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SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

With seas rising, a California nonprofit proposes floating islands. Above, a rendering. Page A4.Floating Plans for a Floating City

The leads have dried up in thekilling of a young woman inQueens during a jog last summer.

Tips about potential suspectshave gone nowhere. A reward hasfailed to bear fruit, even as it hasswelled to over $280,000. And thesamples of a stranger’s DNAfound on the hands, throat andcellphone of the jogger, Karina Ve-trano, 30, did not match those innational offender databases.

But the authorities say that therecovered DNA could hold the keyto solving the case if state officialsauthorize what is called familialsearching, which allows investi-gators to search criminal data-bases to identify likely relatives ofthe offender.

The technique, which has been

used more than a dozen times inthe United States over the last 10years, represents a frontier in theevolving world of forensic science.While some methods, like micro-scopic hair testing and bite-markmatching, have been challengedin recent years, DNA testing re-mains a staple of forensic investi-gation, used to both identify sus-pects and exonerate the wrong-fully convicted.

Familial searching allows in-vestigators to search offenderdatabases with wider parametersto identify people who are likely tobe close relatives of the person

who may have committed a crime.Law enforcement officials say ahit in the database is less a piece ofevidence than it is a lead, and suchmatches have helped solve someheinous crimes in states wherethe practice has been authorized.

But the method raises somecomplicated ethical issues thathave trailed the expansion of DNAtechnology since its introduction.And as the collection of DNAgrows in the private sector, so dothe concerns about its potentialmisuse, particularly in the handsof government institutions.

Problems at some laboratories,including the New York City medi-cal examiner’s office, have high-lighted how DNA evidence is notimmune from human error. A 2013review of more than 800 rape

Family DNA Leads to Suspects, but Also Concerns

By ELI ROSENBERG Wider Database Search Raises Ethical Issues

Continued on Page A19

WASHINGTON — Ever sinceAmerican intelligence agenciesaccused Russia of trying to influ-ence the American election, therehave been questions about theproof they had to support the ac-cusation.

But the news from Moscow mayexplain how the agencies could beso certain that it was the Russianswho hacked the email of HillaryClinton’s campaign and the Demo-cratic National Committee. TwoRussian intelligence officers whoworked on cyberoperations and aRussian computer security experthave been arrested and chargedwith treason for providing infor-mation to the United States, ac-cording to multiple Russian newsreports.

As in most espionage cases, the

details made public so far are in-complete, and some rumors inMoscow suggest that those ar-rested may be scapegoats in an in-ternal power struggle over thehacking. Russian media reportslink the charges to the disclosureof the Russian role in attacking

state election boards, includingthe scanning of voter rolls in Ari-zona and Illinois, and do not men-tion the parallel attacks on theD.N.C. and the email of John Po-desta, Mrs. Clinton’s campaignchairman.

But one current and one formerUnited States official, speakingabout the classified recruitmentson condition of anonymity, con-firmed that human sources inRussia did play a crucial role inproving who was responsible forthe hacking.

The former official said theagencies were initially reluctantto disclose their certainty aboutthe Russian role for fear of settingoff a mole hunt in Moscow.

The public disclosure of the ar-rests, and the severity of the trea-son charge, come at a delicate mo-ment for President Trump.

He has been loath to accept the

Russian Arrests Pose Tantalizing Clues in Hacking

This article is by Scott Shane, Da-vid E. Sanger and Andrew E. Kra-mer.

ALLIES President Trump, withPrime Minister Theresa Mayof Britain, plans to speak withVladimir V. Putin. Page A15.

STEPHEN CROWLEY/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A15

WASHINGTON — To supporthis call for a sweeping federal in-quiry into his claims of vast votingfraud, President Trump turned onFriday to a little-known conserva-tive activist whose work on the is-sue has been widely discreditedand who has trafficked in conspir-acy theories.

