Monday morning news - June 20, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Treasury secretary expects economy to slow in months ahead » Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she expects the U.S. economy to slow down in the months ahead. She told ABC’s This Week that after a period of strong growth…

YELLEN: It’s natural now that we expect a transition to steady and stable growth, but I don’t think a recession is inevitable.

Not inevitable, but increasingly likely, according to many economists and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

SUMMERS: I don’t think there are historical precedents for inflation at the rate we now have it coming down to the target the Fed has set of 2 percent without a recession.

That courtesy of NBC’s Meet the Press.

Critics say the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve waited too long to recognize the threat posed by surging prices. The administration and the Fed repeatedly said inflation was only temporary before having to concede that it would last much longer than they expected.

With gas prices hovering around $5 per gallon, Yellen said the administration is open to a national gas tax holiday. That would temporarily cut the price of gas by about 18 cents per gallon.

CDC approves vaccines for young children » The CDC over the weekend gave the green light to COVID-19 vaccines for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky …

WALENSKY: We have taken another step together in our fight against COVID-19 by making safe and effective vaccines available for our little ones.

Children under 5 were the last remaining age group ineligible for vaccines. More than a million Americans have died of COVID-19. The CDC reports that just over 400 of them were small children.

CDC advisory panel member Dr. Oliver Brooks said the vaccines could help protect against future variants.

BROOKS: We don’t know what’s going to happen and what other variants we may see, but I feel comfortable in saying that vaccinating will be a benefit.

But the majority of parents are not convinced. Research shows that most are either choosing not vaccinate young children or are taking a wait-and-see approach.

Less than a third of children ages 5 to 11 have received a COVID vaccine.

Parents who do opt for the shots will have access to them beginning this week.

Morale is concern as NATO chief warns war could last ‘years’ » In Ukraine, morale may be plummeting among troops on both sides of the war. That according to a new report. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Britain’s defense ministry says that soldiers deserting the front lines or rebelling against orders have plagued Ukrainian forces. And the ministry says the situation is far worse within Russia’s military.

The Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate has reportedly released phone calls from Russian troops, complaining about conditions on the front lines, lack of personnel, and poor equipment.

As the 4-month mark of Russia’s invasion nears, NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Western countries need to be prepared for the war to drag on for years.

The conflict is driving up the cost of food and fuel globally, but he said Western allies must stand firm in support of Ukraine.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher

Yellowstone to partially reopen to visitors this week » Yellowstone National Park is set to partially reopen this week after catastrophic flooding destroyed roads and bridges.

The Park Service says as of Wednesday morning, it will allow a limited number of visitors on the park’s southern loop. They’ll use a temporary license plate system designed to manage the crowds.

The north loop is expected to remain closed through the summer, if not longer.

Officials say it could take years and cost more than $1 billion to repair the damage from the flooding.

Box office: Lightyear not the blast-off Disney/Pixar hoped for » At the weekend box office, Lightyear wasn’t quite the blast-off Disney & Pixar hoped for.

TRAILER: Buzz Lightyear mission log - after a full year of being marooned on this planet, our first test flight is a go.

The Toy Story spinoff hauled in a respectable $51 million domestically in its opening weekend, but that was well short of expectations.

Lightyear finished in second place, just behind Jurassic World Dominion, which earned another $59 million for a total of about $260 million in two weeks of release.

I'm Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org.

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