Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher made several sexually charged remarks that shocked listeners at a financial services conference in San Francisco.

Fisher spoke on Tuesday about how he built his company. He compared the process of gaining a client’s trust to “trying to get into a girl’s pants,” said Rachel Robasciotti, a founder of wealth manager Robasciotti & Philipson.

“I was floored,” said Robasciotti, who attended the event organized by Tiburon Strategic Advisors. “For me and some of the women sitting nearby we were kind of in shock. We were like, ‘Wait, did that really just happen?’”

Fisher also said that executives who were not comfortable talking about genitalia should not be in the financial industry, according to Robasciotti. She said he made a reference to dropping acid and also likened his employees to cattle who needed to be branded.

“I have given a lot of talks a lot of times in a lot of places and said stuff like this and never gotten that type of response,” Fisher said in an interview Wednesday with Bloomberg. “Mostly the audience understands what I am saying.”

Fisher, who manages more than $100 billion, said he was an easy “guy to dislike” because he manages so much money. He said his comments were taken out of context and that he talked about genitalia and women to make a point about how the art of wooing clients is similar to romantic seduction.

Alex Chalekian, founder of Lake Avenue Financial, posted a video on Twitter recounting what he heard Fisher say, calling the remarks “absolutely horrifying.”

Chip Roame, a Tiburon managing partner who moderated Fisher’s talk, didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Chalekian said in the video that “the way the summit is set up, it’s meant to allow many of these icons in the industry to be comfortable and talk among their peers. But I just had to open up and mention how disgusted I am.”

Sonya Dreizler, a consultant who attended most of the fireside chat, confirmed what Chalekian shared on the Twitter video. “Since this content is not about business issues, I’m choosing to break that code of privacy to confirm that the comments from the stage indeed were outrageous,” she said.

Fisher founded Fisher Investments in 1979. He wrote a column at Forbes for decades and has written 11 books. He has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His firm serves large institutions and high-net-worth clients.

“I regret at this moment in time that I said any of the things I said,” Fisher added. “I regret I accepted that speech invitation because it was kind of a pain in the neck.”

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California power giant PG&E Corp. was stripped of its right to exclusively pitch a reorganization plan in court, escalating an already heated battle over the largest utility bankruptcy in U.S. history. The shares dropped more than 25% in after-hours trading.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Dennis Montali said he’ll allow bondholders including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Elliott Management Corp. to pitch their own restructuring plan alongside PG&E’s, so they can both come up with ways the utility could deal with an estimated $30 billion in wildfire liabilities. The damages, tied to blazes that its equipment ignited, forced the utility to file for Chapter 11 in January.

It’s the latest twist in a massive bankruptcy case that has already attracted some of the biggest names in the financial world. A group led by Pimco and Elliott has come up with a plan that would all but wipe out the stake of current shareholders in the utility.

Separately, PG&E’s Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses Wednesday to avert wildfires in Northern and Central California.

The creditors, including the fire victims, have “spoken loudly and clearly that they want their” proposal to be considered, Montali said in his ruling. While PG&E’s plan is “on track as well as can be expected,” he wrote, so is the competing version from creditors.

“One plan emerging as confirmable is a very acceptable outcome,” Montali wrote. “And if both plans pass muster, the voters will make their choice or leave the court with the task of picking one of them.”

The court denied requests by other parties to let them offer recovery plans too.

PG&E issued a statement expressing confidence that its reorganization plan “is the better solution for all constituencies and will be confirmed.”

“We are disappointed that the Bankruptcy Court has opened the door to consideration of a plan designed to unjustly enrich Elliott and the other ad hoc bondholders and seize control of PG&E at a substantial discount,” the company said.

Under bankruptcy law, a company has a limited amount of time to develop a reorganization plan and persuade creditors to vote in favor of it. Initially, no other competing proposals are allowed, so the bondholders needed permission from Montali before they could proceed. It’s unusual for a bankruptcy judge to grant such a request.

PG&E filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 29 to address liabilities resulting from a string of devastating fires that tore through Northern California in 2017 and 2018. The effects have been rippling through millions of ratepayers, hundreds of creditors, thousands of workers and the state’s political system.

The company has argued that ending its exclusive control before the company figures out its exact wildfire liabilities would “lead to further distraction, costs and waste” and would jeopardize the company’s chances of exiting bankruptcy by June, a deadline set by the state.

The San Francisco utility previously said it has lined up $34 billion in debt financing for a reorganization. The company has also received more than $14 billion in equity commitments. It has blasted the plan by Elliott and Pimco, saying it would lead to an “unjustified windfall” of billions of dollars for creditors at the expense of shareholders and utility customers.

Note holders, meanwhile, said their efforts wouldn’t delay the bankruptcy case. They’ve joined forces with wildfire victims to pitch a plan that would pay out $25.5 billion to victims and their insurers. Their campaign to end PG&E’s exclusive control was supported by the official committee of unsecured creditors, labor unions and fire victims.

Montali had ruled in August that PG&E should retain exclusive control over its restructuring and said last week that the group led by Pimco and Elliott would have to explain “what has changed in such a short period of time to justify reversing course.”

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Here’s a look at what roughly $10 million buys right now in Beverly Hills, Hollywood Hills and Rancho Palos Verdes in L.A. County.

BEVERLY HILLS: Once owned by “Star Wars” actor Billy Dee Williams, this Balinese-inspired spot in Trousdale Estates features tropical gardens, pagodas and sweeping city views.

Address: 1240 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, 90210

Listed for: $9.995 million for six bedrooms, 7.5 bathrooms in 6,000 square feet (22,651-square-foot lot)

Features: Expansive indoor-outdoor living spaces; courtyard with sunken conversation pit; swimming pool; detached yoga studio

About the area: In the 90210 ZIP Code, based on 24 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $4.863 million, up 25.5% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

HOLLYWOOD HILLS: Wood accents, clean lines and sleek interiors reinforce the ultra-modern look of this mansion in the hills.

