From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Is Washington missing the forest for the trees?

Hello again, I'm Norman Alney, and this is To the Point.

As Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others testify about what they knew and who they talked to,

is the basic issue being lost in the political drama.

It's reported that Russian hackers gained access to the voting systems of 39 American states during last year's elections.

There's no evidence they affected the outcome.

But as the fired FBI director, James Comey, warned last week, they'll be back.

So what's in store for America's democracy in the future?

And how does this compare to the long history of U.S. involvement in other countries' elections?

Later on today's talking point, opioids sold on the dark web

are causing overdose deaths and confounding authorities.

First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Warren, I'm on. And I'm back with To The Point. There is much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the president and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?

We'll hear more about that later.

First, this news update, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is testifying as we speak before his former colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee,

saying he recused himself from the investigation of Russian influence on the Trump campaign, which he was involved with, but not from defending his honor against what he called scurrilous attacks.

And the suggestion that I participated in any collusion, that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor

for 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and

...