“Gregg Phillips and crew say atleast 3,000,000 votes were illegal,”Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter, a ref-erence to a claim by Mr. Phillips,who helped create an app to re-port voter fraud, that he had “veri-fied” such irregularities. Withthose words, Mr. Trump bestowedthe imprimatur of the presidencyon new ground: the feverish on-line fringes of American politics.

In elevating Mr. Phillips, who

last month on Twitter cited “spookfriends” to claim that “the Israelisimpersonated the Russians” andinterfered in the American elec-tion, Mr. Trump returned to a fa-miliar pattern.

After a campaign in which hegave voice to outlandish false-hoods, including claims that Jus-tice Antonin Scalia was suffocatedby a pillow and Senator Ted Cruz’sfather had a connection to the as-sassination of President John F.Kennedy, Mr. Trump has not lefthis penchant for conspiracy-mon-gering at the White House door.

And he is fixated on an issuethat he raged about both duringthe campaign and in the weeks af-ter his victory: the integrity of the

Citing a Conspiracy TheoristTo Bolster Vote-Fraud Claims

By JONATHAN MARTIN

Continued on Page A17

WASHINGTON — If other newoccupants of the White Housewanted to be judged by their first100 days in office, PresidentTrump seems intent to be judgedby his first 100 hours. No presidentin modern times, if ever, hasstarted with such a flurry of initia-tives on so many fronts in suchshort order.

The action-oriented approachreflected a businessman’s idea ofhow government should work: Is-sue orders and get it done. Butwhile the rapid-fire succession ofdirectives on health care, trade,abortion, the environment, immi-gration, national security, housingand other areas cheered Ameri-cans who want Mr. Trump toshake up Washington, it also re-vealed a sometimes unrulyprocess that may or may notachieve the goals he has outlined.

On the campaign trail, Mr.

Trump boasted he had no govern-ment experience and, in his firstweek in the White House, it some-times showed. Orders weresigned without feedback from theagencies they would affect. Policyideas were floated and then re-tracted within hours. Meetingsand public events were scheduled

and then canceled. Advisers to thepresident made decisions withouttelling one another. The presidentcalled for an investigation lookingat voters registered in more thanone state, unaware that it wouldinclude his chief strategist, presssecretary, treasury secretary,daughter and son-in-law.

And Congress often appeared tobe an afterthought.

Whatever the stumbles, Mr.Trump expressed satisfaction

Misfires, Crossed Wires, and a Satisfied Smile in the Oval OfficeThis article is by Charlie Savage,

Peter Baker and Maggie Ha-berman.

Continued on Page A13

President’s First WeekIs a Whirlwind

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

People rallied in opposition to abortion, and in support of President Trump, on Friday on the National Mall in Washington. Page A8. Thousands March Against Abortion

WASHINGTON — Congres-sional Republicans, meeting be-hind closed doors this week inPhiladelphia, expressed graveconcerns about dismantling theAffordable Care Act on the urgenttimetable demanded by PresidentTrump, fretting that, among otherthings, they could wreck insur-ance markets and be saddled witha politically disastrous “Trump-care.”

An audio recording of a sessionat their annual retreat, obtainedby The New York Times, showsRepublicans in disarray, far fromagreement on health policy, andstill searching for something to re-place former President BarackObama’s health care law. Whiletheir leaders called for swift ac-tion to rescue consumers from theAffordable Care Act, some back-bench Republicans worried aboutpotential pitfalls.

“We had better be sure that weare prepared to live with the mar-ket being created,” said Repre-sentative Tom McClintock of Cali-fornia, because “that’s going to becalled Trumpcare.”

He added, “Republicans willown it lock, stock and barrel, andwe’ll be judged on that.”

When Democrats were writingthe Affordable Care Act sevenyears ago, their primary goal wasto provide health insurance tomore people, an ambition that theObama administration went togreat lengths to fulfill as it en-rolled millions of people in Medic-aid or private health plans.

