THIS WEEKEND

Democrats said they would remain on aHouse committee investigating the Ben-ghazi attack even as they demandedthat it be shut down. PAGE A17

NATIONAL A13-18

A Benghazi Panel Protest

A soldier who helped free hostages inIraq showed an instinct to protect dur-ing his life, and in his death. PAGE A15

He Ran to the Sound of Guns

Police divers are searching the HarlemRiver floor for the weapon used to killan officer. Crime Scene. PAGE A19

NEW YORK A19-21

A Gun Search, Underwater

After 50 years of one-party rule, the Afri-can nation is holding a heavily contestedpresidential election on Sunday. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

A Political Test for TanzaniaSaving early for your children’s collegetuition won’t adversely affect aid eligi-bility, Ron Lieber writes. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-6

The Benefits of a College Fund

Shares of the music streaming servicesank, as investors feared that a crowdedmarket is eating into revenue. PAGE B1

Pandora Takes a Tumble

Gail Collins PAGE A23

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A22-23

The comedians Redd Foxx (died 1991)and Andy Kaufman (died 1984) are be-ing turned into holograms to performand tour again. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-7

Joking Past the Graveyard

Kansas City eliminated the Toronto BlueJays in the American League Champion-ship Series and will meet the Mets in theWorld Series. PAGE D3

SPORTSSATURDAY D1-6

A Mets-Royals World Series

MAURICIO LIMA FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

A member of the Majid family, Roujin Sheikho, center, rested with her daughter and other kin in a Serbian field in late August.

bloody gashes in his right shin.He stays silent.Zain was born in Syria as the

fighting there was beginning.Ever since, he and his extendedfamily have been living in theshadow of conflict, surroundedby a chaotic mix of fear, threats,extortion and kidnapping.

This summer, Zain, his father,Ahmad Majid, and a band of de-termined relatives — eightadults, including Zain’s pregnantmother, and five other children, ababy and a toddler among them— became part of a remarkablechapter in human migration.

Over nearly two months, thefamily journeyed from Syriathrough Turkey and eight Euro-

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

Zain al-Abideen Majid’s fatherlifts him over a coil of glitteringrazor wire in the moonlit dark-ness of a Serbian farm, stretchingto hand the boy to a relative onthe other side.

Though Zain is only 4, this is byno means his first surreptitiousborder crossing, and he remem-bers his father’s admonition atthe very start of their journey,when they slipped from theirhomeland of Syria into Turkey:Don’t make a sound, or theguards will beat us.

On this night, as Zain is passedover the wire from Serbia intoHungary, the barbs rip two

pean countries, through much ofthe trip not even sure of a desti-nation. The group was cheeredand cursed, encountering thebest of Europe, and the worst.They endured exhaustion and de-spair, stranded for five days in atrain station in Budapest and im-prisoned in Denmark with seem-ingly no hope of moving forward.And they had moments of tri-umph, outwitting border guards

and benefiting from the camara-derie of fellow travelers.

“It’s better than dying,” saysAhmad.

The sheer number of peopletrudging alongside them hasoften led to impersonal descrip-tions: a wave, a mass, a crisis.But up close they were verymuch individuals living throughan unsettling and sometimes ter-rifying journey. For the Majids,that journey took them from theolive groves of the village in Syr-ia that had nurtured their familyfor generations toward an uncer-tain future in an alien culture.

For much of the trip, I traveledwith them, along with a team ofother journalists from The NewYork Times, documenting theirjoys and sorrows, and sometimesbecoming part of their experi-ence.

The Majids are a tight-knitfamily, resourceful and relativelywell off. For years, Ahmad cau-tiously plotted how best to sur-vive in Syria, even as it was de-teriorating and splintering intofiefs run by rival warlords andmilitias. Prosperous and with

A Syrian Family Swept Up in a Migrant Tide to Europe

Many Obstacles Await

on Perilous Quest

for Safe Haven

Continued on Page A8

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDTand MATT APUZZO

CHICAGO — The F.B.I. direc-tor, James B. Comey, said on Fri-day that the additional scrutinyand criticism of police officers inthe wake of highly publicized epi-sodes of police brutality mayhave led to an increase in violentcrime in some cities as officershave become less aggressive.

