National News at a Glance

Separated at the Border From Their Parents: In Six Weeks, 1,995 Children

The Trump administration said Friday that it had separated 1,995 children from parents facing criminal prosecution for unlawfully crossing the border over a six-week period that ended last month, as President Donald Trump sought to shift blame for the widely criticized practice that has become the signature policy of his aggressive immigration agenda. From April 19 to May 31, the children were separated from 1,940 adults, according to a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, who spoke during a conference call with reporters. Administration officials insisted on anonymity to explain the president’s policy and deny many of the damaging stories that have appeared about it in recent days.

House Republicans Struggle to Read Trump’s Intent on Immigration Bills

Conflicting messages from President Donald Trump and his aides over whether he would support a compromise immigration bill sent House Republicans into fits of confusion before a showdown vote next week. Speaker Paul Ryan plans to hold votes on two immigration measures: a hard-line conservative bill, which is almost certain to fail, and new legislation worked out by Republican immigration moderates and House conservatives, which Ryan promoted Thursday as a “very good compromise.” But on Friday morning, Trump seemed to casually dismiss the delicate compromise. Finally, early Friday evening, Raj Shah, a White House spokesman, issued a statement pledging Trump’s support for both measures.

Judge Orders Manafort Jailed Before Trial, Citing New Obstruction Charges

A federal judge revoked Paul Manafort’s bail and sent him to jail Friday to await trial, citing new charges that Manafort had tried to influence the testimony of two government witnesses after he had been granted a temporary release. Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, had posted a $10 million bond and was under house arrest while awaiting his September trial on a host of charges, including money laundering and making false statements. But Manafort cannot remain free, even under stricter conditions, in the face of new felony charges that he had engaged in witness tampering while out on bail, the judge said.

Trump, Riding a North Korea High, Unloads on the FBI, Comey and Obama

He assailed the “scum on top” of the FBI who were out to get him. He suggested that a former aide did not lie even though he pleaded guilty to lying to investigators. And he distanced himself from his onetime campaign chairman hours before the aide was sent to jail. Reasserting himself on the Washington stage after a week spent overseas or out of sight, President Donald Trump went on offense Friday in his multifront war with investigators, eagerly framing a new Justice Department report as validation of his claim of a “deep state” conspiracy against him.

Funded by Alcohol Industry, Federal Study on Drinking Is Shut Down

An extensive government trial was intended to settle an age-old question about alcohol and diet: Does a daily cocktail or beer really protect against heart attacks and stroke? To find out, the National Institutes of Health gave scientists $100 million to fund a global study comparing people who drink with those who don’t. But as it turned out, much of the money for the study came from the alcohol industry. On Friday, an advisory panel to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the NIH, recommended that the trial be stopped altogether. Shortly afterward, Collins agreed.

Lawmaker’s Inflammatory Behavior Is Met With Silence From GOP

When Paul Nehlen, a white supremacist and anti-Semite, decided to seek the House seat being vacated by Speaker Paul Ryan, GOP leaders there said he had “no place in the Republican Party.” But when Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, retweeted a Nazi sympathizer this week, the House Republican leadership and his fellow Iowa Republicans on Capitol Hill were silent. “When he does something that’s inappropriate or outlandish, many people in leadership have chosen to turn their heads the other way, because they don’t know how else to deal with him,” said Nick Ryan, a Republican strategist in Iowa and a vocal critic of King.

Mulvaney Is Said to Want Deputy to Succeed Him at CFPB

Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director and acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has picked a deputy at the budget office, Kathy Kraninger, to succeed him at the consumer watchdog agency, according to two people familiar with the situation. Kraninger, who oversees the preparation of the budgets for several Cabinet departments, was selected over the objection of some officials inside the White House, who argued that her relative inexperience — and association with Mulvaney — could scuttle her nomination. Kraninger specialized in homeland security matters before joining Mulvaney’s staff at the Office and Management and Budget in March 2017.

Salmonella Outbreaks Affect Kellogg’s Honey Smacks Cereal and Cut Fruit

As a salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens forced a recall of some cereal products this week, federal officials announced that a separate outbreak linked to cut fruit has expanded to almost two dozen states. The outbreak linked to Kellogg’s Honey Smacks cereal had sickened 73 people in 31 states as of Thursday, according to a statement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 24 of them had been hospitalized and no deaths had been reported. In the second outbreak, 60 people were sickened from the disease in May, and last week the CDC linked their illnesses to precut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and mixed fruit in eight states.

Harvard Rated Asian-American Applicants Lower on Personality Traits, Lawsuit Says

Harvard consistently rated Asian-American applicants lower than others on traits like “positive personality,” likability, courage, kindness and being “widely respected,” according to an analysis of more than 160,000 student records filed Friday by a group representing Asian-American students in a lawsuit against the university. Asian-Americans scored higher than applicants of any other racial or ethnic group on admissions measures like test scores, according to the analysis commissioned by a group that opposes all race-based admissions criteria. But the students’ personal ratings significantly dragged down their chances of being admitted, the analysis found.