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Late Edition Today, plenty of sunshine, a milder afternoon, high 49. Tonight, clear, not as cold as recent nights, low 35. Tomorrow, sunshine, milder, high 54. Weather map is on Page C8.

VOL. CLXIX . ...No. 58,611 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2020 $3.00 Surge in Cases SANDERS IS TOLD Raises Concern OF RUSSIAN PUSH Of a Pandemic TO AID CAMPAIGN Virus Spreads in Iran and South Korea SENATOR WARNS PUTIN

This article is by Vivian Wang, Donald G. McNeil Jr., Farnaz Fas- Moscow Meddling That sihi and Steven Lee Myers. Includes Interference HONG KONG — An alarming surge of new coronavirus cases on Trump’s Behalf outside China, with fears of a ma- jor outbreak in Iran, is threat- ening to transform the contagion By JULIAN E. BARNES into a global pandemic, as coun- and SYDNEY EMBER tries around the Middle East WASHINGTON — Russia has scrambled to close their borders been trying to intervene in the and continents so far largely Democratic primaries to aid Sena- spared reported big upticks in the tor Bernie Sanders, according to illness. people familiar with the matter, In Iran, which had insisted as and Mr. Sanders said on Friday recently as Tuesday that it had no that intelligence officials recently cases, the virus may now have briefed him. reached most major cities, includ- The disclosure came a day be- ing Tehran, and has killed at least fore the Nevada caucuses, where four people, according to health Mr. Sanders is a favorite, and fol- officials. Already, cases of trav- lowed revelations a day earlier elers from Iran testing positive for that Moscow was interfering on the virus have turned up in Cana- President Trump’s behalf this da and Lebanon. year, as it did in 2016. The number of cases also Mr. Sanders denounced Russia soared in South Korea, with the in a statement, calling President sudden spread tied to a secretive Vladimir V. Putin an “autocratic church where hundreds of congre- thug” and warning Moscow to gants attended services with nu- ANMAR KHALIL/ASSOCIATED PRESS stay out of the election. Drawing a merous people infected with the Checking the symptoms of passengers arriving from Iran in Najaf, Iraq, on Friday. The coronavirus has reached major cities in Iran. contrast with Mr. Trump, he said virus. he would stand against any efforts The United States now has 34 by Russia or another foreign cases, with more expected, and It- power to interfere in the vote. aly experienced a spike from “The intelligence community is three cases to 17 and ordered man- Walgreens Sought to Conceal For National Security Council, telling us they are interfering in datory quarantine measures. this campaign right now in 2020,” “The cases that we see in the Mr. Sanders separately told re- rest of the world, although the Staff Complaints About Errors A Mission Turns Upside Down porters in Bakersfield, Calif., numbers are small, but not linked where he held a rally on Friday. to Wuhan or China, it’s very worri- “And what I say to Mr. Putin: ‘If some,” Tedros Adhanom Ghe- By ELLEN GABLER By MICHAEL CROWLEY and DAVID E. SANGER elected president, trust me, you breyesus, director-general of the are not going to be interfering in Pharmacy employees at Wal- operations at Walgreens, told WASHINGTON — When Presi- succeed John R. Bolton in Septem- World Health Organization, said American elections.’” greens told consultants late last them to delete a bullet point last dent Trump’s national security ad- ber, that dynamic has often been Friday at a news conference at the He said he was briefed about a year that high levels of stress and month that mentioned how em- viser, Robert C. O’Brien, convenes turned on its head. agency’s headquarters