With his remarks, Mr. Comeylent the prestige of the F.B.I., thenation’s most prominent law en-forcement agency, to a theorythat is far from settled: that theincreased attention on the policehas made officers less aggressiveand emboldened criminals. Buthe acknowledged that there is sofar no data to back up his as-sertion and that it may be justone of many factors that are con-tributing to the rise in crime, likecheaper drugs and an increase incriminals who are being releasedfrom prison.

“I don’t know whether that ex-plains it entirely, but I do have astrong sense that some part ofthe explanation is a chill windthat has blown through Americanlaw enforcement over the lastyear,” Mr. Comey said in a speechat the University of Chicago LawSchool.

Mr. Comey’s remarks caughtofficials by surprise at the JusticeDepartment, where his views arenot shared at the top levels. Hold-ing the police accountable for civ-il rights violations has been a toppriority at the department in re-cent years, and some senior offi-cials do not believe that scrutinyof police officers has led to an in-crease in crime. While the de-partment had no immediate com-ment on Friday, several officialsprivately fumed at Mr. Comey’ssuggestion.

Among the nation’s law en-forcement officials, there is sharpdisagreement over whether thereis any credence to the so-calledFerguson effect, which refers to

F.B.I. CHIEF LINKS EYES ON POLICE

TO RISE IN CRIME

AN UNSETTLED THEORY

Sharp Dispute Over

Any Credence to the

‘Ferguson Effect’

Continued on Page A3

By PATRICK HEALY and TRIP GABRIEL

A beleaguered Jeb Bushslashed his campaign spending.Donald J. Trump lost his lead inIowa. And a surging Ben Carsongalvanized his support among so-cial conservatives.

With Hillary Rodham Clintonemerging as the unrivaled leaderin the Democratic contest, theunruly Republican presidentialfield suddenly seemed to lack acenter of political gravity on Fri-day, leaving party strategists andvoters to fear a long nominationfight that could end with a dam-aged standard-bearer facing amore unified left.

Mr. Bush cut salaries, firedconsultants and laid off or re-assigned many campaign work-ers. It was the latest sign that contenders vying for supportfrom moderates and the party’sestablishment are all but runningon fumes — exhausting theircash, or the patience of their sup-porters, but barely moving in thepolls.

Mr. Trump, for months a lead-ing candidate, has now fallen be-hind in Iowa to Mr. Carson, a re-tired neurosurgeon, raising ques-tions about how aggressively he

will act to reverse his saggingpoll numbers. And Mr. Carson,whose fund-raising has roughlykept pace with his climb in thepolls, is moving to run television

commercialsin Iowa, NewHampshireand SouthCarolina, posi-tioning him-self to influ-ence the out-comes inthose statesand others ifhe manages tocontinue lock-ing downevangelicalChristian vot-ers.

Yet amidthe tumult onthe right, thecontours ofthe state-by-

state fight for the Republicannomination have also becomemore apparent.

In Iowa, where Republicans

Bush Cuts Costs, Carson EclipsesTrump in Iowa and G.O.P. Frets

Continued on Page A16

Ben Carson

Jeb BushBy ERIC LIPTON

and JENNIFER STEINHAUER

WASHINGTON — The peti-tions that started surfacingonline over a year ago were as in-cendiary as they were urgent,begging recipients to sign up to“Boot Boehner,” “Dump McCon-nell,” “Drop a Truth-Bomb onKevin McCarthy” and “Fire PaulRyan.”

The calls to oust Republicanleaders in Congress did not comefrom Democrats. They camefrom conservative websites andbloggers who have helped stoke agrass-roots rebellion to make

Congress more conservative, afevered continuation of the six-year Tea Party movement.

But these politically chargedappeals to conservatives aroundthe country were often accompa-nied by a solicitation for money,and the ultimate beneficiaries,records suggest, are the consult-ants who created the campaignsrather than the causes they arepromoting.

It is a practice that has acceler-ated with the explosion of socialmedia. The latest example cameon Wednesday with a new attackon Representative Paul D. Ryan,Republican of Wisconsin, just a

day after he said he was willingto serve as House speaker.

