VOL. CLXIX . . . No. 58,462 © 2019 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

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President Trump repeatedlypressured Ukraine’s leader to in-vestigate leading Democrats as “afavor” to him during a telephonecall last summer in which the twodiscussed the former Soviet re-public’s need for more Americanfinancial aid to counter Russianaggression.

In a reconstruction of the callreleased Wednesday by the WhiteHouse, Mr. Trump urged Presi-dent Volodymyr Zelensky to workwith Attorney General William P.Barr and Rudolph W. Giuliani, thepresident’s personal lawyer, oncorruption investigations con-nected to former Vice PresidentJoseph R. Biden Jr. and otherDemocrats.

Although there was no explicitquid pro quo in the conversation,Mr. Trump raised the matter im-mediately after Mr. Zelenskyspoke of his country’s need formore help from the United States.The call came only days after Mr.Trump blocked $391 million in aidto Ukraine, a decision that per-plexed national security officialsat the time and that he has given

conflicting explanations for in re-cent days.

The aid freeze did not come upduring the call, and Mr. Zelenskywas not yet aware of it. Instead, hethanked Mr. Trump for previousAmerican aid, including Javelinanti-tank weapons, and suggestedhe would need more as part ofUkraine’s five-year-old war withRussian-backed separatists in thecountry’s east.

“I would like you to do us a fa-vor, though,” Mr. Trump re-sponded, shifting to his interest ininvestigating Democrats and urg-ing that he work with Mr. Barr andMr. Giuliani.

“Whatever you can do, it’s veryimportant that you do it if that’spossible,” Mr. Trump said.

The July 25 call has become amajor flash point in what is rap-idly shaping up as a divisive battlebetween the president and HouseDemocrats over impeachmentthat will consume Washington forweeks or months. The conflictinginterpretations of the call’s mean-

TRUMP ASKED FOR ‘FAVOR’ IN CALL, MEMO SHOWSPresident Denies Pressuring Leader

of Ukraine to Investigate Biden

By PETER BAKER

President Trump with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.DOUG MILLS/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Early in the conversation, President Trump brings up aid from the United States.

Then Mr. Trump mentions reciprocity, but doesn’t make a connection to the aid.

Mr. Trump appears to be referring to the 2016 hacking of Democratic Party emails.

He wants Ukraine’s president to deal directly with his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani.

A moment later, Mr. Trump asks for an inquiry into Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son.

Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, promises to do what Mr. Trump is asking.

Part of the reconstructed record of Mr. Trump’s telephone call with Mr. Zelensky on July 25.

Continued on Page A13

WASHINGTON — The intelli-gence officer who filed a whistle-blower complaint about PresidentTrump’s interactions with theleader of Ukraine raised alarmsnot only about what the two mensaid in a phone call, but also abouthow the White House handledrecords of the conversation, ac-cording to two people briefed onthe complaint.

The whistle-blower, moreover,identified multiple White Houseofficials as witnesses to potentialpresidential misconduct whocould corroborate the complaint,the people said — adding that theinspector general for the intelli-gence community, Michael Atkin-son, interviewed witnesses.

Mr. Atkinson eventually con-cluded that there was reason tobelieve that the president mighthave illegally solicited a foreigncampaign contribution — and thathis potential misconduct created anational security risk, accordingto a newly disclosed Justice De-partment memo.

An early portrait of the intelli-gence officer began to take shapeon Wednesday as the WhiteHouse released a rough log of aJuly 25 phone call between Mr.Trump and President VolodymyrZelensky of Ukraine, the latest ex-traordinary revelation set off bythe whistle-blower’s complaint.

This account is based on inter-views with the two people andwith lawmakers who were permit-ted to read the complaint late inthe day, as well as on details re-vealed in a Justice Departmentmemo explaining the Trump ad-ministration’s legal rationale forwithholding the whistle-blower’sallegations from Congress beforeMr. Trump relented this week. TheWhite House did not respond to arequest for comment.

Mr. Atkinson also found reasonto believe that the whistle-blowermight not support the re-electionof Mr. Trump and made clear thatthe complainant was not in a posi-tion to directly listen to the call orsee the memo that reconstructedit before it was made public, ac-cording to the Justice Departmentmemo, which referred only to asingle phone call between Mr.

