VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 58,085 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2018

C M Y K Nxxx,2018-09-14,A,001,Bs-4C,E2

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GREENVILLE, N.C. — Hurri-cane Florence began its brutishslow-motion collision with theCarolina coasts Thursday, withbeach towns cowering under thefirst bands of lashing rain andstorm surge. Onshore winds wereexpected to reach 100 miles anhour by sometime Friday.

At the same time, residents andemergency personnel throughoutinland North and South Carolinawere working under the grim as-sumption that the Category 1storm’s pounding of the coastlinewould be only the first powerfulpunch in a fight that could gomany rounds and last for manydays. It will play out not onlyamong stilted beach cottages andseaside resorts, but also in worka-day towns and cities much fartherwest.

“This may be the first timewe’ve experienced such a two-punch from these kind of condi-tions,” said South Carolina’s gov-ernor, Henry McMaster, at a newsconference on Thursday, speakingabout evacuations along the coastas well as the possibility of rain-triggered landslides in the moun-tains.

Florence is proving to be a lum-bering giant, with cloud cover aslarge as the Carolinas themselves.If, as expected, it dawdles over theregion, the storm could drop rain-fall of 20, 30 or even 40 inches insome areas. Anxiety is especially

HURRICANE OPENSA SOGGY CONQUESTOF THE CAROLINAS

A LUMBERING COLOSSUS

Coastal Fears of StormSurge, and Inland of

Drenching Rains

This article is by Richard Fausset,Campbell Robertson and DavidZucchino.

In Charleston, S.C., sealing upahead of Hurricane Florence.

JOHNNY MILANO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A23

WASHINGTON — The presi-dential playbook during times ofdisaster is pretty well establishedby now: Consult with emergencyofficials (and be seen doing so).Express concern for those af-fected (on camera). Assure thepublic that the government isready for whatever comes(whether it is or not).

But once again, PresidentTrump has rewritten the playbookas Hurricane Florence blowsthrough the Carolinas. While de-livering forceful messages ofwarning and reassurance, Mr.Trump has also been busy award-ing himself good grades for pasthurricanes and even accusing op-ponents of inventing a death toll“to make me look as bad as possi-ble.”

At a time when even Mr. Trumpacknowledged that the focusshould be on millions of Ameri-cans in the path of the storm, thealways-about-me president couldnot restrain himself for long. An-gry at criticism of his response toHurricane Maria in Puerto Ricolast year, he denied on Thursdaythat nearly 3,000 people had died,falsely calling it a made-up num-ber by Democrats out to get him.

His defiant rejection of thewidely accepted count infuriatedthe island’s leadership and evensome Republican leaders in Con-gress. But it was hardly the firsttime Mr. Trump has dismissedconsensus facts that do not fit hisnarrative. Mr. Trump’s version ofhis presidency is one of un-matched, best-in-history victoryafter victory, never mind what his-tory may say. What the people ofPuerto Rico considered a calami-ty, he saw as an “incredible un-sung success.”

“He pushes back against thedata on deaths, not because he’supset by the loss of nearly 3,000lives but because he’s terrified ofresponsibility, failure and blame,”said Michael D’Antonio, a Trumpbiographer. “Were someone elsepresident, Trump would be thefirst to tweet an attack on an ad-ministration that struggled theway his did after Maria. Now heimagines that others will attackhim, so he’s acting first.”

Ever since the storm, Mr.Trump has pushed back againstcriticism that his administrationwas slow to respond to PuertoRico, where the distribution ofsupplies, gas and food lagged andpower outages lasted for months,

Trump RejectsA Storm’s TallyAs Gales Blow

Claims Rivals InflatedToll in Puerto Rico

By PETER BAKER

Continued on Page A20

It was a sweeping and complexcriminal enterprise: brothels inBrooklyn, where 15-minute sexualencounters added up to more than$2 million in profits in a 13-monthperiod, and nail salons in Queens,where managers, runners and

agents placed bets in an old-school numbers racket.

And the mastermind was a re-tired New York City police detec-tive who recruited at least sevenpolice officers acting as foot sol-diers, according to court docu-ments charging the group onThursday.

The accusations amount to oneof the largest scandals to hit the

New York Police Department inrecent years, a throwback to cor-ruption dating to the 1950s, whena Brooklyn bookmaker enlistedofficers as muscle for his $20-mil-lion-a-year operation.

