Today's Headlines: Inside Trump's Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation

[With 2020 Census Looming, Worries About Fairness and Accuracy]( | View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. | [Unsubscribe]( [The New York Times]( [Most Popular]( | [Video]( | [Today's Headlines]( Sunday, December 10, 2017 IN THIS EMAIL [NYT] [World](#worldNews) | [U.S.](#nationalNews) | [Politics](#politicsNews) | [Business](#businessNews) | [Technology](#technologyNews) | [Sports](#sportsNews) | [Arts](#artsNews) | [N.Y./Region](#nyregionNews) | [Magazine](#dailyFeatureNews) | [Today's Video](#videoNews) | [Obituaries](#obituaries) | [Editorials](#editorialsNews) | [Op-Ed](#opinionNews) | [On This Day](#onthisdayNews) | [CUSTOMIZE »]( Top News [President Trump during a news conference in the Rose Garden last month.]( [Inside Trump's Hour-by-Hour Battle for Self-Preservation]( By MAGGIE HABERMAN, GLENN THRUSH and PETER BAKER With Twitter as his Excalibur, the president takes on his doubters, powered by long spells of cable news and a dozen Diet Cokes. But if Mr. Trump has yet to bend the presidency to his will, he is at least wrestling it to a draw. [Census data dictate the distribution of over $600 billion in yearly grants and subsidies to state and local governments.]( [With 2020 Census Looming, Worries About Fairness and Accuracy]( By MICHAEL WINES Census officials, scrapping mail-in forms for an online count, need money and the public's trust to get an accurate head count. They're short of both. [To prevent certain professionals and specialists like doctors and others from reorganizing themselves as pass-through companies, the Senate excluded households with joint incomes of $500,000 or more.]( [Tax Plans May Give Your Co-Worker a Better Deal Than You]( By PATRICIA COHEN The G.O.P. bills impose different rates on the same income based on things like organizational structure or occupation. At the losing end? Employees with paychecks. For more top news, go to [NYTimes.com »]( [Get the Morning Briefing in Your Inbox]( What you need to know to start your day, delivered Monday through Friday. [Sign up »]( ADVERTISEMENT Editors' Picks [Versions of the Fingerling. Nods are rare when shoppers ask if the $15 toy is in stock.]( BUSINESS [How the Fingerling Caught On (Robot Grip and All) as 2017's Hot Toy]( By MICHAEL CORKERY The motorized plastic monkey that grasps your finger is the must-have gift of the holiday season, thanks to marketing, pricing and, well, scarcity. OPINION | Op-Ed | Moises Velasquez-Manoff [What Doctors Should Ignore]( By MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF Science has revealed how arbitrary racial categories are. Perhaps medicine will abandon them, too. QUOTATION OF THE DAY "You know you can trust a toy company if its toys fart. It knows what kids want." [Sydney Wiseman]( a brand manager at the Canadian company WowWee, which created the Fingerling, one of this year's hot toys for the holidays. [] World [Beit Hanina, an Arab neighborhood in East Jerusalem. ]( [Daily Life in Jerusalem? 'Difficult' and 'Intense' for Arab and Jew]( By DAVID M. HALBFINGER For residents of Jerusalem, over which the world has been battling for thousands of years, everyday frictions can be draining on both sides of the Green Line. [The southern Chinese city of Sanya, where a growing number of snowbirds from China's north spend their winters.]( [Welcome to China's Florida: Sun, Sand and Retired Snowbirds]( By AMY QIN Rising incomes allow China's growing numbers of aging people to become snowbirds in the south - enjoying life post-retirement in a way previous generations never imagined. [Venezuelans lining up for free food at a soup kitchen in Los Teques, south of Caracas. The country's turmoil has led many longtime residents to migrate abroad.]( [For Older Venezuelans, Fleeing Crisis Means 'Starting From Zero,' Even at 90]( By KIRK SEMPLE As a dire economy drives migration, Venezuelans in their retirement years are joining the exodus, a journey fraught with worries over health care, employment and leaving a country they once loved. For more world news, go to [NYTimes.com/World »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] U.S. [Lakeland Community Hospital in Haleyville, Ala. As of now, the facility is slated to close on Dec. 31, leaving the county without a hospital.]