With Congress in recess for the month of August and the president on vacation in Bedminster, very little has been done to address gun reform two weeks after mass shootings took the lives of 31 people in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio.
"The inactivity of the president, and [Senate Majority] Leader McConnell, is literally killing Americans," New York Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney told Cheddar Monday. "It is outrageous."
Maloney is a co-sponsor of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, H.R. 8, that passed the House in February, but has not made any movement in the Senate.
"I would say if guns made us safer, we would be the safest nation on earth," Maloney said.
"Unlike many problems that we don't have an answer for, such as what's the cure for cancer, we know what to do to get guns off the street and other countries have done it," she added.
In various press gaggles and rallies since the shootings, Trump has flip-flopped on the topic of gun control. In the week after the two mass killings, the president issued his support for a background check bill. Nevertheless, last Sunday, Trump told reporters, "But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks."
The president has also pointed early and often to mental illness as a factor in the rise of gun-related deaths in America, a common talking point among gun rights advocates. On his way back to Washington Sunday, he told reporters, "I don't want people to forget that this is a mental health problem. I don't want them to forget that, because it is. It's a mental health problem."
Maloney weighed in on the president's spin: "The President says he wants to make sure that [gun buyers are] not mentally ill. Well, the one way to find out is background checks."
"I support the Second Amendment," Maloney later, saying that "assault weapons, weapons of war that are just designed to kill the most people quickly, they shouldn't be allowed to be sold. They should be banned."
On Monday, Rep. Pete King (R-N.Y.) became the first Republican in the House to support H.R.1296 — the Assault Weapons Ban of 2019 — of which Maloney is also a co-sponsor.
"They are weapons of mass slaughter," King said, adding, "I don't see any need for them in everyday society.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
The Super Bowl is just 48 hours away and things are definitely heating up in the social media space, especially on Twitter. Fans across the country are quickly engaging in color commentary as they call it, and actively sharing their views on who's expected to take the big win, which players they are looking forward to seeing. Senior Sports Partner Manager at Twitter, David Herman, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Director and producer Ivan Reitman passed away over the weekend at the age of 75. The filmmaker was the mastermind behind some of America's favorite films such as "Ghostbusters". Reitman’s family released a statement explaining how they are comforted by the lives he has touched through his films.
The 21st Annual Food Network and Cooking Channel South Beach Wine & Food Festival (SOBEWFF), is returning to Miami on February 24 with proceeds to benefit the future leaders of the hospitality industry. Lee Schrager, the founder and director of the festival, and Food Network star Jeff Mauro joined Cheddar News to discuss what ticket holders can expect, how the festival benefits students, and how Mauro will be paying tribute to fellow food celebrity, Guy Fieri, by hosting a charity auction dinner. "I mean there's nobody bigger, nobody more magnetic right now in the food space than Guy," Maura said. "I mean the guy had a Super Bowl commercial on last night. That's a dream of mine, so I'm one step closer there just by doing a tight 20 minutes at his tribute dinner."
Jeff Softley, direct to consumer president at Experian, joins Cheddar News to discuss what it means to be credit invisible, how big of an issue this is in the U.S., and what resources are out there to bridge this gap.
