Hope Hicks, Gun Control, Spotify: Your Thursday Briefing Image

Hope Hicks, Gun Control, Spotify: Your Thursday Briefing

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Students returned to class at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Wednesday, two weeks after a gunman killed 17 people there.CreditSaul Martinez for The New York Times

By Chris Stanford

March 1, 2018

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Good morning.

Here’s what you need to know:

February marches out like a lion

• Wednesday was an extraordinarily busy day, particularly in Washington.

Tensions between President Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions flared publicly when the president criticized Mr. Sessions for not opening his own investigation into Republican charges of misconduct in the Russia investigation. Mr. Sessions had suggested that the Justice Department’s inspector general, an Obama administration appointee, would look into them instead.

In a tweet, the president called Mr. Sessions “DISGRACEFUL.” Mr. Sessions responded with a rare statement defending his “integrity and honor.”

• Separately, Hope Hicks, the White House communications director and one of Mr. Trump’s longest-serving advisers, plans to leave in the next few weeks. White House aides said her resignation wasn’t related to her testimony the day before that she had occasionally told white lies in the job.

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Hope Hicks had been considering leaving the White House for several months.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times

A shock to the N.R.A.’s system

• At the National Rifle Association’s annual meeting last year, President Trump declared, “I can proudly say I will never, ever let you down.”

That wasn’t evident at a meeting with lawmakers on Wednesday, as Mr. Trump called for comprehensive gun control legislation.

He also suggested that guns could be seized from mentally ill people or others who presented a danger. “Take the guns first, go through due process second,” he said. We fact-checked some of his comments.

• It was unclear what effect Mr. Trump’s statements might yield. In January, he said he favored a bipartisan immigration bill, but he reversed that position soon after.

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In a meeting with lawmakers, President Trump expressed support for a “comprehensive” gun bill that would include stronger background checks and temporarily take guns away from high-risk individuals.Published OnFeb. 28, 2018CreditImage by Tom Brenner/The New York Times

Back to school, with some empty desks

• Classes resumed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High on Wednesday, two weeks after a gunman killed 17 people at the Florida school.

Our reporter spent the day with Brooke Harrison, 14, who lost three classmates in her Honors English class. “I feel like I’m on an episode of ‘C.S.I.,’ ” she said.

• Two of the leading gun sellers in the U.S., Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods, announced steps to limit their sales of firearms, including requiring gun buyers to be at least 21, regardless of local laws.

New ethics concerns involving Kushner

• The real estate business of Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, received large loans last year from two companies whose executives had met with Mr. Kushner at the White House.

Citigroup lent $325 million to Kushner Companies in the spring, and Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, lent $184 million in November.

• Mr. Kushner, who remains heavily invested in his family’s business, has long been dogged by questions about conflicts of interest.

China says no to Pooh (and the letter N)

• After China proposed changing the Constitution so that President Xi Jinping could remain in power indefinitely, Communist Party censors have scoured the internet to suppress criticism.

“My emperor,” “lifelong” and “shameless” were obvious targets of censors. But images of Winnie the Pooh — to whom Mr. Xi is sometimes likened — have also been erased.