National News at a Glance

In Talk to Republicans, President Puts Blame on Democrats

President Donald Trump turned up the pressure on Democrats on Thursday to come to an agreement with Republicans on protections for young immigrants, asserting that opposition leaders were unwilling to budge and would rather see him fail than make progress on issues that would benefit the country. At the same time, he warned his fellow Republicans that they would have to make compromises themselves to reach a deal on the Obama-era policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, that Trump has ordered canceled. He gave lawmakers until March 5 to take action.

Trump Clears the Way for Release of Secret Republican Memo

The White House signaled on Thursday that President Donald Trump would allow a secret memo written by Republican congressional aides to be made public. Trump was expected to tell Congress on Friday that he had no objections and would probably not request that any of its substance be redacted, according to a senior administration official. Top national security officials have warned that the memo omits crucial context and that its release would jeopardize sensitive government information. The memo is said to accuse federal law enforcement officials of abusing their authorities in seeking permission to surveil a former Trump campaign adviser.

Director of Veterans Hospital Accused of Manipulating Ratings Is Replaced

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced Thursday that it would replace the director of its medical center at Roseburg Veterans Administration Medical Center in Roseburg, Oregon. Douglas Paxton had come under fire for limiting the number of patients the center admitted in an effort to improve its dismal performance rating, according to doctors at the hospital. The medical center, which for years had ranked near the bottom of the veteran health care system, saw its rating rapidly improve under Paxton. But doctors said that improvement was driven largely by strategic tweaks to health care practices to boost performance measures.

University of Pennsylvania Takes Away Wynn’s Honors, and Cosby’s

Two years after declining to rescind Bill Cosby’s honorary degree, the University of Pennsylvania changed its mind on Thursday, but only after deciding to strip casino mogul Steve Wynn’s name from a prominent campus plaza and a scholarship, and to take back his honorary degree. The university announced the decisions a week after reports emerged that Wynn, a Penn alumnus and former trustee, had frequently demanded naked massages from female employees, sometimes pressuring them for sex, in one case leading to a $7.5 million legal settlement.

Gut Microbes Combine to Cause Colon Cancer, Study Suggests

Two types of bacteria — Bacteroides fragilis and a strain of E. coli — commonly found in the gut work together to fuel the growth of colon tumors, researchers reported on Thursday. The study, published in the journal Science, describes what may be a hidden cause of colon cancer, the third most common cancer in the United States. The research adds to growing evidence that gut bacteria modify the body’s immune system in unexpected ways. The findings suggest certain preventive strategies may be effective in the future, such as looking for the bacteria in the colons of people getting colonoscopies.

CIA Director Defends Meeting With Russian Spy Chiefs

The CIA director, Mike Pompeo, pushed back on Thursday against suggestions that a visit to the United States by Russian intelligence chiefs had contributed to the Trump administration’s delay in imposing fresh sanctions on Moscow, saying in a letter that U.S. officials “pull no punches” when sitting down with their Russian counterparts. The meetings were focused on how the United States and Russia could better cooperate on counterterrorism issues, not sanctions, Pompeo said. The two Russian officials were Alexander V. Bortnikov, who runs the Federal Security Bureau, and Sergey Naryshkin, the chief of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service.

Trump Boasts of ‘Very Good Relationship’ With North Korean Leader

Barely more than a week after boasting that he has a bigger nuclear button than Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, President Donald Trump portrayed himself on Thursday as having good relations with the autocratic leader of the rogue nation. The description was another jarring reversal in tone from a president who has spoken admiringly of Kim in some moments and mocked him in others, referring to him as a fat “Little Rocket Man." Kim has responded, calling Trump a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard” and “a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire, rather than a politician.”

Republicans Tack a Conservative Campus Wish List to a Major Education Bill

A 590-page higher-education bill working its way through Congress is a wish list for a wide range of people, groups and colleges claiming that their First Amendment rights — freedom of speech, religion or assembly — are being trampled. Many of them are religious, right-leaning or both, and the Republicans behind the bill have eagerly taken up the cause, correcting what they see as antipathy toward conservative beliefs on American campuses. The bill’s religious elements reflect the continuing national debate over whether the First Amendment covers actions that might otherwise be called discriminatory.