Address: 7681 Willow Glen Road, Los Angeles, 90046

Listed for: $9.95 million for five bedrooms, eight bathrooms in 9,041 square feet (35,719-square-foot lot)

Features: Indoor-outdoor great room; entertainer’s lounge; polished concrete bathrooms; master suite in private wing

About the area: In the 90046 ZIP Code, based on 26 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $1.889 million, up 3.2% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES: This impressive villa built by mega-mansion architect Richard Landry overlooks the ocean and descends directly to the water.

Address: 41 Marguerite Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, 90275

Listed for: $9.699 million for six bedrooms, eight bathrooms in 9,335 square feet (1.09-acre lot)

Features: Two-story entry; tile and hardwood accents; master suite with two balconies; swimming pool and spa

About the area: In the 90275 ZIP Code, based on 46 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $1.388 million, up 14.2% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

BEVERLY HILLS: Built in 1926 and well-maintained, this English country-style home has half-timbering on the outside and elegant living spaces inside.

Address: 627 N. Hillcrest Road, Beverly Hills, 90210

Listed for: $10.25 million for six bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms in 6,818 square feet (15,246-square-foot lot)

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Features: Lounge with wet bar; office with built-ins; sun room; swimming pool and spa

About the area: In the 90210 ZIP Code, based on 24 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $4.863 million, up 25.5% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

HOLLYWOOD HILLS: This curvaceous compound in Mount Olympus is built for entertaining and features a wine cellar, movie theater, koi pond and swimming pool.

Address: 2235 Hercules Drive, Los Angeles, 90046

Listed for: $10 million for five bedrooms, seven bathrooms in 6,162 square feet (13,503-square-foot lot)

Features: Sweeping staircase; pocketing walls of glass; indoor-outdoor master suite with terrace; elevator

About the area: In the 90046 ZIP Code, based on 26 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $1.889 million, up 3.2% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

RANCHO PALOS VERDES: Clad in brick, this oceanfront estate in a gated neighborhood features Colonial vibes outside and European-inspired formal living spaces inside.

Address: 57 Marguerite Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes, 90275

Listed for: $8.9 million for four bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms in 4,694 square feet (1.01-acre lot)

Features: Landscaped entry with fountain; rich wood-paneled library; ocean-view terrace; brick-lined swimming pool and spa

About the area: In the 90275 ZIP Code, based on 46 sales, the median sales price for single-family homes in August was $1.388 million, up 14.2% year over year, according to CoreLogic.

With his intentionally messy hair, boyish charm and rock star wardrobe, Calm cofounder Michael Acton Smith gives off an air of a younger Mick Jagger, albeit tempered with the polite and engaging demeanor of college professor. Think Russell Brand meets Stewart Brand.

Holding court at a Soho House booth in West Hollywood on a recent afternoon, Acton Smith, 45, wears a skull-and-bones-emblazoned button-down shirt while animatedly discussing the future of global mental health. It’s hard to imagine him being ignored. And yet the British serial entrepreneur remembers a time when this town was less than welcoming.

Several years ago, Acton Smith was the celebrated creator of U.K.-based Mind Candy, the company behind Moshi Monsters, a popular children’s gaming brand hailed as Tomagotchi for the internet age and valued at $200 million. In London, he was a power player. In L.A., a virtual unknown.

Acton Smith found himself mingling at a Hollywood Hills party, a scenario in which a conversation undoubtedly leads to: “And what do you do?” Unaccustomed to Tinseltown’s ways, he would simply say that he ran a website and entertainment company.

“I could see people just drop interest and move on,” Acton Smith recently reflected. “They thought I was a kids entertainer, doing balloon animals.”

A friend pulled Smith aside, lambasting his “humble British nonsense.” “You gotta sell yourself,” the pal stressed. “Tell them you have 50 million registered users and sold nearly a billion dollars’ worth of retail products. Say you’re the Disney of digital programming.”

“In England, if you go in guns blazing like that, people think you’re a wanker,” explained Acton Smith, using a British term that loosely translates to “jerk.”

Moshi Monsters’ numbers declined and revenue collapsed, with Acton Smith stepping down as chief executive in 2014. But he said he eventually mastered more “salesy” techniques for his subsequent return to California in 2012. That’s when he and fellow Brit Alex Tew ventured to San Francisco to cofound Calm, the popular mindfulness and sleep meditation app that now boasts a billion-dollar valuation.

These days, you’ll find Acton Smith declaring Calm the future “Nike of mental fitness” and rattling off the platform’s impressive numbers — 60 million downloads and 2 million paying subscribers. (The app is free, but users can pay $59.99 a year for premium content.) He’ll tell you of celebrity partnerships, high-powered investors and rapid international expansion.

But first, he’ll tell you of Calm’s Hollywood aspirations.

The startup is moving more of its 75-person staff to L.A. to cultivate contacts and, who knows, maybe grace a red carpet or two? The company plans to re-imagine mental health through entertainment mediums in new, fun, even award-winning ways.

“We want to be known as more than just a meditation company and a sleep company. We’re broader than that,” said Acton Smith, adding, “and we’d also love to win some Emmys and Oscars.”

A chess drinking game

Acton Smith loves games. He’s particularly drawn to poker or anything that requires equal amounts of risk and strategy. Growing up in Marlow, a suburb west of London, he was nearly expelled from middle school for running a gambling ring.

In fact, his first internet success involved a classic board game. In the late ’90s, Acton Smith co-founded Firebox.com, a digital gadget retailer that achieved widespread attention with shot glass chess sets. Players were made to drink every time a piece was captured.

