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WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump doubled down on one of thebiggest gambles of his presidencyon Tuesday night with a televisedappeal to pressure Congress intopaying for his long-promised bor-der wall, even at the cost of leav-ing the government partly closeduntil lawmakers give in.

Embarking on a strategy thathe himself privately disparagedas unlikely to work, Mr. Trump de-voted the first prime-time Oval Of-fice address of his presidency tohis proposed barrier in hopes ofenlisting public support in an ideo-logical and political conflict thathas shut the doors of many federalagencies for 18 days.

In a nine-minute speech thatmade no new arguments but in-cluded multiple misleading as-sertions, the president sought torecast the situation at the Mexi-can border as a “humanitarian cri-sis” and opted against declaring anational emergency to bypassCongress, which he had threat-ened to do, at least for now. But heexcoriated Democrats for block-ing the wall, accusing them of hy-pocrisy and exposing the countryto criminal immigrants.

“How much more American

blood must we shed before Con-gress does its job?” Mr. Trumpasked, citing a litany of grislycrimes said to be committed by il-legal immigrants. Asking Ameri-cans to call their lawmakers, headded: “This is a choice betweenright and wrong, justice and injus-tice. This is about whether we ful-fill our sacred duty to the Ameri-can citizens we serve.”

Democrats dismissed his talk ofcrisis as overstated cynicism and,with polls showing Mr. Trumpbearing more of the blame sincethe partial shutdown began lastmonth, betrayed no signs of givingin. The White House earlier in theday dispatched Vice PresidentMike Pence and others to CapitolHill to try to shore up Senate Re-publicans, who are growing in-creasingly anxious as the standoffdrags on.

In their own televised response

TRUMP APPEALSDIRECTLY TO U.S.FOR BORDER WALL

NO NATIONAL EMERGENCY

Sees Humanitarian Crisis— Democrats Say He

Is Stoking Fear

By PETER BAKER

The president hoped to re-frame debate about the wall.

POOL PHOTO BY CARLOS BARRIA

Continued on Page A13

Migrants at a shelter near the border in Tijuana, Mexico, watching President Trump’s address from the Oval Office on Tuesday night.KITRA CAHANA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

COLUMBUS, N.M. — Just min-utes from the border in rural NewMexico, the Borderland Cafe inthe village of Columbus servesburritos and pizza to local resi-dents, Border Patrol agents andvisitors from other parts of thecountry seeking a glimpse of lifeon the frontier. The motto paintedon the wall proclaims “Life is goodin the Borderland.”

“This is the sleepiest little townyou could think of,” said AdrianaZizumbo, 31, who was raised in Co-lumbus and owns the cafe withher husband. “The only crisiswe’re facing here is a shortage oflabor. Fewer people cross the bor-der to work than before, andAmericans don’t want to get theirhands dirty doing hard work.”

President Trump has shut downpart of the government over bor-der security and his plan to build awall along the border with Mex-ico, and in a prime-time speech onTuesday night he painted a bleakpicture of life in towns like Colum-bus.

He said border residents weresuffering through a “humanitar-ian crisis,” and he described alandscape scarred by violenceand prowled by “vicious coyotesand ruthless gangs.” But that isnot how Ms. Zizumbo sees it. Peo-ple in Columbus, she said, op-posed the idea of a wall by about a“90-to-10 margin.”

“Enough about the wall al-ready,” she said. “We have otherproblems here that need fixing.”

Extending nearly 2,000 milesfrom southern Texas to a fence jut-ting out into the Pacific Ocean inSan Diego, America’s border with

Continued on Page A15

No Crisis Here,Say NeighborsClose to Mexico

This article is by Simon Romero,Manny Fernandez, Jose A. Del Realand Azam Ahmed.

BEIJING — China is buyingAmerican soybeans again and hascut tariffs on American cars. It isoffering to keep its hands off valu-able corporate secrets, while alsoallowing foreign investors intomore industries than ever before.

Beijing hopes all of that will beenough to let President Trump de-clare victory and end the trade

war between the two largest econ-omies. But the offer combinessome real concessions, like lowertariffs, with nebulous promises,and it will be hard to ensure thatChina sticks to its commitments.

