Transcripts For CNNW CNN 20240704

Saying if trump were to begin posting details from grand jury transcripts it could have a Chilling Effect on witnesses. Remember this is just 24 hours after his arrest and arraignment in his third indictment over election interference and after the judge warned him against making threats. Lets go straight to john dean, hes the former Nixon White House counsel. And john, you and i have spoken about this and donald trump so many times, but, you know, as i was discussing with one of our producers before this program got started, in the past we would talk about Donald Trumps tweets and his social media posts and wonder what the impact might be, but it sounds as though the Special Counsel in this case, jack smith, is really seizing on this very inflammatory, threatening sounding post from donald trump on truoct to the judge. The government arguing that the restrictions that theyre seeking are necessary to prevent trump from publicly disclosing sensitive discovery information. Can you walk us through what this means . Yeah, it looks like the post from trump came out while they were working on a on a motion to agree upon a protective order in general to Exchange Discovery material. And this obviously caught their attention. This is not the sort of norm that theyre used to dealing with. But we also all know after watching trump for many, many years now in Court Proceedings particularly those where hes a target that he likes to play the bad boy. He likes to threaten. He likes to cajole witnesses. He likes to tell prosecutors, call them nasty names. And jack smith is going to call out to the judges attention and see if they can get some restrictions. They cant zip him up, but they are going to make sure that all those documents that he gets are in the hands of his lawyers and his lawyers are responsible and not going to let him have them other than prepare his defense. And trump has been accustomed to saying and blasting out on social media whatever he wants. For example, it will be wild on january 6th. We all remember that one. Is this a message from the Special Counsel that that is not going to be tolerated or that he is going to ride trump pretty hard on these social media posts from here on forward . I mean, after all, john, trump is doing this one day after he was arraigned in Washington In Federal Court on arguably the most serious charges hes ever faced. This is a serious case. Its probably the most serious case that the federal judicial system has handled in centuries, if you will. So hes playing Fast And Loose is not smart. It could actually be to his benefit for the Special Counsel to ride on him, and i think thats what this indicates, that hes going to have a low tolerance for games. And this is a signal. Well see how the judge reacts to it. And she may or may not do anything at this point. I think that most important is to get the Discovery Material in the hands of trumps Defense Counsel so they dont have any way to stall a trial. It appears there have been an exchange of drafts and they couldnt agree upon anything, so theyre going right to the court to get that resolved. And is the Department Of Justice right in seeking this protective order that trump could have a Chilling Effect by posting these sorts of things . Well, what you want to do is have a fair trial both for the defendant and for the American Public. And the way to distort the fair trial is to put out inflammatory statements and create chaos. And i dont think this judge and this prosecutor are going to tolerate that, but well not know until the judge reacts to these filings. And, john, you know, one of the things i wanted to ask you about tonight is whether or not trump could ultimately be successful in dragging these proceedings out. For example, by putting this post up on social media today it did trigger this response from the Department Of Justice which is going to have to occupy some of this judges time. I was talking to a trump advisor earlier today who was telling me the plan at this point is to get all these trials delayed until after the general election, and then if he wins he can make all this go away however and we can talk about that another time, however he tries to do that. By selfpardoning or putting people in the Justice Department or so on. Could that strategy be successful, do you think . You know, i dont think so. I think people know too much about trump at this stage. Had this been at the outset of his political, public career he might have pulled some of this off. He had a very nasty civil case for trump university, which was a big scam and fraud that he just paid off with a 25 million fine to get rid of it, but he was beating that judge up pretty badly until settled that case quickly once he was elected. So i just dont think, jim, he can do that because the federal judiciary and all the courts are too aware of his modus operandi. Steven miller he said this about nixon and watergate. Lets listen to this. Well, the first and most important thing is to reestablish what is known as the Unitary Executive. So this goes back to the watergate era, and now we obviously know looking back on it now, of course, that that was a deep state coup against richard nixon. But this goes back to the watergate era. Yeah, john, your reaction to that. Well, conservatives want a Unitary Executive when theyre in power. They dont want it when the democrats are in power, so its a very unique concept. And theres been a lot of academic discussion of this. And nixon, no question, was trying to expand president ial powers. Had he had a second term he was planning a total reorganization. So conservatives sort of picked up where nixon dropped off because there was about a decade there where the congress became something of a coequal with the presidency, and republicans dont like that. All right, john dean, thank you very much. Well continue this conversation i have a feeling here in the coming days. Really appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Thanks, jim. All