“I thought, how can we mix these two things — partying and chess?” recalled Acton Smith.

The entrepreneur infused that out-of-the-box thinking — an injection of fun that borders on slightly absurd — into his next ventures. It’s a kooky British wit mixed with a highly competitive spirit. (It’s no surprise that Acton Smith’s favorite TV shows include HBO’s “Succession” and the quirky early aughts British comedy “I’m Alan Partridge.”)

While plenty of meditation platforms crowd the market, Calm positions itself as a modern, accessible approach to the ancient practice but with a sense of humor. The startup threw a London premiere for “Baa Baa Land,” an eight-hour slow film starring grazing sheep. It turned the boring and sleep-inducing EU GDPR legislation into an adult bedtime story. Real live sloths served as “relaxation ambassadors” at its 2019 SXSW festival booth.

“Calm has a slightly rock ‘n’ roll creative edge that has set us apart,” said Acton Smith, whom you likely won’t ever catch on a meditation cushion (he’s far more casual about the practice). “That’s why we love L.A. and need a much bigger presence.”

Calm’s sleep category, which includes adult iterations of bedtime stories, has become the biggest driver of growth, though the company hopes to find equal success with more categories. Smith and co-chief executive Tew have long spoken of lofty goals, which include purchasing an entire “Calm island.” But for now, Calm is focused on the music industry.

In September, pop stars Sam Smith and Sabrina Carpenter remixed recent hit songs in lullaby format for Calm. That was several months after Moby and Icelandic band Sigur Rós released exclusive albums on the app, establishing a new platform for artists to launch music. The last year saw more than 135 million Calm music streams.

Calm is working on original pieces with Grammy-winning country music star Keith Urban. The new music is slated for 2020.

Music, says Acton Smith, is one of the most powerful ways to help people change their emotional state. He wants to collaborate with artists for more than just altered versions of preexisting music. Calm wants to embody a new kind of label, one made to fit a new digital era.

“The music industry feels like it’s sort of [at] a really interesting point,” said Acton Smith, referencing streaming platforms’ growth. “It’s a great time to come to artists with creative ideas.”

In the coming year, Calm plans to work with artists across numerous categories — country, pop, heavy metal, maybe even hip-hop — to create music longer than the traditional three-minute tracks. Harking back to the days of Mozart, that could mean letting artists create hours-long tracks. As Acton Smith asks, “Could we give artists the ability to create music any way they wish?”

Apart from sleep, there will be an added emphasis on new relaxation music genres, such as tracks to play during traffic, to help decompress from work or for hosting a dinner party. There might even be music designed for enhanced productivity or focus — a burgeoning field that uses rhythmic sounds to elicit specific brain states.

Calm’s head of music Courtney Phillips said she envisions the audio library as “a tool to help people live their lives in a healthier, more productive way.”

Five years ago, celebrities weren’t as keen to open up about their own psychological struggles. Mental health awareness has since entered the mainstream vernacular, with everyone from politicians to Selena Gomez publicly addressing the importance of treatment and self-care.

“This feels like an incredible cultural and societal shift that it not going to go away,” said Acton Smith.

John Mayer recommended the app to fans, tweeting, “I use it faithfully.” LeBron James relies on Calm’s “rain on leaves” sound effect to fall asleep. Former One Direction star Harry Styles likes the app so much he became an investor.

Hollywood now throws open its doors. The cofounder acknowledges much of that interest also stems from actor Matthew McConaughey participating in Calm’s sleep stories collection. The Oscar winner’s Southern drawl lulls millions of users to sleep, asking big-picture existential questions centered on the nature of the universe or exalting the present.

As Acton Smith attests, “a lot of stars now are approaching their agents and managers and saying ‘I want to do one of those.’”

Earlier this month, Calm debuted a celebrity-focused series called “Fairy Tales De-Stressed.” It features comedian Nick Offerman narrating a three-part sleep story titled “The Big Bad Wolf Learns Anger Management,” and English actor Jerome Flynn reading “Rumpelstiltskin Learns to Meditate.”

Down the line, Calm intends to pursue original television programming. Already in talks with production companies and streaming platforms, that could manifest in a number of ways, such as mental health documentaries, relaxation-inducing shows or whatever the exact opposite of “Game of Thrones” is on a Sunday night.

“Entertainment and music specifically are really integral parts of how Calm is attempting to bridge from the idea of taking care of the mind and then making that accessible to people,” said cofounder Tew. “L.A. has this amazing pull for us because of the access to talent and partners.”

To that end, Calm is moving toward two centers of gravity — one in L.A., the other in San Francisco.

Not that the cofounders are naive of the challenges and risks inherent in entertainment programming. Acton Smith readily admits he still possesses the “battle scars” from the Mind Candy collapse, noting “you can be hot one minute and not the next. You’re constantly needing to come up with your next hit.”

That saga humbled him, though it didn’t deter his passion for the entertainment industry. Acton Smith thinks he’ll have more luck with a meditation company than children’s gaming, especially because of startling stats like this one: The U.S. is one of the most stressed nations in the world, with more than half of Americans reporting moderate to high stress in 2018, according to a Gallup poll. And it’s not just us: The World Health Organization dubbed stress the health epidemic of the 21st century.

“People will need ways to reduce stress, sleep better and handle anxiety,” said Acton Smith. “And given the always-on society we live in, we’ll need companies that will help us deal with all that. Calm doesn’t feel like a fad. This feels like a business that we can lean into.”

BEIJING — 

Why would the United States blacklist a Chinese police station? What do law enforcement figures in the region of Xinjiang have to do with trade?