In the new indictment, twobrothers who are officers in thePolice Department were evencharged with holding a bachelorparty in a brothel. “They got the

place for nothing and they usedthe prostitutes,” said Deputy ChiefJoseph J. Reznick, commander ofthe Internal Affairs Bureau.

“As we sit here today, the realityis that a number of our uniformedmembers of various ranks tar-nished the N.Y.P.D. shields thatthey’ve worn,” said the police

Continued on Page A26

Brothels and Betting: Charges Depict New York Police Crime RingThis article is by Michael Wilson,

Nate Schweber and Ashley Southall.

OUTER BANKS With the hurricane approaching, vacation islandsturned into ghost towns populated mostly by wind and rain. PAGE A22

THE HAGUE — In a city thatsymbolizes international peaceand justice, the ambassador fromBurundi has had a lonely job. Asher government faces accusa-tions of murder, rape and torture,she has made the unpopular argu-ment that the International Crimi-nal Court should butt out.

The ambassador, Vestine Nahi-mana, says the court is a politi-cized, unchecked intrusion on Bu-rundi’s sovereignty. “It’s difficult,”Ms. Nahimana said in an inter-view here. “In a way, we’ve beenisolated.”

No longer. Her critiques echothose of warlords and despotswhose arguments have long beendismissed by the West. But Bu-

rundi’s position got a powerfulvoice of support this week fromPresident Trump, whose nationalsecurity adviser, John R. Bolton,declared the international court“ineffective, unaccountable, andindeed, outright dangerous,” andthreatened sanctions against thecourt’s prosecutors and judgeswho pursued cases against Amer-icans.

“We can only rejoice that an-other country has seen the samewrong,” Ms. Nahimana said. “Per-haps this will be a message thatthe sovereignty of a country mustbe respected, in the U.S. and inother countries. That’s also what

On War Crimes Court, U.S.Sides With Despots, Not Allies

By MATT APUZZO and MARLISE SIMONS

Continued on Page A13

Leaders of the Sistine Chapel Choir areunder investigation by the Vatican forpossible money laundering. PAGE A8

INTERNATIONAL A4-13

Choir Leaders Face InquiryA show at the Met features an artist seenas something of a precocious prophet.Above, a painting from 1830. PAGE C18

WEEKEND C1-22

The Visions of Delacroix

A show in Brooklyn displays the radiantworks that were created during an eraof social and political unrest. PAGE C13

Black Artists, GalvanizedThere is no evidence of attacks causingsymptoms among diplomats in Havana,Cuban scientists said. PAGE A6

Cubans Deny Embassy Claims

The ouster of the executive producer of“60 Minutes” exacerbated tensionsbetween staff at CBS News and thehighly lauded show. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-8

A House Divided at CBSSenator Dianne Feinstein referred amatter involving Judge Brett M. Kava-naugh to federal investigators but de-clined to disclose it publicly. PAGE A18

NATIONAL A14-24

Kavanaugh Letter Sent to F.B.I.

Attacked by Fox News pundits, Ru-dolph W. Giuliani and a presidentialTwitter account, Robert S. Mueller IIImeets fire with silence. PAGE A14

Keeping His Own Counsel

The government has agreed to recon-sider cases of parents who were sepa-rated from children at the southwesternborder and denied asylum. PAGE A15

Another Chance for Asylum

You know self-checkout, but how aboutno checkout? A new market combinesan app with visual tracking to let shop-pers walk right out the door. PAGE B1

Shopping Without Stopping

The team’s long-tenured captain, hob-bled by injuries for two years, will playa final game at home Sept. 29. PAGE B9

SPORTSFRIDAY B9-14

Mets’ Wright to Return, Briefly

Trends that funnel top recruits to thesame college teams have created im-pressive job-sharing situations. PAGE B9

2 Quarterbacks? No Problem

Michael Avenatti PAGE A31

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A30-31

COASTAL HISTORY Some towns in the hurricane’s path were once hometo African-Americans fleeing the Jim Crow South. PAGE A22

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo took adecisive step toward a third termon Thursday, quelling a liberal re-bellion by turning aside the insur-gent challenge of Cynthia Nixonto claim the Democratic nomina-tion in New York.

