Cheddar speaks with two Congresswomen about what, if anything, will move the needle on gun reform after the Parkland school shooting. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) says she's inspired to see so many young people speaking out about gun violence, but she's skeptical any meaningful legislation can pass under the current administration. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) is also skeptical about the prospects of gun reform under the Trump administration, but she's doing what she can to make it happen. Immediately after the Parkland shooting, Maloney introduced a bill in Congress that would make it harder for people with mental health issues to buy guns. Maloney says the gun laws we have in place now are "so lax and so stupid."
In tech news, Apple is reportedly working on new AirPods. The new features will include an updated chip, the ability to call for Siri without touching the earphones, and improved Bluetooth connectivity. The new model is expected out later this year. And Apple is working on another AirPod update for the following year. Those AirPods will allegedly be water resistant.
Twitter alienated conservatives by accidentally freezing their accounts. On Tuesday night, the social media company quietly locked thousands of accounts in an attempt to purge suspected bots from operating on the platform. In the process, Twitter locked accounts of right-wing commentators like Richard Spencer. Angry conservatives began calling the incident "Twitter Lockout." The company defended its actions, saying "we enforce our rules without political bias."
Plus, we're joined by Olympic luger Chris Mazdzer who recently became the first American to medal in the men's singles luge event. He tells Cheddar about what was going through his head as he won the medal at the Winter Olympics. He says he is grateful to all the athletes who came before him in luging and helped paved the way for his success. After his Olympic career is over, Mazdzer says he wants to pursue a career in financial planning. This inspiration stems from seeing how much money his friends and family spent on making their Olympic dreams come true.
A new mobile app has launched just in time for Valentine's Day. Our.Love bills itself as an A.I.-powered, gamified, relationship wellness app for couples. The app is set in what the company calls the Coupleverse, a virtual world where each couple can build a virtual relationship home as they also build their real-world relationship. Founder and CEO Tal Zlotnitsky joined Cheddar to discuss how the app works. "The concept behind Our.Love is to give people the opportunity to understand where they stand in their relationship through very simple metrics that we provide within the app that will help them in real-time, see where they stand, see where their partner is, and be able to get closer together," he said.
Alyson Wilson, VP of Brand Innovation at Alo Yoga, joins Cheddar News to discuss the yoga apparel company entering the metaverse and teaming up with Spring Studios for New York Fashion Week.
Sēkr, a mobile app that aims to improve and digitize the outdoor travel experience, announced this week that it raised a $2.25 million seed round. In the Sēkr app, users can get access to more than 50,000 campsites throughout the U.S. including the nation's largest database of free campsites. The company is saying it is on a mission to make every step of the planning experience for outdoor travel easier, safer, and more social. Breanne Acio, co-founder and CEO of Sēkr, and Jess Shisler, co-founder and COO, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Valentine's day is right around the corner and love is in the air....or right at your fingertips if you're on dating apps. Lox Club is the dating app that 'kind of hates dating apps.' If you're burnt out from awkward, cringe-worthy, and superficial dating app encounters, it might be time to join Lox Club. Austin Kevitch, CEO and co-founder of Lox Club, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Elon Musk announced that he expects Starship to reach orbit in 2022. The SpaceX CEO delivered updates about the largest space vehicle to be constructed from its Texas facility. Jim Cantrell, CEO and co-founder at Phantom Space, joined Cheddar News to talk about the future of Starship. "I've always done wrong by betting against Elon," he said. "The one thing that I find very curious is it launches 100 metric tons into space, and last year, in the entire year, we launched 750. So, you know, with about seven launches, he could launch every satellite on Earth."
