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MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — The girls did-n’t want to kill anyone. They walked in si-lence for a while, the weight of the explo-sives around their waists pulling down onthem as they fingered the detonators andtried to think of a way out.

“I don’t know how to get this thing offme,” Hadiza, 16, recalled saying as sheheaded out on her mission.

“What are you going to do with yours?”she asked the 12-year-old girl next to her,who was also wearing a bomb.

“I’m going to go off by myself and blowmyself up,” the girl responded hopelessly.

It was all happening so fast. After beingkidnapped by Boko Haram this year,Hadiza was confronted by a fighter in thecamp where she was a hostage. Hewanted to “marry” her. She rejected him.

“You’ll regret this,” the fighter told her.A few days later, she was taken to a

Boko Haram leader. He told her she wouldbe going to the happiest place she couldimagine. Hadiza thought she was goinghome. He was talking about heaven.

They came for her at night, she said,grabbing a suicide belt and attaching it toher waist. The fighters then sent her andthe 12-year-old girl out on foot, alone,telling them to detonate the bombs at a

camp for Nigerian civilians who have fledthe violence Boko Haram has inflicted onthe region.

“I knew I would die and kill other peo-ple, too,” Hadiza recalled. “I didn’t wantthat.”

Northeastern Nigeria, now in its eighthyear of war with Boko Haram, has be-come a place afraid of its own girls.

So far this year, militants have carriedout more than twice as many suicidebombings than they did in all of 2016, andthe attacks keep coming.

According to Unicef, more than 110 chil-

ADAM FERGUSON FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Boko Haram Strapped Suicide Bombs to Them. Somehow These Teenage Girls Survived.

By DIONNE SEARCEY

Continued on Page A7

‘They said tome, “Are yougoing to sleepwith us, or doyou want to goon a mission?”’A I S H A , 15

Despite the fervor of PresidentTrump’s Republican opponents,the president’s brand of hard-edgenationalism — with its gut-levelcultural appeals and hard lines ontrade and immigration — is takingroot within his adopted party, andthose uneasy with grievance poli-tics are either giving in or givingup the fight.

In some cases, the retirement ofan anti-Trump Republican couldactually improve the RepublicanParty’s chance of retaining a seat.Senator Jeff Flake’s decision onTuesday to not seek re-electionwas greeted with quiet sighs of re-lief in a party anguished by hisplunging approval ratings.

But such short-term advan-tages mask a larger, even exist-ential threat to traditional Repub-licans. The Grand Old Party risksa longer-term transformation intothe Party of Trump.

“There is zero appetite for the‘Never Trump’ movement in theRepublican Party of today,” saidAndy Surabian, an adviser toGreat America Alliance, the “su-per PAC” that is aiding primaryraces against Republican incum-bents. “This party is now definedby President Trump and hismovement.”

On Wednesday, Joe Straus, thespeaker of the Texas House ofRepresentatives, announced thathe would not run again, an indica-tion that the Washington feverwas spreading. Mr. Straus, a prag-matist with deep ties to the Bushfamily who had tangled with hisstate’s hard-liners, delivered aplea that Republicans “appeal toour diverse population with an op-timistic vision,” but he still choseflight over fight.

Mr. Straus’s dash for the exitsfollowed the retirement an-nouncements of Mr. Flake, Sena-tor Bob Corker of Tennessee andRepresentatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, Charlie Dentof Pennsylvania, Pat Tiberi ofOhio and Dave Reichert of Wash-ington State — all members of theRepublican establishment.

Many of those who remain willhave to accommodate the presi-dent to survive primaries from the

CRITICS GIVE WAYAS THE G.O.P. TILTSTO TRUMP’S ORBIT

ACQUIESCE OR GO HOME

Party With Less and LessRoom for Older Breed

of Conservative

By JONATHAN MARTINand JEREMY W. PETERS

Continued on Page A17

Fats Domino, the New Orleansrhythm-and-blues singer whosetwo-fisted boogie-woogie pianoand nonchalant vocals, heard ondozens of hits, made him one ofthe biggest stars of the early rock’n’ roll era, died on Tuesday at hishome in Harvey, La., across theMississippi River from New Or-leans. He was 89.

His death was confirmed by theJefferson Parish coroner’s office.

Mr. Domino had more thanthree dozen Top 40 pop hitsthrough the 1950s and early ’60s,among them “Blueberry Hill,”“Ain’t It a Shame” (also known as“Ain’t That a Shame,” which is theactual lyric), “I’m Walkin’,” “BlueMonday” and “Walkin’ to New Or-leans.” Throughout he displayedboth the spirit of New Orleans, hishometown, and a resilience thatreached listeners worldwide.

He sold 65 million singles inthose years, with 23 gold records,

making him second only to ElvisPresley as a commercial force.Presley acknowledged Mr. Domi-no as a predecessor.

“A lot of people seem to think Istarted this business,” Presleytold Jet magazine in 1957. “Butrock ’n’ roll was here a long timebefore I came along. Nobody cansing that music like colored peo-ple. Let’s face it: I can’t sing it likeFats Domino can. I know that.”