Such questions rippled across Chinese social media this week as the U.S. Commerce Department added 28 Chinese companies and public security bureaus to a list of entities barred from making purchases from U.S. companies without special approval.

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The list includes eight high-tech companies that provide China’s top artificial intelligence and surveillance services, such as Hikvision, SenseTime and IFlytek, along with the public security bureau and 19 related government agencies in the northwestern region of Xinjiang. The move comes as the U.S. and China prepare for another round of trade negotiations this week and as the rift between China and the NBA continues to widen.

The steps mark the first serious action the U.S. has taken to penalize Chinese entities for human rights violations they say include mass incarceration and high-technology surveillance of Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

On Tuesday, the State Department said it would also stop issuing visas to Chinese government and Communist Party officials believed to be responsible for or complicit in the detentions and surveillance of Muslims in Xinjiang.

Both measures are unprecedented steps lauded by human rights advocates as the first concrete actions taken by any country since the plight of at least a million forcibly detained Muslims, according to the United Nations, became public knowledge two years ago.

But in China, where state media has framed the government’s actions in Xinjiang as benevolent and necessary counter-terrorism and development projects, officials rejected the U.S. actions as “made up pretexts” for interference.

“The U.S. criticism is nothing more than fact-distorting gibberish, which only further reveals the country’s malicious intention to impede the counter-terrorism efforts in Xinjiang and stability and development of China,” said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Geng Shuang at a news briefing Tuesday.

State propaganda seems to have so successfully obfuscated China’s policies toward Muslim minorities that some Chinese social media users expressed bewilderment over why the United States was even targeting Xinjiang’s security forces.

“The whole thing seems so weird to me,” wrote a user named “I’d Like to be Rich 666″ on the state-censored social media platform Weibo. “Can someone tell me what Xinjiang’s public security bureau has done internationally to attract the attention of the Department of Commerce?”

The human rights actions are likely to ratchet up tensions as trade negotiations with China get underway Thursday in Washington.

The chances of a deal are low, as U.S.-China tensions grow over protests in Hong Kong, the blackout of NBA games and human rights violations in Xinjiang — issues which extend beyond business complaints like intellectual property protection and market access, and touch on the very sovereignty of the Communist Party.

“In trade issues, China is willing to give in … to decrease the trade deficit, protect IP, increase market opening,” said Wang Yong, director of Peking University’s Center for Political Economy. “But in political and national issues, those that infringe on Chinese sovereignty — China is not going to give in.”

While U.S. officials said the blacklistings and visa restrictions are not related to trade talks, they are being read as such in Beijing.

“Look at this timing. You could have announced this decision before or after, but to do it right when [Vice Premier] Liu He is heading to the U.S. — this is not a coincidence. This is a way of exerting pressure,” said Song Guoyou, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

From China’s perspective, the Trump administration is just drumming up new excuses to cover the U.S. aim of competing with Chinese technology, he added.

“No matter the name — national security, human rights, environmental protection, blah, blah, blah — the fundamental aim is quite clear: to set some limitations for China’s high-tech company development,” Song said.

It doesn’t help that the U.S. has been inconsistent in taking any bold action on international human rights protections, often ignoring serious violations when they are committed by U.S. allies that serve U.S. energy and commercial interests.

“The Xinjiang problem — the so-called surveillance assisted by Chinese companies — is just an excuse,” Wang said. “This is all American hawks, America’s far right trying to contain China.”

If no deal is made this week, another increase in U.S. tariffs on China is set to take effect Tuesday. An existing 25% duty on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods will be raised to 30%.

One way out for the Chinese could be to wait out the U.S. elections to see if Trump is bounced from office, or at least changes tactics with China.

Wang said the U.S. commitment to human rights was disingenuous and could potentially be dropped as a bargaining chip in trade negotiations, easily given up if Trump urgently needs a trade deal to boost his electoral chances.

“He gets credit for being tough on China at this moment,” Wang said. “He’ll only be thinking about elections later. He has to say, ‘I win!’

“When he’s in a crisis, economic or personal, he may come to China and say, ‘Let’s make a deal,’” Wang said.

WASHINGTON — 

A Defense Intelligence Agency official was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaking classified intelligence information to two journalists, including a reporter he was dating, the Justice Department said.

Henry Kyle Frese, 30, was arrested by the FBI when he arrived at work at a DIA facility in Virginia. He was charged with willfully disclosing national defense information.

Frese, who has a top secret government security clearance, is alleged to have accessed at least five classified intelligence reports and provided top secret information about another country’s weapons systems to the reporter with whom he was having a relationship.

The arrest is the latest in a series of prosecutions under the Trump administration of government workers accused of providing nonpublic information to journalists. In 2017, then-Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions pledged to take a stand against leaks, and the Justice Department has brought at least six leak investigation cases in the last two years.

Neither reporter was identified by name in court documents, but an analysis of news articles and social media posts indicates they are Amanda Macias of CNBC and Courtney Kube of NBC News. Those posts include a photo of Macias and Frese on Instagram from 2017.

The Justice Department declined to provide any additional details about the classified information that was leaked, but the articles focused on China’s missile systems.

The reporter, believed to be Macias, published eight articles containing classified defense information between May and July 2018, prosecutors said.

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In April 2018, after Frese accessed one of the intelligence reports, the reporter sent him a private message on Twitter asking whether he would be willing to speak with another journalist who prosecutors said worked at another outlet owned by the same company, court documents said. The second journalist is believed to be Kube.

Frese replied that he would help if it could help advance the first reporter’s career because he wanted to see her “progress,” according to the documents.

The government also intercepted a call in September during which Frese allegedly read classified national defense information to the second journalist, the documents say.

“Frese betrayed the trust placed in him by the American people — a betrayal that risked harming the national security of this country,” said Assistant Atty. Gen. John Demers, who leads the Justice Department’s national security division.

