Today's Headlines: Trump Sidesteps Question on Mueller Interview

[House Republicans’ Hard-line Immigration Stand Clashes With Trump Overture]( | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. | [Unsubscribe]( [The New York Times]( [Most Popular]( | [Video]( | [Today's Headlines]( Thursday, January 11, 2018 IN THIS EMAIL [NYT] [World](#worldNews) | [U.S.](#nationalNews) | [Politics](#politicsNews) | [Business](#businessNews) | [Technology](#technologyNews) | [Sports](#sportsNews) | [Arts](#artsNews) | [N.Y./Region](#nyregionNews) | [Fashion & Style](#dailyFeatureNews) | [Today's Video](#videoNews) | [Obituaries](#obituaries) | [Editorials](#editorialsNews) | [Op-Ed](#opinionNews) | [On This Day](#onthisdayNews) | [CUSTOMIZE »]( Top News [President Trump spoke to reporters in the East Room during a news conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway.]( [Trump Sidesteps Question on Mueller Interview]( By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and NICHOLAS FANDOS The response was a marked change from June, when President Trump said he would be "100 percent" willing to give a sworn statement to the special counsel. [House Republicans' Hard-line Immigration Stand Clashes With Trump Overture]( By THOMAS KAPLAN and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG A new proposal from House Republicans underscored how deep the divisions are between and within the two parties on immigration - just days before a deadline for a deal. [A breakfast for junior economists at an annual economic meeting in Philadelphia last week.]( [Wielding Data, Women Force a Reckoning Over Bias in the Economics Field]( By JIM TANKERSLEY and NOAM SCHEIBER Longstanding complaints about the barriers women face in the economics profession are beginning to resonate within the male-dominated field. For more top news, go to [NYTimes.com »]( [Get the Morning Briefing in Your Inbox]( What you need to know to start your day, delivered Monday through Friday. [Sign up »]( ADVERTISEMENT Editors' Picks [Rebecca Ribeiro with her son, Max]( HEALTH [What if CHIP Funds Run Out? Here's What 6 Families Would Do]( By FAHIMA HAQUE With Congress yet to agree on a long-term plan to pay for the popular children's health insurance program, parents start thinking about contingency plans. [Steve Bannon at a Trump campaign event in New Hampshire in 2016.]( OPINION | Op-Ed Contributor [Inside Steve Bannon's 'Fight Club']( By KURT BARDELLA He didn't regard Breitbart as platform to inform the public, but as his weapon in a war against the establishment. QUOTATION OF THE DAY "It's like watching a telenovela. Every day is different. Now we're just going to the stressful part of the telenovela where you wonder what will happen to the protagonist." [FRANCIS MADI]( 28, who who was brought to the United States from Venezuela in 2003 on the tension she and other "Dreamers" feel as they watch their fate being debated. [] Today's Videos [[Video] Video: Extreme Rain Causes Deadly Mudslides in California]( The mudslides have killed at least 13 people in a region devastated by fires last month. [Two baby bottle-nosed dolphins at a zoo in Duisburg, western Germany]( [[Video] Video: Dolphins Mug for Camera in Awareness Test]( In a three-year study using mirrors, bottle-nosed dolphins were found to recognize themselves much earlier than other animals - even humans. [[Video] Video: Birth Control Your Own Adventure]( How my side effects made me four different people [] World [Friendship Bridge, linking Dandong, China, to North Korea. From the border city, the Chinese businesswoman Ma Xiaohong conducted trade that American officials say violated international sanctions.]( [Businesswoman's Fate a Test of China's Resolve on North Korea]( By STEVEN LEE MYERS The fate of Ma Xiaohong, and the business empire she built on trade with North Korea, has become a measure of China's willingness to confront its neighbor. [Women and their children in a chhaupadi hut in western Nepal in September. Nepal's government has been trying to discourage the chhaupadi tradition, in which menstruating women are banished from the home.]( [In Rural Nepal, Menstruation Taboo Claims Another Victim]( By BHADRA SHARMA and JEFFREY GETTLEMAN Many women in rural Nepal sleep outdoors when they are menstruating, because of a belief that they are impure. This week, one such woman died in the cold. [The former Auschwitz concentration camp, a legacy of Nazi Germany, is now a museum in Poland.]( [German Idea to Fight Anti-Semitism: Make Immigrants Tour Concentration Camps]( By RICK GLADSTONE Jewish advocacy groups welcomed an idea to make such tours mandatory for immigrants to Germany. But some experts called the idea simplistic. For more world news, go to [NYTimes.com/World »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] U.S. [Emergency workers carrying a woman rescued in Montecito, Calif., on Tuesday.]