Newsletter: Today: The Senate GOP Tries and Tries Again on Obamacare

A last-ditch Republican effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act seems to be picking up steam, and once again the stage is being set for another potentially dramatic Senate showdown. Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

The Senate GOP Tries and Tries Again on Obamacare

Remember “repeal and replace,” “repeal only” and the “skinny repeal”? After those attempts to roll back the Affordable Care Act failed, congressional Republicans seemed ready to move on. But now, Senate GOP members are giving it one more go. The idea behind the so-called Graham-Cassidy proposal is to give states more power through a fundamental overhaul of healthcare funding. Major patient and healthcare groups oppose it, and the Congressional Budget Office says it can’t give a full analysis by next week. Why the rush? The rules that would allow changing Obamacare with just 50 votes in the Senate, rather than 60, expire Sept. 30 — and getting to 50 could be another white-knuckle affair.

More Politics

-- President Trump approved an emergency declaration in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico ahead of Hurricane Maria, which has grown into a Category 5 storm.

-- Trump will give his first address to the U.N. General Assembly this morning. On Monday he urged the global body to “focus more on people and less on bureaucracy.”

-- Defense Secretary James N. Mattis explained why the U.S. military hasn’t tried to shoot down North Korea’s missiles: None have been on a trajectory to hit U.S. or allies’ territory.

Leaving America, With U.S.-Born Kids in Tow

After Donald Trump’s inauguration, the effect was immediate, according to Mexico’s consul general in L.A.: a sharp increase in applications for dual citizenship for American-born children, just in case their parents had to leave the U.S. With the help of consulates in Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago, more than 100 people have voluntarily returned to Mexico since January. But for the children involved, the move to an unfamiliar country has its challenges.

Monumental Consequences for the American West

Should commercial fishing, logging and coal mining, among other activities, be allowed on land that is now under federal protection? That’s the crux of a Trump administration proposal for 10 of America’s national monuments that was secret until obtained by the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. It’s far more expansive than previously reported. Whether Trump has the legal ability to strip away protections from millions of acres, primarily in the West, is up for debate. What’s at stake? See the monuments that may be targeted.

A Connection in Three Seemingly Unrelated Killings?

The killings were several years and hundreds of miles apart: An entrepreneur found shot to death in his Las Vegas home. An attorney killed in his Rolling Hills Estates driveway. A father slain outside his Whittier apartment complex. Now authorities say there is a connection: a Whittier businessman who, they say they’ve been told, is in Montenegro. The man has not been charged with a crime, and officials would not detail their evidence, though they believe he did not carry out the shootings himself.

How Hulu, an Emmys Underdog, Came Out on Top

If you had to pick one streaming service to win what many view as the premier prize at the Emmy Awards, Hulu probably wouldn’t have topped the list. Not that long ago, it was known mostly as a place to catch up on episodes of “Seinfeld,” “The Golden Girls” and “South Park.” Yet on Sunday night, Hulu’s feminist sci-fi series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” based on the Margaret Atwood novel, took home five Emmys, including the drama series award. It’s been a long, sometimes rough journey for the company.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- The historic victories at the 2017 Emmy Awards.

-- L.A. Drives: Automotive writer Charles Fleming goes for a spin through Latigo Canyon in a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe.

-- A road trip with the Dodgers fan group Pantone 294.

CALIFORNIA

-- Six California beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program sued the Trump administration for rescinding protections under the program.

-- A satellite engineer who sold military secrets to an undercover FBI agent he believed to be a Russian spy was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

-- Susan and Henry Samueli have donated $200 million to UC Irvine for an initiative to integrate conventional and alternative medical approaches.

-- Did you feel it? A magnitude 3.6 earthquake rattled much of L.A. on Monday night, centered on the Westside.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- TV critic Lorraine Ali takes note of the two Muslim men who won Emmy Awards for “shows that demystified the scary ‘Islamist’ talked about so often on the Trump campaign trail.”

-- Yusuf, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, has recorded several songs from his earliest days in music for his new album, “The Laughing Apple.”

-- Commentator Laura Ingraham will join Fox News Channel’s prime-time lineup as a host on Oct. 30.

-- Jerry Seinfeld takes a look back in the Netflix show “Jerry Before Seinfeld.”

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

In the mid-1960s, Adam West was appearing in TV commercials to help pay the rent. Several ads he did for Nestle’s Quik caught the eye of a 20th Century Fox TV producer who was looking for someone to star as Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter ego, Batman. That was just one Hollywood adventure for West, who was born on this date in 1928 and died in June of this year.

NATION-WORLD

-- The Pentagon says two senior Navy officers have been fired after two collisions with civilian ships in the western Pacific killed 17 sailors at sea.

-- Pakistan, under pressure internally and from the United States, is weighing how to respond to U.S. demands that it do more to help stop the fighting in Afghanistan.

-- The U.N. says Rohingya Muslims are facing ethnic cleansing in Myanmar. So why is India trying to kick them out too?

-- What happened to the location scout for the series “Narcos” who was found dead in Mexico is still a mystery.

-- With tattoos and piercings becoming more commonplace at younger ages, pediatricians are dealing with a new set of guidelines for talking about them with patients.

BUSINESS

-- Northrop Grumman Corp. is betting billions that the militarization of space and missile defense will become a key priority.

-- Political commentator Scottie Nell Hughes has filed a lawsuit alleging she was raped by Fox News host Charles Payne.

-- Toys R Us has filed for bankruptcy protection but says its stores will remain open for business as usual.

SPORTS

-- Rams coach Sean McVay is getting ready to face the San Francisco 49ers, a team his grandfather John McVay once made into NFL champions.

-- Pitcher Clayton Kershaw gave up his first career grand slam in the Dodgers’ 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

OPINION

-- If customs officials want to keep going through American travelers’ cellphones and laptops when they return to the United States, they should get a warrant first.

-- California’s bullet train isn’t just fast transit; it’s a way to bridge the divide between rich and poor.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- How special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and his team are playing hardball in the Russia investigation. (New York Times)

-- This East German schoolboy wrote a letter to the BBC and was jailed for it. (BBC)

-- How training in visual art can help med school students. (Pacific Standard)

ONLY IN L.A.

What’s the buzz at StubHub Center in Carson, home to the L.A. Galaxy soccer club and temporary abode of the Los Angeles Chargers football team? It could be coming from one of its eight beehives, which are part of the urban farm the Galaxy started as an outlet for employees and a source of food for team meals. So even if the Galaxy isn’t winning too many games this year, it still has about 800 pounds of honey as a consolation prize.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.