Federal investigators believe Frese was “taking direction from members of the media” because he had searched for the intelligence documents that were outside of his area of expertise, according to Alan Kohler, the special agent in charge of counterintelligence at the FBI’s field office in Washington.

Although officials would not rule out the possibility of bringing criminal charges against the journalists, the top prosecutor whose office is prosecuting the case said investigators are “focused on the leaker, not the journalist.”

Frese was involved in “dastardly and felonious conduct at the expense of our country,” said G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. He said Frese’s behavior was “not selfless or heroic; it is criminal.”

It was not immediately clear whether Frese had a lawyer who could comment on his behalf. A message left on Frese’s cellphone was not immediately returned. Frese was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Virginia on Thursday.

Representatives for CNBC, NBC News and the Defense Intelligence Agency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ANCHORAGE — 

A digital memory card found on a street in Alaska’s largest city contained videos of a woman being strangled and pictures of her face-down in the back of a truck, according to police and a charging document released Wednesday.

Anchorage police believe human remains found along a highway earlier this month are those of the woman. Authorities said they are working to identify her and her manner of death.

Police said they arrested Brian Steven Smith, 48, on a murder charge Tuesday. Smith had a brief court appearance Wednesday in which he was not asked to enter a plea. A judge said he would appoint for Smith a public defender when Smith said he could not afford a lawyer.

Deputy District Attorney Brittany L. Dunlop said the process calls for the case to be brought before a grand jury. The investigation continues.

A charging document filed by the Department of Law and based on a review of the investigation so far graphically describes the images and videos on the card, which someone last week reported finding on a street in Anchorage. The card contained 39 images and 12 videos, the document states.

The videos show the woman being strangled, with a man’s voice in one saying “just … die,” according to the document. There are pictures of the woman under a blanket on a hotel luggage cart near a truck and in the truck bed, the document states.

Police spokesman MJ Thim said police believe Smith recorded the events himself. He said police believe the killing occurred in early September.

Smith lives in Anchorage but is from South Africa, Thim said.

Police reviewing the footage remembered Smith, who has an accent, from another investigation and found he was registered in early September to a room at a hotel where the carpet matched that in the footage, the document says. They also used vehicle and cellphone records in their investigation.

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Here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

Powerless in California

It was the day the lights went out in Northern and Central California — and they could stay out for quite some time. Fearing the return of high winds knocking down power lines that could spark deadly wildfires, PG&E shut off power to millions of Californians across 34 counties. Those who didn’t have an alternate source of electricity were left without lights, air conditioning, computers and refrigerators — though, in many cases, they were left with plenty of anger. So why is it that California, home to the world’s largest economies and a high-tech pioneer, must resort to shutting down the power grid? Read on.

More About the Power Shut-Down

— The massive blackouts led to a run on gasoline, portable generators and other supplies.

— Southern California Edison said that, given the strong Santa Ana winds forecast for the area, power could be cut off to more than 173,000 customers in parts of eight Southland counties.

— Survival guide: How to prepare if your power is being shut down, and how to survive with just your cellphone.

The Turkish Blitz Begins

In a move to get rid of a Kurdish militia that has been an important U.S. ally against Islamic State militants, Turkey has begun deploying forces and bombarding towns in northern Syria. The Turkish military operation comes after the Trump administration said it was pulling U.S. troops out of Syria. But after President Trump received wide-ranging criticism for abandoning an ally, including from some of his closest Republican supporters, the White House issued a statement quoting Trump as saying the U.S. “does not endorse this attack.” Here is a closer look at the complicated relationship between the U.S. and Turkey.

The Law of Unintended Consequences?

Constitutional lawyers say Trump’s vow not to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry is unprecedented and unlikely to spare him from being formally charged by the House. In fact, they say, it may only increase the chances that he will be impeached. As for the White House’s assertion that the inquiry is invalid because there was no formal House vote to launch it, scholars have noted that no such requirement exists in the Constitution. Meanwhile, Joe Biden publicly stated for the first time Wednesday that Trump should be impeached. And in Russia, it looks as if Vladimir Putin is enjoying the show.

Failures of Oversight

One patient was strangled to death, allegedly by a psychotic patient who had never been given a psychiatric evaluation. Another patient reported being choked by a hospital employee, and a third that her roommate sexually assaulted her — but neither complaint appears to have been investigated. The acute psychiatric hospital at Kedren Community Health Center in South L.A. is a key resource for people struggling with mental illness. But a Times review of inspection and court records reveals serious failures of oversight in its caregiving.

Grand Slammed

The Dodgers finished the regular season with a franchise record 106 victories. They ended the postseason with a loss that will go down in the annals of baseball failure or, if you are a Washington Nationals fan, in the annals of underdog greatness. After leading 3 to 0, the Dodgers gave up seven runs, including a grand slam in the 10th inning, to lose the decisive Game 5 of their National League Division Series.

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

On this day in 1983, a major power outage hit the southern part of downtown Los Angeles, including the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and La Opinion newspapers — so The Times stepped in to help. It printed La Opinion’s Oct. 11 edition, and for the Herald — left in worse shape when the power went out — it offered not only its presses but also its newsroom and computers to write, edit and lay out its pages.

As the L.A. Times employee publication Among Ourselves later reported: “The Herald rolled off The Times’ presses, on The Times’ paper and carrying The Times’ body and headline type. A banner across the front page said, ‘Many thanks to the L.A. Times for publishing today’s Herald.’” Read the entire article about the scramble here.

CALIFORNIA

— A proposed Metrolink plan would shift up to $5.5 billion from the Central Valley bullet train project to new high-speed electric commuter trains in Southern California, doubling ridership between Burbank and Anaheim, relieving freeway congestion and slashing emissions.

— Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law a bill designed to open the elusive beaches at Hollister Ranch. It’s a significant move forward under his administration on an issue that has stalled for decades in the face of powerful landowners.

— Days after a threat forced a lockdown at Cal State Long Beach, authorities have arrested a second student — one they say hacked the email of the first, whom he didn’t know, to send the threat from her address.

— Just over half of public school students who took the state’s standardized test performed at grade level in English, while only 4 in 10 did in math — but that continues a slow upward trend over the last four years, new data show.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

— Wasn’t cord-cutting supposed to simplify our lives? Now that the Netflix model has made TV a cultural tyrant, it’s no longer enough to keep up with all the new shows; now we have to figure out which platform we need to watch them, too, writes columnist Mary McNamara.

— If you’re overwhelmed by the options, our one-stop comparison shopping guide can help you decide which streaming service is right for you.

— The NBC News employee whose sexual harassment complaint led to the firing of Matt Lauer two years ago says he raped her, according to a new book by investigative journalist Ronan Farrow.

— Mindy Kaling says the organization behind the Emmys tried to drop her from the producers list on “The Office” and made her submit an essay to prove her worth.

NATION-WORLD

— A heavily armed assailant ranting about Jews tried to force his way into a synagogue in Halle, Germany, on Yom Kippur, Judaism’s holiest day, then shot two people to death nearby in an attack that was livestreamed on a popular gaming site.

— A Defense Intelligence Agency official has been arrested and charged with leaking classified intelligence information to two journalists, including a reporter he was dating, the Justice Department said.

— Beijing’s strategy stands little chance of quelling unrest in Hong Kong because it misunderstands the protesters’ motives. The trade-off at the core of the Communist Party’s domestic legitimacy — give up your freedoms for stability and wealth — doesn’t resonate there.

— The region home to Indonesia’s biggest Christian enclave needs an economic jolt, and attracting Muslim tourists to its natural wonders might do the trick. But what to do about all that pork? The question has touched off a local furor.

BUSINESS

— Trump vowed to revive American manufacturing. Today, it’s officially in recession and threatening to pull down other sectors, and it could hit his strongholds of support the hardest.

— Consumer Reports says Tesla’s self-driving Smart Summon feature, which lets your car back out of its parking space and come pick you up, is “glitchy and at times worked intermittently, without a lot of benefit for consumers.”

— The British serial entrepreneur who co-founded the meditation app Calm plans to build an L.A.-based empire that marries mental health and entertainment.

SPORTS

— The prospect of the Lakers and Nets actually playing a game in China is looking bleak, amid the NBA’s conflict with Beijing.

— Another blow for the Chargers: They’re putting Mike Pouncey on injured reserve.

OPINION

— Trump’s decision to withdraw U.S. forces from northeastern Syria, clearing the way for Turkey to invade, was impulsive, unwise and a betrayal of the Syrian Kurds whose fighting was so crucial in routing Islamic State extremists, The Times’ editorial board writes.

— Kudos to Mayor Eric Garcetti for taking on climate change on the global stage. Now let’s see some results on the ground in L.A., the editorial board writes.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

— A conversation with a guy who faithfully recreates LeBron James’ Instagram as if he were a cartoon giraffe. (Deadspin)

— We’ve already told you where to find the best autumn colors in the eastern Sierra. If you want to venture beyond California, these maps and graphics show where else in America has the best fall foliage, and the science behind why. (Washington Post)

— For homeless New Yorkers, the city’s subway system offers an elusive safe refuge from violent attacks like the ones that killed four sleeping men last weekend. (The City)

ONLY IN L.A.

In case the costs of college debt weren’t high enough, California’s priciest place to rent is an L.A. neighborhood full of students. With monthly rents averaging $4,944, it’s the fourth-most expensive ZIP Code in the country, beaten out by only three in Manhattan. Close on its heels is one closer by, spanning Mid-Wilshire and West Hollywood.

If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Comments or ideas? Email us at [email protected].

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AMMAN, Jordan — 

President Trump’s announcement late Sunday that he was pulling U.S. troops from northeastern Syria was met with fierce criticism in Washington and elsewhere. Here is why it is so controversial:

Who are the Kurdish fighters?

They are one of the many groups involved in Syria’s civil war, which began in 2011. When troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad retreated from Kurdish-majority areas in the north, a Kurdish party known as Democratic Union Party of Syria and its armed wing, the People’s Protection Units, or YPG, rose to defend and administer those territories.

How did they become important to the U.S.?

In the beginning of the war, they weren’t. The U.S. instead was giving support to the Free Syrian Army, a disparate group of rebel factions fighting Assad that had also clashed with the Kurds.

But in 2014, Islamic State extremists began a blitz from the shadowlands on the Iraqi-Syrian border. They scythed through northern Iraq, adding to territories they had already taken in Syria to expand their caliphate.

In September of that year, they laid siege to Kobani, a Kurdish-controlled city along the border with Turkey. The city was about to fall to the extremists when the U.S. intervened, using airstrikes and the YPG’s help to push them back.

The effort became a blueprint for a partnership between the Americans and the Kurds. Unlike various Syrian rebel groups, the YPG was eager to fight Islamic State.

Washington lavished the Kurdish fighters with weapons and training and dispatched special forces teams and air power to pave the way for their offensives against the extremists. And it made them the core of a grouping of militias it called the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

Earlier this year, the Kurdish-led forces, with backing from a coalition made up of the U.S. and dozens of other countries, took Islamic State’s last territory in Syria and eliminated its caliphate. The victory had cost the lives of more than 11,000 SDF fighters.

In the meantime, the Kurds used U.S. and coalition largess to secure control of northeast Syria and self-administer a territory largely independent of Assad.

