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KHOST, Afghanistan — Moti-vated, educated and fresh fromfinishing police academy in Tur-key, Second Lt. Zala Zazai hadstellar qualifications for the jobshe took in eastern Afghanistan inJune. It all mattered little once shestarted.

On social media, she was calleda prostitute, and men wrote thather very presence on the forcewould corrupt Khost Province,where she was posted. Her col-leagues at Police Headquarters —where she was the only female of-ficer on a staff of nearly 500 —tried to intimidate her into wear-ing a conservative head scarf andtraditional clothes instead of heruniform, and to hide in back cor-ners of the office away from thepublic, she said. Shopkeepers ar-rived at the station’s gates with noother business but to get a look atthis novelty.

Lieutenant Zazai, 21, camehome from her first day feelingsick and frightened. She felt so un-safe that she asked her mother,Spesalai, who had accompaniedher from Kabul, to stay with her ata shelter deep inside Police Head-quarters. At night, the two womenlocked the door. During the day,Lieutenant Zazai scrambled to ex-pedite the paperwork for a pistol.

“I want to have something todefend myself with,” she said.

Helping Afghan women, whowere banished to their homes bythe Taliban during their govern-ment in the 1990s, became a rally-ing cry for Western involvementin Afghanistan after the U.S. inva-sion in 2001. Two decades later, the

rise of a generation of educated,professional Afghan women is anundeniable sign of change.

Now, with the possibility ofpower-sharing talks opening be-tween the Taliban and the Afghangovernment, many women areworried that the strides they havemade are at risk. What adds to

their concern is how fragile thegains remain after two decades,where every mundane step is stilla daily battle.

Even after more than a billiondollars spent on women’s empow-erment projects, the daily realityfor women trying to break into

For Afghan Women, Fears That Hard-Won Progress Will VanishBy MUJIB MASHAL

Second Lt. Zala Zazai with two women who came to her seeking help for domestic violence.KIANA HAYERI FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A11

Roy Den Hollander was a self-described “anti-feminist” lawyerwho flooded the courts with seem-ingly frivolous lawsuits thatsought to eliminate women’s stud-ies programs and prohibit night-clubs from holding “ladies’nights.”

In one of his most recent cases,he openly seethed against a fed-eral judge in New Jersey, EstherSalas, whom he described in aself-published, 1,700-page book as“a lazy and incompetent Latinajudge appointed by Obama.”

Mr. Den Hollander left the case,in which he challenged the male-

only United States military draft,last summer, telling a lawyer whoreplaced him that he had terminalcancer.

On Sunday afternoon, Mr. DenHollander showed up at JudgeSalas’s home in North Brunswick,N.J., and fired multiple gunshots,killing the judge’s son and seri-ously wounding her husband, whois a criminal defense lawyer, in-vestigators said. The judge, whowas in the basement at the time,was not injured.

The New York State Policefound Mr. Den Hollander’s bodynear Liberty, N.Y. — about a two-hour drive from the judge’s home— after he shot himself in an ap-parent suicide, officials said.

Anti-Feminist Lawyer SuspectedIn Attack on U.S. Judge’s Family

This article is by Nicole Hong,William K. Rashbaum and MihirZaveri.

Continued on Page A18

President Trump’s weak pollnumbers and a surge of Demo-cratic cash flooding key Senateraces have jolted top Republicansand intensified talk among partydonors and strategists about re-directing money to protect theirnarrow Senate Republican major-ity amid growing fear of completeDemocratic control of Washing-ton in 2021.

Almost no one is talking openlyabout abandoning Mr. Trump atthis point. A total collapse at thetop of the ticket, Republican strat-egists and donors agree, wouldonly make holding the Senateharder.

But maintaining the Senate isan imperative for the G.O.P.: ADemocratic Senate could offer aglide path for liberal SupremeCourt nominees from a PresidentBiden, or block Mr. Trump’sjudges if he won a second term.And right now, Senate Republicanincumbents and candidates arelosing badly in the money chasenot just in the top Senate battle-grounds — states like Maine, Ari-zona, Colorado and North Car-olina — but also in conservativestates, such as Montana, whereseats are now increasingly up forgrabs.

Five of the most endangeredRepublican senators up for re-election were out-raised by a com-bined $18.5 million in the secondquarter by their Democratic chal-lengers, recent campaign filingsshow.

