DISMISSAL AT F.B.I. · the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved great pres-sure on him,...

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JONATHAN CORUM/THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Ross Ice Shelf, a floating chunk of ice the size of California, is stable for now. But a rapid disintegration of Antarctic ice couldraise the sea level by as much as six feet by the middle of the century, deluging major coastal cities, including New York. Page A11.

Antarctic Dispatches: A Continent at Risk

WASHINGTON — The na-tional board of the N.A.A.C.P.voted Friday to dismiss the orga-nization’s president, CornellWilliam Brooks, after only threeyears, pledging a “systemwide re-

fresh” at the nation’s largest andmost storied civil rights group inorder to confront PresidentTrump more vigorously.

Mr. Brooks, who said in an inter-view that he was “baffled” andsaddened by the decision, willleave the organization at the endof June when his contract expires.

The group will search for a newleader while Leon W. Russell, thechairman of the board, and Der-rick Johnson, the vice chairman,head up day-to-day operations.

The sudden change at the top ofthe N.A.A.C.P. shows how the en-ergy of liberal activists in the eraof President Trump is forcing up-

heaval even in storied institutionslike a century-old civil rights stal-wart. Mr. Brooks was hardly re-served in his own activism. Hewas arrested in January for lead-ing a sit-in at the Alabama office ofSenator Jeff Sessions, trying toblock his confirmation as attorney

N.A.A.C.P., Energized by Liberal Activists, Dismisses Its PresidentBy YAMICHE ALCINDOR

Continued on Page A16

BEHROUZ MEHRI/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE — GETTY IMAGES

Voting was extended three times, seen as a plus for the incumbent, Hassan Rouhani. Page A7.Heavy Turnout for Iranian Election

Dathan Ritzenhein, an Olympicdistance runner for the UnitedStates, was starting to feel sickfrom his thyroid medication — adrug that was not medically nec-essary but one that his coach, apowerful and combative figure inthe sport, had strongly recom-mended to improve his perform-ance.

The coach was Alberto Salazar,a running legend himself who af-ter his competitive career hadteamed up with Nike, the world’slargest athletic apparel manufac-turer, to train elite runners. Hewas dismissive when Ritzenheinexpressed concerns, Ritzenheinlater said under oath. Salazar wasfocused on revving Ritzenhein’sendocrine system for a comingrace, he said, “instead of justwhatever was best for my health.”

The tension between Ritzen-hein and Salazar over medical is-sues and methods of performanceenhancement was not uncommonin the Oregon Project, the vauntedteam financed by Nike and led bySalazar that includes some of theworld’s most celebrated runners.Ritzenhein’s experience, alongwith incidents involving severalother athletes, were laid out in viv-id detail in a confidential reportwritten by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that was obtainedby The New York Times.

The report, some aspects ofwhich have been reported by TheTimes of London, describes, over269 pages, a culture of coercion,secrecy and possible medical mal-practice in the Oregon Project, aneffort to make American distancerunning relevant again on the in-ternational stage.

Salazar has emphatically de-nied violating antidoping rules.He has said that he and his ath-

Peeking Inside A Nike Project: ‘Is This Legal?’

By MATT HART

Continued on Page A19

RIO DE JANEIRO — Just a fewdays ago, Brazil seemed to beturning a corner. The stock mar-ket was soaring. Bankers werecheering. The nation’s cutthroatlawmakers were lining up to curbspending. Inflation had beentamed.

Brazil, it appeared, was finallyon the mend.

Then, in a matter of hours, it allstarted falling apart. PresidentMichel Temer, long embroiled ingraft scandals, suddenly becametangled in a new one, accused oftaking millions of dollars in illicitpayments and caught on tape dis-cussing how to obstruct an anti-corruption drive.

The allegations — including tes-timony released Friday in whichexecutives at one of the world’s

largest food companies accusedhim of taking about $4.6 million inillegal campaign contributions —have ignited broad calls for Mr.Temer’s resig-nation, sentmarkets whip-sawing and setoff fears thatBrazil will slideback into thepolitical andeconomic tur-moil that hasrattled it for thelast two years.

