Newsletter: Today: The Heat’s on Sessions — and Clinton Too?
Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is back before Congress to answer questions about Russia — and bringing up the possibility of a special counsel to look into Hillary Clinton.
TOP STORIES
The Heat’s on Sessions — and Clinton Too?
If at first you don’t succeed, then testify, testify again. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions will appear on Capitol Hill for a fourth time at 7 a.m. Pacific to answer questions about what he knew about the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russians. In previous visits, Sessions has given a string of denials that later proved to be incomplete or wrong. And he’ll have something else to talk about: The Justice Department says Sessions is considering a second special prosecutor, this time to investigate allegations involving Hillary Clinton — something President Trump has long demanded.
The GOP Has the Alabama Shakes
Another allegation that he molested a teenage girl decades ago. Another round of calls from his own party for him to step aside. Yet Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore of Alabama has been steadfast in his denials and his refusal to stand down. “I believe the women,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. “The person who should step aside is @SenateMajLdr Mitch McConnell,” Moore tweeted back. And if voters elect Moore next month? The head of the Republican campaign committee says the Senate should vote to expel him. It’s the highest-profile battle yet in Stephen K. Bannon’s “season of war” against the establishment GOP — and Keurig coffee makers became the collateral damage.
More Politics
-- As Trump met in Manila with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, he ignored reporters’ questions about human rights and instead focused on his host’s hospitality.
-- Trump’s pick to replace Tom Price as Health and Human Services secretary is Alex Azar, a former pharmaceutical executive and onetime official under President George W. Bush.
-- A federal appeals court partially revived Trump’s travel ban on six Muslim-majority countries.
A Dean and His Drinking
For years, the reports circulated among the faculty of USC’s Keck School of Medicine: Their dean, Dr. Carmen Puliafito, had a drinking problem. Yet even when the complaints began to reach USC administrators more than five years ago – and the university received information that Puliafito was in a hotel room with a young woman when she suffered a drug overdose – USC allowed Puliafito to continue seeing patients until after publication of an L.A. Times investigation in July.
‘Captain America’ and His Secrets
His FBI code name was “Captain America”: a tow-truck driver who was working as an informant as the bureau looked into potential bribery and theft by L.A. County sheriff’s deputies and a parking enforcement officer. While he made secret recordings, Captain America harbored bombshell secrets of his own.
Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?
The future is next year: Driverless cars will be coming to the streets of California in 2018, albeit in testing mode, thanks to a new set of guidelines from the state Department of Motor Vehicles. A thicket of local and federal regulations could complicate matters, but after being criticized for being too slow to change, the state has shifted gears. Are you ready to see no one behind the wheel?
MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- About 550,000 homes in Southern California have the highest risk of fire damage, but they are not alone.
-- The remaining NFL schedule will be a true test for the surprising 7-2 Rams.
-- That awkward moment when … Trump does a double, crossed handshake.
CALIFORNIA
-- As San Diego struggles with a deadly hepatitis A outbreak, some are questioning why the city spent $2 million on one restroom in 2014, rather than building many.
-- The U.S. Supreme Court will hear an antiabortion group’s free-speech challenge to a California disclosure law for “crisis pregnancy centers.”
-- Santa Rosa officials have warned residents of the potential for sinkholes and landslides in burn areas as rain hits this week.
-- After a parent outcry, officials say a teenager charged with murder will no longer attend classes at Palos Verdes High School.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Actress Gal Gadot reportedly does not want to be in the “Wonder Woman” sequel if embattled filmmaker Brett Ratner is involved, but that point appears to be moot.
-- Taylor Swift’s sixth studio album, “Reputation,” takes a look at love in an age of celebrity.
-- The new “War of the Worlds” does everything an opera’s supposed to do and a lot that opera’s not supposed to do. Our critic says that’s a good thing.
-- “Spamilton,” a spoof of the Broadway hit “Hamilton,” can be surreally silly, but it still has some worthwhile insights.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
Sherwood Schwartz saw “Gilligan’s Island” as “my version of a social microcosm, where seven people from various backgrounds had to learn to live together.” The critics saw it as drivel. Either way, his creation struck a chord with millions of viewers, as did “The Brady Bunch.” And those memorable theme songs? Schwartz, who was born on this date in 1916 and died in 2012, wrote the lyrics for both.
NATION-WORLD
-- Officials in Iran and Iraq are rushing aid to areas hit by a deadly magnitude 7.3 earthquake.
-- South Korean authorities captured a U.S. citizen in a buffer zone along the North Korean border, officials said. Separately, a North Korean soldier was shot crossing into the South.
-- A report says government-controlled “keyboard” armies are now a global phenomenon.
-- New medical guidelines have lowered the threshold for high blood pressure, meaning that now nearly half of U.S. adults have it.
BUSINESS
-- Columnist Michael Hiltzik says Trump is right to demand that AT&T sell CNN, but he’s doing it for the wrong reason.
-- Proxy fight, anyone? Qualcomm has rejected rival chipmaker Broadcom’s unsolicited $103-billion takeover bid.
SPORTS
-- The Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger was the unanimous choice for National League rookie of the year. Meanwhile, the team hasn’t given up on Yu Darvish, despite his World Series pitching debacle.
-- The White House says Trump has personally intervened on behalf of the three UCLA basketball players ensnared in a Chinese shoplifting scandal.
OPINION
-- Trump is dangerously cutting corners in his quest to remake the judiciary.
-- The Dalai Lama writes: We need an education of the heart.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- What Donald Trump Jr. and WikiLeaks said to each other via direct message on Twitter. (The Atlantic)
-- An interactive look inside the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea. (Washington Post)
-- It turns out 6,000 B.C. was a very good year for winemaking. (National Geographic)
ONLY IN L.A.
Traffic got you down? If you look up at some of the street signs in Glendale’s parks, instead of the usual “Stop,” “No Turn on Red” or “No Parking Any Time,” you’ll find the more positive “Relax” or “Breathe.” Is it a prank or vandalism? No, it’s art by one driven individual.
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