These are the headlines you Need2Know:
* **More Russian Hacking Afoot:**
Russian hackers are reportedly still trying to influence U.S. elections. The latest alleged targets are conservative organizations that have expressed a desire to sanction Moscow against President Trump's wishes. Microsoft said in a report that it uncovered fake internet domains linked to the same Russian military intelligence unit that was involved in trying to sway voters in the 2016 election. For more on this story, [click here](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/politics/russia-cyber-hack.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news).
* **Summer Reading with Obama:**
Barack Obama released his summer reading picks on Facebook. The shortlist includes "Warlight," which the former President describes as "a meditation on the lingering effects of war." President Trump, on the other hand, said he doesn't have much time to read anymore but has recommended books on Twitter, including “Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump.” See President Obama's full list [here](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/20/politics/barack-obama-reading-list-trnd/index.html).
* **Football Is Back:**
The AP released its first Top 25 Poll for the 2018 NCAA College Football season, and reigning champion Alabama holds the #1 spot. Clemson, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Ohio State round out the top 5. See the full list [here](https://collegefootball.ap.org/poll).
* **VMAs Honor Big Stars:**
Camila Cabello took home MTV's Video of the Year award for "Havana" and won Artist of the Year. Childish Gambino nabbed three awards for "This Is America.” And Jennifer Lopez was the recipient of this year’s Video Vanguard Award and performed a medley of her biggest hits. [Watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tPIq1SB4Dk) the performance.
Cheddar's Jill Wagner gets into the latest.
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Former NFL QB Lester Ricard Jr. joins Cheddar Bets to discuss playing--and beating--the same team three times in a season ahead of the NFC Championship Game.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Brian Bennett, College Basketball Senior Editor of The Athletic, joins Cheddar Bets to share his methods for forecasting long-term success for college basketball's top programs.
Sponsored by BetMGM
Super Group, the company behind leading global online sports betting and gaming businesses Betway and Spin, has landed on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., and now lists on the NYSE under the ticker symbol 'SGHC.' This debut comes as the U.S. sports betting market continues to heat up with more and more states legalizing the practice. Eric Grubman, chairman of Super Group, joined Cheddar to discuss.
Olivia Harlan Dekker and Sean Green provide their insight and top picks after studying the early lines for Super Bowl LIV, while Chris Spagnuolo breaks down betting trends from this NFL season using data and analytics. Sponsored by BetMGM.
Eight months after the National Football League announced $1 million in research into cannabinoids, the NFL-NFLPA Joint Pain Management Committee has awarded the funding to two teams of medical researchers at the University of California San Diego and the University of Regina. The NFL says the studies will investigate the effects of cannabinoids on pain management and neuroprotection from concussion in elite football players, respectively. Cheddar correspondent Chloe Ailello spoke with Jeff Miller, the executive vice president of communications, public affairs, and policy for the NFL, about the studies, as well as the recent lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. "Maybe we can learn things from other alternative pain approaches that are going to benefit our player population and then sports medicine as a whole," Miller said.
Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL over racial discrimination, exposing a long-running problem the NFL has had with diversity in its top coaching and management positions. Eric Mitchell, the president and CEO of public relations and communications company LifeFlip Media, joined Cheddar News to delve into the scandal rocking the pro football world just before the Super Bowl. "There is a problem. If you look at who owns teams in the NFL, it's right, it's a good old boys club, it's a bunch of old white guys," he said. "So, it's exposing something that's been around for ages and now that we're sitting in 2022 has come up."
This April, Madison Square Garden will be hosting the first-ever women's boxing match to headline at the arena in its 140 years of history in boxing. Undisputed lightweight champion, Katie Taylor, and seven-division champion, Amanda Serrano, will go head-to-head for a career-high guaranteed seven-figure purse for both of them. The pair joined Cheddar News to talk about the upcoming "fight of their lives." "I mean, this is the first step I believe," said Serrano. "Unheard of, two women headlining the Garden, we get in the biggest paydays of our career, I hope it continues to break down barriers."
A year after announcing plans for a name change, Washington, DC's NFL team has settled on Commanders. The update comes after receiving years of criticism for the previous nickname deemed highly offensive by Native American groups and communities.