right, in the meantime donald trump as we now know has more indictments than impeachments. And if hes indicted in georgia, hell have as many indictments as years spent in the white house. You just saw how trump is essentially vowing to do exactly that if hes elected again. But perhaps youve noticed how trumps allies have defended the expresident s attempts at overthrowing American Democracy by claiming he was just exercising his right to free speech. These trump world figures suddenly sound like champions of the First Amendment. This is a violation of his right of free speech. This is an attack on free speech and political advocacy. And theres nothing thats more protected under the First Amendment than political speech. Youre entitled to question whether it was honest or not. Thats the uniqueness of the First Amendment. You even have a right to lie under the First Amendment. It says you were spreading falsehoods, that you were undermining the integrity of the election. Thats all part of the First Amendment. What we have now is an administration that has criminalized the free speech. You dent get to violate the peoples First Amendments rights. Hold on, that full throated defense of the First Amendment flies in the face of Donald Trumps record of undermining these rights. Its worth noting trump has long been at war with the First Amendment. Take for instance freedom of the press. Its, frankly, disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write. As you know i have a running war with the media. They are among the most dishonest human beings on earth. I call the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. Or freedom of religion. Donald j. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States until our countrys representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. Youll recall trumps travel ban once called for a, quote, total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States until the country can figure out what is going on. Courts struck down that ban in part because it was, quote, unconstitutionally tainted with animus towards islam. The Supreme Court eventually allowed it citing the expansive power of president ial authority. Then theres trumps track record on freedom of assembly. Critics will point to the way the administration tear gassed and pummelled protesters after the death of george floyd. His administration also wanted to limit protests through the white house and at the national mall. Trump and his allies have been quick to attack Freedom Of Speech over the years. Trump himself has targeted plenty of his opponents from individual citizens to whole companies when he did not agree with their expression of free speech. And he has scoffed at the idea of First Amendment protections. Maybe in certain areas closing that internet up in some way. Somebody will say, oh, Freedom Of Speech, Freedom Of Speech. These are foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people. We have a lot of foolish people. So mark this moment on your calender. Trump and his defenders are all about free speech now perhaps because his version of the First Amendment is a get out of jail free card. I want to bring in congressman brenden boyle, a democrat from pennsylvania who says trumps trial should be televised. Congressman, i suppose this newfound love for the First Amendment, free speech and free press, means we can get cameras in the courtroom for the trump trial coming up in this case. Youre one of roughly three dozen House Democrats who signed a letter Calling On Trump trials to be televised to the public. Arguing, quote, if the public is to fully accept the outcome it will be vitally important to witness as directly as possible how these trials are conducted. Lets talk about this. Whys it so important for you . This will be perhaps and i know this sounds like hyperbole but i genuinely believe this will be the most important criminal trial in American History. So in my view we need to let the sunshine in. We need to do our very best to defeat any sort of Conspiracy Theories that are going to be spread about what is going on in the Court Proceedings, and we do know who is the chief among those who will be creating a lot of those legends and myths about what allegedly happens in that courtroom. The best way to do that is to ensure that were all able to see exactly what happens in court day after day. I genuinely believe this is in the National Interest. But how likely is that to happen . I mean one of the things weve often heard about federal judges is, you know, they just dont want cameras in the courtroom at the state level, at the county and city level. Sure, you can get cameras into all kinds of courtrooms. But at the federal level its just unheard of. Practically sf even possible to make this happen . My understanding is the door has actually been open a little bit to it in certain circumstances. But, you know, my point to whatever judges individual preference may be, the National Interest has to come first. If we have the single most important criminal trial in American History and its behind closed doors, can you imagine the Feeding Ground on social media and elsewhere of things that are just flat out made up about the trial . This is deadly serious. We need to make sure we have those cameras in there. Those myths as i say and legends that may be created in some places of the far right, they may happen anyway. But at least if we have cameras in there, it can offer us some protection against them. Let me ask you about the Breaking News tonight. The Department Of Justice with Special Counsel jack smith seeking a protective order after this trump threat that he made on truth social. If you come after us, were coming after you, essentially what hes saying on truth social. The Special Counsel is holding this up as the reason as to why they need do be very careful about the Discovery Material going to be share. Whats your response to all this . Sadly, im not surprised. Donald trump is a 78yearold man who has gotten away with