POLLUTION RULES U.S. SET TO BLUNT so far: The fire began af-ter gangs running a party in an...

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,917 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2018

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WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump escalated his attack onAmazon on Thursday, saying in anearly-morning Twitter post thatthe online retail behemoth doesnot pay enough taxes — andstrongly suggesting that he mayuse the power of his office to reinin the nation’s largest e-commercebusiness.

Mr. Trump accused Amazon,one of the country’s most recog-nizable and successful brands, ofputting thousands of local retail-ers out of business and said thecompany was using the United

States Postal Service as its “Deliv-ery Boy.”

The president has lashed outpublicly against the giant com-pany and its chief executive, JeffBezos, on Twitter more than a doz-en times since 2015. And privately,people close to him said, Mr.Trump repeatedly brings up hisdisdain for the company, often setoff by his anger at negative storiesin The Washington Post, which isowned by Mr. Bezos.

By focusing on the threat tosmall businesses, Mr. Trump hastouched on the unease of Ama-zon’s disruptive force. The com-pany has changed industries as

In President’s Tirade on Amazon,The Rage Might Be for the C.E.O.

Continued on Page A16

This article is by Michael D.Shear, Nick Wingfield and CeciliaKang.

On the morning after the 2016election, a group of nearly a dozenABC executives gathered at theirBurbank, Calif., headquarters todetermine what Donald J.Trump’s victory meant for the net-work’s future.

“We looked at each other and

said, ‘There’s a lot about this coun-try we need to learn a lot moreabout, here on the coasts,’” BenSherwood, the president of Dis-ney and ABC’s television group,said in an interview.

They began asking themselveswhich audiences they were notserving well and what they coulddo to better live up to the companyname — the American Broadcast-

ing Company. By the meeting’send, they had in place the begin-nings of a revised strategy that ledthe network to reboot a past hitcentered on a struggling Mid-western family, a show that had achance to appeal to the voters whohad helped put Mr. Trump in theWhite House.

On Tuesday night, the strategyproved more successful than the

executives had hoped: The pre-miere of “Roseanne” had the high-est ratings for any network sitcomin almost four years.

The show’s approach to socio-political issues — its star and co-creator, Roseanne Barr, plays anunabashed Trump supporter whospars with her liberal sister,played by Laurie Metcalf — espe-

Network Rediscovers Trump Country With Reboot of ‘Roseanne’By JOHN KOBLIN

and MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

Continued on Page A15

TODD HEISLER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Mets won their opener at Citi Field on Thursday, and the Yankees won in Toronto. Page B8.Make That 1-0

VALENCIA, Venezuela — It be-gan as a jailhouse party. It endedin carnage.

On Thursday, grieving familiescollected their dead after one ofthe worst prison fires in the coun-try’s history claimed the lives of68 people. The relatives searchedfor answers, but also offered achilling account of what they hadlearned so far: The fire began af-ter gangs running a party in anovercrowded jail fought with theguards. A hostage was taken; afire broke out.

Dozens perished in the smokeand flames, screaming for help.

Yet the pain didn’t end there.Witnesses said that grieving rela-

tives who had come were sprayedwith tear gas by security forceswho tried to disperse them.

“I’ve been living here 55 years,and it’s the first time I’ve seensomething like this,” said María,whose home is near the prison,and who refused to give her lastname for fear of reprisals by thepolice for describing the tear-gas-sing.

The scenes were shocking, evenin Venezuela, where tragedy hasbecome the norm.

Grocery stores are short of foodand hospitals are bereft of sup-plies as the country’s economicmeltdown hastens. PresidentNicolás Maduro marches towardautocracy, isolating his countryfrom humanitarian aid and keep-ing opponents in jail ahead of apresidential election in May. Hun-dreds of thousands of people havefled the country, seeking lives inlands where there is more hope.

Yet the fire underlined the fateof a group for whom escape wasnever possible: The tens of thou-sands of Venezuelan prisoners ne-glected in overcrowded cells bythe very government chargedwith their custody.

