First Draft on Politics: 'I’ll Take the Heat'

President Trump appeared receptive to a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, January 10, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [President Trump said legislation around an immigration overhaul should come from love, while also pushing for stronger security measures.]( President Trump said legislation around an immigration overhaul should come from love, while also pushing for stronger security measures. Doug Mills/The New York Times Good Wednesday morning. Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - President Trump [said he would be willing to “take the heat” politically]( for a comprehensive immigration deal, which could alienate some of his supporters. The president made the remarks during a meeting with congressional leaders over a shorter-term deal to extend legal status for immigrants who arrived illegally as children. - Dogged by concerns about his competency, [Mr. Trump allowed cameras to roll]( as he discussed immigration law at the meeting. He appeared intent on showing that he could handle the presidency. - During an intense political fight over the program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation, [a federal judge issued an injunction]( ordering the Trump administration to maintain it. - Stephen K. Bannon [stepped down from his post as executive chairman]( of Breitbart News, ostracized for now from conservative circles and the Republican Party he brazenly predicted he would remake. - In the first decision of its kind, [federal judges threw out]( North Carolina’s congressional map, saying it was drawn to favor Republicans. — The First Draft Team HAVE A CONFIDENTIAL NEWS TIP? Do you have the next big story? Want to share it with The New York Times? We offer several ways to get in touch with and provide materials to our journalists. [Learn More »]( ADVERTISEMENT [Join the New ‘At War’ Community]( At War existed as a New York Times blog from 2009 to 2016. Stay informed about its relaunching, and tell us what we should cover. [A Brief Anatomy of Trump’s Immigration Meeting With Lawmakers]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR [President Trump discussed immigration issues with Republican and Democratic members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday.]( President Trump discussed immigration issues with Republican and Democratic members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday. Doug Mills/The New York Times “The West Wing” met “The Apprentice” on Tuesday when [President Trump presided over an extraordinary meeting]( later broadcast on television, of lawmakers from both parties debating policy in the cabinet room. On the table: immigration. Over the course of about 55 minutes, members of both the House and the Senate discussed how best to protect immigrants who arrived without authorization as children, and whether to embrace a path to citizenship for millions of other immigrants. Mr. Trump gave his endorsement to a plan for broad changes, even as the lawmakers debated a narrower deal that could be reached sooner. [See some of the dramatic moments from the meeting »](  [Gov. Rick Scott of Florida on Tuesday. “My top priority is to ensure that Florida’s natural resources are protected,” he said last week.]( [Administration Drops Florida From Offshore Drilling Plan]( By HIROKO TABUCHI The state’s governor, Rick Scott, a Republican, had opposed the proposal to allow new offshore oil and gas drilling in nearly all United States waters. [Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy and the current White House physician, will oversee the president’s physical on Friday.]( [Trump’s First Full Physical Is Approaching. What He Discloses Is Up to Him.]( By KATIE ROGERS AND LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN, M.D. With questions swirling around President Trump’s mental health, his coming physical may yield few clues about whether he is, as his former doctor asserted during his candidacy, the “healthiest individual” to hold the office. [Robert E. Murray, chief executive of the largest coal mining company in the United States, at a Clean Power Plan hearing in Charleston, W.Va., in November.]