Newsletter: Today: Trump and Kim, Face to Face
President Trump and Kim Jong Un had their first face-to-face meeting, and it may not be their last.
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Trump and Kim, Face to Face
The summit on Singapore’s Sentosa Island between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un began with a 13-second handshake. It ended on a hopeful note: an apparent new chapter in the hostile relationship between America and the country long known as the Hermit Kingdom. But with essentially an agreement to keep talking and relatively few specifics given, the lingering question is: What’s next? After meeting in private for 40 minutes and then with senior aides for more than three hours, Trump and Kim signed three documents. “The world will see a major change,” Kim said at the signing ceremony. “We’ve developed a very special bond,” said Trump, who told reporters he “absolutely” would invite the “talented” Kim to the White House. So what did they agree to? A joint communique called for the U.S. pledging “security guarantees” to the North and Kim reaffirming his commitment to “complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” At a lengthy post-summit news conference, Trump added that the U.S. will be stopping “war games” with longtime ally South Korea that have long provoked the North.
Witness to History
What’s it like to shout a question at a dictator? Times reporter Noah Bierman was one of 14 journalists up close at the summit in Singapore. “Chairman Kim, will you denuclearize?” he yelled. No answer, of course, came back. But in this first-person piece, Bierman describes what it was like to be within shouting distance of the action.
More From Singapore
-- In meeting with Kim, Trump came face to face with an autocrat who has perhaps the world’s most egregious human rights record, with tens of thousands of political prisoners, systemic torture and assassinations.
-- As the two leaders met, Dennis Rodman went on CNN and got emotional discussing Kim and Trump.
-- Hours before the summit, Kim went sightseeing and posed for a selfie.
-- On the Trump-Kim lunch menu: Korean stuffed cucumber and Häagen-Dazs.
Rewriting the Asylum Seekers’ Rules
In a decision that could block tens of thousands of people, especially women, from coming to the United States, Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions has ordered immigration judges to stop granting asylum to most victims of domestic abuse and gang violence. Whether the new policy will withstand court challenges remains to be seen, but that may take years. In the meantime, it represents another way the Trump administration is looking to clamp down on immigration.
More Politics
-- Even as Trump has been advocating for Russia, his administration is imposing new sanctions for Moscow’s cyberattacks
-- The Supreme Court made it easier for states to remove occasional voters from the rolls, upholding an Ohio law that drops voters who fail to cast a ballot and do not respond to several notices.
-- Financial disclosure forms say Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the president’s daughter and son-in-law, brought in at least $82 million in outside income while serving as White House advisors in 2017.
A Federal Investigation at USC
The U.S. Department of Education says it has launched an investigation into how the University of Southern California handled misconduct complaints against longtime campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall. It’s the latest fallout in a scandal that has prompted the resignation of USC’s president, two law enforcement investigations and dozens of lawsuits. In revealing the inquiry by the department’s Office of Civil Rights, officials rebuked USC for what they alleged was improper withholding of information about Tyndall during a previous federal investigation.
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MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- Trump and Kim shake hands when they meet for the first time before reporters at the Singapore summit.
-- Inside the USC women’s track team’s relay miracle at the NCAA championship.
CALIFORNIA
-- There’s a rising Democratic tide in Orange County. Will it be enough to capture these critical U.S. House seats? These maps break it down.
-- Plus: The mystery of congressional candidate Herbert H. Lee’s run to replace Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton. Shortly before the primary, Lee pumped $1 million into his campaign and spent most of it.
-- Federal prosecutors have filed new charges against a Glendale detective suspected of maintaining ties with the Mexican Mafia and Armenian organized crime. The move signals plea deal negotiations.
-- A new analysis says it would cost about $700 million to build an office tower for Los Angeles city workers that would replace Parker Center, the former LAPD headquarters. That’s up from $483 million.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Fred Rogers’ family is keeping the legacy of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” alive with a candid new documentary.
-- At this week’s E3 video-game marketing extravaganza, a smattering of the titles, whether intentional or not, reflects our often divisive, confusing and stressful political and social climate.
-- Actress Rose McGowan defended Asia Argento and addressed the stigma surrounding suicide after last week’s death of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.
-- Tom Hanks and stylish Shakespearean player Hamish Linklater are starring in a production of “Henry IV” that theater critic Charles McNulty deems worthy of applause.
CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD
Before he became known for playing Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors was performing at a small nightclub in Santa Monica in 1962 when Andy Griffith caught his act: a mix of singing in a booming baritone and talking in a higher-pitched Southern hayseed accent. “It was the stupidest act you had ever seen,” Nabors once told The Times. Griffith was impressed. “Two weeks later, they called me,” said Nabors, who was born on this date in 1930 and died last year at age 87.
NATION-WORLD
-- As Arizona approaches the midterm election, Native Americans are looking to increase their influence at the ballot box.
-- Victims of a sexual abuse scandal by clerics in Chile’s Roman Catholic Church applauded Pope Francis’ decision to accept the resignations of three bishops.
-- British Prime Minister Theresa May faces the possibility of a rebellion within her party as she works on a “Brexit” deal to break from the European Union.
-- Photo essay: In the Colombian jungle, a rare look at the young rebels fighting the government.
-- Africa’s baobab trees can live for more than 1,000 years. Scientists say the oldest and largest of them are dying.
BUSINESS
-- Today will be a moment of reckoning for AT&T, Time Warner Inc. and the Justice Department, as a judge issues his ruling in the merger case.
-- Consumer columnist David Lazarus explains why you should approach home DNA tests with a degree of skepticism, kind of like a horoscope.
SPORTS
-- Quarterback JT Daniels is the presumed savior of USC football over the next three to four seasons. For his father, Steve, JT’s success is deeply personal.
-- To the Dodgers, Adrian Beltre of the Texas Rangers is the Hall of Famer who got away.
OPINION
-- By throwing Canada under the bus, Trump and his team were sending a message of American weakness, not strength, says columnist Jonah Goldberg.
-- Former Miss America competitor Crystal Lee writes that her bikini moment at the pageant wasn’t demeaning, it was empowering.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- The Trump Doctrine? An anonymous White House official reportedly described it as “We’re America, Bitch.” (The Atlantic)
-- A glimpse at recent North Korean architecture shows a “socialist fairyland” with a pastel palette and a brutal edge lurking underneath. (The Guardian)
-- What makes people skeptical of science? This researcher says it’s not politics. (Aeon)
ONLY IN L.A.
Zach Galifianakis is used to spending time between two ferns, but he spent a recent weekday morning up to his armpits in curly fries while manning the drive-through window at the Arby’s on Sunset Boulevard. No, he wasn’t moonlighting. Instead, his four-hour gig handing out roast beef sandwiches was part of an event promoting the FX comedy series “Baskets” to Emmy Awards voters. Ah, the glamour of Hollywood.
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