Mr. Cuomo had marshaled thesupport of nearly all of the stateand country’s most powerfulDemocratic brokers — elected of-ficials, party leaders, labor unionsand wealthy real estate interests— to defeat Ms. Nixon, beatingher by 30 percentage points.

The race cemented both Mr.Cuomo’s standing as an un-matched force in New York poli-tics and a merciless tactician withlittle regard for diplomacy.

Ms. Nixon had cast her first-time candidacy as a fight for thedirection of the Democratic Partyin New York and beyond, offeringa pure brand of liberalism againstMr. Cuomo’s more triangulatingpragmatism, a style defined lessby ideology and more by what hedeemed possible.

In the end, the governor’srecord of achievements — on guncontrol, gay marriage, the min-imum wage, paid-family leave andmore — and his gargantuan fund-raising advantage spoke louderthan Ms. Nixon’s objections overlegislation he sidelined in the byz-antine corridors of Albany’s capi-tal.

The race was called about 30minutes after the polls closed,with Mr. Cuomo watching the re-sults roll in over dinner with sen-ior staff at the Governor’s Man-sion in Albany. Mr. Cuomo neverappeared publicly on Thursday,letting the results speak for them-selves.

New Yorkers lined up early Thursday morning to cast their votes at Brooklyn Arts & Science Elementary School in Crown Heights.DEMETRIUS FREEMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Cuomo RoutsNixon to WinPrimary RaceBy SHANE GOLDMACHER

Continued on Page A26

LAWRENCE, Mass. — Violentexplosions and billowing fires torethrough three towns north of Bos-ton late Thursday afternoon, dam-aging dozens of houses, forcingthousands of stunned residents toevacuate and plunging much ofthe region into an eerie darkness.

One person was killed and morethan 20 were injured in the suddenstring of explosions caused by gasleaks in Lawrence, Andover andNorth Andover as blackish-grayclouds of smoke rolled acrossrooftops and flames shot into thesky.

Leonel Rondon, 18, was killedwhile he sat in a car in the drive-way of a home in Lawrence, theauthorities said. A chimney fellonto the car, they said, when thehome, on Chickering Road, ex-ploded.

Across the region, residents re-turned from work to find theirhomes burning and neighborsstanding outside with no clearsense of what to do. Firefightersand other emergency workersraced from block to block, urgingresidents to evacuate to sheltersthat were hastily being opened.Along some blocks, the smell ofgas hung in the air, and cellphonesbuzzed with evacuation warnings.

“It looked like Armageddon, itreally did,” Michael Mansfield, thefire chief of Andover, who hasworked as a firefighter for almostfour decades, told a CBS station inBoston. “There were billows ofsmoke coming from Lawrence be-

hind me. I could see plumes ofsmoke in front of me from thetown of Andover. It looked like anabsolute war zone.”

The string of explosions, firesand reports of gas odor — at least70 of them, although officials werestill trying to account for all of thedamage late Thursday — camesuddenly, beginning shortly be-fore 5 p.m., without warning andwithout an immediate explana-tion from officials. But naturalgas, and the possibility that gashad become overpressurized in amain, was the focus of many localauthorities.

Earlier in the day, a local gascompany, Columbia Gas of Massa-chusetts, had announced that itwas “upgrading natural gas linesin neighborhoods across thestate.” Late Thursday, the com-pany issued a statement: “Colum-bia Gas crews are currently re-sponding to reports of multiplefires in Lawrence. Our thoughts

Massachusetts Neighborhoods Ripped by BlastsThis article is by Katharine Q.

Seelye, Farah Stockman, JaceyFortin and Monica Davey.

Dozens of fires erupted in Lawrence, North Andover and Andover, Mass., injuring at least 20.WCVB, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Teenager Is Killed —Thousands Flee in aRash of Gas Leaks

Continued on Page A24

With sales sputtering and its loyalcustomers aging, the motorcycle indus-try is doing what it can to put childrenin the saddle. PAGE B5

Making New Motorcyclists

Late EditionToday, mostly cloudy, humid, lightwinds, high 76. Tonight, partlycloudy, humid, low 66. Tomorrow,partly sunny, humid, light winds,high 77. Weather map, Page B14.

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