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--:-- Michelle Martin: Four days after deadly floods in central Texas, the death toll keeps rising.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Had we had sirens along this area, it's possible that that would have saved some of these lives.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Could something have been done differently to prevent this tragedy?
--:-- Lila Fadel: I'm Michelle Martin, that's Lila Fadel, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- Michelle Martin: U.S. importers are facing several more weeks of tariff limbo and unsteady markets.
--:-- Lila Fadel: We have no idea what tariffs will be in August. We have no idea what they'll be next year.
--:-- Michelle Martin: How can investors and business owners keep up when President Trump keeps changing the rules?
--:-- Lila Fadel: And several major medical groups are suing Health and Human Services Secretary R.O.K. Jr.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Their lawsuit says his actions on vaccine policy are dangerous and illegal.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from BetterHelp.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: President Fernando Madeira describes how BetterHelp Online Therapy has helped him.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: For me, sometimes I just need to go and talk to somebody that is not going to judge me, right?
--:-- Fernando Madeira: It's going to be there and going to listen to me.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: And I can start just saying, look, I'm not feeling right today.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: And it feels natural.
--:-- Fernando Madeira: I love it.
--:-- Michelle Martin: To get matched with a therapist, visit BetterHelp.com slash NPR for 10% off your first month.
--:-- Michelle Martin: This message comes from NPR sponsor AARP.
--:-- AARP Representative: Where do you see your career in 12 years?
--:-- AARP Representative: What are you doing now to help you get there?
--:-- AARP Representative: The sooner you start enhancing your skills, the sooner you'll be ready.
--:-- AARP Representative: That's why AARP has management, finance, and small business reskilling courses, all to help your income live as long as you do.
--:-- AARP Representative: Because the steps you choose to take today will help you love what you do in the future.
--:-- Michelle Martin: Learn more at aarp.org slash skills.
--:-- Michelle Martin: The Texas Hill Country is reeling from the devastation caused by deadly floods.
--:-- Lila Fadel: The number of fatalities continues to increase four days after the overflowing Guadalupe River ravaged parts of the area, and residents are starting to ask whether this could have been prevented.
--:-- Lila Fadel: And PR's Sergio Martinez Beltran is in Kerrville, Texas and joins us now.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Hi, Sergio.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Hi, Sergio.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: So let's start with the latest. What do we know now about fatalities?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: It's gone up?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, yeah. The latest news is very unfortunate.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: State authorities have said that at least 100 people have died as a result of the floods.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: But the vast majority of those fatalities are in one county, here, Kerr County.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: The sheriff's office says 84 people were killed.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: This figure includes 56 adults and 28 children.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Others remain missing.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: So truly devastating news here.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: It's just so many children.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Were most of them at that Christian summer camp, Camp Mystic, that sits along the river?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, presumably.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Local authorities did not provide a breakdown in their last update, which happened in the form of a social media post yesterday, and different from the press conferences they had been holding twice a day.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: But Camp Bistec, which is the all girls Christian summer camp along the Guadalupe River that you mentioned, has said that 27 campers and counselors were killed in the floods.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: I went up to the camp, Leila and parts of it were swept away and the areas around it were completely destroyed
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And you know even people who survived the floods like Paul Scherer have mentioned how painful it is to see so many kids die
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: These kids that were there were like 7, 8, 9, and 10-year-olds.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: They had a big life ahead of them, and it's pitiful that this happened to them.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Scherer is 74 and was living in a small apartment by the Guadalupe River.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: He had to evacuate in the early hours of Friday when the water was already about four feet tall in the parking lot.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: He lost his home, but he says he's lucky and that he's praying for the families of the girls who died.
--:-- Lila Fadel: And Sergio, I mean, one of the big questions is about whether people were warned in time with enough notice to get out of the way of these flash floods.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yeah, you know, almost all of the residents I've talked to in Cary County say they did not get an alarm.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Some got text messages, but they say it happened as the river was already on their steps.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: One of them told me he'd like the state to have an alarm system along the river.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And this is something, you know, I've also heard from other folks.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: They want flood sirens or something like that.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And politicians lately seem to be listening.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told Fox News yesterday the state needs to step up and pay for an alarm system along the Guadalupe River.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Had we had sirens along this area, up and down, the same type of sirens that they have in Israel when there's an attack coming, that would have blown very loudly.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: It's possible that that would have saved some of these lives.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Now, it's been four days of search and rescue. Is anything changing at this point?