in Geneva. month ago. Asked why the disclo- ployees “sometimes skirted or “These dots are actually very con- “unreasonable” expectations had meetings with top National Secu- Mr. O’Brien, a dapper Los An- sure came out now, he said: “I’ll cerning.” led them to make mistakes while completely ignored” proper pro- rity Council officials at the White geles lawyer, convenes more reg- let you guess about one day before As uneasiness about the filling prescriptions and to ignore cedures to meet corporate met- House, he sometimes opens by ular and inclusive council meet- the Nevada caucus. Why do you breadth and duration of the out- some safety procedures. rics, according to the chat logs and distributing printouts of Mr. ings than Mr. Bolton. But develop- think it came out?” break grew, stocks fell for the sec- But when the consultants the draft report. Trump’s latest tweets on the sub- ing policy is not really Mr. O’Bri- On Friday, the president ag- ond straight day on Friday amid presented their findings at Wal- A slide detailing “errors result- ject at hand. en’s mission. In the fourth year of gressively disputed that Russia worries the virus would drag greens’s corporate offices this ing from stress” was also re- The gesture amounts to an im- his presidency and in his fourth was interfering on his behalf. He down global demand and hurt the month, there was no reference to moved. The consultants, a group plicit challenge for those present. national security adviser, Mr. called the disclosures a hoax and world economy. the errors and little mention of from Tata Consultancy Services Their job is to find ways of justify- Trump has finally gotten what he part of a partisan campaign The disturbing reports out of other concerns the employees had that was examining the compa- ing, enacting or explaining Mr. wants — a loyalist who enables his against him. At a campaign rally Tehran suggested the virus was raised. ny’s computer system for filling Trump’s policy, not to advise the ideas instead of challenging them. in Las Vegas, Mr. Trump sug- being transmitted far more widely That’s because senior leaders at prescriptions, had included the president on what it should be. Two of Mr. O’Brien’s predeces- gested that Mr. Putin would prefer there than officials had previously Walgreens had directed the con- slide among their “high level find- That is the reverse of what the sors, Mr. Bolton and the retired Lt. Mr. Sanders, “who honeymooned acknowledged. While the coun- sultants to remove some damag- ings.” National Security Council was Gen H.R. McMaster, had strong in Moscow.” Mr. Sanders and his try’s health officials confirmed ing findings after seeing a draft of Pharmacists in dozens of states created to do at the Cold War’s policy views informed by deep wife traveled to the Soviet Union only 18 cases by Friday, the num- their presentation, a review of in- have accused Walgreens, CVS and dawn — to inform and advise the military or diplomatic experience in 1988 on a trip that political oppo- ber of deaths indicates the total is ternal emails, chat logs and two other major drugstore chains of president on national security de- that differed from Mr. Trump’s in nents have called their hon- likely to be far higher. versions of the report shows. putting the public at risk of medi- cisions. But under Mr. O’Brien, basic ways, and each sought to eymoon, a term the couple has Four reported deaths probably In one instance, Amy Bixler, the cation errors because of under- the White House’s hostage negoti- steer his policies. Mr. O’Brien jokingly used, too. Continued on Page A9 director of pharmacy and retail Continued on Page A19 ator when Mr. Trump chose him to Continued on Page A16 Continued on Page A17