So if the caliphate is gone, why is the U.S. still supporting the Kurds?

Though Islamic State holds no significant territory, the coalition and its allied militias are still hunting thousands of extremists hidden in the remote deserts of Syria.

The Kurds also serve the purpose of denying Assad — and his allies in Russia and Iran — control of a strategic area. Northeast Syria is arguably the country’s richest region, with oil, water and minerals. It is also a major passageway linking Syria to Iraq.

With U.S. protection, the Kurds have leveraged those resources to finance a quasi-governmental bureaucracy of 140,000 civil servants serving a population of more than 2 million people. The U.S. has promoted them as a model for what Syria’s future government should be.

Trump, however, has never been convinced by these arguments. He has long advocated an end to America’s presence in the country. In December, he said the U.S. was withdrawing its troops, then succumbed to political pressure not to. On Sunday, after a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he said it was time to pull out.

So why does Turkey want to push out the Kurdish fighters?

Turkey believes the YPG is an offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party, a Kurdish separatist movement that has waged a decades-long insurgency, and regards both organizations as terrorist groups. The government’s fear is that the party will establish a safe haven in northern Syria — as it has done in northern Iraq — and launch attacks into Turkey.

The U.S.-Kurdish partnership came to overshadow most of Turkey’s policy with Washington, with Erdogan repeatedly pushing the U.S. to let Turkey and the Syrian factions it supported take control of the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

Over the last two years, Turkish army units have conducted two cross-border offensives against the Kurdish fighters, overrun their territories and installed Syrian rebel factions loyal to Turkey in their stead.

What does Turkey want to do?

Turkey’s aim is to expel the Kurdish fighters from a 20-mile buffer zone along Syrian-Turkish border. It then plans to replicate what it has done in other Syrian territories under its control: rebuild them using Turkish firms and resettle the 3.6 million Syrian refugees living in Turkey in this so-called safe zone.

Of course, Turkey’s other goal is to completely crush the Syrian Kurdish fighters and stop their nascent state.

What might the Kurds face in an invasion?

If past is prologue, then Afrin provides an answer. The Kurdish-controlled enclave near Aleppo was overrun by Turkish troops and their Syrian rebel allies in 2018. Hundreds of civilians were killed in indiscriminate shellings, and hundreds of thousands of Kurds were displaced.

It didn’t get better for the Kurds when the fighting subsided. Human rights groups accuse Turkey of engineering demographic change in the area when it resettled Syrian refugees, mostly Sunni Arab Muslims, in the homes of Kurds who had fled the violence.

The mostly Islamist rebel factions that control the area view the Kurds as both atheists and separatists and have used their power to abuse the population. Local activists have reported dozens of incidents of unlawful arrests, torture and disappearances, according to Human Rights Watch.

What have the Kurds said?

Hours after U.S. troops began to withdraw from their positions in Syria, the SDF issued a statement accusing them of not meeting their responsibilities to their allies.

It added that “Turkey’s unprovoked attack on our areas will have a negative impact on our fight against [Islamic State] and the stability and peace we have created in the region in the recent years.”

“As the Syrian Democratic Forces, we are determined to defend our land at all costs.”

Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the SDF, said in an interview with Arabic-language broadcaster Al-Hadath that Trump’s decision had come as a shock and called it “a stab in the back.”

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WASHINGTON — 

President Trump’s decision to pull remaining U.S. troops back from northeastern Syria could revive the Islamic State terrorist group and destabilize the volatile region, senior U.S. officials said Monday, while senior Republicans in Congress angrily rebuked the president as he fights an impeachment inquiry.

Trump abruptly announced the move late Sunday without consulting top Pentagon or State Department advisors, sparking a cascade of warnings that withdrawing even the token U.S. force — up to 100 special operations troops — will allow Turkey to launch a long-planned military operation aimed at eliminating the Kurdish fighters long backed by Washington, the officials warned.

Without U.S. support, the Kurdish fighters who form the bulk of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State are expected to shift to fighting Turkish troops and to release some of the 12,000 Islamic State fighters they now hold in camps, the U.S. officials warned. The militant group has lost its territory but could pose a potent threat if reinforcements return.

Trump portrayed his decision as fulfilling his pledge to disentangle America from what he called “ridiculous, endless wars,” especially in the region’s ethnic and sectarian conflicts. But the political backlash in Washington was swift, harsh and bipartisan.

“A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria would only benefit Russia, Iran and the Assad regime. And it would increase the risk that ISIS and other terrorist groups regroup,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), normally one of Trump’s staunchest allies. (Islamic State is also known as ISIS.)

“As we learned the hard way during the Obama administration, American interests are best served by American leadership, not by retreat or withdrawal,” he added.

Trump later appeared to issue a stark warning to Turkey, although for what was unclear. “If Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey,” he tweeted.

Trump spoke by phone with Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Sunday. After the call, acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney called Defense Secretary Mark Esper to advise him of the president’s decision to withdraw from the border, a U.S. official said.

Later Sunday, the White House announced that the U.S. would not interfere with Turkey’s plans send troops into Syria to battle Kurdish fighters arrayed near the border, saying American forces would “no longer be in the immediate area.”

The White House statement said Turkey would “be responsible” for all Islamic State fighters captured over the last two years. The statement did not suggest how, when or where Turkey would take custody of the thousands of militants held by the Kurds.

But in a sign of the chaos, Erdogan said at a news conference in Ankara that the United States “is working to decide how to handle” the prisoners.

Erdogan also said he plans to visit Washington in mid-November to discuss the “depth of the operation,” according to a Turkish newspaper, Daily Sabah. The White House declined Monday to confirm the visit.

