Vegas Mayor: What Kind of People Are Growing Up in This World?
Just a month after the deadly mass shooting in Vegas, the country mourns again.
“What kind of people are growing up in this world, and in this country?” That's one of the first thoughts that crossed Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman's mind as she reflected on the most recent assault Sunday at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
35 days ago a gunman opened fire in her city, killing 58 people and injuring more than 500 concertgoers. This weekend, another man killed 26 and injured 20 in the small town in Texas.
And while many politicians and pundits react and call for stronger gun laws, Goodman says that these shootings, two of three that occurred within the last 17 months, may not have been stopped by different laws and aren't reflective of the majority of people in this country.
“You have to realize these are individual people, perpetrators. There’s something wrong with them,” she said during the interview with Cheddar. She adds that “it’s probably the publicity that they get out of it that makes them do these things.”
President Donald Trump also addressed the fatal Texas shooting on Sunday, sending his thoughts and prayers to victims and families and dismissing the idea that the shooting should immediately reignite the gun debate.
“I think that mental health is the problem here,” the commander-in-chief said, addressing the nation from his five-country Asia trip. The president said that the shooter was a “very deranged individual, [with] a lot of problems over a long period of time,” adding that it was a bit too soon to discuss gun control laws.
But not everyone is content with the language that some politicians are using to address the recent tragedies.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said that while warm wishes are nice, leaders are elected to lead. He blames the lack of action on fear and encouraged elected officials to “do something.”
“They are afraid to act because they are afraid of three letters. You know what those three letters are? NRA,” he said in a statement. “It’s political fear.”
Still, Mayor Goodman states that the majority of the people who live in this country are peaceful and can handle their guns. She argued that if the country took guns away, people with mental illness will still be able to find the weapons on the black market.
As for Vegas’ recovery, the mayor said the city is moving along.
“We practice all the time,” she said. “Life goes on here.”
Terrell Jermaine Starr, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and host of the Black Diplomats podcast joins Cheddar News to discuss Russia's attempt to invade Ukraine.
With an increasing number of teachers and staff calling out sick by the day, the state of Oklahoma is turning to an unusual solution. Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an executive order that permits state employees to work as substitute teachers. Shaily Baranwal, founder and CEO of Elevate K-12, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the stance of the U.S. and its allies should Russia make any forays into Ukraine, a seeming response to President Biden's remarks that should Putin engage in something short of a full invasion, there might be some indecision among allied nations regarding what to do. Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the think tank Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar to discuss the difficulty faced by Blinken wrangling unity as tensions run high in the region. "There'll be a smaller incursion, and the president implied, there'll be a weaker response because our European allies have created this horrible situation where they are dependent on Moscow for their gas supply," Cohen explained.
During a nearly two-hour press conference on Wednesday, President Biden spoke on his accomplishments and challenges from the first year of his presidency, and what his administration hopes to accomplish in the coming year. However, his approval ratings are underwater as COVID remains a big concern for voters — as does inflation, noted Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. "The public thinks [inflation] is priority number one, and the administration is concerned about it, they talk about it, but they're not spending enough time on it as far as the public is concerned," said Bevan.
The drama surrounding tennis star Novak Djokovic continues after he was deported from Australia over the weekend due to the nation's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Djokovic was forced to leave the country on the eve of what was to be his first match in defense of his Australian Open title after three judges ruled in favor of his removal and revealed their reasoning for doing so. Adding to his woes, a law recently passed in France is putting his chances of defending his French Open title in jeopardy. The director of Marist's Center for Sports Communication, Jane McManus, joined Cheddar to discuss the ongoing fallout.
As the midterm elections get ever closer, candidates have been getting creative with their campaigns to stick out and to connect with voters. Gary Chambers, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana, has definitely attracted attention with an advertisement featuring him smoking a blunt, making a point about the inequity of anti-cannabis laws. "We wanted to bring the seriousness of the moment," he said of the ad. "But we also wanted to make sure that people understand that there are 19 states that are legal right now but Black people and brown people are being over-incarcerated in mostly Southern and Midwestern states in America for cannabis possession."
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
President Joe Biden's first year in office is wrapping up. What has he achieved, and what else remains on the table while the Democrats have control of Washington? Amid an ongoing pandemic and rising inflation, Biden's approval rating is at an all-time low and his party is plagued by infighting. Will he be able to continue pushing key parts of his agenda? Paul Glastris, former Bill Clinton speechwriter & Editor-in-chief of 'Washington Monthly,' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the president's achievements in his first year, where he's fallen short, and what he must do in order to get more of his agenda signed into law.
Tech giants Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple are faced with a bipartisan antitrust legislation effort underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The companies stand accused of promoting their own goods and services over smaller competitors on their platforms, holding too much monopolistic power via their app stores and services. Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a technology industry trade group, joined Cheddar to argue that the bills that are being debated currently could end up hurting consumers, rather than helping.
