These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* **Extreme Weather Continues Nationwide:**
As torrential rains drench the East, excessive heat engulfs the West. Dangerous wildfires have forced officials to close Yosemite Park, which will remain shuttered until at least Sunday. More on SoCal weather from the [LA Times](http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-socal-heat-wave-20180724-story.html).
* **Another Bailout?**
As trade tensions escalate, farmers may get some relief. The Trump administration announced a new aid package Tuesday to ease damages caused by the latest trade policies. Through the plan, affected farmers of crops like soybeans, cotton, and dairy would be issued a collective $12 billion in aid. Reuters with [the full story](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-farmers/trump-to-give-farmers-billions-in-aid-politico-idUSKBN1KE1YE).
* **Trump-Cohen Recordings Released:**
CNN obtained and released on Tuesday the much-discussed secret recordings of Donald Trump and former attorney Michael Cohen. In the tapes, recorded in 2016, the pair addresses Trump’s payoff of an ex-Playboy model who claimed she had an affair with the president. More at [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/07/24/cohen-trump-audio-recording-cuomo-vpx.cnn).
* **Demi Lovato Reportedly in Stable Condition:**
Treated with the opioid suppresant-Narcan after an overdose Tuesday, the singer, flanked by friends and family, is stable. Many celebrities took to Twitter to wish Lovato the best in her battle with sobriety. In the past, Lovato has been open about her struggle with drugs and alcohol. People [with more](https://people.com/music/demi-lovato-overdose-hospitalized-stable/).
Cheddar's Jill Wagner gets into the latest.
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President Donald Trump says a deal struck by Netflix last week to buy Warner Bros. Discovery “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share. The Republican president says he will be involved in the decision about whether federal regulators should approve the deal. Trump commented Sunday when he was asked about the deal as he walked the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors. The $72 billion deal would bring together two of the biggest players in television and film and potentially reshape the entertainment industry.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
U.S. and Chinese officials say a trade deal between the world’s two largest economies is drawing closer. The sides have reached an initial consensus for President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to aim to finalize during their high-stakes meeting Thursday in South Korea. Any agreement would be a relief to international markets. Trump's treasury secretary says discussions with China yielded preliminary agreements to stop the precursor chemicals for fentanyl from coming into the United States. Scott Bessent also says Beijing would make “substantial” purchases of soybean and other agricultural products while putting off export controls on rare earth elements needed for advanced technologies.
