Russia and Jeff Sessions, Reimagining Immigration, A Pioneering Advocate

Coming up on today’s show:

• U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reportedly met with an official from Russia twice during the 2016 election, “at the height of what U.S. intelligence officials say was a Russian cyber campaign to upend the U.S. presidential race,” according to a new report from The Washington Post. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich has the details.

• Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act was a key tenant of President Trump’s campaign from the start. But two months into their control of Congress, Republicans can’t seem to agree on a concrete way forward. Mary Agnes Carey, partnerships editor and senior correspondent for Kaiser Health News, walks us through the nuts and bolts of the specific GOP healthcare proposals that are on the table.

• The new documentary “American Veteran” tells the story of Sergeant Nick Mendes, who was paralyzed from the neck down by an IED in Afghanistan and Wendy Eichler, the medical caregiver he met in a V.A. hospital and fell in love with.Julie Cohen, director of “American Veteran,” weighs in. 

• On Tuesday night, President Donald Trump called for a “merit-based system” that Democrats and Republicans could work together on. Stephen W. Yale-Loehr teaches immigration law at Cornell University and Melissa Babel, a certified immigration law specialist with the Law Society of Upper Canada and senior manager at KPMG Law in Toronto, Canada, discuss the president’s plan. 

• In part IV of our series “Commuted: Life After Prison,” The Takeaway follows former inmate Aaron Glasscock as he says goodbye to his family and friends and arrives at a court-mandated halfway house operated by Dismas Charities. We also hear from Raymond Weiss, president and CEO Dismas Charities, and Jan Kempf, executive vice president and COO of the organization.

• The new mini-series “When We Rise” will air on ABC and chronicle the real-life personal and political struggles, set-backs, and triumphs of a group of LGBT men and women who helped pioneer one of the last legs of the U.S. civil rights movement. Part III of this series features the story of LGBT advocate Richard Socarides and his role in the Clinton White House. The Takeaway hears from Charles Socarides, an actor and brother of Richard Socarides, and Richard Socarides himself.