These are the headlines you Need 2 Know. * **’Send Her Back’:** President Trump has disavowed the “send her back!” chant against Rep. Ilhan Omar that broke out amid the crowd at his rally in North Carolina on Wednesday night. It led to broad calls of condemnation and private warnings from Congressional Republicans to the White House that the rhetoric needs to be toned down. The president said he “was not happy” with the chant and tried to cut it off, though video of the event contradicts that. [Wash Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-a-racist-tweet-became-a-trump-rally-chant-in-three-short-days/2019/07/18/bd81b798-a968-11e9-9214-246e594de5d5_story.html?utm_term=.50ba96c5b6be). * **Iran Tensions:** President Trump said that a U.S. Navy ship “destroyed” an Iranian drone after the drone ignored warnings to back off in the Strait of Hormuz. It’s unclear if the drone was armed. Iran has responded, with an official tweeting that the country has “not lost any drone in the Strait of Hormuz, nor anywhere else” and suggesting that the U.S. shot down its own drone “by mistake.” Meanwhile, Iranian state T.V. reported that the country’s military had seized a foreign oil tanker it claimed was smuggling fuel. [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-news-iranians-deny-drone-shot-down-by-us-strait-of-hormuz-donald-trump-latest-updates-2019-07-19/). * **Heat Wave:** A potent mix of heat, humidity, and stagnant air has enveloped more than half of the continental U.S., and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. Heat advisories and warnings are in effect for 154 million people. The heat index — how hot it feels — will hit 110 degrees in the Midwest over the weekend. The East Coast will be spared the hottest temperatures, but barely. Washington, Philly, New York, and Boston are all forecast to see heat indexes over 100 before Monday. [Heat map](https://twitter.com/NWS/status/1151631901859438594). * **Epstein Latest:** Jeffrey Epstein will remain behind bars after a judge denied him bail. At “the heart” of the judge’s decision: the potential dangers the financier poses to the community and his flight risk. The financier is accused of abusing underage girls. His lawyers had argued for home detention as he awaits trial. [CBS News](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epstein-bail-hearing-jeffrey-epstein-denied-bail-at-hearing-by-federal-judge-in-new-york-today-2019-07-18/). * **9/11: Victim ID:** Another victim of the 9/11 attacks, a woman, has been identified. She is the 1,644th victim to be identified; 1,109 remain unidentified. Her name is not being released per her family’s wishes. Her identification comes the same week the FDNY announced the death of member Richard Driscoll from a 9/11-related illness. He is the 200th New York firefighter to die from an illness related to working in the toxic rubble. [NBC NY](https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Medical-Examiner-Identifies-Remains-Sept-11-Victim-After-200th-FDNY-Dies-from-Related-Illness-512904641.html). * **9/11: ACF:** The Senate is poised to vote on renewing the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund after two senators who held up the vote, Rand Paul and Mike Lee, agreed to vote next week, as long as their amendments are considered. Paul originally objected to renewing the fund because it added to the deficit. [Daily News](https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-911-victim-compensation-fund-mike-lee-rand-paul-amendments-vote-20190718-63m63p6lf5dvrf4elfhvs77d3e-story.html). * **Moon Landing: As it Happened:** Tomorrow is the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. The Twitter handle @Apollo_50th, unaffiliated with NASA, is live-tweeting the mission in real time: [Follow here](https://twitter.com/apollo_50th). * **Moon Landing: Moment in Time:** The New York Times compiled mesmerizing photos of people watching the landing on television — an event that, at the time, made up the single largest television audience in history. [See pics](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/07/15/science/moon-landing-watching-vintage-photos.html). * **British Open:** Hometown favorite Rory McIlroy had about as bad a first day as possible at the British Open, finishing with a quadruple-bogey on the first hole after hitting a fan in the stomach with his tee shot and breaking her cell phone. Tiger Woods didn’t fare much better, shooting his worst opening round ever at the tournament. Play continues through the weekend. [ESPN](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/27216809/everything-need-know-round-2-open). * **Can’t Wait to Be King:** Disney’s much-anticipated remake of "The Lion King" is on track for a $190 million domestic debut this weekend. Despite mixed-to-bad reviews (the film sits at just 57% on Rotten Tomatoes), industry analysts believe it could become the highest-grossing film of the year. So far, four of the top five movies of 2019 were released by Disney. The fifth, "Spider-Man: Far From Home", was co-produced by Disney’s Marvel unit. [Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=4529). * **New Trailers: Top Gun:** Tom Cruise surprised fans at Comic-Con with the first trailer for next summer’s "Top Gun: Maverick". [Watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3QM2GCmRPM). * **New Trailers: 'Cats':** Get ready for five months of seeing Taylor Swift, James Corden, and Idris Elba in fur. The first trailer for the film remake of the musical "Cats" is out, and it’s ... something. The movie hits theaters at Christmas. [Watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtSd844cI7U). * **Gender Neutral:** The city of Berkeley, California has voted to remove any words that imply gender preference from the city code. That means “manholes” will now be called “maintenance holes” and “manpower” will become “human effort.” City documents will also replace all gendered pronouns, like “he” or “she,” with “they.” [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/18/us/berkeley-gendered-language-ban-trnd/index.html). Cheddar's Hena Doba gets into the latest. Subscribe to the Need 2 Know newsletter [here](https://theneed2know.com) and listen to our morning podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Share:
More In Technology
Meta Stock Plummets as Facebook Loses Users for First Time; Zuckerberg Blames TikTok
Facebook parent Meta’s miss on Q4 earnings raised alarm bells amongst investors. The tech giant lost users for the first time as it invests a lot into the metaverse, its virtual realm, in the hopes that consumers will move their social media consumption there. The stock dropped around 25 percent on the report, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg chalked it up to people flocking toward apps like TikTok, even as his own platform attempts to make a big pivot to the metaverse future. "It's gonna take a long time to develop and it's gonna take a long time to bring to fruition," Rebecca Walser, president of Walser Wealth Management told Cheddar. "In the meantime, the world is moving on. We have a very short attention span, especially on social media, and we want the short little videos. And Tiktok has just taken off."
A Step Towards Meta's 'Metaverse Vision'
Just this week, Facebook's parent company Meta released an update for its 3D avatar creation on Facebook and messenger. This update is encouraging users of Instagram to create their virtual selves, and it is an early step towards making the metaverse vision a reality. David Ewalt, editor-in-chief at Gizmodo joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Advertising Leads the Way as Alphabet Beats Q4 Earnings Expectations
Google parent company Alphabet saw yet another successful quarter reporting its final earnings report for 2021 on Tuesday. The tech giant beat Wall Street expectations across the board with much of that success owed to not only the growth of its cloud business, but also its multi-platform advertising. Joanna O'Connell, Principal Analyst at Forrester explains why advertising may be one of the keys to Alphabet’s future success.
Factorial Energy Raises $200 Million to Accelerate Commercialization of Its Solid-State Batteries for Electric Vehicles
Solid-state battery maker Factorial Energy recently raised $200 million in a Series D round led by Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis. Factorial says the funding will be used to accelerate commercial production and deployment of its solid-state battery technology, which the company says is safer, and offers up to 50% more driving range than current lithium-ion technology. Factorial also has joint development agreements (announced in late 2021) with Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Hyundai, three of the top 10 global automotive manufacturers, to commercialize its batteries. Factorial CEO Siyu Huang joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Load More