Witnesses BolsterWhistle-Blower

Complaint

This article is by Charlie Savage,Michael S. Schmidt and Julian E.Barnes.

Continued on Page A14

WASHINGTON — Climatechange is heating the oceans andaltering their chemistry so dra-matically that it is threateningseafood supplies, fueling cyclonesand floods and posing profoundrisks to the hundreds of millions ofpeople living along the coasts, ac-cording to a sweeping United Na-tions report issued Wednesday.

The report concludes that theworld’s oceans and ice sheets areunder such severe stress that the

fallout could prove difficult for hu-mans to contain without steep re-ductions in greenhouse gas emis-sions. Fish populations are al-ready declining in many regionsas warming waters throw marineecosystems into disarray, accord-ing to the report by the Intergov-ernmental Panel on ClimateChange, a group of scientists con-

vened by the United Nations toguide world leaders in policymak-ing.

“The oceans are sending us somany warning signals that weneed to get emissions under con-trol,” said Hans-Otto Pörtner, amarine biologist at the Alfred We-gener Institute in Germany and alead author of the report. “Ecosys-tems are changing, food webs arechanging, fish stocks are chang-ing, and this turmoil is affectinghumans.”

Hotter ocean temperatures,

Warming Poses Grave Danger to World’s Oceans

By BRAD PLUMER U.N. Report Warns ofan Array of Threats

Continued on Page A9

The vaping powerhouse JuulLabs replaced its chief executivewith a veteran of Big Tobacco onWednesday, deepening the com-pany’s turmoil and raising doubtsabout the very future of the e-ciga-rette industry.

The sudden announcementcapped a relentless cascade ofevents that has called into ques-tion the safety of devices oncebilled as a promising alternativeto cigarettes, one of the world’s

leading preventable causes ofdeath. Now, Juul is looking to thatvery industry for its survival as itfaces a federal criminal inquiry,new bans on some of its products,and an onslaught of state and fed-eral regulatory investigations intoits marketing practices.

Early Wednesday morning, af-ter frantic days of internal meet-

ings, the company announced thatits current chief executive, KevinBurns, would resign as chief exec-utive. His chosen replacement isK. C. Crosthwaite, a top official atAltria, the cigarette giant thatbought a 35-percent share in Juulfor $12.8 billion last December andhas seen the company it investedin rocked by growing crisis.

In another sign of regulatoryand business uncertainty, Altriaand Philip Morris Internationalsaid on Wednesday that they hadended talks to merge, dashing the

Besieged Juul Grabs a Lifeline From Big TobaccoThis article is by Sheila Kaplan,

Matt Richtel and Julie Creswell.A New Leader Is Skilled

at Damage Control

Continued on Page A20

WASHINGTON — It was not acountry that would naturally haveseemed high on the priority list ofa president who came to office rel-ishing a trade clash with China,promising to reorder the MiddleEast and haranguing Europeanallies to spend more on NATO.

But for President Trump,Ukraine has been an obsessionsince the 2016 campaign.

Long before the July 25 call withthe new Ukrainian president thathelped spur the formal start of im-peachment proceedings againsthim in the House, Mr. Trump fret-ted and fulminated about the for-mer Soviet state, angry over whathe sees as Ukraine’s role in the ori-gins of the investigations into Rus-sian influence on his 2016 cam-paign.

His fixation was only intensi-

fied by his hope that he could em-ploy the Ukrainian government toundermine his most prominentpotential Democratic rival in2020, former Vice President Jo-seph R. Biden Jr.

His personal lawyer, RudolphW. Giuliani, has undertaken anearly yearlong, free-ranging ef-fort to unearth information help-ful to Mr. Trump and harmful toMr. Biden.

And Mr. Trump has put the pow-ers of his office behind his agenda:He has dispatched Vice PresidentMike Pence and top administra-tion officials with thinly veiledmessages about heeding his de-mands about confronting corrup-tion, which Ukrainian and formerAmerican officials say is under-stood as code for the Bidens andUkrainians who released damag-ing information about the Trumpcampaign in 2016. This summer

How a Fixation on an Ally LedTo a Crisis for the White House

This article is by Kenneth P. Vogel,Julian E. Barnes, Maggie Ha-berman and Sharon LaFraniere.