In Germany’s ‘Politics of Hate,’ As Nevada Strikes Gold, Working-Class Voters Miss the Bonanza

Even the Politicians Aren’t Safe By JACK HEALY HENDERSON, Nev. — The By KATRIN BENNHOLD signs of Nevada’s resurgent econ- and MELISSA EDDY omy are everywhere in this com- munity outside Las Vegas, the COLOGNE, Germany — The fastest-growing city in one of the last time Henriette Reker ran for country’s fastest-growing states. mayor, she was nearly killed. New housing developments are Ms. Reker was handing out spilling up the mountainsides, flowers to voters at a bustling filled with families and retirees market in Cologne in 2015, when a fleeing California and the East man took a rose with one hand and Coast for sunshine, cheaper land rammed a kitchen knife into her and lower taxes. Warehouses are throat with the other. He wanted KSENIA KULESHOVA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES Cologne’s mayor, Henriette sprouting beside a huge new prac- to punish her for her pro-refugee tice complex for the Las Vegas stance. Reker, was stabbed in 2015. Raiders football team — another Five years later, Ms. Reker is set of California transplants. Even running again. But she is an ex- “Our democracy is under attack the names on new apartments ception. Since she recovered from at the grass-roots level,” Ms. and Spanish-tiled subdivisions a coma to find herself elected, far- Reker said in a recent interview in mirror the optimism of a state on a right death threats have become Cologne’s City Hall. “This is the hot streak after years of a plod- an everyday reality, not just for foundation of our democracy, and ding economic recovery: Elysian. her but for an increasing number it is vulnerable.” Inspirada. of local officials across Germany. The trend, the local officials and “It’s a boomtown,” said Ivonne The acrimony is felt in town analysts say, reflects a worrying Hernandez, 28, who was in high halls and village streets, where breakdown of civility and political school when her family lost their mayors now find themselves the discourse in an increasingly po- home in the housing crash. ROGER KISBY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES targets of threats and intimida- larized Germany, where the insid- But Ms. Hernandez and other A new complex for the N.F.L.’s Raiders. The team is part of a wave of transplants to Las Vegas. tion. The effect has been chilling. ious influence of an angry far right middle-class voters say they are Some have stopped speaking is changing the rules of behavior. not sharing in Nevada’s jackpot. out. Many have quit, tried to arm Mayors, certainly, have not As the state handed out millions in decade after the recession but said she has been unable to af- here for me.” themselves or taken on police pro- been the only ones to suffer as tax incentives to lure businesses plunged Las Vegas’s tourism and ford an apartment of her own. She Nikki Peters, who markets time tection. The risks have mounted Germany’s political and social here, working-class voters say construction-dependent economy has already voted early for Sena- shares in Henderson, said that de- to such an extent that some Ger- fabric has strained. The shootings they are struggling to keep up into disarray. tor Bernie Sanders ahead of Sat- spite the booming economy, her man towns are unable to field can- this week in the western town of with rising rents and still feel eco- Today, Ms. Hernandez has a urday’s Democratic caucuses. family struggles. She and her hus- didates for leadership at all. Continued on Page A6 nomically vulnerable more than a good-paying job at a gas company, “There’s just not opportunity out Continued on Page A12

NATIONAL A10-19 BUSINESS B1-7 THIS WEEKEND Guilty Verdict in Racist Attack $3 Billion Fine for Wells Fargo Just for Kids A jury convicted an avowed white su- The bank reached a deal to settle legal premacist of two counts of first-degree actions over its widespread fraud and murder for a 2017 stabbing aboard a mistreatment of community banking train in Portland, Ore. PAGE A18 customers over 14 years. PAGE B1

INTERNATIONAL A4-9 Job 1 for State Dept. No. 2 NEW YORK A20-21, 24 SPORTSSATURDAY B9-12 Stephen E. Biegun, the new deputy, has Kenyan Painter Ponders China the task of calming a simmering revolt Snacks, Smokes and Fame U.S. Women Seek $67 Million Michael Soi’s “China Loves Africa” at the department. PAGE A18 Shared in TikTok videos, the unique Before a trial in their equal-pay lawsuit, collection examines the ties between culture of New York’s bodegas is win- members of the soccer team asked a Beijing and African elites. PAGE A7 ning fans around the world. PAGE A20 ARTS C1-7 judge to order U.S. Soccer to give them back pay and damages. PAGE B9 Couple Drop ‘Royal’ With Split The Artist Beneath the Forger Weinstein Jury May Be Split Prince Harry and Meghan Markle A Minnesota show of Elmyr de Hory’s Jurors were told to keep working after EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23 agreed not to use “royal” when they portraits could bring the recognition suggesting a deadlock on top counts leave the British monarchy. PAGE A4 that eluded him in his lifetime. PAGE C1 and agreement on others. PAGE A24 Bret Stephens PAGE A23 U(D54G1D)y+"!{!.!$!z