“Put in the wider context, thiscountry has gone broke,” saidJeremy McDermott, the co-

68 Die in Jail Fire. Then Police Attack Bereaved.By ANA VANESSA HERRERO

and NICHOLAS CASEY

After scores died in a riot and fire in a jail at a police station in Valencia, Venezuela, inmates’ relatives awaited word on loved ones.CARLOS GARCIA RAWLINS/REUTERS

Continued on Page A10

In Venezuela, Tear GasIs Used on Victims’

Loved Ones

MOSCOW — Russia on Thurs-day escalated a confrontationwith Europe and the United Statesover the poisoning of a formerRussian spy in Britain, saying itwould expel 60 American diplo-mats and an unspecified numberof envoys from other countries toretaliate for a mass expulsion ofRussian diplomats working in theWest and beyond that was or-dered this week.

Furious at what it described asan anti-Russian campaign orches-trated by Washington and Lon-don, the Kremlin exceeded anequivalent response to the UnitedStates and ordered the closing ofthe American Consulate in St. Pe-tersburg, Russia’s second-largestcity. The consulate is bigger andfar more important to relationsthan the Russian Consulate in Se-attle, which the Trump adminis-tration ordered closed on Mondayas part of its expulsion decree.

The crisis over the March 4 poi-soning of a former Russian doubleagent and his daughter has driventensions between the Kremlin andthe West to their highest pitch indecades and forced Europeancountries like Germany that areusually wary of clashing withMoscow to choose sides. Britaincontends that the poison used wasa signature Russian nerve agentcreated by Soviet-era scientists.

Voicing alarm that the East-West confrontation was spinningout of control, the secretary gen-eral of the United Nations, An-tónio Guterres, said that the crisisrecalled the Cold War, only with-out the controls and channels ofcommunication established be-fore the 1991 collapse of the SovietUnion “to make sure things wouldnot get out of control when ten-sions rise.”

The intensifying crisis has also

Crisis DeepensAs the KremlinBucks the West

By ANDREW HIGGINS

Continued on Page A6

In July, David J. Pecker, thechairman of the company thatowns The National Enquirer, vis-ited his old friend PresidentTrump at the White House.

The tabloid publisher tookalong a special guest, Kacy Grine,a French businessman who ad-vises one of Saudi Arabia’s richestmen and sometimes acts as an in-termediary between Saudi CrownPrince Mohammed bin Salmanand Western businesses.

The two men and other Peckerassociates chatted with the presi-dent in the Oval Office and brieflymet with Mr. Trump’s son-in-lawand Middle East envoy, JaredKushner. Before moving on to din-ner with the group, the presidenthad a photographer snap picturesof the guests standing with himbehind his desk.

Mr. Pecker has long used hismedia empire to protect Mr.Trump’s image. During the 2016presidential campaign, Mr. Peck-er’s company, American MediaInc., suppressed the story of a for-mer Playboy model who claimedto have had an affair with Mr.Trump.

The night of the dinner, Mr.Pecker got something from Mr.Trump: an unofficial seal of ap-proval from the White House.

It was an opportune momentfor Mr. Pecker to showcase hisWhite House connections. He wasconsidering expanding his mediaand events businesses into SaudiArabia and also was hunting formoneyed partners in acquisitions.

The intersection of the tabloidpublisher with the Saudis, en-hanced by the White House visit,is a previously untold chapter inthe long, symbiotic relationshipbetween the president and Mr.Pecker, which was forged in the1990s. At the time, Mr. Trump wascelebrating a real estate come-back after his casino bankruptciesand was both the subject and thesource of much gossip in NewYork.

Mr. Pecker, who had known Mr.Grine only for a few months, invit-ed him to the dinner to thank himfor advice he had provided aboutinvesting in the Middle East, ac-cording to someone who knew ofthe invitation.

Word soon traveled back toSaudi Arabia about the dinner: Itsignaled Mr. Pecker’s powerfulstatus in Washington.

Two months later, he was inSaudi Arabia, meeting with Mr.Grine and the crown prince aboutbusiness opportunities there, ac-cording to A.M.I.

And by January, Mr. Pecker wasconfident enough about his grow-ing rapport with Saudi investors

Tabloid MogulVisited TrumpTo Woo Saudis

A Longtime ProtectorFlaunts a Friendship

This article is by Jim Rutenberg,Kate Kelly, Jessica Silver-Green-berg and Mike McIntire.

