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East Oregonian
BRIEFLY
Seven U.S. Navy crew reported missing
after collision off Japan
TOKYO (AP) — Seven Navy sailors are missing and one
was injured after a U.S. destroyer collided early Saturday
morning with a merchant ship off the coast of Japan, the
country’s coast guard reported.
Footage from the Japanese TV network NHK showed
heavy damage to the mid-right side of the USS Fitzgerald
and a person in a stretcher being lifted to a helicopter.
The Navy’s 7th Fleet said on its Facebook page that the
number of injuries is still being determined. The Fitzgerald
has limited propulsion after suffering damage on the
starboard side below the water line. A U.S. defense official
said there is flooding in three compartments.
The Japan coast guard said it received an emergency call
from a Philippine-registered container ship ACX Crystal
around 2:20 a.m. that it had collided with the USS Fitzgerald
southwest of Yokusuka, Japan.
Congressman Scalise doctor hopes for
‘excellent recovery’ despite risk
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congressman Steve Scalise can
hope to make an “excellent recovery,” his trauma surgeon
said Friday, even though the lawmaker arrived at the hospital
Wednesday at imminent risk of death after getting shot at a
congressional baseball practice.
Dr. Jack Sava of MedStar Washington Hospital Center
said it’s a “good possibility” that the Louisiana Republican
will be able to return to work.
Sava declined to put a timeline on when that would
happen or when Scalise, 51, would be able to leave the
hospital. The doctor described how a bullet from an assault
rifle entered Scalise’s hip and traversed his pelvis, shattering
blood vessels, bones and internal organs along the way.
For now, Scalise remains in critical condition in the
hospital’s intensive care unit.
Trump thrusts U.S., Cuba back toward
hostile relations
MIAMI (AP) — Pressing “pause” on a historic detente,
President Donald Trump thrust the U.S. and Cuba back
on a path toward open hostility Friday with a blistering
denunciation of the island’s communist government. He
clamped down on some commerce and travel but left intact
many new avenues President Barack Obama had opened.
The Cuban government responded Friday evening by
rejecting what it called Trump’s “hostile rhetoric.” Still, Cuba
said it is willing to continue “respectful dialogue” with on
topics of mutual interest.
Even as Trump predicted a quick end to President Raul
Castro’s regime, he challenged Cuba to negotiate better
agreements for Americans, Cubans and those whose identities
lie somewhere in between. Diplomatic relations, restored only
two years ago, will remain intact. But, in a shift from Obama’s
approach, Trump said trade and other penalties would stay in
place until a long list of prerequisites was met.
“America has rejected the Cuban people’s oppressors,”
Trump said in Miami’s Little Havana, the cradle of Cuban-
American resistance to Castro’s government. “Officially,
today, they are rejected.”
Helmut Kohl, chancellor who reunited
Germany, dies at 87
BERLIN (AP) — Helmut Kohl, the German chancellor
whose reunification of a nation divided by the Cold War put
Germany at the heart of a united Europe, died Friday at his
home in Ludwigshafen. He was 87.
“A life has ended and the person who lived it will go
down in history” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel,
speaking from Rome. “Helmut Kohl was a great German
and a great European.”
During his 16 years at the country’s helm from 1982
to 1998 — first for West Germany and then all of a united
Germany — Kohl combined a dogged pursuit of European
unity with a keen instinct for history. Less than a year after
the November 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall, he spearheaded
the end of Germany’s decades-long division into East and
West, ushering in a new era in European politics.
“When a new spirit began to sweep through Eastern Europe
in the 1980s, when freedom was won in Poland, when brave
people in Leipzig, East Berlin and elsewhere in East Germany
staged a peaceful revolution, Helmut Kohl was the right
person at the right time,” said Merkel. “He held fast to the
dream and goal of a united Germany, even as others wavered.”
It was the close friendships that Kohl built up with
other world leaders that helped him persuade both anti-
communist Western allies and the leaders of the collapsing
Soviet Union that a strong, united Germany could live at
peace with its neighbors.
Thanking our Sponsors
Our annual Old Iron Show is a vital regional and community event,
free to all. The Umatilla County Historical Society thanks our
2017 sponsors, whose support carries on the tradition.
LEAD SPONSOR
Les Schwab Tire Center
MAJOR SPONSORS
Baxter Auto Parts
Hill Meat Company
Olsen’s Auto Parts LLC
RDO Equipment Co.
Umatilla Electric Cooperative
SUPPORTING SPONSORS
Blue Mountain Machine & Welding
Byrnes Oil Co.
Community Bank
David and Shari Dallas
Doherty Recycling LLC
Doherty Welding LLC
4 Season's Paint Co., LLC
Hatley Construction
Hodgen Distributing
Holton Secret Lab
J & B Automotive
John & Vickie Merry
P J Rohde Ranch
Premium Tire and Lube
Mark & Kelli Rosenburg
Patrick & Kim Straughan
Western Antique Iron Trader
Winn Farming LLC
We also thank the hard-working volunteers,
who make this show possible
NATION/WORLD
Saturday, June 17, 2017
Trump acknowledges he’s under investigation
WASHINGTON (AP) — President
Donald Trump acknowledged for the
first time Friday that he is under federal
investigation as part of the expanding
probe into Russia’s election meddling.