( [A Rush to Find Survivors Amid the Mud of Southern California Enclave]( By THOMAS FULLER More than a dozen people are missing around Montecito in the aftermath of mudslides that killed 17 people and destroyed 100 homes. [An arrest at the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.]( ['Trump Effect' Wears Off as Migrants Resume Their Northward Push]( By CAITLIN DICKERSON The number of border crossings is on the rise as migrants and smugglers appear no longer deterred by the president's crackdown on illegal immigration. [Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles on Wednesday.]( [Immigration Agents Target 7-Eleven Stores in Push to Punish Employers]( By PATRICIA MAZZEI Agents visited 98 franchises around the country, arresting 21 people and demanding paperwork as they seek out employers who hire undocumented workers. For more U.S. news, go to [NYTimes.com/US »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Politics [At their peak, earmarks still represented only a sliver of the annual federal budget, but they were banned with a bipartisan bill in 2011. President Trump and members of Congress are now discussing bringing them back.]( [To Grease Wheels of Congress, Trump Suggests Bringing Back Pork]( By ALAN RAPPEPORT President Trump's suggestion that Congress revive the old practice of salting spending bills with lawmaker pet projects has revived a simmering debate. [Advocates for voting rights rallied outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday.]( [Supreme Court Weighs Purge of Ohio Voting Rolls]( By ADAM LIPTAK The justices considered whether states may cull their voting lists based on the failure to vote. [The hard-edge partisanship of Representative Darrell Issa, Republican of California, had begun to wear on a district that is affluent and increasingly moderate.]( [Darrell Issa, a California Republican, Will Not Seek Re-election to House]( By NICHOLAS FANDOS Mr. Issa becomes one of the most prominent in a long list of Republican retirements, adding to talk of a Democratic wave in the midterm elections. For more political news, go to [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [] Business [The headquarters of the People's Bank of China in Beijing. Investors were rattled by a report that China's central bank, which owns $1.2 trillion in United States Treasury bills, may be poised to slow or even halt its buying of United States debt.]( [Investors Spooked at Specter of Central Banks Halting Bond-Buying Spree]( By LANDON THOMAS Jr. The most immediate fear: A sharp falloff in bond prices would rattle equity markets that are now trading at record highs. [Workers sorting lumber at a mill in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. Canadian lumber exports have become an increasing source of tension between the United States and Canada.]( [Canada Attacks U.S. Tariffs by Taking Case to World Trade Organization]( By ANA SWANSON and IAN AUSTEN A sweeping challenge to the Trump administration's "America First" policies could add to tensions already frayed by Nafta negotiations. [Gregory Abel, left, will become vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway's non-insurance businesses, and Ajit Jain will serve as vice chairman of the conglomerate's insurance operations.]( [Warren Buffett's Succession Plan Is Down to Two]( By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway named Greg Abel and Ajit Jain as vice chairmen, clarifying the conglomerate's C.E.O. succession plan. For more business news, go to [NYTimes.com/Business »]( [] Technology [Peloton touts ]( State of the Art [What a $4,000 Treadmill Means for the Future of Gadgets]( By FARHAD MANJOO Peloton, which sells an internet-connected spin bicycle, unveiled a $4,000 internet-connected treadmill. The company's insight: The gadget is not as important as the service. [Gov. Kay Ivey congratulating Akio Toyoda, the chief executive of Toyota Motor, on Wednesday at an event announcing that Huntsville, Ala., had been chosen for a $1.6 billion plant to build cars for Toyota and Mazda.]( [Toyota and Mazda Choose Alabama for $1.6 Billion Car Plant]( By NEAL E. BOUDETTE The new plant is part of an initiative by Toyota to invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years. [[Interactive Feature] Interactive Feature: You Asked About CES 2018. We Answered.]( By BRIAN X. CHEN At the giant International Consumer Electronics Show, thousands of tech companies are showcasing some of the hottest new innovations. Our lead consumer technology writer, Brian X. Chen, answered reader questions from the show in Las Vegas. For more technology news, go to [NYTimes.com/Technology »]( [] Sports [Ryom Tae-ok and Kim Ju-sik of North Korea performed in September.]( [North Korea Is in Winter Olympics Without Any Star Athletes]( By VICTOR MATHER Although nuclear tension may ease, it is unclear how many athletes will participate and they will probably struggle to win any medals. [Russian hackers released a new set of stolen emails on Wednesday, part of an effort to highlight disagreements between global sports officials and international doping regulators.]