Newsletter: Today: Let’s Make a Healthcare Deal! But What’s Behind Door No. 2?

The Senate is headed for a healthcare vote that’s been shrouded in mystery; Jared Kushner says he didn’t collude with Russia; and Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is in the hot seat. 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

Let’s Make a Healthcare Deal! But What’s Behind Door No. 2?

Once again, President Trump is putting the pressure on Senate Republicans to advance a bid to overhaul healthcare today – if only they knew exactly what version of the GOP plan it is. Naturally, many senators have been reluctant to begin formal debate on legislation without knowing where the process will end. That hasn’t stopped Trump from calling it Republicans’ “last chance” to undo the Affordable Care Act and from warning that, if they don’t, “the repercussions will be far greater than any of them understand!” In a sign of the vote’s importance, Sen. John McCain, who disclosed last week that he has a brain tumor, says he’s returning to be there.

Kushner: We Met but We Didn’t Collude

Behind closed doors, Jared Kushner answered questions from Senate Intelligence Committee investigators. In front of the cameras, the White House advisor who happens to be the president’s son-in-law had a message: “I did not collude with Russia, nor do I know of anyone else in the campaign who did so.” Yet some of the details in his 11-page statement, which outlined four meetings with Russian representatives, were potentially damaging, such as suggesting that a secure communications channel using Russian equipment be set up. Read the statement in full here, along with annotations from Times editors. Kushner speaks with House officials today.

A Bewitched, Bothered and ‘Beleaguered’ Attorney General

Last week, Jeff Sessions said he loved his job after Trump’s sharp criticism of him for recusing himself from the investigation into Russia’s interference. This week, he’s still facing barbs from the president – and a new call from Sen. Dianne Feinstein to testify about his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. last year. Some Republicans wish Trump and Sessions would just hash things out in private. Meanwhile, Rudolph W. Giuliani has dismissed a report that he is being considered for the A.G. spot.

More Politics

-- A federal court in Washington cleared the way for Trump’s voter fraud commission to ask states to turn over personal voter information.

-- Trump took jabs at Republican senators, “dishonest” reporters, President Obama and Hillary Clinton in a speech before about 30,000 Boy Scouts and their troop leaders.

-- Rep. Adam Schiff of Burbank now has an official nickname from Trump: “Sleazy.”

The Faces of Tragedy in San Antonio

One man left Mexico because he was unable to find well-paying work after leaving school. One was a so-called Dreamer trying to reunite with family in Maryland after he was deported to Guatemala City for committing crimes, a Guatemalan official said. They were among those loaded onto a hot tractor-trailer that came to a stop in San Antonio, Texas. As their stories emerge, the driver could face capital punishment for his role in the deaths of 10 migrants.

Comic-Con, Without the Crowds

They came. They saw. They Comic-Conned. After nearly five days of panels, previews and performances, our entertainment staff picked out the best moments of Comic-Con 2017 in San Diego, such as Jason Momoa making his entrance with an Aquaman trident and Gal Gadot comforting a young Wonder Woman fan. Video or it didn’t happen? You got it.

MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- Machines speed the plowing of California farms, just as workers get scarce.

-- Swan, flamingo and Pegasus pool floats. How one L.A. business blew up after a nod from Taylor Swift.

-- Comic-Con attendees tell us why they cosplay.

CALIFORNIA

-- Experts are warning of severe, chronic flooding that will devastate the coast as sea levels rise.

-- After a court ruled that a list of 300 problematic L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies was secret, an advocacy group has started its own database.

-- The family of an 18-year-old woman says she was arrested in Central California after streaming live video of a crash that left her sister dead.

-- Actress Hilary Duff has become the latest target in a series of celebrity burglaries in L.A.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- “Dunkirk” director Christopher Nolan explains why, in this era of peak TV, he’s still all in on movies.

-- “Shark Week” fans were less than satisfied with a “race” between Michael Phelps and a great white shark.

-- Money talks: “Captain Marvel” will receive more than $20 million in tax credits to film in California.

-- Shock rocker Alice Cooper found a forgotten Andy Warhol masterpiece rolled up in storage locker.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Estelle Getty was a veteran New York City stage actress when she came to L.A. for the West Coast run of the play “Torch Song Trilogy” in 1985; her managers urged her to try making it in Hollywood. Six weeks later, she got the part of Sophia, the wisecracking mother of Bea Arthur’s character on “The Golden Girls.” Getty was born on this date in 1923.

NATION-WORLD

-- Duck and cover 2.0: How North Korea is prompting new efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack.

-- “For Charlie, it’s too late”: The parents of the terminally ill baby Charlie Gard told a judge in London they had decided to let their “sweet, gorgeous and innocent” boy go.

-- Journalism under assault: Prosecutors began laying out an indictment against 17 people from Turkey’s leading secular newspaper.

-- How an L.A. native learned to stop worrying and love ... OK, tolerate ... India’s monsoon.

-- They say money can’t buy happiness, but a survey found you can make yourself happier by paying other people to do your time-consuming chores.

BUSINESS

-- A jury ordered Olympus Corp. to pay a Seattle hospital $6.6 million in damages tied to a deadly superbug outbreak but rejected claims that the company’s flagship medical scope was unsafe as designed.

-- Fact check: Is Snopes facing an ugly legal fight? True.

SPORTS

-- Columnist Bill Plaschke says that with Dodgers pitching ace Clayton Kershaw injured, it’s time for management to make a bold move.

-- The 10 big questions in the NFL as teams head into training camp at the end of this week.

OPINION

-- What military recruiters aren’t telling women: You’ll face disproportionate health risks.

-- The president of California Physicians Alliance says a single-payer system in California can’t happen overnight.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- A veteran ICE agent has some things to say about working under the Trump administration. (The New Yorker)

-- Exploring the origins of the modern idea of “being cool.” (Times Literary Supplement)

-- There’s only one Joe West, baseball umpire extraordinaire and country music singer on the side. (Sports Illustrated)

ONLY IN L.A.

What’s more L.A. — a two-day convention devoted to all things brunch, a gyoza-eating contest in Little Tokyo or a vegetarian food festival with a seminar on “raising healthy and happy vegan children”? You don’t have to choose, because all three are taking place in Los Angeles in the next couple of months. But only one has an open mimosa bar, an open Bloody Mary bar and an open vodka soda bar. (Hint: It’s not the vegan kids seminar.)

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.

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