Now, as Republicans try to de-vise a replacement for the law,they have set a nearly impossiblestandard for themselves: Theyhave promised that none of the 20million people who gained cover-age through the Affordable CareAct will lose it if the law is re-pealed, even as they lift its man-dates and penalties, pull back thetax increases that pay for it andpledge to enact a new programthat will be cheaper for taxpayersand consumers.

In their private session, the re-cording of which was first re-ported on by The WashingtonPost, Republicans revealed thatthey understood the predicamentthey had largely created for them-selves.

“I recognize that we can’t keepObama’s promises,” Representa-tive Tom MacArthur of New Jer-sey said. “They were wrong to be-gin with, and the system can’t be

G.O.P., IN PRIVATE,AIRS ITS ANXIETYOVER HEALTH ACT

RECORDING’S REVELATION

Lawmakers in DisarrayOver Replacement of

Insurance Law

By ROBERT PEARand THOMAS KAPLAN

Continued on Page A11

Gary Lineker, host of a British sportsprogram, has emerged as a leadingcritic of anti-immigrant views. PAGE A6

INTERNATIONAL A3-7

Soccer Hero Takes On ‘Brexit’

President Rodrigo Duterte orderedenforcement of a Philippine law givingwomen free contraception. PAGE A3

Duterte’s Birth-Control Fight

A Somali who was not tried by a mili-tary panel became one of America’smost helpful informants. PAGE A12

NATIONAL A8-17

Civilian Case, Terrorism Coup

The fine print of Gov. Andrew M. Cuo-mo’s $152.3 billion state budget containsnew fees and taxes on cigars, vapingand prepaid cellphones. PAGE A19

In a Budget’s Fine Print, Fees

New York City Ballet debuted twoworks with 21st-century sensibilities.Alastair Macaulay reviews. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-6

Reaching for New Steps

Despite its goal of steering clear, theSundance Festival, by its very nature,brings out political voices. PAGE C1

Sundance Can’t Escape Politics

The economy’s modest expansion maybolster President Trump’s case forinfrastructure spending but could alsosignal persistent headwinds. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-5

1.6% Growth by U.S. Last Year

With dealers scrambling after a recall ofmore than 60 million Takata airbags,consumers need to ask some pointedquestions. Your Money. PAGE B1

Buying Used Cars Amid Chaos

Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman PAGE A21

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A20-21

THIS WEEKEND

Investors lost millions in a Ponzischeme promising high returns onticket sales to popular events. PAGE A18

NEW YORK A18-19

Ponzi Scheme: A Hot Ticket

WASHINGTON — PresidentTrump on Friday closed the na-tion’s borders to refugees fromaround the world, ordering thatfamilies fleeing the slaughter inSyria be indefinitely blocked fromentering the United States, andtemporarily suspending immigra-tion from several predominantlyMuslim countries.

Declaring the measure part ofan extreme vetting plan to keepout “radical Islamic terrorists,”Mr. Trump also established a reli-gious test for refugees from Mus-lim nations: He ordered thatChristians and others from minor-ity religions be granted priorityover Muslims.

“We don’t want them here,” Mr.Trump said of Islamist terroristsduring a signing ceremony at thePentagon. “We want to ensurethat we are not admitting into ourcountry the very threats our sol-diers are fighting overseas. Weonly want to admit those into ourcountry who will support ourcountry, and love deeply our peo-ple.”

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trumpexplained to an interviewer forthe Christian Broadcasting Net-work that Christians in Syria were“horribly treated” and allegedthat under previous administra-tions, “if you were a Muslim youcould come in, but if you were aChristian, it was almost impossi-ble.”

“I thought it was very, very un-fair. So we are going to help them,”the president said.

In fact, the United States ac-

Trump TargetsMuslim AreasIn Refugee Ban

Syrians Are Blocked —Priority to Christians

By MICHAEL D. SHEARand HELENE COOPER

Continued on Page A15

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVI . . . No. 57,491 © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2017

Today, partly sunny, seasonablychilly, high 40. Tonight, partlycloudy, low 32. Tomorrow, partlysunny, seasonably chilly again, high41. Weather map is on Page D8.

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