Newsletter: Today: The New NAFTA
After some white-knuckle moments, the framework is in place for a new trade deal in North America.
TOP STORIES
The New NAFTA
It came down to the wire on a deadline set by the United States, but the Trump administration and top Canadian officials have reached terms on a deal that may save the North American Free Trade Agreement, albeit with a different name. The new pact would be called the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, and would exact some of the concessions sought by President Trump and his team. Officials could sign it by the end of November, though it would still need to be ratified by legislatures in all three countries.
FBI Week
The FBI is undertaking a one-week investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, amid much confusion over what limits have been placed on investigators. “We’re not micromanaging this process. It’s a Senate process,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said. Yet amid news reports that agents have been told to not pursue certain leads or potential witnesses, Senate Democrats have raised concerns that the process is being hampered.
A Desperate Search for Survivors
In eastern Indonesia, rescuers are continuing their search after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami hit Friday. So far, the death toll is nearly 1,200, but that is expected to rise dramatically once contact is made with areas cut off by the disaster. Though Indonesia has had several devastating earthquakes in recent years, this is the deadliest in more than a decade. Here is the latest.
The Feds Could Throttle California
Can California enforce its own rules on net neutrality? The ink was barely dry on Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on a bill to restore Obama-era regulations to the internet, when U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions announced the federal government would be suing to block them. The new state law prohibits broadband and wireless companies from blocking, throttling or otherwise hindering access to internet content, and from favoring some websites over others by charging for faster speeds.
A Mission of Mercy
It’s been nearly 10 months since mudslides hit the Montecito area of California, killing 21 people, destroying more than 125 residences and damaging 300 more. Since then, a volunteer group called the Bucket Brigade has dug through the muck to salvage, restore and return hundreds of items to their owners. Now they’re on a mission to find the bodies of a toddler and a teenage boy who went missing.
Talkin’ Baseball
For the Angels, the last of their 162 games this season closed a chapter: Mike Scioscia, their manager of 19 years, officially stepped down. “He did what we all aspire to do,” writes The Times’ Bill Shaikin. “He left the place in better shape than he found it.” For the Dodgers, though, a new chapter begins: The team will play a tiebreaker game tonight against the Colorado Rockies for the National League West title.
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OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND
-- “Was I the only one who shuddered at Brett Kavanaugh’s belligerent comments about beer?” Columnist Robin Abcarian found it odd.
-- The Next California: Natural disaster can define a governor’s legacy.
-- Columnist Steve Lopez checks in on California’s high-speed rail project, which he calls a train to nowhere without a conductor.
-- How counterfeits benefit Amazon: Extra inventory. More sales. Lower prices.
MUST-WATCH VIDEO
-- Inside Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, you can feel the spirit of country music.
CALIFORNIA
-- Gov. Brown signed a bill into law that requires corporate boards of directors to include women. He acknowledged potentially “fatal” legal problems in the measure, though.
-- Brown also signed two new laws that for the first time give the public access to internal police investigations and video footage of shootings by police officers and other serious incidents.
-- Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts’ election campaign lent nearly $160,000 to a political ally. None of it has been paid back.
-- Light showers could hit parts of Los Angeles County beginning late Monday, with some areas expected to get up to an inch of rain on Tuesday.
HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS
-- Guitarist Slash won’t rule out a new Guns N’ Roses album. In the meantime he’s playing with the Conspirators.
-- With “The Neighborhood” and “Happy Together,” CBS is premiering two comedies tonight about what happens when people who are different meet.
-- Chinese sculptor and Conceptual artist Ai Weiwei speaks to the fundamentals of birth, death and transformation in his “Life Cycle” show in L.A.
-- ICYMI, Matt Damon portrayed Kavanaugh on “Saturday Night Live’s” season opener: “I’m a keg-is-half-full kind of guy.”
NATION-WORLD
-- In Las Vegas, it’s called “1 October.” How the horrific mass shooting got its unusual moniker.
-- In need of life-saving surgery, this man fleeing threats in Iran was promised refuge in America. Fifteen months later, he died while waiting.
-- More than four years after they took up arms against the Ukrainian government, pro-Russian separatists appear no closer to their dream of making their enclaves part of Russia.
-- When a Times reporter wrote about the illicit trade in human organs, he didn’t expect to keep hearing from people trying to sell him their kidneys.
BUSINESS
-- Elon Musk got off the ropes by settling with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but Tesla still has a bruising fight ahead.
-- Did an L.A. real estate broker shortchange the citizens of Equatorial Guinea out of millions of dollars?
SPORTS
-- The Rams have a perfect record, but can they become record breakers?
-- LeBron James’ Lakers debut in the preseason opener drew plenty of attention.
OPINION
-- White progressive parents and the conundrum of privilege.
-- Breast cancer is political. Tie that up in your pink ribbon.
WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING
-- “The F.B.I. is up for this”: Former FBI Director James Comey gives his perspective on the Kavanaugh investigation. (New York Times)
-- Rep. Devin Nunes talks a lot in public about his family’s dairy farm, but doesn’t mention it moved to Iowa, or the immigration status of its workers. (Esquire)
-- History lesson: In 1968, basketball star Wilt Chamberlain joined Richard Nixon’s team and got much backlash. (The Undefeated)
ONLY IN L.A.
When Times journalists Hailey Branson-Potts and Mark Potts left the hospital with their newborn baby in July, the infant wore a homemade onesie: “Newest Lil’ Dodgers Fan.” So a trip to Dodger Stadium for the boy was a matter of “when” and not “if.” For these two natives of Oklahoma and their California son, the trip to Chavez Ravine was like “bringing him home” — even with a diaper change.
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