Newsletter: Today: Comey and Trump’s Loyalty Demand: ‘We Simply Looked at Each Other in Silence’

All eyes will be on Washington this morning, and the focus won’t be on “infrastructure week.” James Comey will be testifying about President Trump. I’m Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don’t want you to miss.

TOP STORIES

Comey and Trump’s Loyalty Demand: ‘We Simply Looked at Each Other in Silence’

“When the door by the grandfather clock closed, and we were alone, the President began by saying, ‘I want to talk about Mike Flynn.’ ” James Comey goes in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee at 7 a.m. Pacific, but his written testimony (read it here) has already provided details within its novel-like passages of the encounters the fired FBI director had with President Trump. “I need loyalty, I expect loyalty,” Comey says Trump told him at a dinner for two. After Wednesday’s hearing in which senior intelligence officials repeatedly refused to answer questions, today’s could be a landmark in shaping opinion about the president’s conduct. Watch with us and our live coverage.

Must-See TV: What to Look for in Today’s Comey Hearing

The Comey hearing is being billed as the must-see TV event of the year, with viewing parties being organized, bars opening early and odds being laid on the number of tweets Trump will send. As Washington bureau chief David Lauter writes, Comey’s written testimony has already deepened the president’s problems in at least three areas, while one thing potentially helps Trump. You can guess what conservative media are focusing on. And in case you missed it yesterday, gear up with our guide to the hearing.

Congratulations (and Condolences), You Could Be the Next FBI Director

It began, as so much does, with a tweet: The president said he was nominating Christopher A. Wray to succeed Comey as the head of the FBI. Trump’s choice, made after at least six other candidates had dropped out, took top Republicans by surprise — and it took the White House more than five hours to issue a short statement. Some of Trump’s toughest critics applauded Wray’s selection, though he will face grilling about whether he can maintain the FBI’s traditional independence in the Trump era.

More Politics

-- In China, Jerry Brown delivered a message to the world: Don’t follow America’s lead on climate change.

-- Kansas’ Republican-held Legislature delivered a stunning defeat to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, voting to demolish his massive tax cut that led to big budget shortfalls.

-- Eric Trump says of his father’s critics: “To me they’re not even people.”

A Terror Attack in the Center of the Islamic Revolution

Iran has long been a target of Islamic State, but the terror attacks that struck at the heart of Tehran, killing a dozen people and leaving scores injured, were a surprise given their magnitude and locations: the parliament building and a shrine to Ayatollah Khomeini. Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard put the blame on Saudi Arabia and the U.S., while Islamic State quickly claimed responsibility, releasing a video of the assaults with a narrator asking, “Do you think we will go away?” And then there were Trump’s comments on the attacks.

The History of Humankind? Get Me Rewrite!

Where is the proverbial “Garden of Eden,” home to the earliest Homo sapiens? For two decades, scientists have thought eastern Africa was where humankind’s story originated. A new discovery suggests there may be no single region, or if there is one, it’s the whole continent of Africa. Here’s how some 300,000-year-old fossils led to that conclusion.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Movie review: Salma Hayek shines in the delicious Trump-era satire “Beatriz at Dinner.”

-- Christian Slater of “Mr. Robot” answers a few questions for us.

-- Sure, Wagner Moura was chilling as Pablo Escobar on “Narcos.” But he really wants to be on “Saturday Night Live.”

-- Lonzo Ball meets with the media after an individual workout with the Los Angeles Lakers.

CALIFORNIA

-- The United States is joining a whistle-blower lawsuit that alleges Los Angeles illegally reaped hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding by falsely claiming it was providing sufficient housing for people with disabilities.

-- An Oakland woman is seeking $23 million in damages from UC Berkeley and 15 other parties, claiming they didn’t protect her when she was attacked at a planned Milo Yiannopoulos speech.

-- Former Playboy model Dani Mathers is on a body-shaming apology tour. Here’s what her victim had to say to L.A.’s city attorney.

-- Police say a terminally ill cancer patient planned to massacre Bay Area oncologists.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- A friendship and a cowboy story: Why director Brett Haley wrote the film “The Hero” for Sam Elliott and a dying breed of actor in Hollywood.

-- The first Japanese animated feature, a 1945 propaganda film, is being released in the U.S. Occupation forces had ordered the film destroyed after World War II.

-- Katy Perry is a woman of many minds on her new album, “Witness.”

-- James Corden and Jimmy Fallon fight terrorism with ... pop music and plays written by children.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Elvis fans could soon be all shook up, over the most comprehensive collection yet of Presley’s earliest recordings coming out next month. The digital set includes the first acetate he made in July 1953 at Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service of the songs “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.”

NATION-WORLD

-- Today’s general election in Britain has become about far more than the stability Prime Minister Theresa May promises to deliver.

-- Half a century after the Six-Day War, some Israelis are wondering if it was a victory.

-- The mess in Venezuela didn’t happen overnight. Here’s how two successive presidents chipped away at democracy.

-- Einstein doubted it would ever be done, but scientists have finally discovered the bending of one star’s light by another star’s gravity and even used the distortion to measure a star’s mass.

BUSINESS

-- Uber could theoretically name and shame the alleged harassers it fired, but doing so would open up a giant can of worms.

-- In its latest wave of cuts, Sears Holdings Corp. will close 66 Sears and Kmart stores, including four in California, according to a source.

SPORTS

-- Columnist Bill Plaschke says the Lakers should keep their eye on Lonzo Ball, draft him and not worry about all the other stuff (like his dad and those shoes).

-- Los Angeles may have inched closer to hosting the Summer Olympics in 2028, not 2024.

OPINION

-- Our editorial board outlines what we still need to know from Comey.

-- Two professors at Cal State Los Angeles say the detention of their student is an example of what’s wrong with immigration enforcement under the Trump administration

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A team of about 60 staffers at the Republican National Committee will handle much of the response to Comey’s testimony today. (Wall Street Journal)

-- What was Comey’s college thesis? “The Christian in Politics,” about power and integrity. (The New Yorker)

-- Bullying in the age of Trump finds kids chanting “Build that wall!” and worse at schools. (BuzzFeed News)

ONLY IN L.A.

When a peahen wandered into an Arcadia liquor store, the owner’s nephew called animal control. What followed was a test of wills between man and bird, captured on video. The collateral damage: several bottles of alcohol. No word on whether Wild Turkey was among them.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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