The testimony, released by theSupreme Court, also describedtens of millions of dollars in illicitpayments into offshore accountsintended to benefit his impeachedpredecessor, Dilma Rousseff, andher mentor, former President LuizInácio Lula da Silva, both of whomhave denied any wrongdoing in

the matter.The bombshell made it clear

that the political and economic up-heaval in Latin America’s largestcountry is far from over. Mr.Temer, who took over after Ms.Rousseff’s ouster only a year ago,is facing the biggest crisis of his al-ready rocky presidency. Mr. daSilva, who has been angling for acomeback, was facing multiplecorruption investigations evenbefore the allegations were re-vealed on Friday.

On top of that, the politicians inline to take over if Mr. Temer falls— including the speaker of thehouse and the leader of the Senate— are also embroiled in corrup-tion investigations, raising deepconcerns over the nation’s leader-ship and future.

“The damage done to our insti-

By SIMON ROMERO

Temer

Continued on Page A8

Scandal in Brazil Raises Fear of Turmoil’s Return

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump embarked on Friday on hisfirst foreign mission since takingoffice, beginning a challengingnine-day, multistop, multifacetedjourney to the Middle East andEurope and leaving behind a capi-tal consumed by investigationsand intrigue.

Mr. Trump’s first stop will be Ri-yadh, Saudi Arabia, where he willmeet with dozens of Arab andMuslim leaders. He will later trav-el to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Vati-can City, Brussels and finally Sici-ly before returning May 27.

An inaugural foreign trip wouldhave been daunting for a di-plomatic novice under any cir-cumstances, given the panoply ofcomplicated issues that will con-front Mr. Trump, including terror-ism, religion, economics, MiddleEast peace, the war in Af-ghanistan, the future of NATO andRussian aggression. But it will beonly more so given the distrac-tions back home as a newly ap-pointed special counsel beginslooking into any ties between Rus-sia and Mr. Trump’s campaign.

In his final hours before leaving,Mr. Trump was focused on pickinga new F.B.I. director to replaceJames B. Comey, whom he firedlast week. While he had hoped toname a replacement before thetrip, the president came to theconclusion that he was not readyto decide. Instead, that will be onemore question looming over himas he jets across the world.

Mr. Trump has expressed dreadover the rigors of so much travel,but professed enthusiasm as heprepared to depart. “Gettingready for my big foreign trip,” hewrote on Twitter before leavingthe White House. “Will bestrongly protecting American in-

Leaving Stress As More Waits In Trip Abroad

Tumult at Home RaisesStakes for President

By PETER BAKER

Continued on Page A16

Anthony D. Weiner, the formerDemocratic congressman whosesexting scandals ended his po-litical career and embroiled him ina tumultuous F.B.I. investigationof Hillary Clinton before the elec-tion, pleaded guilty to a felony onFriday, crying openly as he admit-ted to conduct that he knew was“as morally wrong as it was un-lawful.”

The plea agreement ended afederal investigation into a seriesof sexually explicit pictures andmessages that Mr. Weiner sentlast year to a 15-year-old girl inNorth Carolina.

It capped the long, tortureddownfall of Mr. Weiner, who ru-ined a once-promising career inCongress and then spoiled vari-ous attempts at resurrecting hisreputation, all through his uncon-trolled habit of using social mediaand texts to send explicit imagesto women.

It also cost him his marriage:His estranged wife, Huma Abedin,a top aide to Mrs. Clinton, filed fordivorce from Mr. Weiner on Fri-day in New York, according to twopeople with knowledge of the ac-tion.

“I engaged in obscene commu-nications with this teenager,” Mr.Weiner said, his voice high andshaky, and his body trembling.

Those communications “includedsharing explicit images and en-couraging her to engage insexually explicit conduct,” just ashe had done with adult women, hesaid.

Mr. Weiner, 52, will have to reg-ister as a sex offender where he

works andlives, and hemay face a pris-on term. Hepleaded guiltyto transferringobscene ma-terial to a mi-nor, which car-ries a sentenceof up to 10 yearsin prison.

