Newsletter: Making the case against Trump

House Democrats are laying out their case against President Trump in the Senate trial, as the president shows signs of anxiety.

TOP STORIES

Making the Case Against Trump

House impeachment managers today are expected to begin their second round of making the case that President Trump should be removed from office because he abused his office to “cheat an election.”

Led by Rep. Adam B. Schiff, the House Democrats spoke in methodical detail and used incriminating video clips of Trump’s and other officials’ prior comments to illustrate the lengths to which the president and his aides went to coerce Ukraine to help against the Bidens and the national Democratic Party.

Forced to stay seated and silent, some senators scribbled notes, read briefing books, doodled or just left the gilded Senate chamber for extended periods as the presentations wore on.

By contrast, Trump seemed more agitated than usual, issuing more than 140 tweets, a daily record for him, and even suggesting at one point he’d like to sit in the Senate and stare at Schiff and another House managers’ “corrupt faces.”

Trump also told reporters that he would welcome the Senate calling witnesses, then backtracked, saying officials could not testify because of “national security problems.” He has repeatedly directed administration officials to defy subpoenas for documents and testimony, and Cabinet members regularly testify to Congress about national security issues.

Trump especially hardened his opposition to allowing former national security advisor John Bolton to testify and added a note of apprehension about what he might say: “I don’t know if we left on the best of terms.”

More Politics

— What are the Democratic senators running for the presidential nomination doing as the Iowa caucuses loom? They’re relying on shadow campaigns.

— The District of Columbia is suing Trump’s inaugural committee and two companies that control the Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital, accusing them of throwing parties for the Trump family with nonprofit funds, and overpaying for event space at the hotel.

— Democratic presidential contender Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is suing Hillary Clinton for defamation over an interview in which Clinton appeared to call Gabbard “the favorite of the Russians.”

‘God, Let Me Just Make It’

With tens of thousands of homeless people in L.A. and millions in funding available to help them, it’s perhaps not surprising one of the city’s fastest growing job sectors is homeless services. But finding people willing to work on the streets is another matter. That’s where a social service training program at Los Angeles Southwest College comes in. Many in the program have had to face down their own past struggles with homelessness and holding down a job.

Do Our Exes Really Want to Live in Texas?

Californians have been leaving the Golden State for decades in search of cheaper housing, lower taxes and a different way of life. According to a UC Berkeley poll conducted for The Times last year, more than half of California’s registered voters have considered leaving. For thousands, that search leads to Texas. But do they truly want to live deep in the heart of Texas? Some are taking tours of homes to find out.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

On this date in 1952, firefighters, police and private citizens staged a massive rescue effort to save three boys from the rapids of the Los Angeles River.

According to The Times, Jim Rossetto, 13, Jerry White, 12, and Louis Kolisar, 13, were walking home from school across the dry riverbed. But a sudden release of water from Hansen Dam trapped them on rocks in the middle of the river. Once rescued, they were treated for shock and exposure. Two other boys, Alton Ferguson, 12, and Robert Muller, 12, had been able to outrun the flood. Read the original story of the rescue here.

Jan. 23, 1952: Firefighter James Hassen lifts Jim Rossetto by the hair after the boy and firefigther John Reeves reached a bank during a rescue in the Los Angeles River.

(Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

— Last year, L.A. city officials announced more “sensitive” cleanups for homeless camps. Now they’re taking a harder line, including police presence at some cleanup sites and giving council members more control over which areas are cleaned and how often.

— Three new geothermal power plants are coming to California, its first in a decade. They could mark a long-awaited turning point for a reliable but costly technology that could play a critical role in the move to cleaner energy sources.

— Authorities say a Corona man is facing murder charges after officials say he intentionally rammed his car into another vehicle, killing three teens and injuring three others in Riverside County.

— A Newport Beach mom implicated in the college admissions scandal has pleaded guilty after authorities said she paid a company $9,000 to take online classes for her son at Georgetown University.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Kids TV is starting to embrace the apocalypse. But don’t expect all doom and gloom on shows like “Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts” and “The Last Kids on Earth,” both on Netflix.

— Once upon a time, Quentin Tarantino slept in his car and Leonardo DiCaprio was a break dancer. Now their movie “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” is up for a handful of Oscars.

— Former Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow has called a rape allegation against him “ludicrous and untrue.” His successor Deborah Dugan, who was placed on administrative leave last week, filed a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that included the allegation that Portnow had raped an unidentified female recording artist.

— Mr. Miyagi on Broadway? A “Karate Kid” musical is in the works.

— Terry Jones, a founding member of the Monty Python troupe who was hailed by colleagues as “the complete Renaissance comedian” and “a man of endless enthusiasms,” has died at age 77.

NATION-WORLD

— More than two years after a torrent of allegations against Harvey Weinstein helped launch a cultural reckoning on sexual misconduct, the fallen Hollywood mogul sat in a New York courtroom and listened as a prosecutor laid out the case against him in graphic detail.

— Wuhan, a Chinese city of more than 11 million people, shut down outbound flights and trains as the world’s most populous country battled the spread of a new virus that has sickened hundreds of people and killed 17, state media reported.

— The U.S. Transportation Department has announced plans to tighten rules around service and support animals on airplanes. Among the changes: Only dogs that are trained to help passengers with disabilities would qualify.

— Auschwitz was liberated 75 years ago, but nationalist politics are complicating the commemoration.

— The swift dismissal of a 21-year-old transgender officer from South Korea’s army has ignited fierce debate in a country where military service is a perennial point of contention in gender issues.

— Lebanon’s new government was supposed to quell political dissent and ease anger over corruption and a troubled economy. Instead, protesters surged into downtown Beirut for another night of clashes.

BUSINESS

— Disney is selling FoxNext Games Los Angeles to Culver City-based game firm Scopely. FoxNext is known for titles including mobile game “Marvel Strike Force.”

— China-based video-sharing platform TikTok is expanding its Culver City offices.

— The head of the Hallmark Channel is stepping down. No reason was given for the exit — a surprise, given the growth under his watch — but last month the network made a much-criticized move to pull an ad featuring same-sex couples’ weddings.

SPORTS

— SoFi Stadium, the soon-to-be home of the Rams and Chargers, is 85% complete and on schedule to open with a Taylor Swift concert in late July. For better or for worse (depending on whom you ask), Inglewood is getting ready for its effects.

— Rob Manfred, the commissioner of Major League Baseball, politely said the league is not interested in the L.A. City Council’s resolution calling for the Dodgers to be awarded the World Series championship trophies for 2017 and 2018.

OPINION

— Retribution is the only rationale for sending former L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca, now elderly and ill, to prison, but that’s reason enough, The Times’ editorial board writes.

— It’s way too soon to declare Tylenol a carcinogenic killer, but the fact that state regulators are considering its active ingredient just shows how Proposition 65 is fundamentally flawed, the editorial board says.

— State Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins showed what leadership is made of when she saved California’s most important housing bill, one that targets single-family zoning and would lead to greater housing density, columnist George Skelton writes.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— Michael Bloomberg wanted campaign help from the woman behind the @ElBloombito parody Twitter account. She explains why she turned him down. (Washington Post)

— Even among historians, there are influencers. The “Twitterstorians” have found a growing digital audience as they fight misinformation. (The New Yorker)

ONLY IN L.A.

In the posh Westside pocket called Little Holmby, a home with presidential pedigree just surfaced for sale. The Colonial Revival-style spot was the marital home of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman, was designed by starchitect Paul Williams and cost $12,800 to build in 1938. Today it’s on the market for $6.75 million, but you can take a look inside for free here.

Comments or ideas? Email us at headlines@latimes.com.