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Guns are the leading killer of U.S. children · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It’s Friday, August 25th. I’m Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today’s show… Donald Trump surrenders to authorities in Georgia, a big weekend in sports, from soccer, to Simone Biles to the Little League World Series, and lessons on grief from Anderson Cooper.
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  But first, new data shows that the number one cause of death for children in the United States is not car accidents, drug overdoses, or cancer. It’s guns. Deaths of children hit a record high in 2021. More than 4,700 kids were killed by firearms in the U.S.
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  “The Washington Post” has an overview of the study. Nearly two-thirds of the children killed by guns died in homicides. Almost 30% died by suicide. The death rate for Black children increased the most. Researchers noted the connection to growing racial and socioeconomic disparities. Higher poverty levels are correlated with higher gun death rates.
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  Their report confirms that 2021 was the second year in a row where guns were the leading cause of death among children. And early data shows 2022 is likely to continue that trend. A pediatric trauma surgeon, and the lead author of the study, calls gun violence "one of our chief public health crises."
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  Now, let’s take a quick look at some other big stories in the news.
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  Former President Donald Trump’s election-interference case in Georgia is moving forward. Yesterday he turned himself in to Fulton County authorities, and is now free on a $200,000 bond. By now, this is a familiar process, one of several criminal cases against Trump. But the Georgia case stands out in a few ways. It was the first where he had to take a mug shot. And, unlike federal and New York State courts, Georgia allows cameras in the courtroom. So, there’s a possibility that Trump’s arraignment, where he’s expected to plead not guilty, might be broadcast live.
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  More now on the deadly crash of the plane believed to be carrying Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group. “The Wall Street Journal” reports that preliminary U.S. government assessments say this was an assassination. They rule out a missile attack, but the crash could’ve been caused by a bomb onboard, or sabotage. Officially, the Kremlin has denied that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an assassination of Prigozhin. Putin did appear to confirm Prigozhin’s death, speaking about him in the past tense. He called him someone who made mistakes, a person with a quote, “complicated fate.”
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  And in Hawaii, Maui County is suing Hawaiian Electric. It alleges that the utility company failed to maintain its power equipment during a windstorm, causing the recent wildfires on the island. It also says the company should’ve cut power when warnings came about high risk of fires. This was America’s deadliest wildfire in more than a century. At least 115 people are dead, and around 1,000 people unaccounted for. The flames caused an estimated $5.5 billion in damage. Hawaiian Electric says it’s focused on the recovery, and is disappointed that Maui County sued while investigations are ongoing. The latest suit is one of several the company is facing involving the wildfires.
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  We’re going into a huge weekend in sports with plenty of options for fans, take your pick, what do you wanna watch?
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  We’re going into a huge weekend in sports with plenty of options for fans, take your pick, what do you wanna watch? Everything from gymnastics, to football, to baseball, to soccer. Simone Biles competes at the U.S Championships, where she could bring home an eighth all-around national title. College football returns. Plus, the Little League World Series wraps up on Sunday. Also, on Saturday, we have Lionel Messi making his regular-season debut for Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami.
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  Taylor Twellman is the lead announcer for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV and a former pro soccer player himself. We caught up with him. He says he’s having the best time seeing Messi play in the U.S. so far.
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  Taylor Twellman: It's been the most insane four weeks of my broadcasting career. Now, I've been doing this for about 13 plus years. And I've seen in sports, one person kind of take the world by storm. Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Muhammad Ali. And now in this sport, it's Lionel Messi.
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  Twellman tells us coaches and players are ripping up their game plans now that Messi’s in the picture. But there is a careful balance to strike.
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  Twellman: The moment you start thinking too much, Lionel Messi and Tata Martino, they've already won. And so that's the most intriguing part for me as a former player, now as a broadcaster, is when I talk to the opposing coaches, general managers, presidents, even owners, overthinking, over pontificating about Lionel Messi and his impact. He’s already won the game because he has got you second guessing everything.
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  Twellman says he’s not betting on Inter Miami to make the playoffs, because Messi will need to rest at some point.
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  Twellman: They've got to be mindful of that. But my word, if they get into the playoffs and win two trophies, I'll put that up with anyone else in the history of sport of the greatest turnaround in less than 12 to 16 weeks. It's truly remarkable.
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  You know Anderson Cooper from TV, from his “CNN” show, his reporting from war zones and disasters. What you don’t know a whole lot about is his personal life. And that’s by design. He’s a pretty private guy.
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  But for this week’s episode of Apple News “In Conversation,” I sat down with Anderson Cooper and we had a really personal, raw chat about a topic that’s been on his mind a lot lately. How we process grief.
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  See, Anderson is now the last living member of his nuclear family. His dad Wyatt died when Anderson was 10. His brother Carter died a decade later. And in 2019, their mother Gloria Vanderbilt died. For a long time, Anderson kinda resisted engaging with all the negative feelings that come with loss. But he’s starting to process it, and last year he came out with a podcast called “All There Is,” where he talks with people like Stephen Colbert and Molly Shannon about how loss has changed them. He told me it’s been a whole new chapter for him.
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  Anderson Cooper: If you wanna be the most human you can be, that involves loss and suffering. And it allows you to be more fully human. It allows you to reach out and have connections with people and to understand pain.
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  Anderson is not particularly comforted by cliches, so you won’t find a lot of them in this conversation. Instead, there’s a lot of practical, but sort of novel, ideas about grieving that I really appreciated hearing about. One idea he shared with me was, even after someone has died, your relationship with them doesn’t end. It doesn’t get frozen in time. You can still learn things about them and understand them in new ways after death.
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  Cooper: My dad lived till 50. But I know him more now because I have two boys and he had two boys. And so, I understand more about what was going on in his head, and he and I were so much alike that I feel so much closer to him in that. And that's a great blessing.
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  When someone you know has experienced a loss, it can be hard to know what to say. This is also something Anderson has spent a lot of time thinking about.
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  Cooper: I tend to just ask more questions about, not the permutations of the death itself, but about the details of somebody's life. So, what was their name? What were they like? What did you guys do together? What did you enjoy doing with each other? One of the things somebody pointed out to me, and is absolutely true, is rarely does anyone ever say their name. And rarely does anyone ever ask their name. And I think, to me, that idea of asking somebody the name of their loved one, to me, that's become really important.
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  I’ll say, for me, this episode felt particularly difficult and relevant. Just two weeks ago, my father-in-law died. And he was such a sweet and loving presence in our family. One thing he did that meant a lot to me is he listened to this show, every single day, on his desktop computer. And he always had something to say about a story or an interview. To Anderson’s point, I will tell you his name. He’s Thomas Nolan, and I’ll miss him.
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  I am taking a little time off to rest and recharge. You’ll still hear me on “In Conversation” while I’m away. My full interview with Anderson Cooper is out now in the Podcasts app. And if you’re listening in the Apple News app right now, it’s cued up to play for you next.
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  Enjoy the weekend, and my colleagues will be back with the news on Monday.
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