Newsletter: Today: Zero Tolerance. Zero Heart?

A new Trump administration crackdown on illegal immigration brings debate about whether it goes too far in separating families detained at the border.

TOP STORIES

Zero Tolerance. Zero Heart?

The message from Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions couldn’t have been clearer: Under the Trump administration’s new “zero tolerance” policy, everyone who crosses the border illegally will be charged with a crime — and parents are more likely to be separated from their children when detained. “If you don’t like that,” Sessions said, “then don’t smuggle children over our border.” The intensified approach is expected to put a strain on the immigration system and invite many legal challenges. Already, Border Patrol agents say they are more closely scrutinizing adults crossing over with children, challenging them to prove they are parents and not smugglers. But migrant advocates argue it’s a cruel attempt to stop families from seeking asylum.

The Nuclear Options

Just like his mantra to “build that wall,” President Trump has repeatedly threatened to tear up the Iran nuclear accord, a.k.a. “the worst deal ever” in the Trump lexicon. Today, he plans to announce his decision at 11 a.m. Pacific time. But it actually may not be as simple as either leaving it in place or ripping it up. The president has several options, including some that could satisfy the U.S. allies who have been imploring him to stick with the accord.

Undercover Boss

Gina Haspel is a CIA veteran who’s drawn widespread support from the intelligence community in her bid to become the first woman to lead the agency. That much we know. But it’s what we don’t know about her 33 years primarily undercover — and specifically about her role running a secret CIA “black site” prison in Thailand — that has Democrats and some Republicans in the Senate sharply questioning her candidacy ahead of Wednesday’s confirmation hearing. Trump simply claims that she’s “come under fire because she was too tough on terrorists.”

More Politics

-- New York Atty. Gen. Eric Schneiderman, who positioned himself as an advocate for women’s issues and an antagonist to Trump’s policies, said he would resign, just hours after four women accused him of physical violence in a New Yorker article.

-- Retired Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North, a central figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, is poised to become the National Rifle Assn.’s next president.

The Convention Space Race

The meeting industry has a motto: Bigger is better. Yet for years, tourism officials have complained that the Los Angeles Convention Center is woefully undersized; as a result, they say the city loses as much as $1 billion a year in business. Now Anschutz Entertainment Group, which operates the convention center, is proposing a $1.2-billion expansion that would involve a public-private partnership and add hundreds of nearby hotel rooms. Here are the details.

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MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Henry Winkler of HBO’s “Barry” discusses the legacy of the Fonz and what the character has given him over the years.

-- California’s hottest surf spot is a Kelly Slater-designed artificial wave pool 100 miles inland.

CALIFORNIA

-- The Police Commission has presented three finalists for Los Angeles police chief to Mayor Eric Garcetti, who says he hopes to reveal the names.

-- A massive labor strike across the University of California forced medical centers to reschedule more than 12,000 surgeries, cancer treatments and appointments, and campuses to cancel some classes.

-- During the strike at UCLA, police took a man into custody after he drove his vehicle into a crowd, hitting three staff members who were taking part in the strike.

-- A Muslim woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department claiming deputies forced her to remove her head scarf when she was in custody last year.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The Cannes Film Festival opens tonight, and the mood is edgy, writes film critic and veteran Cannes-goer Kenneth Turan.

-- Will animation legend John Lasseter return to Disney-Pixar after a six-month leave? The answer could come in the next few weeks.

-- Richard Lou’s site-specific 1988 artwork “Border Door” provided a poetic welcome to immigrants 30 years ago. An art show has brought back its message.

-- At the Met Gala, Vatican yellow, cardinal red and religious iconography were in vogue, including “Pope” Rihanna.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Don Rickles was a stand-up comic at an L.A. club when Frank Sinatra’s mother forced her son to go to one of the comic’s performances. When Sinatra walked in, Rickles greeted him: “Frank, make yourself at home. Hit somebody.” The rest was comedy history. Rickles was born on this date in 1926 and died last year at age 90.

NATION-WORLD

-- Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has destroyed 35 structures, and scientists say more eruptions are likely.

-- Authorities say George Zimmerman, acquitted in the 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin, threatened a private investigator working on a Martin documentary.

-- Israel has been condemned for shootings on the Gaza Strip border but says it has only been defending itself from a “parade of terror.”

-- On Wednesday, Malaysia will hold an election that’s become a strange brew of “fake news,” Cambridge Analytica and a 92-year-old autocrat-turned-reformer.

-- In a study of military veterans, even mild cases of traumatic brain injury have been linked to an increased risk of dementia.

BUSINESS

-- Comcast is reportedly contemplating another bid for 21st Century Fox assets, a move that could upend the Walt Disney Co.’s efforts to buy much of Fox from Rupert Murdoch.

-- A record number of tourists injected $22.7 billion into the L.A. County economy last year, countering fears that a strong dollar and Trump’s tough rhetoric might scare off international tourists.

-- Chief Executive Elon Musk says Tesla is firing temporary workers who are underperforming. He calls the firings scraping “barnacles.”

SPORTS

-- The Angels’ Mike Trout is regularly called the best player in baseball. There is evidence the best is getting better.

-- After the U.S. soccer team missed qualifying for the World Cup, coach Bruce Arena resigned, then wrote an important book about the state of U.S. soccer.

OPINION

-- Melania Trump’s “Be Best” campaign is ... perplexing, to be generous.

-- On a white student’s Chinese prom dress and cultural appropriation.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Inflammatory rhetoric, harsh nicknames, the “rigged” system: Don Blankenship, who’s running to become the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate in West Virginia, has his Trump-like qualities, even if Trump tweeted opposition to him. (Time)

-- Author Ta-Nehisi Coates writes that Kanye West wants “a white freedom.” (The Atlantic)

-- One academic paper, published by three Australian researchers in 2007, has been cited by Wikipedia editors over 2.8 million times, far more than any other. (Wired)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

During his unparalleled hockey career, Wayne Gretzky scored plenty of times off the rebound. Now the Great One has done it again, this time in a real estate deal. For $13.5 million, Gretzky has reacquired his mansion in Thousand Oaks, which he sold in 2007 to former New York Mets star Lenny Dykstra for $18.5 million. Since then, the house has had 99 problems, metaphorically speaking — but old No. 99 isn’t one of them.

Note: An item about sex education in yesterday’s newsletter contained a broken link for some readers. The story can be found here.

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