By early Monday, American forces had begun evacuating from the border towns of Ras al-Ayn and Tal Abyad to positions outside the roughly 18-mile-wide security zone they had been patrolling, officials said.

Administration and White House officials scrambled to stem the fallout, insisting that Trump had not given Erdogan a green light to invade Syria.

“The Department of Defense made clear to Turkey — as did the president — that we do not endorse a Turkish operation in northern Syria,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. “We will work with our other NATO allies and coalition partners to reiterate to Turkey the possible destabilizing consequences of potential actions to Turkey, the region and beyond.”

Turkey has built up its forces along the Syrian border and taken other steps indicating it plans to launch an incursion into northern Syria, perhaps in the next few days, according to a U.S. official familiar with the latest U.S. intelligence assessments.

Ankara has said it wants a 20-mile-wide “safe zone” along the border to combat what it described as Kurdish terrorists and to resettle some of the 3.6 million refugees it has hosted since the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011.

Pentagon officials are seeking to persuade Turkey to keep its troops from moving more than a few miles into Syria, instead of carving out a wider tract. In that case, Kurdish fighters probably would rein in counterattacks on Turkish forces, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal assessments.

“If there’s a limited incursion, there could be a limited response,” said a U.S. official.

Trump has long sought to remove U.S. troops from Syria, even announcing a total pullout in December. He backed down after Defense Secretary James N. Mattis resigned in protest and White House advisors warned too fast a withdrawal would let Islamic State regroup.

About 1,000 U.S. troops are deployed in the country. Although Islamic State lost its last bit of territory in March, the Pentagon has maintained a presence for counter-terrorism operations and to prevent the Syrian government and its Iranian ally from taking over.

After Islamic State emerged in 2014, seizing a third of both Syria and Iraq for its so-called caliphate, Kurdish militias became the most dependable U.S. partners in Syria under both the Obama and Trump administrations.

The Kurds quickly carved out a self-administered enclave in northeastern Syria that U.S. officials touted as an alternative to the autocratic government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is backed by Iran and Russia in the country’s civil war.

Trump’s pullout was “a stab in the back,” Kino Gabriel, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, the U.S.-backed Kurdish force, told Jordan’s Al Hadath TV.

The SDF said in a statement that any Turkish operation in northern and eastern Syria would have “a huge negative effect” on the war against Islamic State.

Turkish troops are unlikely to reach Al-Hol, the main Kurdish-run detention center. Located about 50 miles south of the border, it holds an estimated 70,000 Islamic State family members and sympathizers.

The Kurds also are holding about 2,000 foreign fighters who had joined Islamic State and were captured on the battlefield, as well as 10,000 Iraqi and Syrian members of the group, Pentagon officials say.

A major battle with Turkey is liable to pull SDF fighters away from guarding the detention centers, however.

Prisoners already have reportedly attempted mass escapes, and Islamic State’s fugitive leader, Abu Bakr Baghdadi, recently exhorted adherents to help break them out.

The U.S. troops in Syria are not a large enough force to take custody of the detainees from the Kurds, or to prevent an Islamic State resurgence if they are set free in large numbers, U.S. officials said.

Without the Kurds, “we will no longer have a partner” to fight Islamic State, said an official involved in Syria policy.

Trump’s decision could garner support from his political base, which backs his efforts to end America’s foreign wars and stand up to the national security establishment, especially if Islamic State does not surge back anytime soon.

But it generated a torrent of opposition from Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill — allies Trump needs as House Democrats head toward a potential impeachment vote over his efforts to get Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden, who is running for president.

Some of Trump’s closest allies criticized the move as a misguided pullout comparable to then-President Obama’s decision to pull out of Iraq in late 2011, a move that left a security vacuum that Islamic State later exploited.

The Trump pullback gave Republicans — who do not support impeachment but have largely remained silent as new allegations of wrongdoing have emerged — ample opportunity to show they can be critical of the president.

“I like President Trump, I’ve tried to help him. This to me is just unnerving to its core,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), one of Trump’s strongest allies on Capitol Hill. “To say to the American people ISIS has been destroyed in Syria is not true.”

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), a Trump ally and member of House GOP leadership, called it a “catastrophic mistake.”

“This decision ignores lesson of 9/11,” she said on Twitter. “Terrorists thousands of miles away can and will use their safe-havens to launch attacks against America.”

Graham said he would prepare a Senate resolution, or perhaps two, urging Trump to reconsider his decision and threatening sanctions on Turkey if its troops enter northeastern Syria.

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He predicted that Congress would approve them by a veto-proof margin, a potential embarrassment for Trump, although a resolution would not change policy.

Even some of Trump’s former administration officials were critical of the decision.

“We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have our back,” said Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. “The Kurds were instrumental in our successful fight against ISIS in Syria. Leaving them to die is a big mistake.”

Republicans who have grown accustomed to Trump retreating under fire are hoping he may back down again on Syria.

“If the president sticks with this retreat, he needs to know that this bad decision will likely result in the slaughter of allies who fought with us, including women and children,” said Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.). “I hope the president will listen to his generals and reconsider.”

The only Republican who publicly backed Trump’s decision was Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), an ardent opponent of U.S. involvement in foreign wars.

Paul said he supported Trump “as he once again fulfills his promises to stop our endless wars and have a true ‘America first’ foreign policy.”

Amid the opposition from Republicans, Trump defended his decision and pushed back on the idea that he had taken Turkey’s side against the Kurds long backed by Washington.

“I’m not siding with anyone in Syria,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“Syria was supposed to be a short-term hit, just in and out,” he said. He said the continued containment of Islamic State should fall to countries in the region.

“We’re 7,000 miles away,” Trump said. “Let them take care of it. We want to bring our people home.”

Cloud and Haberkorn reported from Washington. Bulos reported from Amman, Jordan.