending negotia-

tions with regional neighbors

Mexico and Guatemala, the

Trump administration has been

devising elaborate new immigra-

tion measures to buttress against

potential judicial setbacks and the

possibility of a new migration

surge this fall.

The effort proceeds along two

main fronts: a long-range push to

narrow access to the U.S. asylum

system for migrants seeking pro-

tection, and a more immediate

attempt to create new deterrents

by enlisting foreign governments

instead of congressional Demo-

crats.

Late Friday, the administration

announced a major new migra-

tion accord with Guatemala that

would make the country a faraway

repository for asylum seekers

from other nations. It has been

SEE BORDER ON A

Last Frontier

is first in

warming —

and on fire

Administration

building network

of obstacles

to migration

BY DAN BALZ

detroit — Democrats turned

their presidential debate into a

spiral of attacks against one

another here Wednesday night,

spending more than two hours

squabbling over policy details

and questioning each other’s

honesty or character but only

sporadically making a strong

case for defeating President

Trump in 2020.

In one way, the debate was

exactly what had been expected,

a series of attacks against former

vice president Joe Biden, the

leader in the polls who had

faltered in the first debate in

Miami and needed to rebound in

Detroit. He accomplished that,

but barely so and perhaps by

opening himself up to future

criticisms.

In another way, the second

night of debating was not at all

what Democrats had expected or

SEE TAKE ON A

BY MATT VISER,

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA

AND AMY B WANG

detroit — Former vice presi-

dent Joe Biden, attempting to

regain his footing by adopting a

more aggressive and combative

posture during a Democratic

presidential debate here Wednes-

day night, faced relentless at-

tacks on his decades-long Senate

record on race and criminal jus-

tice, immigration and health

care, and his commitment to

women’s rights.

The exchange showcased

many of the deep divides within

the party that are taking on

greater urgency as the candi-

dates strive to make gains before

the field narrows.

Standing between Sens. Kama-

la D. Harris (Calif.) and Cory

Booker (N.J.), Biden swiveled

back and forth as his record on

and commitment to issues of race

SEE DEBATE ON A

Democrats pull no punches

Biden bears brunt of rivals’ attacks,

with Harris also a prime target

THE TAKE

Hours of infighting, plenty of bruises

Stocks fall, Trump fumes

as Powell declines to

promise more reductions

CAMPAIGN 2020

BY BETH REINHARD,

ROSALIND S. HELDERMAN

AND MARC FISHER

For the better part of two dec-

ades starting in the late 1980s,

Jeffrey Epstein and Donald

Trump swam in the same social

pool. They were neighbors in

Florida. They jetted from LaGuar-

dia to Palm Beach together. They

partied at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago

Club and dined at Epstein’s Man-

hattan mansion.

And then, in 2004, they were

suddenly rivals, each angling to

snag a choice Palm Beach proper-

ty, an oceanfront manse called

Maison de l’Amitie — the House

of Friendship — that was being

sold out of bankruptcy.

Before the auction, Epstein

and Trump each tried to work the

ref; the trustee in the case, Joseph

Luzinski, recalls being lobbied by

both camps.

“It was something like, Donald

saying, ‘You don’t want to do a

deal with him, he doesn’t have the

money,’ while Epstein was saying:

‘Donald is all talk. He doesn’t have

the money,’ ” Luzinski said. “They

SEE EPSTEIN ON A

Trump, Epstein sparred over Florida mansion

DAVIDOFF STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY/GETTY IMAGES

Donald Trump with his then-girlfriend, Melania Knauss, and Jeffrey Epstein with Ghislaine

Maxwell at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla., in February 2000.

Richest farmers get richer
Trump’s trade war bailout helps top
producers most, a study found. A

The moments

Biden, Harris find

themselves on the

defensive. A

Winners and losers

The biggest winners

weren’t even present

Wednesday. A

The Fact Checker

The Post examines

key claims, many of

them complex. A

Devil in the details

Comparison of

health-care policies

gets wonky. A

JIM WATSON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Sen. Cory Booker, former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris argued over such issues as race, crime, immigration and health care in Detroit.