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

President-elect Trump on Key White House Picks and First Planned Deportations

As protests against Donald Trump continued this weekend, the president-elect made his first big moves: hiring two top White House aides while signaling he wants to deport up to 3 million immigrants with “criminal records’’ who are in the U.S. illegally. “After the border is secure, and after everything gets normalized, we’re going to make a determination’’ on whether to deport others, he said. Meanwhile, Trump’s closest aides will include an insider — GOP Chairman Reince Priebus — and an outsider — Stephen Bannon, whose time leading Breitbart News prompted Democrats and some Republicans to condemn his appointment.


‘I Finally Feel Optimistic’: Why They Voted for Trump

To Trump’s critics, it still seems inconceivable that he was elected president. To his supporters, there was never any doubt about why they voted for him. They see a brave outsider taking on a corrupt political system, unbeholden to political correctness or special interests. Even if he did say outrageous things, they reason, that is just another sign that he won’t do politics as usual. Here’s what we gleaned from conversations with Trump voters across the country — Democrats, Republicans, political independents.

More Politics

-- If Obamacare is repealed, California has “the most to lose,” and that puts many on edge.


-- Is a Muslim from the Midwest set to take over the Democratic National Committee?

-- Lawyers for the president-elect filed a motion to delay the Trump University trial.

Lost in Translation? These Veterans Didn’t Get Their Promised Bonuses

In military jargon, they’re know as 09 Limas: interpreters, whose critical language skills in Arabic, Dari and Pashto were in short supply on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. The California National Guard promised enlistment bonuses of up to $20,000 each to dozens of them. But many were only partially paid those bonuses because the California Guard later decided they were unfit for the military service they already had provided.


Sticker Shock: California Universities May Raise Tuition

The University of California and California State University haven’t raised the cost of tuition in six years, but that could change soon. Administrators are worried about how to pay for enrolling more students, graduating them more quickly and hiring more faculty. Officials say the proposed increases could amount annually to $270 for Cal State and $280 for UC and would be covered by financial aid for most students. But already, students are mobilizing against them.

Doctor Who?

Federal prosecutors made Tigran Svadjian, a Newport Beach doctor who was facing charges of healthcare fraud, an offer he couldn’t refuse: Go undercover and the charges might be reduced, according to an FBI affidavit. But first, Svadjian said, he needed to visit his ailing mother in Russia. With that, he left — never to return, after a Russian morgue stated he had died of pneumonia. But did he? That’s where our story begins.


OUR MUST-READS FROM THE WEEKEND

-- Why did Trump win? Because Democrats stayed home.

-- Trump won this one Beverly Hills neighborhood while Clinton took the rest of the liberal Westside.

-- Not made in America? California bullet train officials seek an exemption to buy foreign parts.


-- The new Battle of Midway pits military history against wildlife.

-- Now what? A dispensary owner, a scientist, a defense expert and a city manager reflect on the new pot law.

-- Twenty years after losing the Trial of the Century, Marcia Clark is finally emerging as the victor.

-- What did Leonard Cohen really mean when he sang “Hallelujah”?


-- “When the music changes, so does the dance”: Zadie Smith’s novel “Swing Time” is a tour de force.

CALIFORNIA

-- A tree for Nohemi Gonzalez: Family and friends mark one year since a Long Beach student’s death in the Paris terrorist attacks.

-- A Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputy was shot and killed in “an execution” carried out by a wanted man who was caught after an extensive manhunt, authorities said.


-- California Democrats bet big on an anti-Trump strategy. It didn’t work.

-- George Skelton: Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says he wants to be “a uniter” as he runs for governor.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

-- After winning an Oscar for “Precious,” Mo’Nique is back doing comedy in “Almost Christmas.”


-- Leon Russell: Half a century of musical genius that spanned Jerry Lee Lewis and Amy Winehouse.

-- The National Geographic Channel miniseries “Mars” goes on a bumpy interplanetary voyage.

-- Watch: George Takei gives a sneak peek of the memorabilia he’s donating to the Japanese American National Museum.

-- Robert Vaughn may be best known for “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.,” but his career stretched far and wide.


-- “Standing here is a dream”: Jackie Chan finally has an Oscar.

NATION-WORLD

-- How a protest in the prairie grew into a community on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

-- Iraqi forces deny accusations of unlawful killings in the fight to recapture Mosul from Islamic State.


-- Israel moves forward with legislation that would ban mosques from using loudspeakers.

-- A vat of simmering onions, lentils and pasta: Koshary is Egypt’s “plate of the poor,” and it’s no longer so cheap.

-- Photos: See images of the supermoon from around the world.

BUSINESS


-- Did you get a surprise at the grocery store this weekend? Single-use plastic bags are already gone at most grocery stores in California after the election last week.

-- He provided financial backing for “Suicide Squad,” “American Sniper” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Now Steven Mnuchin is a leading candidate for Treasury secretary.

SPORTS

-- Helene Elliott: Venus and Serena Williams return to Compton, a community with which they’ve always kept ties.


-- Bill Plaschke: It’s the dawn of a new era for USC football.

-- Onetime Kings goalie Rogatien Vachon waited three decades to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He gets in today. Sadly, his wife never got the chance to see it.

OPINION

-- Listen up, Californians. You’re not really moving to Canada or seceding. This is our country too.


-- We’ve seen two Donald Trumps. Which one will arrive at the White House on Inauguration Day?

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Trump’s stand on freedom of the press: What will it be? (New York Times)

-- A small group of Germans thinks the Reich never ended. (The Economist)


-- Meet the man who collected 12,000 road maps. (National Geographic)

ONLY IN L.A.

Who owns that vineyard across the 405 from the Getty Center? None other than Rupert Murdoch. Bel-Air’s only working winery isn’t open to the public, but wine writer Patrick Comiskey recently paid a visit and reports on the historic past of “a little vinous oasis set against the tide of urban sprawl.”

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.


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