( [How a Coal Baron’s Wish List Became Trump’s To-Do List]( By LISA FRIEDMAN Robert E. Murray, the chief executive of Murray Energy, wrote a lengthy “action plan” last year for the president. There’s not much left undone. [Senator Dianne Feinstein of California released the transcripts without the Judiciary Committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, almost certainly escalating partisan tensions on the committee]( [Feinstein Releases Transcript of Interview With Dossier Firm]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS, MATTHEW ROSENBERG AND SHARON LAFRANIERE Senator Dianne Feinstein, the senior Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, released the transcript of the committee’s interview with Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS. [Michael D. Cohen, a longtime lawyer for President Trump, has long denied the claims in a salacious dossier that suggest he has deep ties to Russian officials.]( [Trump’s Longtime Lawyer Sues BuzzFeed and Firm Behind Russia Dossier]( By MATTHEW ROSENBERG AND MAGGIE HABERMAN Saying “enough is enough,” Michael D. Cohen filed the defamation suit after denying for the past year that he played any part in a conspiracy to help elect the president. [Protesters in Seoul, the South Korean capital, demonstrated on Tuesday against the talks with North Korea being held at the countries’ border. Conservatives in South Korea are wary of President Moon Jae-in’s policy of promoting dialogue with the North.]( [North Korea Moves Toward Détente With Seoul]( By CHOE SANG-HUN AND DAVID E. SANGER The announcement that North Korea would participate in Olympic Games next month was welcomed in the South, but few believed that the North’s leader was motivated by the Olympic spirit. [After eight years as governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie delivered his final State of the State address on Tuesday.]( [Boastful and Unabashed, Christie Gives Final State of the State Address]( By NICK CORASANITI Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey spun a rosy tale, boasting a litany of accomplishments seemingly at odds with his constituents’ current view of him. [The annual economic forum takes place in the resort town of Davos high in the Swiss Alps, bringing together more than 2,500 members of the global elite in what has been described as the world’s most high-powered networking event.]( [Trump Plans to Attend the World Economic Forum in Davos]( By MAGGIE HABERMAN AND MICHAEL D. SHEAR The forum in Switzerland is synonymous with wealth and elite prestige, drawing leaders of nations and corporations, and some of the world’s richest people. [Joe Arpaio at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Mr. Arpaio announced on Tuesday that he is running for the United States Senate.]( [Ex-Sheriff Pardoned by President Announces Senate Run in Arizona]( By SIMON ROMERO Joe Arpaio, who developed a national reputation for hard-line immigration policies, upended the race to replace Senator Jeff Flake. [Prototypes for a wall along the United States’ southern border were unveiled in October in California.]( [To Pay for Wall, Trump Would Cut Proven Border Security Measures]( By RON NIXON Experts say some measures targeted are more effective than a wall, resulting in an approach a Republican congressman called “a third-century solution to a 21st-century problem.” [President Moon Jae-in of South Korea during a televised news conference in Seoul on Wednesday.]( [South Korea’s Leader Credits Trump for North Korea Talks]( By CHOE SANG-HUN President Moon Jae-in warned North Korea about sanctions if it resumed weapons tests, while crediting President Trump with forcing it to the table. [A Pepco crew repairing power lines in Washington. The company said it will cut customers’ rates because of its savings from the new tax law.]( [Power Companies Got a Tax Cut. Will Your Bill Reflect It?]( By BEN CASSELMAN, BRAD PLUMER AND JIM TANKERSLEY Some utilities say they will pass savings from the tax law to ratepayers. Attorneys general in several states are calling for federal action as well. [Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, center, with Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, left, at the Capitol on Tuesday as lawmakers discussed the illnesses that struck American diplomats in Havana in 2016.]( [U.S. to Open Formal Inquiry on Americans Sickened in Cuba]( By GARDINER HARRIS Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson is opening an investigation into what the government has described as mysterious attacks that sickened or injured 24 Americans in Havana in 2016. [Downtown San Salvador on Tuesday. “It’s going to be chaos,” said one resident of the effect of the Trump administration’s decision to cancel a program that gave Salvadorans temporary status in the United States.]( [El Salvador Again Feels Hand of Washington Shaping Its Fate]( By GENE PALUMBO AND AZAM AHMED It has endured civil war and gang violence, and is now bracing for the return of nearly 200,000 Salvadorans who have been living in the United States. [Alex M. Azar II, who worked for six years in the administration of President George W. Bush, is expected to win confirmation to be secretary of health and human services with support from Republicans and perhaps a few Democrats.]