Newsletter: Today: A Day of Heartbreak in San Bernardino

A deadly school shooting has left San Bernardino reeling from violence once again. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

A Day of Heartbreak in San Bernardino

An 8-year-old boy and a teacher at a San Bernardino elementary school were fatally wounded, and another student was injured, when the teacher’s husband fired a high-caliber revolver, then turned the gun on himself. Students described a terrifying scene inside the classroom: The man, a pastor with a military background, “just walked in with the gun. He just shot everywhere,” said one 9-year-old girl, with blood still on her sweater.

Residents hold a prayer vigil outside Our Lady of Assumption Catholic Church for the victims in the shooting at North Park Elementary School in San Bernardino.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

In Trump’s America, How Do Immigrants Fit In?

What does it mean to be American? Is it the language we speak, the food we eat, the movies we watch, or something else? President Trump has fueled a new debate on immigration and what it means to blend into American culture. “Not everyone who seeks to join our country will be able to successfully assimilate,” Trump said on the campaign trail. “Sometimes it’s just not going to work out.” For immigrants, it’s more of a balancing act: being American while keeping a sense of where they came from. And that can be tricky.

More Politics

-- Foreign ministers from the G7 are trying to build a united front against Syrian President Bashar Assad, threatening to increase sanctions against him and Russia. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is headed to Moscow today for talks.

-- A White House official says Trump has signed off on the departure of K.T. McFarland, a top national security official. It’s part of a slow-rolling shake-up.

-- In a small Iowa town, a Pulitzer Prize-winning editor targets the rhetoric of Rep. Steve King, defends immigrants and tries to bring a community together.

Flying the Not So Friendly Skies

The videos that show police dragging a bloodied passenger off an overbooked flight from Chicago to Louisville are less than a minute. The impression they leave of United Airlines lasts much longer. And the CEO’s comments have made things even worse, columnist Michael Hiltzik says. Here’s what led to this incident, how overbooking became a standard industry practice, and how United’s second PR crisis in two weeks (after the “leggings incident”) is taking off.

Wells Fargo Brings Out the Clawbacks

Wells Fargo Chief Executive John Stumpf once called community banking executive Carrie Tolstedt the “best banker in America,” according to a scathing new report. Now, both are not only gone from Wells Fargo, they’re also being forced to return some of their pay. The bank is clawing back $47 million from Tolstedt and $28 million from Stumpf. But the report, commissioned by the bank’s board, details systemic problems that will take time to fix. They started long before The Times first wrote about the pressure-filled sales culture there.

What’s Driving Tesla’s Growth?

In 2.5 seconds, a top-of-the-line Model S can go from 0 to 60 mph. In four months, Tesla’s stock has gone from $181 to $312. That puts it right next to General Motors as the most valuable U.S. automaker, even though GM sells millions more cars. What’s driving Tesla’s growth? The true believers say it’s all about Elon Musk’s vision and the electric future of the market. That said, about 20% of Tesla’s shares are held by investors betting against the company.

CALIFORNIA

-- Search teams are looking for a 78-year-old hiker who went missing on Mt. Baldy. In December we profiled Seuk Doo Kim, who has climbed to the mountain’s top more than 700 times.

-- The federal government says the San Diego community of Otay Mesa will be the site of prototypes for Trump’s proposed border wall.

-- Photoshopped campaign mailers sent in an L.A. City Council race in the San Fernando Valley are sparking accusations of election law violation and counter-allegations of hypocrisy.

-- A new report says charter schools are expanding where they aren’t needed, especially in Los Angeles.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- “No. 1, I’m representing for women, and No. 2, I’m representing for playwrights of color,” says Lynn Nottage of her Pulitzer Prize victory for drama.

-- At the World of Dance competition, swagger matters almost as much as spin moves.

-- “The Encounter,” a one-man show about a National Geographic photographer’s journey into the Amazon, won raves in New York. How does the sensory experience translate on tour?

-- Britney Spears is leaving Las Vegas. Her four-year residency ends later this year.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Jonathan Winters didn’t do jokes. His characters were the comedy: Elwood P. Suggins, Chester Honeyhugger and the swinging granny Maude Frickert, to name three. Winters died on this date in 2013.

NATION-WORLD

-- Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has resigned after pleading guilty to two campaign violation misdemeanors amid allegations that he misused public resources to pursue an affair and intimidated officials in an attempt to cover it up.

-- After deadly bombings, Egypt’s state of emergency reassures some but strikes fear in others.

-- Convicted Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof pleaded guilty to state murder charges, leaving him to await execution in a federal prison.

-- Alma McLay, the last surviving member of the U.S. legal team that prosecuted Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg, has died at age 97.

-- The Pulitzer Prizes recognized reporting on the Trump campaign and unjust evictions. The L.A. Times’ Katie Falkenberg was a finalist for these photos of the Zika epidemic in Brazil.

BUSINESS

-- Aerojet Rocketdyne will cut 1,100 jobs in Sacramento and move some to L.A. and Alabama.

-- Los Angeles radio personality Wendy Walsh has lodged a formal complaint that she was sexually harassed by Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. 21st Century Fox is investigating.

SPORTS

-- The L.A. Kings shook up their front office, firing the general manager and coach who led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.

-- The Chargers got in some barefoot practice time (see the video), while it was announced their first meeting in the battle of Los Angeles with the Rams will take place in the preseason in August.

OPINION

-- What’s the most dangerous country in the world to be female? This woman knows firsthand.

-- Trump’s missile attack on Syria did not spring from a coherent policy: See the David Horsey cartoon.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Jim Renne was involved in a 2004 Bush administration scandal in which staff were targeted because they were gay. Now he works for Trump. (ProPublica)

-- Who needs steel? The “Manhattan of the Desert” in Yemen is built of mud. (National Geographic)

-- Beware of high-end art forgeries. (ArtNet)

ONLY IN CALIFORNIA

The instantly infamous Pepsi ad featuring Kendall Jenner addressing questions of social justice with a can of soda was pulled last week, but it’s bubbling up again in the City by the Bay. Officials there are upset about a behind-the-scenes video that included the San Francisco Police Department logo on the sleeve of an actor playing an officer. “There is nothing San Franciscan about Pepsi’s ham-handed attempt here,” the city attorney wrote, “to fatten its own bottom line.”

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