Monday morning news: July 15, 2019

Tropical Storm Barry drenches Gulf Coast » Tropical Storm Barry dumped rain as it slowly swept inland through Gulf Coast states Sunday. 

Total rainfall is coming in lighter than predicted—but Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards over the weekend warned that flood risks remain. 

EDWARDS: I should point out that even the revised crest heights qualify as major flooding and present serious threats to life and to property. So I implore you to remain alert and aware.

And some parts of the state have in fact seen flooding, both from rain and storm surge. 

The storm briefly reached hurricane status at landfall before weakening. By Sunday morning, maximum sustained winds dropped to about 40 miles an hour. 

Barry knocked out power to thousands, and far from the storm’s center—officials issued tornado warnings east of Baton Rouge and in Mississippi. No serious damage or injuries were reported. 

Governor Edwards said President Trump quickly signed an emergency declaration at his request and has promised federal assistance in the wake of the storm. 

ICE begins crackdown operation » Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend reportedly began its national crackdown on people living in the country illegally. 

Fox News citing a senior administration official said ICE started raids late Saturday in multiple cities.  

Officials in New York City say ICE officers swept multiple neighborhoods there, but did not succeed in rounding up any residents there illegally. 

City council member Carlos Menchaca said that may be due to an information campaign. Local activists and city officials have been encouraging residents to not cooperate with ICE. 

MENCHACA: The message knowing your rights not to open the door, not to talk to ICE agents is working. Those were two unsuccessful attempts to remove people from our neighborhood. So that’s what’s working and that’s what we’re going to try to do the rest of this week. 

ICE is targeting immigrants in 10 major cities who’ve been given orders to leave the country. 

Questions and calls for investigation follow Manhattan blackout » The lights went out on Broadway Saturday night. A power outage struck more than 40 blocks of Manhattan including Times Square. 

It lasted just a few hours, but it left plenty of lingering questions and calls for investigations.

Officials quickly ruled out a cyber-attack on the power grid or any other form of terrorism. Con Edison power company president Tim Cawley said high demand on the electrical grid did not cause the outage. But he said it will take some time to figure out exactly what did. 

CAWLEY: Certain things we know. The equipment that was restored that is providing the power today, we know that equipment is sound, and that’s the vast majority of the equipment. Certain equipment that requires testing to restore its health, we’re going to have to work through that physical testing. 

Thousands of people crowded the streets Saturday, using their cellphones as flashlights as they tried to stay cool amid a steamy July evening. 

Most Broadway musicals and plays canceled their Saturday night shows, though some cast members staged impromptu performances in the street.

American Airlines extends Boeing flight cancellations » American Airlines is extending flight cancellations, as Boing Max jetliners remain grounded. 

The airline said Sunday that it will keep the 737 Max plane off its schedule until at least November 3rd. That’s two months longer than it had planned.

That means the airline will have to cancel about 115 flights per day until then. American Airlines said it “remains confident” that the FAA will recertify the Max jets this year. But some airline executives are growing doubtful about that timetable.

American has 24 Max jetliners, second only to Southwest Airlines, which has 34 Max jets. It’s canceling about 150 flights per day.

Djokavic tops Federer for Fifth Wimbledon title » Novak Djokavic topped Roger Federer Sunday to win his Fifth Wimbledon title. 

For nearly five tense hours Djokovic and Federer traded the lead, playing on and on until an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker settled their Wimbledon final.

Djokovic said coming into the match, the biggest challenge was just trying to remain calm. 

DJOKOVIC: You know, I just told myself before the match I’m going to try to switch off as much as I can from what is happening around us and just be there, be present. 

This triumph also earned Djokovic his 16th Grand Slam trophy overall, moving him closer to the only men ahead of him in tennis history: Federer owns 20, Rafael Nadal has 18.

(AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) Tiffany Delee tosses a filled sandbag into the back of the family truck, while her husband Mike Delee, left, readies to tie up another bag, in Morgan City, La., Friday, July 12, 2019. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.