Federal prosecutors said in theplea agreement that a sentence inthe range of 21 to 27 months wouldbe “fair and appropriate.” Mr. Wei-ner is to be sentenced on Sept. 8 inFederal District Court in Manhat-tan.

Mr. Weiner was led into thecourtroom for the brief hearingwearing a slim navy suit with awhite shirt and maroon tie; a wed-ding band could be seen on his lefthand. He sat quietly between hislawyers, exchanging whisperswith one, Arlo Devlin-Brown, andan occasional smile.

Weiner Pleads Guilty in CaseThat Rattled Clinton Campaign

By BENJAMIN WEISER and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

Continued on Page A24

Weiner

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump told Russian officials in theOval Office this month that firingthe F.B.I. director, James B.Comey, had relieved “great pres-sure” on him, according to a docu-ment summarizing the meeting.

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I.He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr.Trump said, according to the doc-ument, which was read to TheNew York Times by an Americanofficial. “I faced great pressure be-cause of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Mr. Trump added, “I’m not un-der investigation.”

The conversation, during a May10 meeting — the day after he firedMr. Comey — reinforces the no-tion that the president dismissedhim primarily because of the bu-reau’s investigation into possiblecollusion between Mr. Trump’scampaign and Russian opera-tives. Mr. Trump said as much inone televised interview, but theWhite House has offered chang-ing justifications for the firing.

The comments represented anextraordinary moment in the in-vestigation, which centers in parton the administration’s contactswith Russian officials: A day afterfiring the man leading that inqui-ry, Mr. Trump disparaged him —to Russian officials.

The White House documentthat contained Mr. Trump’s com-ments was based on notes takenfrom inside the Oval Office andhas been circulated as the official

TRUMP ADMITTED DISMISSAL AT F.B.I.

EASED PRESSURE

CALLED COMEY ‘NUT JOB’

Remarks to Russians inthe Oval Office a Day

After the Firing

This article is by Matt Apuzzo,Maggie Haberman and MatthewRosenberg.

Continued on Page A14

VISAS FOR INVESTORS The Kushner real estate firm has capitalized ona lucrative program that critics say has little oversight. PAGE A18

Workers in New Orleans dismantled thelast of four monuments that paid tributeto the Confederate era. PAGE A10

NATIONAL A10-19

A Goodbye for General Lee

Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder,proclaimed vindication after Swedenabandoned its inquiry, but he still facesenormous legal challenges. PAGE A7

INTERNATIONAL A4-9

Assange Rape Case Is Dropped

Classic Empire’s team is set for a re-match with Always Dreaming. PAGE D1

SPORTSSATURDAY D1-5

Take 2 at the Preakness

Crime and singing — as well as themilitary and the Bible — are among thethemes of this fall’s TV lineups. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-7

Up Next: Murders and Musicals

Ed Murray was a powerful gay leader,but he faces accusations that he paidteenagers for sex years ago. PAGE A10

Downfall of Seattle’s Mayor

Some victims of a global hacking attackare refusing to pay up to regain controlof their computers and data. PAGE A9

Standing Up to Ransomware

Alyssa Elsman, 18, excelled in a culi-nary arts program in Michigan and soldher creations to classmates. PAGE A21

NEW YORK A20-21, 24

Times Square Crash Victim

Bob Beckel of “The Five” was accusedof a racially insensitive remark. PAGE B1

Firing Adds to Turmoil at Fox

Bret Stephens PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23A philosophical schism over an ultra-sensitive identity construct. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-7

Can You Be Transracial?

He was ordered to comply with a law-suit over driverless cars. PAGE B6

Uber May Fire Star Engineer

THIS WEEKEND

COMEY WILL TESTIFY The former F.B.I. director James B. Comey hasagreed to appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee. PAGE A14

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVI . . . No. 57,603 © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2017

Today, partly sunny, cooler, less hu-mid, high 69. Tonight, partly cloudy,seasonable, low 52. Tomorrow,periods of clouds and sunshine, high67. Weather map is on Page C8.

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