everything in life, never having been told no. The one time he was told no it was by 81 million americans in 2020. And what did he attempt to do . End American Democracy. I do believe unless a court is firm with donald trump, he will just continue to make these threats. I would urge the Court Respectfully to do whatever they can to ensure that donald trump does issue any further threats. Otherwise he is just going to make an entire mockery of the criminal Justice System even thore than he has. And are you worried if hes acquitted in this case, that hell become politically stronger, that he could get a boost in the way he did in 2016 . I remember that all too well. 11 days before the 2016 election the comey letter comes out, and we could feel it out on the campaign trail, it shifted the momentum of the case. Are you concerned that Something Like that could happen again and actually give trump a boost . It is a legitimate concern, but i have to say that its so outweighed by the overwhelming amount of evidence against him. I also believe there was something that a federal judge named david carter wrote in the spring of 2022. He argued that unless donald trump and he argued this actually in a different civil proceeding in which he found that donald trump had committed crimes. He argued and i agree with his opinion that stated unless donald trump is held criminally responsible for january 6th, then it only makes another january 6th more likely. All right, congressman brenden boyle, thanks for staying up very late with us tonight. We appreciate it on the Breaking News and all these other matters. We appreciate it. Thanks so much. Thank you. Coming up next, more Breaking News. A judge in austin, texas, issuing an order tonight temporarily barring the state from enforcing its ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy in some cases. Well talk about that in just a moment. Plus is Vladimir Putin counting on trump to win . And what would that mean for ukraine . Ill talk to the star witness in trumps first impeach. Lieutenant colonel vindman. Also ron desantis rhetoric escalates. Well talk about that as well. Were going to have all these deep state people you know, were going to start Slitting Throats on day one. He says its just a figure of speech. Our guest coming up says its dangerous. Were right back. At orders frfrh beans for you. Oh, genius for momore breakthroughs like that i neneed a breakthrough card. Like ours with 2. 5 cash back on purchases of 5,000 or more. Plus unlimited 2 cash back on all other purchases. 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A texas judge issuing an order tonight temporarily barring the state from enforcing its ban on abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy in cases where the Mothers Health or life could be endangered by an emergent medical condition. Lawyers in state argued there was already an adequate provision in the state. It came after the judge heard several testimonies last month with women saying the state forced them to continue with high risk pregnancies. Laura, im glad you were able to stick around. Whats your reaction to what is taking place with this judge saying that this texas ban was too restrictive . This is very significant. Remember back in 2021, jim, there was a trigger law that was in anticipation of the overturning of roe v. Wade, which eventually happened with dobbs. And what they said was there would be some medical exceptions, but theyre arguing now it was not clear. What does it mean to have this life threatening condition . What does it mean to have a substantial risk of harm or a fatality . This is what these women who brought this case against state of texas were very concerned with. They said, listen, we dont have clarity. In the event somebody does, in fact, have a qualifying medical condition that would allow them to meet that medical exception requirement, the doctors are busy trying to figure out if theyre going to have liability if they get it wrong, if they somehow do not understand what the definition is or theyre questioning, meanwhile, the woman is actually suffering and could otherwise be legitimately able to have that exception. Thats the crux of this issue. So the judge is saying, look, in the absence of the clarity you cannot have this fully go into effect. The result of this, of course, theyre saying this is not like the other case, by the way, i want to distinguish. Theres the other controversial decision that said you can have the private Enforcement Mechanism where an every day person, a civilian could actually try to bring a civil lawsuit against somebody involved in an abortion. This is not about that. This is about the medical exception. The judge decided now that was too restrictive, it lacked clarity, and it put women in an unfair position and compromised the integrity of a doctor and their ability to decide what is medically necessary. And laura, ive got to ask you about the Breaking News involving the Special Counsel jack smith filing this protective order or seeking this protective order after trump posted this threat on truth social. I mean, this was just several hours ago this evening when trump posted you go after me, im coming after you sounding like al capone in the untouchables. Special counsel jack smith hes making clear here and alerting the judge, hey, were not going to put up with this. It is absolutely prudent for a prosecutor who is worth their salt for understanding the importance of ensuring their witnesses, codefendants, anyone who may be involved, a judge, jury, et cetera, that they are not going to be compromised and intimidated or even have the prospect of that happening. So it is prudent to alert the judge to the possibility this might be an issue. There are those who will have the two sides of the same opinion. One will say, hold on, thats a very vague statement. He didnt identify a specific person, he didnt call someone out. So is this a lot of much to do about nothing . And the other side is it is vague enough others might believe