He lashed out at a top Justice Depart-
ment official overseeing the inquiry,
reflecting his mounting frustration
with the unrelenting controversy that
has consumed his early presidency.
“I am being investigated for firing
the FBI Director by the man who told
me to fire the FBI Director! Witch
Hunt,” the president wrote on Twitter.
His morning missive apparently
referred to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy
attorney general whose role leading
the federal investigation has become
increasingly complicated. The White
House has used a memo he wrote to
justify Trump’s decision to fire FBI
Director James Comey, but that Trump
action may now be part of the probe.
Thursday night, Rosenstein issued an
unusual statement complaining about
leaks in the case.
Trump advisers and confidants
describe the president as increasingly
angry over the investigation, yelling
at television sets in the White House
carrying coverage and insisting
he is the target of a conspiracy to
discredit — and potentially end — his
presidency. Some of his ire is aimed at
Rosenstein and investigative special
counsel Robert Mueller, both of whom
the president believes are biased
against him, associates say.
Dianne Feinstein, top Democrat
on the Senate Judiciary Committee,
said she was “increasingly concerned”
that Trump will fire both Mueller and
Rosenstein.
“The message the president is
sending through his tweets is that he
believes the rule of law doesn’t apply
to him and that anyone who thinks
otherwise will be fired,” Feinstein said.
“That’s undemocratic on its face and a
blatant violation of the president’s oath
of office.”
Aides have counseled the president
to stay off Twitter and focus on other
aspects of his job.
They have tried to highlight
the positive reviews he received
Wednesday when he made a states-
man-like appearance in the White
House to address the nation after
Rep. Steve Scalise was shot during a
congressional baseball practice.
Yet Trump’s angry tweets on Friday
underscored the near-impossible chal-
lenge his advisers and legal team have
in trying to get him to avoid weighing
in on an active probe.
The president has denied that he
has any nefarious ties to Russia and
has also disputed that he’s attempted
to block the investigation into his
campaign’s possible role in Russia’s
AP Photo/Susan Walsh
President Donald Trump walks with National Security Adviser H.R. Mc-
Master to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Wash-
ington, Friday.
election-related hacking.
It was unclear whether his tweet
about being under investigation was
based on direct knowledge or new
media reports that suggest Mueller
is examining whether the president
obstructed justice by firing Comey.
The tweets came shortly after
Rosenstein issued his unusual state-
ment that appeared to be warning
about the accuracy of such reports.
“Americans should be skeptical
about anonymous allegations,” Rosen-
stein said. “The Department of Justice
has a long-established policy to neither
confirm nor deny such allegations.”
The department would not comment
on the record on whether Trump, who
has repeatedly complained about leaks
on the case, requested the statement.
But a department official said no one
asked for the statement and Rosenstein
acted on his own.
The official demanded anonymity
because the official was not authorized
to be named discussing the delibera-
tions.
Trump has told associates he has the
legal authority to fire Mueller. What is
clear is that he could order the Justice
Department to ax Mueller, which may
result in Rosenstein’s departure and
would certainly intensify the uproar
over the investigation.
Though some in the White House
have preached caution, fearing a
repeat of the firestorm over Comey’s
firing, many in Trump’s orbit —
including his son Donald Trump Jr.
and adviser Newt Gingrich — have
deemed Mueller biased and worthy of
dismissal.
Several White House officials
and Trump associates insisted on
anonymity in order to discuss the
president’s views of the unfolding
investigation.
Rosenstein has been overseeing
the Russia probe since shortly after
Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused
himself. But Rosenstein, too, may
ultimately have to hand off oversight
given his role in Trump’s decision to
fire Comey.
Earlier this month, Rosenstein told
The Associated Press that “if anything
that I did winds up being relevant to his
investigation then, as Director Mueller
and I discussed, if there’s a need from
me to recuse, I will.”
Trump’s tweets came after the top
lawyer for his transition team warned
the organization’s officials to preserve
all records and other materials related
to the Russia probe. An official of
Trump’s transition confirmed the
lawyer’s internal order, which was
sent Thursday.
The order from the general counsel
for the transition team casts a wide net
on documents that could shed light
on ties between Trump’s presidential
campaign and representatives of
Russia’s government.
The order also covers separate
inquiries into several key Trump asso-
ciates including former National Secu-
rity Adviser Michael Flynn, campaign
adviser Paul Manafort, foreign policy
aide Carter Page and outside adviser
Roger Stone.
The White House has directed
questions for details to outside legal
counsel, which has not responded.
Vice President Mike Pence has also
hired a private lawyer to represent
his interests in the expanding probe.
Pence headed the Trump transition
until Inauguration Day.
Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael
Cohen, also has retained an attorney
to represent him. Cohen has worked
for Trump since the mid-2000s and
was active in the campaign. He has
already been subpoenaed by the House
intelligence committee.