That could make it a tough sell

in Washington. The Trump admin-istration’s trade hawks are stillpushing for a lot more, while eventhe doves fret that the new prom-ises need effective enforcement tomake sure that China followsthrough, according to people witha detailed knowledge of Americanpolicymaking.

Many American officials andbusinesses complain that Chinahas long wiggled out of commit-ments — accusations that China

China Budges on Tariffs. Will U.S. Budge Back?By SUI-LEE WEE

and KEITH BRADSHERSome Real Concessions,

but Also Hazy Pledges

Continued on Page A8

When Susan Zirinsky takesover CBS News in March, she willbe the first woman to hold the job.She will also be the oldest personto assume the role, at 66.

Her appointment was an-nounced just days after NancyPelosi, 78, was re-elected Speakerof the House of Representatives —making her the most powerfulelected woman in United States

history — and RepresentativeMaxine Waters became the firstwoman and African-American tolead the Financial Services Com-mittee, at age 79.

News of Ms. Zirinsky’s ascen-sion broke on the same evening

that 71-year-old Glenn Closebested four younger women towin the Golden Globe for best ac-tress.

It seems that older women, longinvisible or shunted aside, are ex-periencing an unfamiliar sensa-tion: power.

There are more women over 50in this country today than at anyother point in history, according todata from the United States Cen-sus Bureau. Those women are

Older and in Power, Unwilling to Remain UnseenBy JESSICA BENNETT Women Over 60 Grow

in Number and Clout

Continued on Page A17

WASHINGTON — As a top offi-cial in President Trump’s cam-paign, Paul Manafort shared poli-tical polling data with a businessassociate tied to Russian intelli-gence, according to a court filingunsealed on Tuesday. The docu-ment provided the clearest evi-dence to date that the Trump cam-paign may have tried to coordi-nate with Russians during the2016 presidential race.

Mr. Manafort’s lawyers madethe disclosure by accident,through a formatting error in adocument filed to respond tocharges that he had lied to pros-ecutors working for the specialcounsel, Robert S. Mueller III, af-ter agreeing to cooperate withtheir investigation into Russianinterference in the election.

The document also revealedthat during the campaign, Mr.Manafort and his Russian associ-ate, Konstantin V. Kilimnik, dis-cussed a plan for peace inUkraine. Throughout the cam-paign and the early days of theTrump administration, Russiaand its allies were pushing vari-ous plans for Ukraine in the hopeof gaining relief from American-led sanctions imposed after it an-nexed Crimea from Ukraine.

Prosecutors and the news me-dia have already documented astring of encounters between Rus-sian operatives and Trump cam-paign associates dating from theearly months of Mr. Trump’s bidfor the presidency, including thenow-famous meeting at TrumpTower in Manhattan with a Rus-sian lawyer promising damaginginformation on Hillary Clinton.The accidental disclosure ap-peared to some experts to be per-haps most damning of all.

“This is the closest thing wehave seen to collusion,” ClintWatts, a senior fellow with theForeign Policy Research Institute,said of the data-sharing. “Thequestion now is, did the presidentknow about it?”

The document gave no indica-tion of whether Mr. Trump wasaware of the data transfer or howMr. Kilimnik might have used theinformation. But from March toAugust 2016, when Mr. Manafortworked for the Trump campaign,Russia was engaged in a full-fledged operation using social me-dia, stolen emails and other tac-tics to boost Mr. Trump, attackMrs. Clinton and play on divisiveissues such as race and guns.Polling data could conceivablyhave helped Russia hone thosemessages and target audiences to

Continued on Page A16

MANAFORT GAVEA RUSSIA LIAISON2016 VOTER DATA

DOCUMENT’S REVELATION

A Hint at CoordinationBetween Foreigners and Trump’s Team

This article is by Sharon LaFra-niere, Kenneth P. Vogel and MaggieHaberman.