they themselves are targeted. It was not specific enough so they might feel they themselves are targeted. They are a part of the investigation. What does he know through discovery . What have his lawyers been told . Is there a cause for some person we might not even now has said this was cleary a dog whistle and a signal for me . The judge has got to be concerned about this, but remember there are now three indictments. And so its hard to decipher even if only this particular judge jack smith has notified will be the one to be concerned about. It might be even more expansive, jim. No question about it. And to dait one day after he was in d. C. For this arraignment i mean hes obviously playing these games hes played before and hes going to continue to do it. All right, laura coates, thank you very much. Great to talk to you. Coming up, a new cnn report that top u. S. Officials that Vladimir Putin is counting on donald trump to win in 2024 because he thinks that would mean the u. S. Could cut support for ukraine. Lieutenant kcolonel Alexander Vindman is here. Hes coming up next. Were reinventing our network. With smarter, more efficient routes. So you can deliver more value toour customers. 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With the best price for two lines of unlimited. Only 30 bucks a line per month. Thats hundreds in savings a year when you wave bye to the other guys. No wonder Xfinity Mobile is one of the Fastest Growing mobile services. You really shouldnt walk out the front door without it. Switch today at xfinitymobile. Com top u. S. And european officials are sounding the alarm that Vladimir Putin could be looking at the 2024 president ial election for how to proceed in ukraine. One of those officials believes putin is banking on trump or anher republican to win the presidency because he thinks that would lead tohe u. S. Pulling support for the wa could that strategy work . Well, a new cnn poll out today shows after the first time a majority of americans are opposed to sending more money ukraine. That feeling is even more pronounced when you look at a party split for support of the war. 71 of republicans say theyve had enough and want to stop and lets talk about this. Lets get right to retired Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, the former director for European Affairs at the National Security council. Great to see you as always. You just saw this brand new poll, and let me play this for you. This is what trump said tonight in alabama, at a rally in alabama. Heres what he said. I will have the horrible war between russia and ukraine settled. I know them both very well. They will settle. Would have never, ever happened. It would have been done very, very quickly. Im the only candidate who can make this promise. I will prevent world war 3. Colonel vindman, some of that has to be music to Vladimir Putins ears. I mean do you think this strategy putin apparently has here could work, just wait out things in ukraine until the next election . Thanks for having me on, jim. First, ive got to say those remarks from donald trump just sound foolish and absurd. He is, in fact, one of the key reasons why we are in this war, why russia attacked ukraine under the belief that there would be no consequence, no cost because of his capture of the Republican Party and therefore he could get away with an easy, quick victory. And of course its music to putins ears to have donald trump return to power. Its a significant miscalculation. A hope and a prayer is at this point really what hes relying on because his military is not achieving its objectives in ukraine, and hes looking for a favorable outcome in political elections here in the u. S. And overseas and hoping to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. That is a long shot to gamble on, and this is going to cost his military and his Nation Hundreds Of Thousands of lives because were talking about another year and change. And based on the casualty rates the russians have been suffering, thats a huge, huge gamble. But of course hes counting on that. Hes counting on donald trump. Hes counting on jfk correction, rfk jr. As a potential contender or challenger from the left. Hes counting on this faction of this extreme faction of the far right and the far left and their ability to somehow confuse or trick the American Public into a election victory that could allow putin to believe that he could then not no further support could come to ukraine and he could win. And if a republican does win in 2024 and the u. S. Does pull back, if putin gets what he wants in this kind of a scenario, would other countries in the coalition thats been supporting ukraine, would they follow suit . Would you see a crack then, a split there in the nato allies . What do you see there . So, frankly, it depends on the flavor of republicans. Chris christie was in ukraine just within the past couple of days, and that is a standard fare republican that would double down on support to ukraine, maybe even possibly be more aggressive than the biden administration. Hes not a real contender at the moment, but this is a struggle for the soul of the Republican Party. A trump magalike republican like donald trump or ron desantis would potentially look to cut support, but that is recipe for disaster. What that would lookly do youd see a fracture between the alliance, the Nato Alliance. You would see the Eastern Coalition within the Nato Alliance potentially double down on their support. This is an existential threat, this war to them. They understand the dominos might fall and they might be the next target, and we can very well see nato Member States committing troops on the ground. I think this is, again, a remote possibilities. And i also want to comments on the poll you referenced. I was going to ask you about that. What do you think of those numbers . Interesting. I think ive seen different polls. I just referenced one this morning that came out a couple days ago that showed 69, might as well call it 70 support for