Tuesday morning news: June 26, 2018

Harley-Davidson shifts some production overseas over tariffs » As a mounting trade war between the U.S. and the some of its biggest trading partners heats up, some say we’re beginning to see the fallout.

Harley-Davidson announced Monday it will move some production overseas. The Milwaukee-based company says the motorcycles it sells in Europe will soon be made in Europe. That in response to tariffs the EU slapped on American exports in retaliation for U.S. tariffs on European steel and aluminum.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters Monday…

SANDERS: The European Union is trying to punish American workers because they have engaged repeatedly in unfair trade practices, and the president is saying enough is enough. We would like to work with the EU to work on a level playing field. 

Some analysts see the Harley manufacturing shift as a public black eye for the president’s trade policies. President Trump has repeatedly highlighted Harley-Davidson as an American company thriving under his administration’s economic policies. In February of last year, he welcomed company executives to the White House.

TRUMP: Thank you Harley Davidson for building things in America.

Europe is the company’s second-biggest market after the U.S. And Harley Davidson says the trade dispute will cost it between $90 and $100 million this year alone.

The president responded to the news on Monday via Twitter, saying—quote—“Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag. I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the EU” He added that the company is using taxes as an excuse and urged Harley-Davidson to be patient.

Katie Arrington in critical condition » Republican House candidate Katie Arrington remains hospitalized in South Carolina following two surgeries after a serious car crash on Friday. Dr. Evert Eriksson at Medical University of South Carolina explained yesterday just how severely Arrington was injured.

ERIKSSON: Traumatic injuries including major abdominal trauma. Ms. Arrington was hemodynamically unstable and in hemorrhagic shock and bleeding into her abdomen. 

Arrington’s friend, Jacqueline Goff, was also in the car at the time of the crash. Both women underwent emergency surgeries. After abdominal surgery, Arrington also required spinal surgery. She is listed in critical but stable condition.

Katie Arrington shocked the political world this month by defeating incumbent Republican congressman, former South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford.

A spokesman tells reporters Arrington will continue her campaign.

Released from criminal custody, immigrants await news of children » Federal officials have dropped criminal charges against dozens of unauthorized immigrants separated from their children at the U.S. southern border. They now await word on when they’ll be reunited with their children. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin has more.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The federal government released 32 immigrants this week to the care of a Roman Catholic organization in El Paso, Texas.

The parents, some of whom came to the U.S. from Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras are now waiting for their children to join them. But it’s still unclear when that will happen. The government gave the parents a toll-free number to call to get information about their sons and daughters.

But the disappearance over the weekend of a teenage immigrant from a Brownsville, Texas, children’s shelter raised questions about the government’s ability to keep track of the children. The shelter housed some of the more than 2,000 minors separated from parents at the border.  The nonprofit group that manages the shelter said it did not have the legal authority to stop a teenager from leaving the shelter if he did not want to stay.

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kristen Flavin.

Bases will house immigrants » Meantime, Defense Secretary James Mattis confirmed Monday that the Pentagon will grant a request by the Department of Homeland Security to help house immigrants.

MATTIS: They have come to us asking us to build out temporary camps on two of our bases. That is what we have been asked to do. The details are being worked out between our staffs, exactly how much capacity they need at the two bases. 

Fort Bliss and Goodfellow Air Force Base, both in Texas, could provide space for as many as 20,000 unaccompanied migrant children who were detained after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

California wildfires » Raging wildfires in northern California are again forcing thousands of residents to flee. A fire just a few hours north of Santa Rosa has devoured more than 20 homes and buildings since Saturday.

Anna Middling is one of many residents who had to evacuate with just enough time to grab the essentials.

MIDDLING: The cat and our medicine, and that was about it.

Officials say about 600 homes could be in the fire’s path. And Cal Fire Captain Jordan Motta says more than 250 firefighters are battling the blaze.

MOTTA: What we’re doing is attacking the fire directly on the fire’s edge, trying to contain it as quickly as possible to restore normalcy and get people back into their homes as soon as possible. 

California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday declared a state of emergency in Lake County, where the biggest fire raged about 100 miles north of San Francisco.

Officials have not determined a cause for any of the fires.

I’m Kent Covington. Straight ahead: big news from the Supreme Court in the Barronelle Stutzman case. This is The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) In this April 26, 2017, file photo, rows of motorcycles are behind a bronze plate with corporate information on the showroom floor at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Glenshaw, Pa. Harley-Davidson, facing rising costs from new tariffs, will begin shifting the production of motorcycles heading for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas. 

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