( [Russian Hackers Release Stolen Emails in New Effort to Undermine Doping Investigators]( By REBECCA R. RUIZ A group tied to Russia's main military intelligence unit published private emails Wednesday in an apparent attempt to retaliate against antidoping investigators. [The Mets brought back Jay Bruce, right, whom they traded to the Indians in August.]( [Jay Bruce Will Return to Mets on a 3-Year, $39 Million Deal]( By JAMES WAGNER Bruce was the most consistent power hitter in the Mets' lineup last season before he was traded to the Cleveland Indians in August. For more sports news, go to [NYTimes.com/Sports »]( [] Arts [President Trump arriving at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for a trip to Nashville on Monday.]( Books of The Times [Will Democracy Survive President Trump? Two New Books Aren't So Sure]( By JENNIFER SZALAI David Frum's "Trumpocracy" takes aim at the president and those who empower him, and "How Democracies Die," by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, reads at times like a sly subtweet of the Republican Party. [Evanna Lynch, left, and Colin Campbell as 17-year-olds on the loose in Enda Walsh's ]( [Review: Dancing to Destruction in Enda Walsh's Fierce 'Disco Pigs']( By BEN BRANTLEY This harrowing and exhilarating revival, featuring an inexhaustible cast of two, summons the agonies and ecstasies of being 17 in a blighted Irish town. [Charles Dutoit leading the Philadelphia Orchestra in 2012.]( [Charles Dutoit, Conductor Accused of Sexual Assault, Leaves Royal Philharmonic]( By MICHAEL COOPER The Swiss-born maestro will step down as the orchestra's artistic director and principal conductor after being accused of assaulting several women. For more arts news, go to [NYTimes.com/Arts »]( Movies [The actress Catherine Deneuve, one of the authors of a letter in Le Monde that says the #MeToo movement has gone too far.]( [Catherine Deneuve and Others Denounce the #MeToo Movement]( By VALERIYA SAFRONOVA In an open letter published in Le Monde, the actress and dozens of other Frenchwomen criticized the movement for punishing undeserving men. [Top YouTube stars like Logan Paul are known for pushing the envelope with outlandish behavior.]( [YouTube Drops Online Star Logan Paul From Premium Advertising]( By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI The online service also suspended production of a movie with Mr. Paul a week after he posted a video of a dead body hanging from a tree in Japan. [Michelle Williams, Mark Wahlberg, right, and Maurizio Lombardi in ]( [Purge of Kevin Spacey Gives 'All the Money in the World' a Pay Problem]( By BROOKS BARNES Mark Wahlberg received $1.5 million for reshoots of the kidnapping drama after it cut out the disgraced Spacey. Michelle Williams got just a small per diem. For more arts news, go to [NYTimes.com/Arts »]( [] New York [A condominium in Manhattan known as 200 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place would like to remove the president's name from the front of its building.]( ['Trump Place' Asks if It Can Be Called by Any Other Name]( By CHARLES V. BAGLI The board of a Manhattan building bearing the president's name has asked a court to protect its right to remove it, without facing a lawsuit in return. [State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein has been accused by a former staffer of forcibly kissing her outside an Albany bar in 2015. He has denied the allegation.]( [Coalition Leader in State Senate Accused of Sexual Misconduct]( By JESSE McKINLEY A former staff member of State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, who leads the Independent Democratic Conference, says he forcibly kissed her in 2015. [William Arroyo, 57, is among a handful of homeless men who stay overnight in the basement of a bodega in Brooklyn.]( [Down the Aisles, a Secret Shelter for the Homeless]( By SARAH MASLIN NIR For the last 14 years, a bodega owner in Brooklyn has quietly taken in the homeless, allowing them to stay in a crude shelter in the store's cellar. For more New York news, go to [NYTimes.com/NewYork »]( [] Media & Advertising [President Trump at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, when he told reporters, ]( [Trump Renews Pledge to 'Take a Strong Look' at Libel Laws]( By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM At a cabinet meeting, the return of the president as press critic, after his legal maneuvers against BuzzFeed and the publisher of Michael Wolff's book. [James Rosen, left, and Joel Achenbach. Mr. Rosen left Fox News in December, and Mr. Achenbach has been suspended from The Washington Post for 90 days.]( [2 Journalists, at Fox and Washington Post, Are Accused of Misconduct]( By MAGGIE ASTOR James Rosen, a Washington correspondent, left Fox News last month, and Joel Achenbach, a Washington Post reporter, received a 90-day suspension on Wednesday. [A Twitter campaign urged writers to pull articles they had sold to Harper's magazine as a way to protest an upcoming article about a list of men in the media accused of misconduct.]