Even some members of Con-gress who might benefit from thepetitions are highly critical of theapproach. “A lot of people arewearing their hearts on theirsleeves trying to help, and onlylater may find out that thismoney is not going where theythought it was,” said Representa-tive David Schweikert, Republi-can of Arizona and a member ofthe Freedom Caucus, the groupof conservative lawmakers whohelped force out RepresentativeJohn A. Boehner of Ohio as

Continued on Page A17

Right-Wing PACs Vilify G.O.P. Elite, and It Pays

By JACK EWINGand JAD MOUAWAD

At least three members ofVolkswagen’s board said theywere left in the dark about thecompany’s emissions cheatingfor two weeks after top execu-tives admitted the deception toAmerican environmental offi-cials.

During that period, the boardwas completing the terms of acontract extension for the auto-maker’s chief executive, MartinWinterkorn. He was pushed outfive days after the use of thecheating device became public,though he insisted he had knownnothing about it.

The board members’ state-ments shed new light on flaws inthe management structure andlines of communication at Volks-wagen, the world’s largest auto-maker. Volkswagen’s stock haslost about a third of its valuesince Sept. 18, when the cheatingwas made public by the UnitedStates Environmental ProtectionAgency.

Volkswagen has admitted thatsome cars were programmed todisable their pollution controlsunless the software detected thatemission tests were being con-ducted. With the controls off, thevehicles had better accelerationand fuel economy, but emitted farhigher levels of nitrogen oxide, apollutant linked to lung ailments.

If Mr. Winterkorn did not knowabout the communication with

Continued on Page B3

RICHARD PERRY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

The auction house is feverishly promoting its sale of the art of its ex-chairman, A. Alfred Taubman,who was jailed for price-fixing. One lot to be sold is Modigliani’s “Paulette Jourdain.” Page C1.

Sotheby’s Pulls Out All the Stops

VOL. CLXV . . . No. 57,029 + © 2015 The New York Times NEW YORK, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2015

Late EditionToday, clouds and sunshine, high58. Tonight, cloudy, a brief showerlate, low 53. Tomorrow, morningclouds, some afternoon sun, high64. Weather map is on Page C8.

$2.50

3 Directors Say

VW Hid Deceit

From the Board

This article is by ElisabethMalkin, Azam Ahmed andFrances Robles.

MEXICO CITY — The strong-est hurricane ever known to as-sault the Western Hemisphereslammed into Mexico’s south-west Pacific Coast on Friday,transforming hotels into make-shift shelters, shuttering schools,closing airports and sending in-habitants racing to bus stationsto flee inland.

The storm, named HurricanePatricia, packed winds of about165 miles per hour as it struckland, having slowed considerablyfrom earlier speeds of about 200miles per hour as it spun towarda coastline dotted with tiny fish-ing villages and five-star resortsin cities like Puerto Vallarta.

As the outer wall of the hurri-cane swept over the coast in theafternoon, trees were quicklyflattened, landslides tumbledalong a major road, light poleswere toppled and roofs flew off.

“You had to feel how the airtrembled,” said Yael Barragan, atrucking service coordinator inthe port city of Manzanillo, hud-dled in his home with five chil-dren and four other adults. Whenthe wind started blowing, it wasnot long before a neighbor’s roofwas in his backyard. “I saw it fly,and I saw it land in my patio,” hesaid.

Less than an hour after land-fall, the National Hurricane Cen-ter said the storm was barreling

HURRICANE SLAMSCOAST OF MEXICOWITH HIGH FORCE

BRINGS 165-M.P.H. WINDS

Storm Barrels Inland —

Extensive Damage

and Flooding

Continued on Page A11

U(D54G1D)y+[!%!]!#!,A truck collided with a bus carrying eld-erly sightseers in southwestern France,killing at least 43 people. PAGE A4

Dozens Die in French Collision

Secretary of State John Kerry and hisRussian counterpart met to explore apolitical solution to the war in Syria andthe future of Bashar al-Assad. PAGE A12

INTERNATIONAL

U.S. and Russia Discuss Syria

C M Y K Nxxx,2015-10-24,A,001,Bs-BK,E2_+