Monday morning news - November 1, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington .

U.S., EU say deal on steel tariffs will help on climate change » President Biden touted a new U.S. and European Union trade agreement on Sunday. Biden said the deal will crack down on “dirty steel” that produces carbon emissions. He also said the deal will patch up a trans-Atlantic rift over Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs.

BIDEN: It immediately removes tariffs on the European Union on a range of U.S. products and lowers costs to American consumers. It ensures a strong and competitive U.S. steel industry for decades to come and creates good-paying union jobs at home.

The Biden administration says the Article 232 tariffs, as they are known, won’t be removed entirely. But the U.S. government will allow some quantity of European steel and aluminum to enter the country tariff-free.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined President Biden during a news conference at the Group of 20—or G20—summit. She told reporters…

LEYEN: This marks a milestone in the renewed EU-U.S. partnership. And it is a global first in our efforts to achieve the decarbonization of the global steel production and trade.

President Biden is also scheduled to attend a major U.N. climate conference this week in Glasgow, Scotland.

American Airlines cancels hundreds of weekend flights » American Airlines has canceled more than 1,600 flights over the past three days, citing weather and a shortage of flight attendants.

By early afternoon Sunday, American had canceled more than 800 flights—almost 30 percent of its schedule for the day. That after the airline scrapped nearly 900 flights on Friday and Saturday, according to tracking service FlightAware.

American Airlines says it expects major improvement starting today, but added that it expects “some residual impact from the weekend.”

Earlier in October, Southwest Airlines canceled well over 2,000 flights after disruptions also caused by weather and staffing shortages.

Alec Baldwin speaks out on fatal movie set shooting » Alec Baldwin has spoken publicly for the first time on camera about an accidental shooting on a movie set last week.

The actor fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when a gun that was supposed to be loaded only with blanks instead fired a live round.

Baldwin called Hutchins a friend and said he is in “constant contact” with her grieving family.

BALDWIN: There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode.

The accident occurred near Santa Fe, New Mexico while filming a Western called Rust.

Investigators said there was “some complacency” in how weapons were handled on the set. But it's too soon to speak to any potential charges against those responsible for gun safety on the set.

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

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