( ['Media Men' List Creator Outs Herself, Fearing She Would Be Named]( By JACLYN PEISER Word went out that an article would identify a creator of a list of media industry men accused of sexual harassment. Women urged writers to push back. For more media and advertising news, go to [NYTimes.com/Media »]( [] Fashion & Style [Rex Reed in his apartment in the Dakota in Manhattan.]( [Rex Reed Bangs a Gong on the Mediocrity of Modern Life]( By ALEX WILLIAMS The tirelessly acidic film critic recalls when screens were silver, not small; when actors were stars, not celebrities; and when written opinion wasn't free. [Attendees worked side by side during a Quilt co-working day, hosted by Puno Lauren Puno, the founder of the online marketplace I Love Creatives, at her home in downtown Los Angeles.]( [Come on Over to My Place, Sister Girlfriend, and We'll Co-Work]( By SHEILA MARIKAR Quilt, a start-up in Los Angeles, links women who want to schmooze, study and surf the internet - all in the comfort of another's home, for a fee. [Topshop's new Fake News jeans.]( Unbuttoned [Fake News Jeans: Travesty or Sign of Our Era?]( By VANESSA FRIEDMAN Topshop, the British retailer, has made the issue into a slogan on a pair of pants. Cue controversy. For more fashion news, go to [NYTimes.com/Fashion »]( []Obituaries [Brig. Gen. Hays received the Distinguished Service Medal from Gen. William C. Westmoreland, the Army chief of staff, in 1971.]( [Anna Mae Hays, 97, U.S. Military's First Female General, Dies]( By SAM ROBERTS She served on the front lines during World War II and Korea and, as chief of the Army Nurse Corps, sought to contain casualties in Vietnam. [Dr. James Melius speaking at a legislative conference in Albany in 2016.]( [Dr. James Melius, Advocate for Workers' Health, Dies at 69]( By RICHARD SANDOMIR His expertise was essential to the creation of the law that authorized billions to help those whose health was affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. [Prime Minister Odvar Nordli of Norway with President Jimmy Carter on a visit to the White House in June 1979.]( [Odvar Nordli, a Cold War Leader of Norway, Dies at 90]( By SAM ROBERTS As a Labor prime minister, he pressed a social-democratic agenda. But he resigned under fire for letting the U.S. stockpile weapons near the Soviet border. [Donnelly Rhodes, seated left, with other members of the cast of ]( [Donnelly Rhodes, Prolific Character Actor, Is Dead at 81]( By DANIEL E. SLOTNIK Mr. Rhodes's numerous roles included a dimwitted escaped convict on "Soap" and a brusque doctor on the reboot of "Battlestar Galactica." [Denise LaSalle, Singer and Writer of Earthy Songs, Dies at 78]( By JON PARELES Ms. LaSalle had a career that lasted almost half a century and reached the top of the R&B charts in 1971 with "Trapped by a Thing Called Love." For more obituaries, go to [NYTimes.com/Obituaries »]( [] Editorial Editorial [Is Mr. Trump Nuts?]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It's the wrong question. Efforts to diagnose the president from afar are damaging to real efforts to address his unfitness. [A billboard showing President Vladimir Putin and President Trump in Montenegro.]( Editorial [Who Will Listen to Democrats' Warning on Russia?]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD In the face of Republican complacency, Senate Democrats issue the most comprehensive public analysis thus far of Moscow's war on the West. [Greg Schiller on Wednesday outside his home in Elgin, Ill.]( Editorial [When Mercy Collides With the Law]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD An Illinois man got into trouble with local officials after he let homeless people stay in his basement on the coldest nights. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] Op-Ed [President Trump during a bipartisan meeting with members of Congress on Tuesday.]( Op-Ed Columnist [Caution: Entering Trump's Mind]( By GAIL COLLINS Half of him is feeling very bipartisan these days. Op-Ed Contributor [The Battle Line for Western Values Runs Through Poland]( By CHARLES A. KUPCHAN If the European Union confronts the populist, nationalist government in Warsaw, it can prove that it stands for something. [Palestinian roommates in the film ]( Op-Ed Contributor [Where Can Women Make Movies? The Middle East]( By NANA ASFOUR "In Between," the new film by Maysaloun Hamoud, is the latest in a long line of feminist films by female Arab directors. [Ambulance workers were able to reivive the 40-year-old woman shown here after she overdosed on opioids in November.]( Op-Ed Contributor [How to Fight the Opioid Crisis]( By DAVID A. KESSLER A new cabinet officer could pull together the vast but uncoordinated resources of the federal government to address the problem head on. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] ON THIS DAY On Jan. 11, 1935, aviator Amelia Earhart began a trip from Honolulu to Oakland, Calif., becoming the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific Ocean. 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