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: At this point, search and rescue operations continue.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: The governor has said it's a 24-7 operation.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Yesterday, I was by the riverbank and law enforcement agents were searching the area.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: And as the water volumes recede, you can clearly see the destruction in the area.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: So cleaning crews are now out in the streets too, removing debris from the river and the roads.
--:-- Lila Fadel: That's NPR's Sergio Martinez Beltran in Kerrville, Texas.
--:-- Sergio Martinez Beltran: Thank you for your reporting.
--:-- Lila Fadel: You're welcome.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Investors got an unwelcome reminder this week that President Trump still likes tariffs.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Stocks tumbled Monday after the president threatened to impose stiff new import taxes on more than a dozen countries, including Japan and South Korea.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Trump pushed back the effective date of those tariffs, however, until August 1st.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And if recent history is a guide, he could change course before that.
--:-- Lila Fadel: In the meantime, though, U.S. importers are facing several more weeks of tariff limbo.
--:-- Scott Horsley: NPR's Scott Horsley joins us now to discuss all this.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Hi, Scott.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Good morning, Lila.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Well, Trump posted letters on social media yesterday threatening to slap 25% tariffs on everything the U.S. imports from Japan and South Korea, along with even higher rates on goods from other smaller trading partners.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Those tariff rates are similar to the ones Trump called for back in April, using a formula based on the U.S. trade deficit with each country.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Of course, back in April, he backed down after a sharp sell-off in the stock market.
--:-- Scott Horsley: At the time the president said he was suspending the highest tariffs for 90 days to allow time to make new trade deals
--:-- Scott Horsley: Now that 90 window closes tomorrow and so far not a lot of new deals have been struck
--:-- Scott Horsley: So once again Trump is pushing back the effective date for another three and a half weeks.
--:-- Scott Horsley: So who knows what the real tariff rate will ultimately be.
--:-- Scott Horsley: For now, the waiting game continues.
--:-- Scott Horsley: So what does that mean for trading partners or for U.S. businesses and consumers?
--:-- Scott Horsley: For trading partners, they might be wondering just how serious Trump is, since he keeps moving the goalposts.
--:-- Scott Horsley: The two countries that have struck trade deals, the UK and Vietnam, did not get any real tariff relief from the United States.
--:-- Scott Horsley: For businesses that depend on imports or consumers who say want to buy a Japanese car or a Korean appliance, this just means more uncertainty.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Should they race to buy now before the tariffs go up?
--:-- Scott Horsley: Should they wait to see if tariffs will be lower down the road?
--:-- Scott Horsley: It's hard to make a decision when the rules keep changing.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And Scott Lincecum, who is a trade expert at the Libertarian Cato Institute, says that's where we are right now.
--:-- Scott Horsley: We have no idea what tariffs will be in August.
--:-- Scott Horsley: We have no idea what they'll be next year.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And that is a brutal investment environment for either importers or individuals looking to invest in the United States.
--:-- Scott Horsley: A report from the Institute for Supply Management last week said this tariff limbo is really weighing on the U.S. factory sector, which, by the way, is supposed to be the beneficiary of the president's trade war.
--:-- Scott Horsley: As one factory manager quoted in the report put it, customers do not want to make commitments in the wake of massive tariff uncertainty.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Okay. And meanwhile, the government continues to collect tens of billions of dollars in tariff revenue.
--:-- Scott Horsley: So far this year, the government's collected close to $100 billion in tariffs.
--:-- Scott Horsley: More than two-thirds of that has come in just since April when Trump announced his worldwide import taxes.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Lincecum says foreign companies might absorb some of that tariff expense, but most of the tax is going to fall on families and businesses here in the United States.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Barring a really radical departure from the traditional economics, it means that somebody in America is paying all of those new taxes.
--:-- Scott Horsley: And even though the higher tariffs have been pushed back until at least August 1st, the average tax on imports today is five or six times what it was before Trump returned to the White House and launched this new trade war.
--:-- Lila Fadel: NPR's Scott Horsley.
--:-- Scott Horsley: Thank you, Scott.
--:-- Lila Fadel: You're welcome.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Some of the country's leading medical groups representing doctors and others in public health are suing Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
--:-- Will Stone: The lawsuit is focused on some of his recent actions on vaccine policy.
--:-- Will Stone: It alleges that Kennedy's decisions on COVID vaccines has endangered the public and violated federal law.
--:-- Lila Fadel: NPR health correspondent Will Stone joins me now to explain.
--:-- Will Stone: Hi, Will.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Hi there.