A King Even Elvis Bowed To

By JON PARELESand WILLIAM GRIMES

FATS DOMINO, 1928-2017

Fats Domino, a Top 40 regularin the ’50s and ’60s, in 1967.

CLIVE LIMPKIN/DAILY EXPRESS, VIA GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A26

WASHINGTON — This pastsummer, the Trump administra-tion debated lowering the annualcap on refugees admitted to theUnited States. Should it stay at110,000, be cut to 50,000 or fallsomewhere in between? John F.Kelly offered his opinion. If it wereup to him, he said, the numberwould be between zero and one.

Mr. Kelly’s comment made itsway around the White House, ac-cording to an administration offi-cial, and reinforced what is onlynow becoming clear to many onthe outside. While some officialshad predicted Mr. Kelly would be acalming chief of staff for an impul-sive president, recent days havemade clear that he is more alignedwith President Trump than antici-pated.

For all the talk of Mr. Kelly as amoderating force and the so-called grown-up in the room, itturns out that he harbors strongfeelings on patriotism, national

security and immigration thatmirror the hard-line views of hisoutspoken boss. With his attack ona congresswoman who had criti-cized Mr. Trump’s condolence callto a slain soldier’s widow lastweek, Mr. Kelly showed he waswilling to escalate a politically dis-tracting, racially charged publicfight even with false assertions.

And in lamenting that the coun-try no longer holds women, reli-

Once Seen as Calming Force,Kelly Amplifies Boss’s Message

By PETER BAKER

John F. Kelly has waded deepinto the culture wars.

TOM BRENNER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A18

WASHINGTON — One weekbefore they are set to unveil asprawling overhaul of the federaltax code, Republicans struggledon Wednesday with key parts oftheir plan, reigniting a fight overretirement savings and racing tocut a deal with lawmakers fromhigh-tax states ahead of a criticalbudget vote in the House onThursday.

The challenges — and thedogged effort to resolve them onCapitol Hill — highlight the in-creased importance of the tax is-sue for a fractured party desper-ate for a legislative victory.

The prospect of a once-in-a-gen-eration bill to cut taxes on busi-nesses and individuals increas-ingly appears to be the best hopefor a party anxious to find com-mon ground and advance an effortthat it has long championed as thepinnacle of Republican orthodoxy.It is a bit like having a baby to save

a failing marriage.But, like a crying newborn, the

drafting of the bill is already cost-ing party leaders sleep. That wasevidenced on Wednesday, whenPresident Trump and a top HouseRepublican sparred over whetherthe plan would include sharp re-ductions in how much Americansmight save, before taxes, in 401(k)accounts. Meanwhile, congres-sional leaders worked to forge a

Republicans Craving HarmonyOn Tax Cuts, but Discord Grows

By JIM TANKERSLEYand THOMAS KAPLAN

Representative Kevin Bradydefended 401(k) changes.

AL DRAGO FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

Continued on Page A19

The main challenger to PresidentUhuru Kenyatta asked his supporters toboycott Thursday’s election. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

Kenyan Revote Endangered

A forum in Saudi Arabia focused on thecrown prince’s plans for diversifyingthe economy as oil prices fall. PAGE A12

A Kingdom Looks Beyond Oil

The “TRL” of 2017 is less a coherent showthan a series of loosely threaded distrac-tions, Jon Caramanica writes. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Revived MTV Show Stumbles

The dance troupe owns Christmas atRadio City Music Hall. Spring has beena tougher nut to crack. PAGE C1

No Spring Show for Rockettes

The federal government will beginreleasing the final documents on the1963 killing of John F. Kennedy. PAGE A16

NATIONAL A13-19

The Last Kennedy Archives

A 2013 documentary said the authorJ. D. Salinger had left five new works tobe released. None have been. PAGE A14

New Salinger? Keep Waiting

With intervention from Gov. Andrew M.Cuomo, Barry Diller’s grand plan for a$250 million cultural island on a pier inthe Hudson River is back. PAGE A24

NEW YORK A20-25

Reviving ‘Diller Island’

Late Edition

VOL. CLXVII . . . No. 57,762 + © 2017 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2017

There is little indication that Washingtonhas the will to regulate the FrightfulFive, Farhad Manjoo writes. PAGE B1

BUSINESS DAY B1-8

Free Rein for Giants of Tech

Square, a payments company run byJack Dorsey, Twitter’s chief, has hadmore success in recent quarters. PAGE B1

Square vs. Twitter

In Game 2 of the World Series, Houstonoutlasted the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6,in 11 innings that featured eight com-bined home runs. PAGE B9

SPORTSTHURSDAY B9-13

In Extras, Astros Even Series

The Nigerian-born singer has remaineda big part of the cultural dialogue with-out saying much at all. PAGE D1

THURSDAY STYLES D1-12

Sade, the Queen of Quiet

The designer’s new book may provokedebate and even attract censure,Vanessa Friedman writes. PAGE D5

Calvin Klein, Rated R

Senator Chris Coons PAGE A29

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A28-29

Today, a mixture of clouds and sun-shine, stray showers, cooler, high 60.Tonight, clear, chilly, low 46. Tomor-row, plenty of sunshine, high 63.Weather map appears on Page B14.

$2.50