Your Weekend Briefing

Florence, Primaries, Paul Manafort View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Sunday, September 16, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( [Your Weekend Briefing]( By JOUMANA KHATIB AND ELIJAH WALKER Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead. Victor J. Blue for The New York Times 1. Tropical Storm Florence lashed the Carolinas, leaving several people dead and about a million without power on the East Coast. The center of the storm is expected to head west through South Carolina before turning north on Sunday. Rainfall in North Carolina — 30 inches in some parts — has broken a state record, according to preliminary reports from the National Weather Service. Above, a rescue in New Bern, N.C., on Saturday. A brutal weekend of heavy rain and potential flooding for millions in the U.S. seems likely. Typhoon Mangkhut struck mainland China after battering Hong Kong. Rescuers in the Philippines were scrambling to reach survivors after landslides buried at least two buildings. Officials said it was still a severe typhoon with gusts of up to 100 miles an hour. We’ve dropped the paywall for our storm coverage, which [you can find here](. Have you been keeping up with the headlines? Test your knowledge with our news quiz. And here’s [the front page of our Sunday paper]( and our [crossword puzzles](. ____ Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times 2. Primary season is (finally) over. In New York, Andrew Cuomo secured the Democratic nomination for governor, easily beating the activist and actress Cynthia Nixon. Here are the main takeaways our reporters have from the entire primary season. One trend: [A record number of women emerged from primary elections this year](. This class of candidates has the potential to substantially change the image and culture of American government. As Democrats enter the fall midterm campaign with palpable confidence, White House and congressional Republicans are at odds. But [they agree on this]( They cannot rely on the booming economy to win over undecided voters. ____ Zach Gibson/Bloomberg 3. Paul Manafort has flipped. President Trump’s former campaign chairman has [agreed to cooperate with the special counsel]( in the Russia investigation, dealing a blow to the president. The plea deal was a decisive triumph for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, above, who now has a cooperating witness who was at the center of the Trump campaign during a crucial period in 2016. Mr. Manafort also has detailed insight into another target of federal prosecutors, the network of lobbyists and [influence brokers seeking to help foreign interests in Washington](. Mr. Mueller’s investigation has maintained such secrecy that it is impossible to know what puzzle pieces he might still be trying to fill in or what Mr. Manafort’s testimony might mean for Mr. Trump. And Mr. Mueller is sticking to [his tried-and-true P.R. strategy]( silence. ____ Doug Mills/The New York Times 4. Two of the president’s men are on the defensive. A secretive letter that the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee shared with federal investigators claims that as a teenager, Brett Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, and a male friend [trapped a teenage girl in a bedroom during a party and tried to assault her]( according to three people familiar with the contents of the letter. Judge Kavanaugh, above, has denied the claims, and the accusations seem unlikely to derail his confirmation, [our correspondent writes](. In what has become a running story line in the Trump White House, a once-friendly relationship between Mr. Trump and one of his top advisers is souring. This time [the person in question is Jim Mattis]( the defense secretary. The two have been at odds on several issues. The president is considering replacing Mr. Mattis, White House aides say, and many in the Pentagon wonder how long Mr. Mattis can continue to play the loyal Marine. ____ Mike Blake/Reuters 5. The U.S. is holding a record 12,800 migrant children in detention, data obtained by The Times shows. The [huge increases]( which have placed the federal shelter system near capacity, are a result not of an influx of children entering the country, but a reduction in the number being released to live with families and other sponsors, the data suggests. Separately, while the government has largely complied with a federal judge’s order to return most of the nearly 3,000 children taken from their parents as part of a clampdown on illegal border crossings this year, [federal authorities have deemed some parents “ineligible” for reunification]( because they have a criminal history or have raised other “red flags.” ____ The New York Times 6. It’s been 10 years since the 2008 recession, and while the economy has recovered in many ways, the [fallout has influenced economics, politics and even the rise of Bitcoin](. American household earnings are finally returning to their pre-recession heights, but the recovery hasn’t been equal. Two groups in particular have stalled: white people without a college degree, and black and Hispanic people with one. Both are being far outpaced by white college graduates. We devoted a [special section to coverage of the collapse and its aftermath](. ____ Brian Maschino for The New York Times 7. Dallas is reeling after an off-duty police officer [shot and killed a black man in his home]( this month, and there are still more questions than answers. Botham Shem Jean, 26, was shot dead after an officer, Amber Guyger, entered his apartment — which she claimed she thought was her own. She shot him after giving “verbal commands,” the authorities said, but it was not clear what those commands were. Many of the officer’s claims do not seem to add up. She has been charged with manslaughter and could face other charges. Above, a protest in Mr. Jean’s honor this past week. “Everybody is heartbroken,” the mayor of Dallas said. “Everybody wants the same thing — let’s get the answers.” ____ Spencer Platt/Getty Images 8. Two big ousters at CBS. Les Moonves, the network’s longtime chief executive, stepped down after The New Yorker published a second round of sexual-misconduct allegations against him. Mr. Moonves, who has maintained his innocence, once had broad support, but [board members turned against him]( after determining he had misled them. And Jeff Fager, the longtime executive producer of “60 Minutes,” was [dismissed amid allegations of sexual misconduct]( and a threatening text message he sent to a CBS reporter working on a story about the accusations against him and Mr. Moonves. Mr. Fager has denied the misconduct claims. The firings raise questions about [the future of “60 Minutes,”]( CBS’s flagship news program. ____  9. Robert Galbraith, a.k.a. J.K. Rowling, has a new mystery novel out this weekend. Ahead of its release, we sat down with the author for a rare interview, including what music to listen to while reading the book and what next act awaits. Was it a challenge to write mysteries? “I’ve incorporated an element of mystery in all my novels,” the author said. “The Potters were variously whodunits, whydunits and howdidits.” [Read the full interview here.]( ____ Alex Prager for The New York Times. Painting by Vanessa Prager. Stylist: Rebecca Grice. Hair: Bobby Eliot. Makeup: Molly R. Stern. 10. Finally, the state of affairs 25 years after the Oslo accords; spending time with Maya Rudolph, above; and King Kong’s Broadway debut: We have these stories and more in our [Best Weekend Reads](. For more suggestions on what to read, watch and listen to, may we suggest these [nine]( books our editors liked]( a glance at the latest recommendations from [Watching]( or our [music critics’ latest playlist](. Have a great week. ____ Your Weekend Briefing is published Sundays at 6 a.m. Eastern. You can [sign up here]( to get our Morning Briefings by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning, or [here]( to receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights. Browse our full range of Times newsletters [here](. What did you like? What do you want to see here? Let us know at [briefing@nytimes.com](mailto:briefing@nytimes.com?subject=Weekend%20Briefing%20Feedback). ADVERTISEMENT LIKE THIS EMAIL? Forward it to your friends, and let them know they can sign up [here](. Sponsor a Subscription Inspire a future generation of readers by contributing to The New York Times [sponsor-a-subscription program](. For every subscription granted through contributions to this program, The Times will provide a digital subscription to one additional student. FOLLOW NYTimes [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytimes]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Sign Up for the [Evening Briefing newsletter »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Morning Briefing 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