The private discussions aboutwhether to shift resources towardimperiled Republican Senate can-didates reflect a mix of factors: alack of confidence that Mr. Trumpwill beat Joseph R. Biden Jr.; fearthat the president is already adrag on down-ballot candidates;desire to maintain a G.O.P. “fire-wall” on Capitol Hill if Mr. Bidenprevails; and the belief thatmoney is not among Mr. Trump’smyriad problems.

A series of national polls lastweek showed Mr. Trump stuckdouble digits behind Mr. Biden,who now tops 50 percent in manysurveys. The president has morethan three months to rebound, ofcourse, and he is flush with cash

G.O.P. DonorsAre ScramblingTo Save Senate

Party’s Focus Shifts asTrump Slips in Polls

By SHANE GOLDMACHER

Continued on Page A19

The Queens Hospital Centeremergency department has a ca-pacity of 60, but on its worst nightof the coronavirus pandemic,more than 180 patients lay onstretchers in the observation baysand hallways. Alarms rang inces-santly as exhausted doctorsrushed from crisis to crisis.

Less than four miles away, atemporary hospital opened thenext morning, on April 10. The fa-cility, which was built at theU.S.T.A. Billie Jean King NationalTennis Center to relieve the city’soverwhelmed hospitals, had hun-dreds of beds and scores of medi-cal professionals trained to treatvirus patients.

But in the entire month that thesite remained open, it treated justthree patients from the QueensHospital Center emergency de-partment, records show. Overall,the field hospital cost more than$52 million and served only 79 pa-tients.

The pandemic has presentedunique challenges for officialsgrappling with a fast-moving andlargely unpredictable foe. But thestory of the Billie Jean King facili-ty illustrates the missteps made at

Red Tape LeftHospital Idling

In a Hot Zone

By BRIAN M. ROSENTHAL

Continued on Page A8

With coronavirus cases aroundthe country on the rise and statesrolling back their reopening plans,many of the nation's top businessleaders are steeling themselvesfor a period of prolonged eco-nomic disruption and the prospectof a slow, halting recovery.

“I’m less optimistic today than Iwas 30 days ago,” said ArneSorenson, chief executive of Mar-riott International. “The virus is inso many different markets of theUnited States.”

Mr. Sorenson’s outlook, likethose of many chief executives,has worsened in recent weeks asvirus cases have spiked in theSouth and the West, leading somestates to close businesses that hadpreviously been allowed to open.

He said that after bookings atMarriott’s hotels rose in earlyJuly, they had fallen again. “Thelast week was weaker than theweek before,” Mr. Sorenson said.

While retail sales have mostlyrebounded to pre-crisis levels andthe stock markets remain buoy-ant, business leaders and econo-mists still see serious cause forconcern. Tens of millions of Amer-icans are out of work. Importantparts of the economy — includinglive sports, movie theaters andmany tourist attractions — re-main largely shuttered. Businessdistricts are still primarily emptyas people continue working fromhome. And as the virus spreads,new lockdowns could cause fur-ther economic disruptions.

Already, there are signs the re-covery is losing momentum.

Air travel had been on the rise,with the Transportation SecurityAdministration reporting a steadyincrease in passengers at Ameri-can airports. But Ed Bastian, thechief executive of Delta Air Lines,suggested that momentum hadsputtered in recent days.

“I have a more cautious viewthan I did four weeks ago,” Mr.Bastian said. “While the T.S.A.numbers have continued to slowlytick up, the reality is that the cashthat people are willing to committo future travel decisions hasstalled. The fear that the virus hascreated in the South has put peo-ple more into a stay-at-home men-tality than we’d seen before.”

Many chief executives said theywere broadly in favor of reopeningthe economy, arguing that it wasvital for people to be at work.