Continued on Page A14

The Trump administration isexpected to kick off an effort incoming days to weaken green-house gas emissions and fueleconomy standards for automo-biles, handing a victory to carmanufacturers and giving themammunition potentially to rollback industry standards world-wide.

The move, which undercuts oneof President Barack Obama’s sig-nature efforts to fight climatechange, would also propel theTrump administration toward acourtroom clash with California,which has vowed to stick with thestricter rules even if Washingtonrolls back federal standards. Thatfight could end up creating one setof rules for cars sold in Californiaand the 12 states that follow itslead, and weaker rules for the restof the states, in effect splitting the

nation into two markets.Scott Pruitt, the head of the En-

vironmental Protection Agency, isexpected to frame the initiative aseliminating a regulatory burdenon automakers that will result inmore affordable trucks, vans andsport utility vehicles for buyers,according to people familiar withthe plan.

An E.P.A. spokeswoman con-firmed that Mr. Pruitt had sent adraft of the 16-page plan to theWhite House for approval.

The particulars of the plan arestill being worked out. Those spe-cifics, which are expected thisyear, could substantially roll backthe Obama-era standards, accord-ing to two people familiar with thedeliberations.

“This is certainly a big deal,”said Robert Stavins, director ofthe Harvard environmental eco-nomics program. “The result willbe more gas-guzzling vehicles onthe road, greater total gasoline

U.S. SET TO BLUNTPOLLUTION RULESFOR AUTOMAKERS

OBAMA-ERA STANDARDS

Changes Would HeartenCarmakers, but Lead

to California Fight

By CORAL DAVENPORTand HIROKO TABUCHI

Continued on Page A15

Scott Pruitt of the E.P.A.TOM BRENNER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

BUSINESS DAY B1-7

Intercepting Racist ClothingFast-fashion giants likeH&M and Zara arehiring diversitymanagers andusing technologyto catch offen-sive designsbefore theyreach shop-pers. PAGE B1

With tense meetings ahead with Bei-jing, Indian officials are avoiding a rallyput on by the Dalai Lama thankingIndia for hosting his exile. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-10

India Spurns Dalai Lama

What kind of secret agent would youmake? Spyscape, a new museum inNew York, will test your skills. PAGE C11

WEEKEND ARTS C1-20

I Spy. You Can Too.

Decades before Loyola-Chicago’s risethis year, its integrated team notched avictory against segregation. PAGE B13

SPORTSFRIDAY B8-14

A Cinderella’s Civil Rights Win

Just a couple of months ago shares ofthe social network were “priced forperfection.” A lot has changed sincethen, writes James B. Stewart. PAGE B1

Facebook Falls From GraceWith no serious opposition, PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi was headed for alandslide victory with 92 percent of thevote in Egypt’s election. PAGE A10

Sisi Wins Vote. It’s No Contest.

The leaders of North and South Koreawill hold a meeting on April 27 at theso-called truce village of Panmunjom,officials said. PAGE A8

Korean Summit Talks Are Set

Bill Cosby’s lawyers had argued thejudge was biased because his wife aidssexual assault victims. PAGE A16

NATIONAL A12-16

Cosby Judge Won’t Step Down

Citing the president’s “racial slurs,” ajudge allows a lawsuit to protect a pro-gram for young immigrants. PAGE A18

NEW YORK A18-21

Suit for Immigrants Advances

The photographer’s work now on displayin Washington offers a journey into herpast and the nation’s history. PAGE C11

Sally Mann’s Haunted SouthDavid J. Shulkin PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

Joseph P. Ganim, an ex-convict whowas re-elected mayor of Bridgeport, isrunning for governor of Connecticut, asfellow Democrats fret. PAGE A18

Comeback Worries Democrats

The dominant University of Connecticuthas something to prove: It’s good forwomen’s basketball. PAGE B8

No Losses and No Apologies

Late EditionToday, morning rain and fog, an af-ternoon shower, mild, high 62. To-night, mostly clear skies, colder, low40. Tomorrow, sunshine, mild, high58. Weather map is on Page A17.

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