Newsletter: Today: The President Will Scold You Now

President Trump isn’t happy with the Senate or the Justice Department or … . I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

The President Will Scold You Now

Repeal and replace. Repeal and delay. Let it fail. Work it out, or else. In less than a week, President Trump has employed all these tactics to try to do away with Obamacare. On Wednesday, he scolded Republican senators, telling them they shouldn’t leave town until they pass a measure to replace it. He pointed at one and said, “Look, he wants to remain a senator doesn’t he, OK?” Meanwhile, the Congressional Budget Office numbers on a repeal-only plan weren’t good: double the premiums and 32 million more Americans without health insurance. Later, Trump vented his frustrations about another topic — the Justice Department — telling the New York Times he isn’t happy with Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein and fired FBI Director James Comey. He had a warning for special counsel Robert Mueller too.

John McCain Keeps Up the Fight

John McCain has been a fighter all his life, as a prisoner of war and a senator for 30 years. Now it’s been revealed he is battling brain cancer, discovered after a procedure last week to remove a blood clot above his left eye. His absence had delayed the Senate vote on healthcare this week, and his return to Washington is uncertain.

More From Washington

-- Grandma and grandpa can come on in: Supreme Court justices said the Trump administration could not limit the kinds of “close” family members exempt from the travel ban, but it can temporarily reinstate restrictions on refugee resettlement.

-- Atty. Gen. Sessions has expanded the authority of law enforcement to seize criminal suspects’ money and property.

-- Trump and Vice President Mike Pence opened the first meeting of the White House’s voter-fraud task force with a vigorous defense of the commission’s mission.

USC Faces the Wrath of Its Doctors-to-Be

The students at the USC Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights were bewildered and at times angry. The current dean spoke of his predecessor, Dr. Carmen A. Puliafito, and announced the university had launched multiple internal investigations into Puliafito’s conduct: “These allegations, if they are true, they are horrible and despicable,” Dr. Rohit Varma said at a town-hall-type meeting, called in the wake of The Times’ article earlier this week about Puliafito’s conduct. Read how Varma answered a question about whether he would support action against USC President C.L. Max Nikias.

The Parole Hearing of the Century

It’s been more than two decades since the O.J. Simpson saga played out in real time on TV screens across the country. This morning, if only for a few hours, the feeding frenzy will be back. Now 70, Simpson will face a Nevada parole board, hoping to be released after serving the minimum of his 9-to-33-year prison sentence after a bizarre 2007 robbery. Outside, 19 networks and 120 reporters are expected be encamped.

When Trump Backers Want to Tell a Pipeline to Go Take a Hike

Picture this: A peaceful hike along the Appalachian Trail through the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, with birds chirping and brooks babbling. Now picture this: A natural gas pipeline and corridor up to 150 feet wide, running right along the trail, that could boost the local economy. The prospect of building it next to one of the United States’ most prized scenic trails has set off fierce debate, but not entirely along the lines you might expect: Some Trump supporters hate the idea, and the Democratic governor favors it.

A couple admires the view from the Blue Ridge Parkway outside Roanoke, Va.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

The Ports and the ‘Diesel Death Zone’

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach long ago took steps to reduce air pollution, but they remain Southern California’s largest single source of it. That’s why officials have unveiled a plan to replace diesel trucks and cargo equipment with zero-emissions technology over the next two decades. The cost: up to $14 billion. But who pays for it, and how, is where things get hazy.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Who is dedicated enough to be first in line as Comic-Con opens its doors?

-- Check out this rare recording system from the 1920s that still works.

-- Blake Griffin re-signs with Clippers: five years, $175.74 million.

CALIFORNIA

-- State officials say the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility near Porter Ranch, which was shut down after a massive leak, can reopen at a reduced capacity.

-- After a six-month surge in water levels, the flood risk has begun to ease along California’s rivers.

-- The state pot czar says California is working to avoid a shortage of legalized marijuana.

-- The owners of a small coffee shop at the center of multiple anti-gentrification protests in Boyle Heights say their business was vandalized.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- “Ghostbusters 101,” “Intersectional Feminism in Comics” and “The Trump Presidential Library Panel”: The must-see panels of Comic-Con 2017.

-- CBS will promote a recurring cast member and add two new performers to “Hawaii Five-0” after the departures of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park.

-- Monica Lewinsky is lauding Jay-Z for owning up to his past infidelity on the album “4:44.”

-- London calling: Theater critic Charles McNulty says “Angels in America” is as fresh as ever at the National Theatre.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Carlos Santana, who turns 70 today, has always followed an eclectic path. He’s played psychedelic blues, fusion jazz and mainstream pop-rock, at venues ranging from the Fillmore to Woodstock to the Hard Rock Las Vegas. In the late 1990s, he says he heard the words of an angel called Metatron, who promised to “reconnect him to the frequency of radio.” The result? The mega-selling album “Supernatural.”

NATION-WORLD

-- Rebuilding Mosul: The mission to bring the demolished city back from the dead is daunting.

-- The Russian government says it was surprised when the rebel leader of a breakaway region of eastern Ukraine proposed the creation of a new nation-state called Little Russia.

-- Iran’s latest culture battle: Should women in cars keep their heads covered?

-- Researchers across the United States are launching an ambitious clinical trial to test whether a package of low-tech life hacks can prevent or delay dementia.

BUSINESS

-- After an unexpectedly amicable start to U.S.-China relations under Trump, including high-level economic talks, many are wondering when the other shoe will drop.

-- Disneyland has launched a digital version of its Fastpass, but — surprise! — it will cost you.

SPORTS

-- Del Mar enjoyed a safe opening day on a new track that was designed with a safety-first mentality. Last year, 17 horses died in the summer meet.

-- How good will the new-look Clippers be? That’s most definitely uncertain.

OPINION

-- USC’s silence on the double life of its former medical school is deafening.

-- Trump aides want to re-privatize the military. That would be a big mistake.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Excerpts from the New York Times’ latest interview with President Trump.

-- Baltimore authorities have launched investigations after being alerted to body camera footage that the public defender’s office says shows an officer planting drugs. (Baltimore Sun)

-- More cheese, please? This little-known, government-sponsored dairy marketing group wants you to eat it up. (Bloomberg)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

Pop quiz: What’s the official state nut of California? If you said the almond, you’d be correct. If you said the pecan, walnut or pistachio … you’d also be correct. That’s because a law recently designated all four as such, even though not one of them, scientifically speaking, is a nut. So how did we get four official state nuts that are actually seeds? That’s the nuttiest part.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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