( [With Alabama Senate Race Defined by Scandal, Policy Issues are Overlooked]( By ALAN BLINDER, JESS BIDGOOD and RICHARD FAUSSET Alabama struggles with health care, education and infrastructure. But such issues have often been forgotten during the race between Doug Jones and Roy S. Moore. [Mary-John Hart, left, picked up groceries at Rainbow Bridge, an organic store in Ojai, Calif., that remained open despite the heavy smoke and threat of the Thomas Fire on Friday.]( [Ojai, Calif., Ringed by Flames, Is an Ash-Covered Shangri-La]( By MIRIAM JORDAN Life in this haven for nature lovers and spiritual seekers has been anything but serene in recent days. [Body cam video shows Mesa Police Officer Philip Brailsford shooting and killing Daniel Shaver in an Arizona La Quinta Inn hallway in 2016.]( [Video Shows Officer Fatally Shooting Unarmed, Pleading Man]( By VIVIAN WANG The video, released after an Arizona jury acquitted the officer of murder, renewed calls for reforms in law enforcement. Activists described the shooting as an execution. For more U.S. news, go to [NYTimes.com/US »]( ADVERTISEMENT [] Politics [President Trump touring the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum on Saturday.]( [Trump, Rejecting Calls to Stay Away, Speaks at Civil Rights Museum]( By MICHAEL D. SHEAR and ELLEN ANN FENTRESS In Jackson, Miss., the president hailed heroes of the civil rights movement even as activists and politicians said his presence insulted the effort to confront the state's history. [Roy S. Moore, the Republican Alabama Senate nominee, during a rally this month in Fairhope, Ala. He has denied accusations of molesting teenage girls.]( [Alabama, Despite History of Unruly Politics, Has 'Never Seen Anything Like This']( By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON and JONATHAN MARTIN The wild and ugly campaign for Senate, fraught with incendiary comments and molestation claims, has left even veterans of the state's politics searching for parallels. [Alaskan lawmakers and energy companies have fought for decades to expand energy exploration.]( [How Arctic Drilling, Stymied for Decades, Made Surprise Return in Tax Bill]( By CARL HULSE Advocates of oil exploration in an Alaska wildlife refuge are taking advantage of the special rules of the tax debate to charge toward victory. For more political news, go to [NYTimes.com/Politics »]( [] Business [The generic version of Crestor - rosuvastatin - cost Patrik Swanljung of Anacortes, Wash., about $38 less when he bought it through a website rather than using his health insurance. Consumers are finding that they can sometimes save money on their drug costs by not using their insurance.]( [Prescription Drugs May Cost More With Insurance Than Without It]( By CHARLES ORNSTEIN and KATIE THOMAS Some consumers are finding they can get a better deal on prescription drugs by leaving their insurance cards at home. [Can Marriott Keep Starwood's Culture of Cool, and Its Customers?]( By RON LIEBER For the Marriott-Starwood combination to succeed, top-tier loyalty program members like our writer must not flee. Here's what would keep him in the fold. [Janet L. Yellen, the first woman to serve as the head of the Federal Reserve Board, said she would step down from the Fed's board when her term as chairman ends in February.]( [Janet Yellen Didn't Set Out to Be a Feminist Hero]( By AMY CHOZICK The Federal Reserve chair (don't call her "chairwoman") quietly achieved rock-star status. Now that she's leaving, her many fans are sad to see her go. For more business news, go to [NYTimes.com/Business »]( [] Sports [Eric Housen, the Golden State Warriors' director of team operations, made sure the players' luggage was loaded and accounted for before a recent game against the Heat in Miami.]