( [Trump Likes Drug Price Negotiations; Pick for Health Secretary Doesn’t]( By ROBERT PEAR Alex M. Azar II, the president’s nominee for health secretary, told senators that he was wary of proposals for Medicare to negotiate drug prices. [Sending a suspect to Guantánamo Bay now could risk relations with some of Washington’s closest counterterrorism allies.]( [Administration Delays Prosecuting Qaeda Suspect]( By ADAM GOLDMAN AND MATT APUZZO The delay is the latest example of how the president’s campaign pledges have met the complicated realities of fighting terrorism. [Several justices suggested that failing to list an additional driver was a breach of contract that does not overcome the Fourth Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches.]( [Justices Seem Ready to Back Driver of Rental Car in Privacy Case]( By ADAM LIPTAK The Supreme Court considered a clash between a rental car contract’s boilerplate and the Fourth Amendment’s privacy protections. [Representative Ed Royce’s suburban California district voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 by nine percentage points.]( [Republican Retirements Raise Talk of Democratic Wave in November]( By MICHAEL TACKETT Republicans in Congress, dragged down by the president’s low approval ratings, are retiring in large numbers rather than seek re-election, a sign of trouble. [Gov. Ricardo A. Rosselló of Puerto Rico celebrated the successful statehood referendum with Jennifer Gonzalez, the island’s resident commissioner in Congress, last June.]( On Washington [Advocates of Puerto Rico Statehood Plan to Demand Representation]( By CARL HULSE The island’s political leaders say the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and poor treatment in the new tax law make clear that residents need added political clout. [G.O.P. House Retirements Are Surging, but Not as Much in Competitive Races]( By NATE COHN The exodus of Republicans has lifted the Democrats’ hopes of regaining the majority. [Ben S. Bernanke, the former Federal Reserve chairman, and others have suggested the Fed should move away from a rigid inflation target of 2 percent annual growth.]( [As Economy Strengthens, Fed Ponders New Approach]( By BINYAMIN APPELBAUM The Federal Reserve is welcoming a debate among economists about proposed changes that might improve its response to future economic downturns. [Shantel Walker, a Papa John’s employee and a member of the workers’ group Fast Food Justice, near her home in Brooklyn.]( [Fast-Food Workers Claim Victory in a New York Labor Effort]( By STEVEN GREENHOUSE A nonunion group, invoking a new city law, says it has enlisted enough members to force restaurants to deduct the workers’ dues and forward the money. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. Right and Left: Partisan Writing You Shouldn’t Miss Read about how the other side thinks. We have collected political writing from around the web and across ideologies. From the Right [Jonathan S. Tobin]( in [National Review]( “Doing or saying something stupid is not the same thing as mental incapacity. If it were, no president would ever have escaped eviction from office on those grounds.” Mr. Tobin has no shortage of harsh words for President Trump and his personality. A lack of “presidential temperament,” according to Mr. Tobin, does not preclude Mr. Trump from “making decisions and often getting them right.” The 25th Amendment, he adds, “was intended to provide for a replacement when a president couldn’t serve, not to dump a man whose behavior offends the sensibilities of the educated class.” [Read more »]( _____ From the Left [Eric Levitz]( in [New York Magazine]( “There is no diagnostic blood test or brain scan for narcissistic personality disorder; there’s just a list of observable traits.” According to Mr. Levitz, there is no reason to believe that a psychiatrist who sees a patient once a week is more qualified to diagnose narcissistic personality disorder than a doctor who has “access to hundreds of hours of a patient’s interviews and improvisatory remarks, along with a small library’s worth of biographical information and testimonials from his closest confidants.” And while he considers the left’s preoccupation with the “25th Amendment solution” as less than rational, given the country’s hyperpartisan political climate, the right’s refusal to acknowledge the president’s mental deficiencies is even more “crazy.” [Read more »]( _____ [More]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? 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