ukraine and in support of ukraines fighting and liberation of its territory. So there are a lot of different polls coming out. Im deeply concerned about this idea of ukraine Fatigue Setting in. I havent seen it, and ive seen conflicting polls thus far. The one im referencing was a large sample poll, 2,500 folks were targeted for that particular poll. But im going to be carefully looking at these numbers and seeing how they develop because it means that there might be there might be efforts to cut support from the Republican Party, and theyd feel more comfortable doing that if there isnt a broad public support for ukraine. Thats really what it means practically. The number that really stands out and we were just showing this onscreen a few moments ago when you were talking, colonel vindman, is this lopsided opposition among republicans against continuing to authorize more funding to support ukraine. Which i think is kind of a Staggering Number because standing up to russian aggression used to be a core bedrock republican principle. Im just thinking of ronald reagan. That doesnt sound like a reagan principle there. Its interesting. Up is down and the sky is not blue anymore with this Republican Party. I think there are historical precedents for parties taking 180degree position from where they were. This has happened periodically in the United States between republican and democratic parties. Theyre not the same parties they were 50 years ago let alone 100 years ago. This is a very, very different Republican Party than it was under ronald reagan. That party is gone. Its unlikely to return. We could long for the days of a Republican Party that was strong in support of democracy, that would stand up for Democratic Values and the world order. The best we could hope for now, frankly, is the end of maga and end of trump republicanism and maybe some sort of pivot because of a series of defeats like we had in the midterm elections, like we had in 2020. That could drive some changes in the Republican Party. Until that day, lots of threats to our democracy, and frankly some hopes and prayers for our adversaries around the world that they could, again, win through domestic turmoil here in the United States. All right. Colonel vindman, thanks so much. Really appreciate it. All right, in the meantime, Slitting Throats on day one, thats what Governor Ron Desantis says hell do if hes elected president. Its got a lot of people angry including my next guest. Stay with us. Well talk about it in just a moment. Meeting this challenge will take morore than one solution. 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Com. upbeat music constant contacts advanced automation lets you send the right message at the right time, every time. constant contact. Helping the small stand tall. With new scope squeez mouthwash concentrate, just add water. Squeez to control the strength of your mouthwash. And find a zone all your own. Scope squeez. On bureaucracy were going to have all these deep state people, you know, were going to start Slitting Throats on day one and be ready to go. Youre going to see a huge, huge outcry because washington wants to protect its own. But at the end of the day this is a city thats failed this country. Republican president ial candidate ron desantis escalating his rhetoric on the campaign trail, vowing to start Slitting Throats in his words in the federal bureaucracy on his first day in power. Those comments did not go unnoticed. Prominent unions are call on desantis to retract his remarks calling them disgraceful, disgusting and disqualifying. This Afternoon Desantis offered up a response to the criticism. I think people understand that we need to see changes, and so well bring that about. Well, you guys know its a figure of speech with that. Joining me now is the National President of the american fedseration of Government Employees, everett kelly. Mr. Kelly, thanks very much for joining us. You heard Governor Desantis there a few moments ago saying his remarks were a figure of speech. What do you think . Well, first of all, thank you for having me. B now, all i know is he better correct his tone and show some respect for americas work force. I am an American Army veteran myself. Over 500,000 u. S. Veterans are wearing a separate uniform in service to their country. And a third they expect americas enemies on the front lines to threaten their lives, not someone thats running to be commander in chief. And this type of violent, authoritarian rhetoric is disturbing, its disgraceful, and its disqualifying. And its also deliberate. He recently made similar Throat Slitting comments about pentagon officials. Its not a mistake or something he can try to brush off as a metaphor. That is his intention. And do you think this kind of rhetoric could have real life consequences for your members . Well, you know, i think we have already case in point. We can look at what happened on january 6th and see that this type of rhetoric, you know, has a way of so i think thats correct. And as you know ron desantis is not the only candidate to vow to clean house. The frontrunner in this race right now for the republican nomination, donald trump has been calling for a purge of federal employees. Hes done it time and again. Lets listen to what hes had to say before. The deep state is destroying our nation, but the tables must t turn, and we will quickly destroy the deep state. We know where the bodies are buried. Everett, donald trump has talked about this before how on day one of his new administration which he comes into office he and his allies have said they want a clean house inside the federal government to try to remove federal Worker Protections and so on. When you hear that sort of thing, whats your response to that . Is that something they could do . Well, its something that they could do. I mean, i do agree with that. But i think we also have to understand that, you know, we have people that supports the american workforce. The American People know every member and federal Government Employee is not some force in the nations capitol. 