Thursday morning news: June 21, 2018

EO on immigration / House to vote on immigration bill » President Trump has signed an executive order he says will keep immigrant families together after they cross the Southern border, even if they did so illegally.

TRUMP: My wife feels very strongly about it. I feel very strongly about it. I think anybody with a heart would feel very strongly about it. We don’t like to see families separated. At the same time, we don’t want people coming into our country illegally. 

The measure comes amid a growing outcry over family separations. The order would allow children to be detained with their parents for an extended period.

But the order seemingly runs afoul of a prior court ruling. In 2015, a California district judge, noting the poor holding conditions for some children, ruled the government can only detain minors for 20 days. The new order directs Attorney General Jeff Sessions to ask that judge to modify her ruling to remove the restriction.

With that outcome unknown, lawmakers are still working on legislation to fix the problem. Speaker Paul Ryan said the House will vote on a bill today. Jeff Sessions to ask that judge to modify her ruling to remove that restriction. But many see that request as a longshot and, with the outcome unknown, lawmakers are still working on legislation to fix the problem.

RYAN: This is very good compromise legislation that not only solves the child separation situation at the border. It also solves the border. It solves DACA. It solves a lot of our broken immigration parts.  

Many Democrats say they’re not interested in a broader legislative fix and simply want President Trump to reverse his zero-tolerance border policy. Here’s Congressman Jerrold Nadler of New York.

NADLER: He could order that the families not be separated and not be held in detention.

That would likely mean a return to a so-called catch and release policy, meaning authorities release people who cross the border illegally inside the U.S. and ask them to show up later for an immigration hearing.

Canada legalizes pot » The Canadian Senate has passed a measure to legalize and regulate marijuana. They join Uruguay as the only countries in the world to create a nationwide market for pot.

Canadians as young as age 18 can begin legally purchasing the drug in early to mid-September. The bill will allow adults to carry up to 30 grams of pot and grow up to four plants.

The minimum age for use will be 18 or 19, depending on the province. Advocates argued setting a 21-or-older limit would encourage young people to use the black market. But health experts contend the lower age limit will encourage young people to use the drug, before their brains fully mature, which could have long-term health effects.

Catholic church finds “credible” sex abuse accusations against Cardinal » The Roman Catholic church has removed the retired archbishop of Washington, D-C, from public ministry over a sexual abuse allegation. The church said it learned of a “credible and substantiated” allegation that 87-year-old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused a teeneager while serving as a priest in New York more than 50 years ago.

McCarrick was the Washington archbishop from 2000 to 2006. In a statement he said—quote—“While I have absolutely no recollection of this reported abuse, and believe in my innocence, I am sorry for the pain the person who brought the charges has gone through.”

Dow drops GE » AUDIO: GE commercial

A big shakeup on Wall Street this week… 

AUDIO: GE we bring good things to life. 

GE is getting booted out of the Dow. WORLD Radio’s Paul Butler has that story.

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: The S&P Dow Jones Indices announced this week that it will drop General Electric from the Dow Jones industrial average next week because it no longer represents the U.S. economy.

Boston-based GE was an original member of the 30-company blue chip index in 1896 and remained a continuous member for more than 100 years.

Drugstore chain Walgreens Boots Alliance will take GE’s slot in the list of the most stable publicly traded U.S. companies. Shares of GE have been in gradual decline since 2000 but especially shaky in recent years.

GE recently revealed the Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating the company over a $15 billion hit, taken to cover miscalculations made within an insurance unit.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Paul Butler.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: more on the family separation story at the Southern border. Plus, an education innovation from Walmart. This is The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) President Donald Trump holds up the executive order he signed to end family separations, during an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 20, 2018.

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