( [Golden State Warriors' Go-to Guy Doesn't Play a Minute]( By SCOTT CACCIOLA Laundry, luggage, logistics ... there are 48 minutes in an N.B.A. game and about 20 hours in Eric Housen's workday as he guides the team from one city to the next. [Tommy John, who turns 75 in May, is among 10 former players the Modern Baseball Era Committee will consider on Sunday for induction to the Hall of Fame.]( On Baseball [Tommy John Would Love a Plaque to Accompany All of His Fame]( By TYLER KEPNER Best known for the elbow surgery that is named after him, John now awaits the results of a vote on Sunday that could get him in the door at Cooperstown. [Colin Kaepernick, center, has not played a down in the N.F.L. this season.]( [Kaepernick vs. the N.F.L.: A Primer on His Collusion Case]( By KEN BELSON Colin Kaepernick has filed a grievance accusing the league of colluding to keep him out of work because of national anthem protests he inspired. For more sports news, go to [NYTimes.com/Sports »]( Movies [From left, Andy Serkis, the director Rian Johnson, Domhnall Gleeson, Laura Dern, Gwendoline Christie, Oscar Isaac, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Mark Hamill, John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran.]( [The All-Stars of 'Star Wars']( By DAVE ITZKOFF Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver and their "Last Jedi" comrades discuss the difficulties of new relationships, the joys of villainy and those porgs. [The best movies of 2017 included, clockwise from top left: ]( [The Best Movies of 2017]( By MANOHLA DARGIS and A.O. SCOTT Our chief film critics on their favorite pictures of the year. [Clockwise from top left: J. Cole; nothing,nowhere.; Taylor Swift; Moses Sumney; Lorde; and Jaimie Branch.]( [The Best Albums of 2017]( By JON PARELES, JON CARAMANICA and GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO Our critics picked St. Vincent and Lorde, Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole, Julien Baker and Taylor Swift, Nicole Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey - and many more. For more arts news, go to [NYTimes.com/Arts »]( [] Metropolitan [Ruth Saperstein Jaffe with evidence of her former life as Bela Raphael, the orphan saved by Sergeant Bert Simons.]( [Bela, the Forgotten War Orphan]( By KEREN BLANKFELD The remarkable tale of a 3-year-old whose parents died in Auschwitz, and the soldier who worked to get her out of occupied Berlin. [At Farm.One, a hydroponic garden in TriBeCa, red-veined sorrel is prepared for a delivery.]( [Herbs From the Underground]( By ALYSON KRUEGER A hydroponic garden in a TriBeCa basement is growing rare herbs and edible flowers, and many prominent chefs are flocking to it. [Donald Moore working on leather repairs in his shop at Artbag.]( Neighborhood Joint [The Birkin Bag Mechanics]( By CHARLES CURKIN Artbag, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has been where old handbags and luggage are taken for a tuneup since 1932. For more New York news, go to [NYTimes.com/NewYork »]( [] Real Estate [Prewar, With a Twist]( By TIM McKEOUGH To take advantage of prewar charm, some developers are carefully restoring historic buildings, but adding thoroughly modern finishes. [THE RENTERS Adam and Alison Sadel in their new one-bedroom in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. They lived in Williamsburg before moving to Toronto nearly four years ago.]( The Hunt [Back Home in Williamsburg]( By JOYCE COHEN After a few years in Toronto, it was time to return to Brooklyn. Their old neighborhood had changed a lot. Living In [Two Bridges: Once Quiet, Now at the Edge of Change]( By C. J. HUGHES In a neighborhood known for its public housing, luxury towers are in the works, and not everyone is pleased. [] Travel [The Citadel, one of Haiti's many historic sites.]( [In Haiti, Tracing a Paradise Lost]( By PETER KUJAWINSKI The U.N. says the country is now stable, and tourism is growing. But the former vacation paradise still has a faded beauty. [A view of Shanghai.]( 36 Hours [36 Hours in Shanghai]( By JUSTIN BERGMAN Shanghai is a city flush with cash and Ferraris, but beneath all the excess, there's more artistic and culinary substance than ever. [13 of Our Favorite Travel Reads From 2017]( From a meditation on the Caribbean's future after the hurricanes to an exploration of the haunted side of Bangkok, here are some of our favorite Travel articles from the past year. For more travel news, go to [NYTimes.com/Travel »]( [] Fashion & Style [Fenyx Watson smokes out of a bong at the White Rabbit High Tea.]