First Draft on Politics: Kim Jong-un Focuses On The Economy

When North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, visited a hydroelectric dam under construction last month, he reportedly “flew into a rage” after learning why the dam was still unfinished after 17 years of work. View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Tuesday, August 21, 2018 [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [Kim Jong-un, left, inspecting the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, in an undated photograph provided by the official Korean Central News Agency last month.] Kim Jong-un, left, inspecting the construction of a hydroelectric power plant in North Hamgyong Province, North Korea, in an undated photograph provided by the official Korean Central News Agency last month. Korean Central News Agency. Good Tuesday morning, Here are some of the stories making news in Washington and politics today: - Instead of [boasting of his country’s military prowess]( Kim Jong-un is lashing out at poor management at factories, farms and construction sites he visits, highlighting his intense focus on fixing his economy. - A [newly released memo]( shows that Brett Kavanaugh, Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court pick, took a relentlessly tough stance as a young lawyer investigating Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky. - In a speech, Mr. [Trump said]( [Hispanic-American Border Patrol agent]( [who arrested a smuggler in Texas spoke “perfect English,” the latest example of the president making a racially tinged remark in public.]( - Mr. Trump complained to wealthy donors at a fund-raiser in the Hamptons last week that the man he [chose as chairman of the Federal Reserve]( Jerome Powell, has disappointed him by raising interest rates. - Executives from American companies [flocked to Washington]( to warn the Trump administration that imposing tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods would cripple their businesses and raise prices. - [See what’s coming up next on the primary calendar »]( — 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 OTTAWA | SEPTEMBER 5 [Canada and the U.S. Midterm Elections]( New York Times journalists will discuss one of the United States’ most consequential congressional elections in a generation. The White House correspondent Julie Hirschfeld Davis will join the political reporters Jonathan Martin and Astead Herndon for a conversation about the midterms. Ian Austen, a Times reporter and author of the Canada Letter newsletter, will moderate the conversation. [• Get tickets here »]( Sidebar [Two U.S. Agents Fired Into Mexico, Killing Teenagers. Only One Faces a Lawsuit.]( By ADAM LIPTAK [A portrait of José Antonio Elena Rodríguez, 16, who was killed in Mexico along the United States border. An appeals court ruled this month that his mother could sue a Border Patrol agent for violating her son's constitutional rights.]( A portrait of José Antonio Elena Rodríguez, 16, who was killed in Mexico along the United States border. An appeals court ruled this month that his mother could sue a Border Patrol agent for violating her son's constitutional rights. Anita Snow/Associated Press The Constitution should mean the same thing in Arizona as it does in Texas. But federal appeals courts have issued starkly different rulings about whether border guards in those states can be held to account for shootings across the Mexican border that took the lives of two teenagers. In [a dissent this month]( a federal judge in California urged the Supreme Court to resolve the clashing rulings. It cannot be, [Judge Milan D. Smith Jr.]( wrote, that guards standing on American soil in Arizona may be sued for cross-border killings but that ones standing in Texas cannot. “This is an untenable result,” Judge Smith wrote, “and will lead to an uneven administration of the rule of law.” [Read more >>](  [As Trump Goes on a Twitter Rampage, Melania Trump Announces a Solo Trip to Africa]( By KATIE ROGERS Another day of dissonant messaging unfolded from the Trump White House. [Representative Keith Ellison was accused of physical and emotional abuse this month by a former girlfriend.]( [Minnesota Democrats Targeted in Ads Citing Allegations Against Keith Ellison]( By LIAM STACK An ad campaign launched on Monday by a conservative super PAC used abuse allegations against Rep. Keith Ellison to attack the credibility of four Minnesota Democrats. [Pentagon Says an American Is Killed in a Helicopter Crash in Iraq]( By THOMAS GIBBONS-NEFF Several other troops were injured in the crash that followed a joint counterterrorism operation in Iraq. [A North Korean commentary warned that United States accusations of secret nuclear sites were a “fiction” that was “derailing dialogue” between the two nations.]( [U.S. Criticism of ‘Suspected’ Nuclear Sites May Derail Talks, North Korean Media Warns]( By EDWARD WONG North Korean officials urged President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to push aside hard-liners and move ahead with diplomacy. [Gabrielle Giffords’s political action committee backs candidates who support gun control.]( [Why Gabby Giffords Just Endorsed 2 Republicans in New Jersey]( By NICK CORASANITI The former Democratic congresswoman is supporting Representatives Leonard Lance and Chris Smith based on their gun control records in Washington. [Representative Leonard L. Boswell speaking during an election-night rally in Des Moines in 2012, when he was defeated after serving eight terms.]( [Leonard Boswell, Veterans’ Champion in the House, Dies at 84]( By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A former career Army officer who saw combat in Vietnam, he sponsored a veterans suicide-prevention act. As a farmer, he focused on agricultural issues. [President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, in May. During a television interview on Sunday, he said, “Truth isn’t truth.”]( [‘Truth Isn’t Truth’ and ‘Alternative Facts’: A White House Defense Strategy]( By NEETI UPADHYE The Trump administration has used some unusual phrases to defend its positions in the news media. Here is a closer look at a few of these remarks. [John Wesley Dean III appeared before the Senate Watergate Committee in June 1973.]( [Remember John Dean, a Watergate Informant? He’s Back in the Limelight]( By LAURA M. HOLSON President Trump referenced Mr. Dean, who served as President Richard Nixon’s White House counsel, in a tweet defending his current White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II. [The Brandon Shores Power Plant near Baltimore. The Trump administration’s overhaul of Obama-era pollution rules is likely to set the stage for years of legal clashes.]( [New E.P.A. Rollback of Coal Pollution Regulations Takes a Major Step Forward]( By LISA FRIEDMAN AND CORAL DAVENPORT The E.P.A.’s acting chief has signed a proposal that would all but erase former President Barack Obama’s efforts to impose controls on greenhouse gasses from coal plants. [In a tweet, President Trump said he hoped John O. Brennan would sue him, calling Mr. Brennan the “worst CIA Director in our country’s history.”]( [Trump and Giuliani Taunt Brennan About Filing a Lawsuit]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR AND EILEEN SULLIVAN Two tweets amounted to an odd “bring it on” challenge to John O. Brennan, the former C.I.A. director, who had mused about suing in response to losing his security clearance. LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. And consider [subscribing to get unlimited access to nytimes.com and our apps.]( ADVERTISEMENT HOW ARE WE DOING? We’d love your feedback on this newsletter. Please email thoughts and suggestions to [washington-newsletter@nytimes.com](mailto:washington-newsletter@nytimes.com?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback). FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@NYTPolitics]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »](  | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $9.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's First Draft newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018