Continued on Page A15

DAVENPORT, Iowa — KristySchneeberger, a Democrat in east-ern Iowa, said it was about timethat Democrats in Congressmoved to impeach PresidentTrump. “No one is above the law,”she said.

But for Ms. Schneeberger andmany other Democratic votersaround the country, the prospectof an explosive impeachment bat-

tle in Washington also left themnervous. They worried that im-peachment could easily backfireon Democrats, galvanizing Mr.Trump’s supporters in next year’selections and drowning out peo-ple’s concerns about health care,immigration and the economy.

Gun control is a top priority forMs. Schneeberger, 60, becauseher four adult children, ages 26 to37, are teachers worried abouttheir students’ safety. But now,she said, “I think it’s just gettingsidelined again.”

While politicians in Washingtoncrowded microphones onWednesday to condemn or defendMr. Trump and the prospect of im-peachment, more than two dozenvoters across the country were byturns elated and wary, unsure andalready exhausted, at the idea ofan impeachment inquiry that mayconsume the nation for months.

Republican supporters of Mr.Trump, as well as some moder-ates who had crossed over to votefor him in 2016, were generally un-moved by the possibility that Mr.

Trump committed impeachablecrimes. The new impeachment in-quiry led by House Democraticleaders, they said, was just onemore overblown political crisisthat Mr. Trump could weather anduse to rally his base in 2020.

“I think it is an absolute joke,”said Reggie Dickerson, 54, a pipefitter and timber worker who livesin eastern Kentucky.

Mr. Dickerson and other sup-porters said they had stuck withMr. Trump during the special-

Voters Take Their Corners: Abuse of Power or an ‘Absolute Joke’This article is by Trip Gabriel,

Jack Healy and Sabrina Tavernise.

Continued on Page A12

Wildfires have turned the sky blood redand created respiratory problems fornearly a million people. PAGE A6

INTERNATIONAL A4-10

A ‘Hellish’ Scene in IndonesiaA new film tells the story of the Frenchfashion celebrity Olivier Rousteing, whodefied the odds to find success. PAGE D1

THURSDAY STYLES D1-8

A Designer’s Real IdentityMassive Attack and its leader, RobertDel Naja, are on tour celebrating the1998 LP “Mezzanine.” Above, at theAnthem in Washington. PAGE C2

ARTS C1-8

Revisiting a Classic Album

His party did not win the Israeli elec-tion, but the prime minister was invitedto form a unity government. PAGE A10

A Chance for Netanyahu

Caltech is getting a windfall for researchfrom Stewart and Lynda Resnick, thebillionaire owners of bottled water andagriculture companies. PAGE A18

NATIONAL A11-20

$750 Million for Climate Study

White supremacists’ symbols, slogansand memes are seen as signposts inefforts to combat violence. PAGE A20

Extremist Symbols Scrutinized

Two white girls, ages 10 and 11, arecharged with harassing and assaultinga 10-year-old black girl. PAGE A22

NEW YORK A21-23

Girls in Hate Crime CaseDisney’s Bob Iger discusses the greatfamily dramas of Hollywood — and whyhe, too, is disturbed by Twitter. PAGE D1

Hollywood’s Nicest C.E.O.

Work in artificial intelligence is gettingcostlier, leaving few people able toaccess the computing firepower neces-sary to develop the technology. PAGE B1

BUSINESS B1-8

Priced Out of A.I. Research

Gail Collins PAGE 27

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A26-27

With the Mets eliminated from postsea-son contention, attention turns to thefate of Mickey Callaway, the team’sfrequently criticized manager. PAGE B9

SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-11

Mets Out, Manager in Limbo

Late EditionToday, sunshine mixing with clouds,showers late, very warm, high 82.Tonight, clear to partly cloudy, low60. Tomorrow, mostly sunny, high76. Weather map is on Page B12.

$3.00