RUSSIAN INDICTED A lawyerpivotal to the Mueller inquiry wascharged in a separate case show-ing her Kremlin ties. PAGE A17

ABOARD SEA-WATCH 3, OffMalta — Four years ago, he es-caped jihadists in West Africa.Last year, he survived slavery inLibya. But for Daouda Soumana, a20-year-old trader from Niger, oneof the cruelest experiences of hisquest for safety occurred thisweek — within sight of the south-ern shores of Europe.

From the deck of the Sea-Watch3, a rescue ship owned and run bya small German charity, Mr.Soumana can see the white cliffsof Malta gleaming in the sunlight,and even the outlines of seasidebuildings. The German crewmembers can reach that coastwithin 45 minutes by speedboat.Not Mr. Soumana.

He is one of 49 migrantsstranded onboard a pair of rescueships whose requests for safe har-bor have been ignored or refused

by every national governmentbordering the Mediterranean Seasince December.

“We are crying,” Mr. Soumanasaid in an interview on the boatthis week. “We can see Malta withour own eyes, but we are stillstuck on this ship.”

The uncertain fate of the Sea-Watch crystallizes the effect ofEurope’s hard-line shift on migra-tion — a desperate rescue boattossed about and unable to dock,not for reasons of stormy seas butof tempestuous politics.

For years, the Italian CoastGuard would have coordinatedwith the Sea-Watch to quickly lo-

cate a port in southern Italy, or totransfer its passengers to a boatthat was heading there. But as Eu-rope seeks to deter asylum seek-ers, Italy’s right-wing interiorminister has ordered his country’sports closed to migrants rescuedoutside the maritime border.

Since last June, when InteriorMinister Matteo Salvini enteredoffice, the Coast Guard has beeninstructed by Italy’s new populistgovernment not to take part in therescues. That has emboldenedneighboring Malta and othercountries to do the same.

In tandem, Italian, Maltese andGreek officials have harried chari-ties that once operated rescuemissions off the coasts of Libyaand Turkey — launching criminalinvestigations against them andsometimes impounding theirboats. The Sea-Watch is now oneof just three private boats left inthe Mediterranean conducting

Survivors of War and Slavery, Listing at SeaBy PATRICK KINGSLEY Europe’s Harder Stance

Denies Harbor toMigrant Ships

Migrants on the Sea-Watch 3 on Monday. They have been stranded on the vessel since last month.SERGEY PONOMAREV FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A7

Rich in flavor and history, the dish is nolonger a fixture of restaurants in NewOrleans. Some chefs see that as achance to give it a new twist. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-8

Reinventing GumboJeremy Pope, right, with Caleb Eber-hardt, soars in “Choir Boy,” a play abouta gifted gay teenager. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

A Sensational Broadway DebutWith customers troubled by “blooddiamonds,” jewelers like Tiffany aredivulging their supply chains. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Cut, Carat and Now Origin

Athletic Bilbao is loyal to its mission ofusing only homegrown players. Butretaining them isn’t easy, and the Span-ish soccer club is struggling. PAGE B7

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B7-10

Dilemma in Basque CountryPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogansnubbed the American national securityadviser in the Turkish capital. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Turkey Denounces Bolton

The Drama Book Shop, squeezed bysoaring rent, gets help from the “Hamil-ton” creator and his friends. PAGE C1

Lin-Manuel Miranda, RescuerThe imprisoned former Nissan chiefsays his actions were approved byother executives and directors. PAGE B1

Ghosn Offers His Defense

Bernice Sandler, the driving force be-hind the creation of the 1972 civil rightslaw, changed the landscape for womenin academic settings. PAGE B10

OBITUARIES B10-12

‘The Godmother of Title IX’

Frank Bruni PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

Ex-felons in Florida began registeringto vote, after a ballot measure restoredtheir right. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-17

Free to Vote Again

New York City announced a $100 mil-lion plan to help the poor and undocu-mented get medical care. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A19-21

Mayor’s Free Health Care Plan

VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,202 © 2019 The New York Times Company WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2019 Printed in Chicago $3.00

Mostly cloudy north and east. Straysnow flurries in northern Indiana.Partly to mostly sunny elsewhere.Highs in teens to 30s. Patchy cloudstonight. Weather map, Page A18.

National Edition