( [Hey, 'Budtender': Los Angeles's Power Brokers of Pot Crank Up the Kook]( By LAURA M. HOLSON Sensuality circles! High teas! Expensive vape pens! Who says there's no intellectual life in this fine city? [The ]( [Hillary Clinton and Lena Dunham, Her Main Millennial, Hit the Weinstein Wall]( By AMY CHOZICK Ms. Dunham, longtime Clinton enthusiast, says she warned the campaign against associating with Harvey Weinstein. [Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.]( [After-School Special]( By ANDRE WAGNER, REMBERT BROWNE and EVE LYONS Andre Wagner captured the brief window when kids run New York. For more fashion news, go to [NYTimes.com/Fashion »]( [] Magazine Great Performers [[Multimedia Feature] Multimedia Feature: The Year's Best Actors in a Series of Short Frightening Films]( Videos by FLORIA SIGISMONDI Nicole Kidman, Daniel Kaluuya, Jake Gyllenhaal, Saoirse Ronan and more of the year's best performers in a series of original horror flicks. [Andrew Miltenberg at Columbia University in October.]( Feature [The Takedown of Title IX]( By KATHRYN JOYCE Inside the fight over federal rules on campus sexual assault. On Technology [The Return of the Techno-Moral Panic]( By JOHN HERRMAN In the 1990s, they were premature. This time, they might have arrived too late. For more from the Sunday magazine, go to [NYTimes.com/Magazine »]( []Obituaries [Perry Wallace, the first black varsity basketball player in Southeastern Conference history, in action against the University of Kentucky.]( [Perry Wallace, College Basketball Pioneer, Is Dead at 69]( By RICHARD SANDOMIR As the first black varsity basketball player in Southeastern Conference history, he distinguished himself on the court while battling racism. [Jean d'Ormesson in Paris in 2014. A descendant of French nobility, he published about 40 works of fiction, many of them autobiographical.]( [Jean d'Ormesson, 'Immortal' French Man of Letters, Dies at 92]( By ALAN COWELL Once the youngest of the Académie Française's 40 "immortals," he became a national figure through his writings and television appearances. [Leslie R. Wolfe, right, in 1989 with Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, project director for a conference organized by the Center for Women Policy Studies, at the center's office in Washington.]( [Leslie Wolfe, Who Pursued Equality for Women, Dies at 74]( By AMISHA PADNANI Ms. Wolfe sought AIDS treatment for women in the 1980s and researched gender and racial bias on the SAT exam as head of a think tank. For more obituaries, go to [NYTimes.com/Obituaries »]( [] Editorial Editorial [The Looting of America's Public Lands]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD Mr. Trump thinks the environment has gotten too good a deal, so he eliminated two million acres from national monuments in Utah. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] Op-Ed Op-Ed Columnist [An Abomination. A Monster. That's Me?]( By FRANK BRUNI Vilifying whiteness and maleness isn't just illiberal. It's bad politics. [Despite accusations of sexual misconduct, Roy Moore is leading among evangelicals in the Alabama Senate race.]( Op-Ed | Peter Wehner [Why I Can No Longer Call Myself an Evangelical Republican]( By PETER WEHNER Preserving my identity as a Christian conservative means turning away from two movements that have shaped my life. Opinion [My Generation Thought Women Were Empowered. Did We Deceive Ourselves?]( By LUCINDA FRANKS Rethinking a lifetime of sexism in the #MeToo moment. On Campus [The Importance of Dumb Mistakes in College]( By JIM REISCHE Students deserve the chance to try out ideas without incurring the wrath of the entire internet. For more opinion, go to [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [] ON THIS DAY On Dec. 10, 1948, the U.N. General Assembly adopted its Universal Declaration on Human Rights. 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