'Open, transparent and innocent' / We're No. 1! / Antarctic aweigh

‘OPEN, TRANSPARENT AND INNOCENT.’ That’s President Trump, defending his son Donald Jr.’s explanation of contacts with Russians.

But the president’s reportedly raging privately.
John McCain on Trump Jr.: “My sons—they’re in the military. You know, they’d probably be court-martialed.” (Photo: Gage Skidmore.)
An editorial in the Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post: Donald Trump Jr. is an idiot.”
CNN’s Chris Cillizza: Trump Jr.’s explanation to Sean Hannity makes no sense.
Trump Jr.’s emails provide some support for info in the Steele Dossier (documents whose allegations include the infamous “golden shower” account).
Late-night comedy reactions roundup: “The Trumps are like the Corleone family if all of them were Fredo”—Jimmy Kimmel.
Also in the hot seat: First son-in-law Jared Kushner, whose digital campaign organization is under investigation over the possibility it worked with Russian hackers to aim false information at vulnerable voters.
BuzzFeed quiz: Which Trump child are you?
The president faces a lawsuit claiming he’s violated the First Amendment by blocking people on Twitter. And local politicians may face the same sort of suits.
The actor who played Gollum in the Lord of the Rings movies reads the president’s tweets in Gollum’s voice.
Stay at a Trump hotel in recent months? Your credit card info may have been stolen.

MEANWHILE, IN THE SENATE …
 Developing: The president’s pick for FBI director faces confirmation hearings today.
Watch live.

WE’RE NO. 1! The average driver pays more for a metered parking spot in Chicago than in any other major U.S. city.
Chicago’s losing its Hard Rock Hotel.
But North Lake Shore Drive could be in for a dramatic upgrade.
And Chicago’s Near West Side (near the Kedzie stop on the Green Line) is getting a $30 million food and beverage incubator with space for 100 start-ups.
The Strack & Van Til families are buying the Strack & Van Til grocery stores out of bankruptcy.

‘THEY’LL PLAY IT AS EVIDENCE THAT I SOLD OUT. BUT I DIDN’T.’ A Republican lawmaker who jumped party lines to support a tax increase—and who was photographed shaking hands with Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan—tells his story.
The six Democrats running to replace Bruce Rauner as Illinois’ governor will meet in debate Friday.
A suburban township trustee to who took to Facebook to condemn Muslim immigrants—“keeping themselves and their activities hidden from the general population”—faces calls for her resignation.


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HAPPY ‘SPINNING WHEEL OF DEATH’ DAY. To protest the Trump administration’s moves to roll back “Net Neutrality” rules, several prominent websites today will support a “Day of Action” with alerts on their homepages demonstrating how the internet could work under the changes.
Six ways your online life could change for the worse without those rules (from February).
World Wide Web creator Tim Berners-Lee defended net neutrality this way in 2006: “When I invented the Web, I didn’t have to ask anyone’s permission. Now, hundreds of millions of people are using it freely. I am worried that that is going end in the USA.”

ANTARCTIC AWEIGH. An iceberg the size of Delaware—or, if you prefer, four times the size of London, or twice the size of Luxembourg has broken away from the Antarctic Peninsula. One researcher tells The New York Times, “Maps will need to be redrawn.”
Flooding has hit the Chicago area hard.
Weather extremes are becoming the new normal.
Tribune editorial: Chicago stinks at recycling.

UNRELATED DEVELOPMENTS.
It’s the 200th anniversary of the birth of Henry David Thoreau.
Dear Abby counsels a reader whose husband wants her (correction:) a man whose girlfriend refuses to wear an elf costume for sex.

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