Today: What Trumpcare Could Learn From California

May 4, 2017 5 AM PT

The House plans to vote on the GOP healthcare plan today. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss.

TOP STORIES

What Trumpcare Could Learn From California

Just when it looked as if the GOP healthcare plan was slipping away, a last-minute change and intense talks appear to have given it new life. House Republican leaders plan to hold a vote on it today, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California predicted they have enough votes to pass it. Unlike the $1-trillion spending bill the House approved yesterday, the healthcare bill could still face a tough fight in the Senate. And if California’s experience before Obamacare is any indication, states will have a huge challenge making it work, including the use of high-risk pools. As one former senior executive at Blue Shield of California put it: “The market was a disaster.”

More Politics

-- James B. Comey said he has suffered anguish but does not regret his late-October disclosure about the reopened FBI inquiry into whether Hillary Clinton had mishandled classified emails.

-- North Korea is building mysterious artificial islands that would be just perfect for missile launches.

-- What’s written on that whiteboard behind Steve Bannon? We’ve transcribed and annotated it line by line.

Video: ‘One Small Mistake and You’re Dead’

Wissam Daoud carries an Iraqi flag in his pants pocket, to be draped over his body should the need arise. His job is to defuse Islamic State bombs for the Iraqi army, for about $1,000 a month. Though he’s seen his colleagues get killed, dying in an explosion is no longer his worst fear; it’s the prospect of being shot and disabled by snipers. “Better to die than to be injured,” Daoud says. “No one cares about you in Iraq when you are injured.” L.A. Times foreign correspondent Molly Hennessy-Fiske and photographer Marcus Yam have the story of this chain-smoking veteran bomb technician.

Berkeley to Protesters: Take It Somewhere Else

In Berkeley, many residents say they’re not going to take it anymore. No, they’re not upset about conservative speakers coming to the UC campus. Instead, they’ve had it up to here with protesters on the left and the right turning “our city into Fight Club,” as the mayor describes it. “We don’t need you to come to our community to be violent,” says one member of a group called Respect Berkeley.

To Protect and to Serve — and to Be Courteous

As part of its efforts to reform the LAPD, the civilian Los Angeles Police Commission approved a policy last month requiring officers to try to defuse tense situations before using deadly force. Now it’s adopted changes aimed at making the department more committed to the concept of “procedural justice” — a fancy way of saying that officers’ fairness and courtesy go a long way toward building trust in the police. That can be as simple as officers handing out business cards or spending some time explaining why they pulled someone over.

And Now, the Floods …

In California, the rains have eased, but don’t let the weather fool you: The threat of flooding has communities across the Central Valley on edge. As temperatures rise, a deep layer of snowpack in the mountains will begin to melt, putting the state’s aging flood-control system to the test. Here is a look at the rush to shore up levees and carefully coordinate just how much water can flow through rivers and into reservoirs.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Highlights from Comey’s testimony on the Clinton investigation.

-- Food going bad in the fridge? A chef gives his tips for reducing food waste.

-- These L.A. dancers are changing the way people protest.

CALIFORNIA

-- A pioneering, California-led effort to create retirement security for low-income workers has been thrown into jeopardy after a U.S. Senate vote.

-- A man convicted in the 1985 plot to kill a Los Angeles police detective will be released on parole, over the objections of Gov. Jerry Brown and city police leaders.

-- Tony Alamo, whose apocalyptic ministry grew into a multimillion-dollar network before he was convicted of sexually abusing young girls, has died in prison at age 82.

-- Nearly one-third of the airlines at LAX will switch gates and terminals starting May 12. Here’s how to navigate it.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Times film critic Kenneth Turan says that what felt fresh in “Guardians of the Galaxy” now seems institutionalized in the sequel.

-- Men rule the fictional world in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” but behind the scenes, women were instrumental to the Hulu show.

-- The refurbished Los Angeles State Historic Park could become one of the city’s best spots for live music.

-- Times arts writer Carolina Miranda remembers Jean Stein, the author she once drove around L.A. in a banana-yellow Mustang II while doing interviews about the 1992 riots.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

When Audrey Hepburn was born on this date in 1929, she seemed destined to a life of privilege as the daughter of a Dutch noblewoman and a British banker. But when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, she endured years of hardship, including malnutrition. After she became a Broadway and Hollywood star, she devoted herself to feeding the world’s hungry.

NATION-WORLD

-- Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said that federal courts would help protect the U.S. territory from its more than $70-billion debt crisis, after multiple creditors filed lawsuits.

-- Trump’s approach to an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal: Get to yes, and figure out the details later.

-- The two candidates in France’s presidential runoff Sunday engaged in a heated debate. Here is a side-by-side comparison of their starkly different visions for the country.

-- In Russia, a green-colored antiseptic has become a weapon in attacks against opposition activists and journalists.

-- A detailed look at the global warming “hiatus” again confirms that humans are changing the climate.

-- Buckingham Palace has announced that Queen Elizabeth II’s husband, Prince Philip, 95, will stop carrying out public engagements this fall.

BUSINESS

-- Beware: There’s a big phishing scam spreading through Google Docs.

-- A federal agency says Exxon Mobil Corp. relied on outdated procedures and used old equipment, which led to a 2015 explosion at a Torrance refinery.

-- American Airlines confirmed it will shrink the distance between economy seats in some new planes. But don’t accuse the carrier of cutting legroom — it’s all about the “pitch.”

SPORTS

-- The Dodgers retired Vin Scully’s microphone at Dodger Stadium, as he told stories of the Boys of Summer.

-- The fate of the Clippers rests on the decisions of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who can opt out of their contracts and become unrestricted free agents this summer.

OPINION

-- Donald Trump supported Amanda Knox when she was on trial in Italy for murder. Now she asks in this op-ed: “Do I owe him my loyalty?”

-- GOP hard-liners resist spreading the costs of healthcare to the healthy: See the David Horsey cartoon.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Two ways Trump could be removed from office. But is it just a “liberal fantasy”? (The Atlantic)

-- “Anybody can end up homeless … We never thought it’d be us.” (Seattle Times)

-- A reading list related to America’s national parks. (Longreads)

ONLY IN L.A.

Why is Santa sitting next to the pool of a run-down motel on Hollywood Boulevard in Thai Town? Filming an episode of “Fargo,” don’t-cha know. Last night’s installment went beyond the show’s usual snow-covered Minnesota setting for a visit to L.A., and reporter Yvonne Villarreal took it all in. Yah.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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