Newsletter: Today: The Homecoming 

President Trump has scored a diplomatic victory with the return of three U.S. citizens who were imprisoned in North Korea.

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The Homecoming

Three American citizens held captive by North Korea — two captured last year and one in late 2015 — have returned to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Awaiting them at Joint Base Andrews: an exultant President Trump, who shook their hands and held a news conference on the tarmac in which he expressed hope for a planned summit with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (and suggested the homecoming “broke the record for television ratings at 3 o’clock in the morning”). Their release was not without drama in Pyongyang, but it should help clear the stage for a Trump-Kim meeting, possibly in Singapore. “I really think he wants to do something,” the president said of Kim.

President Trump shakes hands with Kim Dong Chul, along with Tony Kim, far left, and Kim Hak Song, far right, the three Americans who were detained in North Korea.

(Susan Walsh / Associated Press )

Is Pyongyang Watching Tehran?

The three men’s release from North Korea provided some good diplomatic news for Trump, who’s been lambasted for pulling the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal and already has seen Mideast tensions rise. But it hasn’t stopped the speculation over how the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran pact could affect talks with North Korea. The Trump administration argues that if Kim is at all paying attention to the Iran situation, he will see America’s strong resolve; an array of outside experts counters that it will make a deal with North Korea even more difficult.

More Politics

-- Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen accused Stormy Daniels’ attorney of improperly acquiring Cohen’s bank records and releasing false information about his finances in an attempt to discredit him.

-- A bipartisan group of House members led by Rep. Jeff Denham, a Republican from Turlock, Calif., have filed a petition to force a vote on four immigration bills over the objections of GOP leadership.

-- Senate Democrats have initiated an attempt to reinstate net neutrality regulations; they believe the issue is a political winner for them.

The CIA’s Past and Future

In her bid to become the CIA’s first female director, Gina Haspel answered questions from U.S. senators about a topic she preferred to leave in the past: the treatment of terrorism suspects under “enhanced interrogation” tactics. Democrats said they targeted her role in post-9/11 interrogations because Trump has said he’d like to bring back waterboarding. At Wednesday’s hearing, Haspel pledged to not revive such harsh tactics. It wasn’t enough to satisfy Republican Sen. John McCain, who was tortured as a POW. But Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III said he will vote for her.

Saucy, With a Tender Side

For Mexican citizens who’ve spent years or decades in the United States, returning to Mexico — voluntarily or not — can be a difficult transition. In Mexico City, a Texas-style barbecue joint is trying to help. The American owner of the saltily named Pinche Gringo restaurant has made it a point to hire deportees and others who have returned after long stints north of the border. The idea is to bring the countries together through “barbecue diplomacy.”

Facing the Music

Kanye West has endured plenty of controversies over his two-decade career, but none quite like calling Trump “my brother” in “dragon energy” and saying slavery was a “choice.” Though he’s kept his major-league deals, some say his penchant for antagonism has brought about a fan backlash reminiscent of when the Dixie Chicks took on President George W. Bush ahead of the Iraq war in 2003.

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MUST-WATCH VIDEO

-- ICE agents arrested a San Diego father in front of his wife and daughters after they entered his home with guns drawn and carrying a riot shield. He had previously been removed from the U.S.

-- The California gubernatorial candidates debate: Watch it in full with our political team’s analysis.

CALIFORNIA

-- Questions of political favoritism are swirling over EPA chief Scott Pruitt’s decision to prioritize cleaning a site beneath Anaheim and Fullerton using the federal Superfund program.

-- State regulators mandated that all newly built single-family houses have solar panels starting in 2020, as part of a push to fight climate change.

-- In a lawsuit, a young woman alleges she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by friends of R&B singer Chris Brown at his home at a party filled with guns and drugs.

-- Political trivia time: Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Nancy Pelosi could make history as the first congressional leaders of both parties to hail from the same state.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- Wyatt Cenac is making his return to political comedy with HBO’s “Problem Areas,” about social issues and the police.

-- In the new Michael C. Hall series, “Safe,” on Netflix, mysteries abound. TV critic Lorraine Ali investigates.

-- On “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Woody Harrelson reminisced about his old college buddy Mike Pence.

-- Ever wonder what it’s like to walk the red carpet on the Cannes Film Festival’s opening night? Here’s your chance to live vicariously.

CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD

Anne V. Coates worked as a film editor for more than six decades, but there’s one cut she made that’s been called the most famous in cinematic history: going from a shot of actor Peter O’Toole blowing out a match to a desert sunrise in the epic “Lawrence of Arabia.” Coates, who died at age 92, won an Oscar for that 1962 film and would be nominated four more times.

NATION-WORLD

-- The U.S. Geological Survey has warned that the summit of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano could experience explosions in coming weeks and send large quantities of ash into the air.

-- More change on the world stage: Malaysia’s opposition and its 92-year-old autocrat-turned-reformer prevailed in an election, upsetting the coalition that has ruled the country for the last six decades.

-- Ahead of Mexico’s July 1 presidential election, front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is clashing with the nation’s business elite.

-- The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia’s “last bastion of independent media,” has been thrown into turmoil.

-- Thirdhand smoke? Researchers are studying a new route of exposure to cigarette smoke.

BUSINESS

-- Wells Fargo has begun an advertising campaign to regain customers’ trust and leave its massive accounts scandal behind. Not everyone is buying it.

-- Offshore wind farms are planned for California, but the Navy has said no to large sections of the coast.

SPORTS

-- The Golden State Warriors are sharpening their playoff focus with the challenge of facing the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals.

-- Former USC forward Chimezie Metu’s workout for the Lakers became a Magic moment when you-know-who showed up.

OPINION

-- Antonio Villaraigosa showed political courage in hard times. He should be California’s next governor, The Times Editorial Board writes.

-- Cancer warnings for coffee may be overkill, but Proposition 65 is not.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Why are thousands of shelter beds for the homeless remaining empty in Los Angeles? (KPCC)

-- Cultural appropriation: Commentator David Frum argues that it’s not so simple. (The Atlantic)

-- This map shows that all roads, or at least many of them, lead to Rome. (Arch Daily)

ONLY IN L.A.

It’s like a Marvel movie come to life: Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit is missing, and the Los Angeles Police Department is on the case. The costume, first seen in the 2008 “Iron Man” film, apparently vanished from a Pacoima warehouse sometime between February and late April. Is the Vulture a suspect? The LAPD would not say.

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