85 of our members live and work outside the d. C. Area in every state and every territory. Our members have dedicated their lives to serving our fellow americans, support to military, provide health care for our nations veterans, enforce our laws, safeguard our communities, deliver benefits to americas most vulnerable citizens. And to keep our skies safe as they travel, protect human health and our environment, keep us safe on the job, ensure our food is safe to eat, preserve our nations parks and so much more. And i think the American People want to know that the federal Employee Workforce is on the job making sure. None of these should be forced to endure a threat from anyone whether its donald trump or desantis. Because these are the people running to be their bosses. They want to know that coming in these people are going to provide a healthy Work Environment and benefits for those employees working for the American Public. All right, everett, kelly, its obviously an issue were going to stay on top of. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. We really appreciate it. The pleasure is mine. Thank you very much. And now i want to turn to the controversy over the Orlando Magic donating 50,000 to a desantis supporting super pac. The nba players n criticized the franchs contribution in a searing statement. If you didnt catch look at this. A political contribution from the Orlando Magic, alarming recent comments and pall peaces of its beneficiary if contributions are made through the tire tits incumbent on the teams governor to the magics donation does not represent Player Support from the recipient. Thats from the Players Association. Lets discuss with Rachel Nichols. Shes the host of headliners with Rachel Nichols on show time. Rachel, great to see you. Great to see you back on cnn. What do you think of all this . The players dwrun calling this donation alarming. How common is it for a Sports Franchise to donate directly to a super pac like this . Jim, ive covered the nba for more than 25 years. Ive never seen it, and of course weve seen team owners, players, management all individually support political candidates. Mark ladry, the former owner of the Milwaukee Bucks was one of president obamas chief fund raisers. Weve had kelly lofler, a coowner of the atlanta dream. And since she was not supportive of the black lives matter movement, her players went out and fund raised and supported her opponent, now senator rafrafael warnock. And all those are examples of individuals supporting their political candidates. And of course betsey devos was trumps education secretary, shes an individual. What upsets these players so much is this donation was not made on behalf of betsey devos or dick devos, it was made on behalf of the players on the teams. You have coaches and players have different beliefs than desantis and now their names are being used in association with this donation. And more importantly its their labor. Money for the nba teams, the Orlando Magics money they donated to ron desantis doesnt come from a magic tree elf, it came from the work of those players on the court. And the fact their work has been turned into a contribution for someone running for president who has come out with statements that they think directly oppose who they are as people, that is very difficult to stomach. And i have to think its not just the players but the fans will get upset about this. Im a little surprised the league allows this sort of thing. Like you said it doesnt happen, so i suppose this is maybe a bit of a test case. What does this do to the players . Does it put them in a position where theyre kind of in between a rock and a hard place . They can speak out to the Players Union but not a whole lot they can do individually or publicly . Weve had a lot of players in the league react to this over the last 24, 36 hours. Im not seeing Orlando Magic players criticize their boss directly, which i think you can understand. Theyve said their piece, theyve expressed their disappointment, and now ron desantis has flipped this around and hes publicly criticizing the nba and the Players Association for this statement, hes actually using parts of the statement in fundraising texts, i would not expect the nba as a league or players themselves to take the bait here. They know exactly what this game is, and theyre not going to give him anymore oxygen on this is my prediction. And we should note the Orlando Magic spokesman described the check as Pporting Desantis in his role as governor becausas written on may 19th, days before he formally launched his president ial capped d. C. On may 24th. It was given in support of a Florida Business for a florida governor. Rachel, you can take that for what its worth. It did go to a super pac. We do know what super pacs do. I do want to say joe glass is excellent at his job, but his boss put him in a crappy spgz here, and as you say it doesnt hold up. Everyones mother knew, everyone mothers pets knew ron desantis was about to announce for president in a couple of weeks. It doesnt hold up as a statement, but i guess youve got to say something. Hes a good guy, good at his job, but this was a tough one. Yeah, its a block or charge. Im not sure which one in this situation. Rachel nichols, if youll forgive that sports pun very late at night. Well be right back. So why d do we leave so much Untapped Potential on the table . This is a next level bed, for a next levelel you. My Circadian Rhythm is kicking your Circadian Rhythms butt its not a competition. I know, but im still winning so, it is a competition. Save up to 500 on the new sleep number® smart bed. Plus, free Home Delivery when you add an adjustable base. Shop now only at sleep number®. But i need them to smell fresh, too. Thats why i add downy unstopables to my wash. Now ill be smelling fresh all day long. Still fresh. Still fresh, you nasty little goblins still fresh still . 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