The White House is set to announce a new office dedicated to gun violence prevention. And could there be a Hollywood ending? Talks continue between writers and studios as the strike approaches five months. Hear about these stories and more in The Morning Rundown for Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.

Biden to announce creation of Office of Gun Violence Prevention

President Joe Biden will announce Friday the creation of the first-ever federal Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

The White House says the office will be overseen by Vice President Kamala Harris and will aid states dealing with rising gun violence and help with the implementation of bipartisan gun legislation that was signed into law last year.

The vice president released this statement ahead of the announcement: “The new Office of Gun Violence Prevention will play a critical role in implementing President Biden’s and my efforts to reduce violence to the fullest extent under the law, while also engaging and encouraging Congressional leaders, state and local leaders, and advocates to come together to build upon the meaningful progress that we have made to save lives. Our promise to the American people is this: we will not stop working to end the epidemic of gun violence in every community, because we do not have a moment, nor a life to spare.”

Biden called on Congress to act in 2022 after deadly attacks at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas and a supermarket in Buffalo, New York.

Congress then passed the first gun legislation in nearly three decades that included expanding background checks on young gun buyers, keeping firearms from more domestic violence offenders and providing millions of dollars for mental health services and school security initiatives.

Still, according to the Gun Violence Archive, this year there have been more than 500 mass shootings in the U.S. — where four or more people were either killed or injured.

Biden announces $325M military aid package during Zelenskyy visit

During Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to the White House on Thursday, Sept. 21, President Biden made the announcement that the U.S. will provide $325 million in aid to his country as Ukraine remains embroiled in the war with Russia.

Biden said the package focuses on bolstering Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and includes more artillery, ammunition and anti-tank weapons. The president is still asking Congress to approve an additional $24 billion in funding for Ukraine.

Prior to the meeting with Biden, Zelenskyy spoke to a bipartisan group from the House and Senate, as Republican members of Congress are skeptical about providing more aid. On the same day as Zelenskyy’s visit, 29 Republicans expressed their opposition to the U.S. providing the additional funding in a letter to the Biden administration.

2 dead in NY bus crash involving high school marching band

The investigation continues into a deadly crash in New York State on Thursday involving a charter bus carrying members of a high school marching band that drove off the highway and down a ravine.

There were 44 people on board. Two adults died and several others were critically injured in the crash in Orange County, according to state police.

As for a cause, Governor Kathy Hochul says it appeared a faulty front tire contributed to the accident. Hochul spoke at a press conference about the students’ resolve. 

“They were strong. And within 45 minutes, because of the efforts of an incredible amount of teamwork, these young people and the adults were brought to safety, many of them within a short time of the accident,” Hochul said.

The students and faculty from Farmington High School on Long Island were on a trip to a music camp in Pennsylvania.

Talks continue for third day between writers, studios

The Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers which represents Hollywood’s major studios will meet for a third day of negotiations on Friday as the writers strike inches towards five months. The WGA walked out on May 2, with issues of pay, sizing of writing staff and the use of artificial intelligence in writing scripts keeping the two sides apart.

Talks resumed on Sept. 20 after nearly a month of silence. Top entertainment CEOs have joined the bargaining conversation including Disney’s Bob Iger and Netflix’s Ted Sarandos.

According to a new Associated Press poll, a majority of adults in America, 55%, sympathize with the striking writers as well as the actors who also remain on the picket lines. Only 3% support the studios.

Half of Americans approve of writers and actors striking. Though most surveyed said they would not consider boycotting TV shows or canceling their streaming services.

Microsoft, Activision deal moves closer to approval

Microsoft has cleared another hurdle as it looks to buy the video game company Activision Blizzard. Officials with Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority signaled it will move towards approving the deal after Microsoft made some changes to address the group’s concerns, namely agreeing not to purchase Activision’s cloud gaming division. Those rights would now be sold to Ubisoft.

The U.K. regulator said the restructuring “opens the door to the deal being cleared.” Its final decision, the last needed to make Microsoft’s acquisition official, is expected in mid-October.

The deal was first announced in January 2022, but has faced pushback by antitrust advocates around the world. In July, a U.S. federal judge ruled against the Federal Trade Commission’s opposition to the deal. The European Union also agreed to the deal in May.

Poll: Highest number of young adults living with parents since 1940s

There are fewer empty nesters these days as the number of young adults living with their parents is as high as it was just after the Great Depression. A Harris Poll for Bloomberg News shows 45% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 are living with family — the highest figure since the 1940s.

The top reason given by today’s young adults was money, with 41% of respondents saying they’re living in their current environments to save up. Thirty percent said they just can’t afford to live on their own.

Another common response, 30% of people said they live at home to take care of family members. Other reasons included contributing to family finances, concerns regarding COVID-19, setting money aside for down payments and paying off debt.

While quite a few people are living with family, even more agree there shouldn’t be any judgment for it. Ninety percent of the more than 4,000 respondents said folks shouldn’t face judgment for moving back home.