“We will need to open up, but ithas to be done safely and prop-erly,” said Jamie Dimon, chief ex-

EXECUTIVES FEARECONOMIC AGONYIS FAR FROM OVER

VIRUS’S RISE DIMS HOPES

Business Leaders Bracefor a Slow, Halting

Recovery

By DAVID GELLES

Continued on Page A7

By century’s end, the animals couldbecome nearly extinct as sea ice van-ishes, scientists say. PAGE A12

INTERNATIONAL A10-12

Grim Outlook for Polar BearsThe usually tourist-packed Berkshiresconfront a summer without the festivalthat anchors the season. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Tanglewood, Minus the MusicThey buzz. They hover. Sometimes theysting. Some even help us. How much doyou really know about these so-calledpests that are our neighbors? PAGE D1

SCIENCE TIMES D1-8

Sharing Summer With Wasps

Urban centers, with a dynamism thatfeeds innovation, have long been resil-ient. But the pandemic could drive ashift away from density. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-6

Crossroads for Cities?Three labs reported a good immuneresponse in vaccinated subjects, butone researcher cautioned: “There isstill a long way to go.” PAGE A6

TRACKING AN OUTBREAK A4-9

Promising Results on Vaccine

Michelle Goldberg PAGE A21

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21The famed discount department storeTati is shutting in Paris, and its Barbèsneighborhood is in mourning. PAGE A10

Losing a Bastion of BargainsConcerns are raised about a potentialRussian-linked bid to use disinformationagainst Joseph R. Biden Jr. PAGE A19

NATIONAL A14-19

Democrats Fear a Foreign PlotFary is a leading figure in the country’sstand-up scene. Recently, though, beingfunny has taken a back seat. PAGE C1

French Comic Takes On Racism

Major League Baseball is set to open inempty stadiums this week. But anindependent league has played gamessince early July, with fans. PAGE B7

SPORTSTUESDAY B7-9

Beating Out the Big Leagues

EVE EDELHEIT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A swimming club at The Villages in Florida kept its distance. The virus has arrived at the sprawling retirement community. Page A7.As Cases Soar, a Community Rolls On

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump plans to deploy federal lawenforcement to Chicago andthreatened on Monday to sendagents to other major cities — allcontrolled by Democrats.

Governors and other officialsreacted angrily to the president’smove, calling it an election-yearploy as they squared off overcrime, civil liberties and local con-trol that has spread from Port-land, Ore., across the country.

With camouflage-clad agentsalready sweeping through thestreets of Portland, more unitswere poised to head to Chicago,and Mr. Trump suggested that hewould follow suit in New York,Philadelphia, Detroit and otherurban centers. Governors andother officials compared his ac-tions to authoritarianism and

vowed to pursue legislation orlawsuits to stop him.

The president cast the con-frontation in overtly politicalterms as he seeks an issue thatwould gain traction with voters ata time when many of his own sup-porters have soured on his leader-ship amid a deadly pandemic andeconomic collapse. Trailing badlyin the polls with just over 100 daysuntil the election in November, Mr.Trump assailed the “liberal Demo-crats” running American citiesand tied the issue to his presump-tive fall opponent, former VicePresident Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“I’m going to do something —

that, I can tell you,” Mr. Trump toldreporters in the Oval Office. “Be-cause we’re not going to let NewYork and Chicago and Philadel-phia and Detroit and Baltimoreand all of these — Oakland is amess. We’re not going to let thishappen in our country. All run byliberal Democrats.”

The president portrayed the na-tion’s cities as out of control.“Look at what’s going on — all runby Democrats, all run by very lib-eral Democrats. All run, really, byradical left,” Mr. Trump said. Headded: “If Biden got in, that wouldbe true for the country. The wholecountry would go to hell. Andwe’re not going to let it go to hell.”

Democrats said the presidentwas the one out of control. SenatorJeff Merkley of Oregon said hewould introduce legislation to lim-it the role of federal agents in cit-ies like Portland. “This isn’t justan Oregon crisis,” he said. “It’s an

Trump Threatens to Use Force in Major CitiesThis article is by Peter Baker,

Zolan Kanno-Youngs and MonicaDavey.

Democrats Push Back,Calling His Tactics

‘Authoritarian’

Continued on Page A17

Congressional Republicans and theWhite House are coalescing around a$1 trillion virus relief package. PAGE A9

G.O.P.’s Opening Offer

Late Edition

VOL. CLXIX . . . . No. 58,761 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, TUESDAY, JULY 21, 2020

Today, hot, evening showers orheavy thunderstorms, high 97. To-night, showers or thunderstormsearly, low 76. Tomorrow, cloudy, hot,high 90. Weather map on Page A22.

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