--:-- Will Stone: Okay, so tell us more about the specifics here.
--:-- Will Stone: Who's bringing this lawsuit and why do they think Kennedy has acted illegally?
--:-- Will Stone: Yeah, there are six medical groups who are filing suit, including the American College of Physicians, the American Public Health Association.
--:-- Will Stone: There's also the American Academy of Pediatrics.
--:-- Will Stone: Dr. Susan Kresley leads that organization, and here's what she told reporters on Monday.
--:-- Will Stone: Over the past several months, experts have been sidelined, evidence has been undermined, and our nation's vaccine infrastructure is now threatened.
--:-- Will Stone: So this is a 42 complaint
--:-- Will Stone: It catalogs many of Kennedy actions and statements on vaccines since he became head of the Department of Health and Human Services
--:-- Will Stone: It argues he demonstrated a quote, clear pattern of hostility toward the established scientific process and installed people with anti-vaccine views in positions of authority.
--:-- Will Stone: All of that is the context for what the lawsuit actually centers on, which is Kennedy's specific decision related to the COVID vaccine schedule.
--:-- Will Stone: In late May, people may remember, Kennedy announced the federal government was removing the CDC recommendations that pregnant women and healthy children should get the shots.
--:-- Will Stone: And that's really what this lawsuit is focused on.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Okay, so what is the argument that that was illegal?
--:-- Will Stone: Yeah, I mean, the group say this was arbitrary and capricious and violated how these decisions should be made under federal law.
--:-- Will Stone: Yes, Kennedy is the head of HHS and does oversee the CDC, but there are still procedures in place that Congress has outlined.
--:-- Will Stone: For example, changes to the CDC vaccine schedule are supposed to involve a federal panel of experts that give advice on vaccines.
--:-- Will Stone: The lawsuit says Kennedy bypassed the normal process.
--:-- Will Stone: He did not consult with this expert group.
--:-- Will Stone: That he did not explain why he was going against the evidence that supports vaccinating children and pregnant women.
--:-- Will Stone: It also points out Kennedy later went on to replace this panel of experts entirely with his own choices.
--:-- Will Stone: So those are just some of the points these medical groups are making to back up their complaint.
--:-- Will Stone: And one of the plaintiffs is actually a pregnant physician who is remaining anonymous, but says she fears she won't be able to get a COVID shot as a result of Kennedy's directive.
--:-- Will Stone: And what's the reaction been like to this lawsuit?
--:-- Will Stone: Does it have a chance?
--:-- Will Stone: Well, obviously, Kennedy's efforts to overhaul vaccine policy have been front and center during his tenure, very controversial and concerning to many in public health.
--:-- Will Stone: This lawsuit touches on all of that, but James Hodge, who's a health law professor at ASU, told me it's not enough to just talk about undermining trust in vaccines.
--:-- Will Stone: It comes down to some technical questions about administrative law and whether he disregarded the process.
--:-- Will Stone: You've got to actually prove that the secretary went outside the boundaries of the law and instituted policy without following proper procedure.
--:-- Will Stone: They make a plausible case that that's occurred here, Will, and to that degree, I think a court will at least entertain some of that.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Now, in response to the lawsuit, an HHS spokesperson sent a brief statement to NPR saying the secretary stands by his CDC reforms.
--:-- Will Stone: The lawyer representing these medical societies said they hope to get a hearing scheduled in the next few weeks.
--:-- Will Stone: Ultimately, their goal is to restore the original recommendations for children and pregnant women to get the COVID shots.
--:-- Lila Fadel: NPR's Will Stone.
--:-- Will Stone: Thank you, Will.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Thank you.
--:-- Lila Fadel: And that's a first for Tuesday, July 8th.
--:-- Lila Fadel: I'm Leila Faldin.
--:-- Lila Fadel: And I'm Michelle Martin.
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--:-- Lila Fadel: Did you know that there is an easy way to stay connected to news and podcasts from NPR?
--:-- Lila Fadel: And that is the NPR app.
--:-- Lila Fadel: You can hear community news from your local station, stories from around the world, and podcast suggestions based on what you like.
--:-- Lila Fadel: Download the NPR app in your app store.
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--:-- Lila Fadel: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Alfredo Carbajal, Rafael Nam, Jane Greenhalgh, Janaya Williams and Lisa Thomson.
--:-- Lila Fadel: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- Lila Fadel: We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott.
--:-- Lila Fadel: And our technical director is Zo van Ginhoven.
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