Advertisement

Newsletter: Today: Will Trump’s Efforts for a Win This Week Hit a Wall?

President Trump poses for a portrait in the Oval Office.
(Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
Share

For President Trump, is getting funding for a border wall worth shutting down the federal government? 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

Will Trump’s Efforts for a Win This Week Hit a Wall?

Advertisement

A new healthcare bill. Tax reform. Money for a border wall, while avoiding a government shutdown. President Trump is looking for a victory before Saturday — the 100-day benchmark, a milestone that Trump frequently referenced on the campaign trail but which he now calls a “ridiculous standard.” Will it be a week of high legislative drama? We’ll soon find out. Either way, the president “will be holding a BIG rally in Pennsylvania,” he tweeted, on his 100th day.

More Politics

-- Former President Obama will hold his first public event since leaving office, today in Chicago.

-- Giving driver’s licenses to those living in California illegally transformed many lives. Then came Trump.

-- Trump’s election has mobilized a resistance like no other, but will Democrats’ answer to the tea party divide the ranks?

When Civilians Get Killed in the Fight Against Islamic State

Advertisement

“They told us it was a mistake by the coalition, and after the war we will talk about it,” says one 30-year-old man who lost his 11-month-old daughter in an airstrike in Mosul, Iraq. “Why would they make a mistake like this? They have all the technology.” As the battle wears on there and in Syria, civilian casualties from airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition appear to be growing. Few are ever investigated. L.A. Times foreign correspondent Molly Hennessy-Fiske and photographer Marcus Yam, along with Washington-based reporter W.J. Hennigan, tell the survivors’ stories and check the Pentagon’s statements.

In west Mosul’s Jadidah neighborhood, people moved quickly last month to avoid danger along streets destroyed by an airstrike that the U.S.-led coalition is still investigating.
(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Instead of a Wall, They Want a Faster Border Crossing

The border that divides Calexico in California and Mexicali in Mexico has long been more of a marker than a barrier. Still, to get from one side to the other, there’s a wait at the aging port of entry — including for the Mexican students who have visas to attend Calexico Mission School, which is operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The fence that separates the U.S. and Mexico stands just 50 feet from the school but is a long way away from Trump’s proposed wall.

Battling for the Soul of France

France’s presidential race for the next two weeks has come down to two candidates: a centrist in Emmanuel Macron, who proposes greater integration with the European Union, and an anti-immigrant, far-right leader in Marine Le Pen, who would call for a “Brexit”-style referendum. It’s a shake-up either way, as neither candidate is from one of France’s traditional ruling parties. Few experts predict Le Pen to win the presidency, but … well, we’ve heard that one before.

Advertisement

A Call to Arms, as the Written Word Is Under Siege

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wants to get people talking about how to solve our problems instead of going at one another. Margaret Atwood says America shouldn’t get too depressed … yet. John Lewis says he’s still committed to fighting the good fight, even in comic book form. They were all at this weekend’s L.A. Times Festival of Books, our annual celebration of the written word. In my address at the Book Prizes, I spoke about how the written word is under siege.

OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- The lawyer who will oversee the Russia inquiry for the Justice Department has experience investigating the White House.

-- Wars have unintended consequences. In the fight for Mosul, it’s the emergence, out of necessity, of bicycle culture.

-- North Korea on a bun: What the legendary “Koryo Burger” tells us about the isolated nation and ourselves.

Advertisement

-- Chinese money is pouring into the often dismissed wine region of Temecula.

-- Unrest or uprising? The documentaries “Let It Fall” and “LA 92” go deep in exploring the L.A. riots.

-- Get a preview on every film coming out this summer in The Times’ movie guide.

CALIFORNIA

-- Columnist George Skelton says the state tax system depends too much on high-income earners.

-- Columnist Robin Abcarian checks in with cannabis workers who once faced legal peril but now have the California seal of approval.

Advertisement

-- Tens of thousands are expected to march outside the Turkish Consulate in L.A. to commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

-- Here are some of the best signs from this weekend’s March for Science in Los Angeles.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- The exhibition that has art fans in a fury: L.A. Times critic Christopher Knight gives his take on MOCA’s Carl Andre retrospective.

-- The surviving members of Erin Moran’s “Happy Days” family are remembering the late actress as a “sweet angel” with a kind heart.

-- Bill O’Reilly is off the air at Fox News, but he will be back with his “No Spin News” podcast starting today.

Advertisement

-- Photos: See the highlights from Week 2 of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

The Golden Age wasn’t so golden for some of Hollywood’s top actresses, as depicted in the FX series “Feud: Bette and Joan.” So whatever happened to Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Joan Blondell and so many more? Here’s the scoop.

NATION-WORLD

-- The Anti-Defamation League says the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. skyrocketed by 86% in the first three months of the year.

-- North Korean authorities have reportedly detained a U.S. citizen, raising the total number of Americans known to be detained there to three.

Advertisement

-- Fifty-thousand Haitians fear deportation if the U.S. does not renew their protected status.

-- Italy has not seen the terrorism experienced elsewhere in Europe or around the world, but authorities say its prisons could be incubators for people considering extremism.

-- Indian officials can no longer use flashing lights to skip traffic, but there are still plenty of other symbols of “VIP culture” run amok.

BUSINESS

-- Members of the Writers Guild of America are expected to give their leaders authority to call a strike against the major film and TV companies after their contract expires May 1.

-- As auto sales slow down, there are great deals to be had, along with worries of a lending bubble.

Advertisement

SPORTS

-- Columnist Dylan Hernandez says the Clippers had an opportunity to bury the Utah Jazz in their playoff series and didn’t. Will they regret it?

-- The L.A. Kings are counting on their new head coach, John Stevens, to ease their scoring woes. Here’s why skeptics wonder if he’s the one to do it.

OPINION

-- To win control of the House, Democrats will have to stop fighting one another.

-- A writer struggling with chronic illness says he’s not “addicted” to his smartphone; he depends on it to survive.

Advertisement

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- “Here, everything, pretty much everything you do in government, involves heart, whereas in business, most things don’t involve heart”: the transcript of the Associated Press’ interview with Trump.

-- The rise and fall of Google’s books project: “Somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.” (The Atlantic)

-- Artist Neville Garrick talks of Bob Marley’s competitive nature as a soccer player. (The Undefeated)

ONLY IN L.A.

Bryan Cranston has won Emmys for “Breaking Bad” and a Tony for playing LBJ in “All the Way.” He was nominated for an Oscar for “Trumbo.” And he has written a memoir called “A Life in Parts.” But before it all, he had a role with the L.A. Times. “I and a friend of mine were in charge of folding the big Sunday paper that used to be enormous at the time,” Cranston says. Watch this video and you’ll learn about a machine called “the Beast” — and particularly colorful way of delivering newspapers.

Advertisement

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends.

Advertisement