Broussard is with us, as well as mike wise, sports columnist from the washington post. You were there last night, chris. Describe the mood among the players and the fans. The mood was similar among both. With the players, there was a heavy burden lifted off their shoulders as well as the nba commissioner, adam silver made his ruling. The players decided they were going to play but a lot of them had doubts heading into the game. You know, before adams ruling. A lot of them have family members and friends telling them they shouldnt play. A lot of the players told me they looked on instagram and saw themselves being compared to slaves. They had a burden on their shoulders when they play a game four on sunday and before adam silvers announcement. Once he made his declaration that Donald Sterling would be banned for life, that burden was lifted and the players felt that. And the fans felt it, too, because a lot of them were questionable about whether or not they should go to the game, whether or not they should cheer for the clippers. Once all that was taken away with Donald Sterlings ownership or at least in the future, the promise to take it away, all the fans and the players just felt this release and emotional release, you could sense it last night. Yes, absolutely. Mike, i certainly think commissioner silver made the right moral call and did the right thing. Its been widely praised. Im wondering, one of the things we also saw, one of the dynamics here is after the racist comments came out, advertisers, responsers of the clippers started to drop out. So there was a financial pressure here as well. How much of the story is that financial pressure that was brought to bear as well . I think it was a huge impetus. I think any owners on the fence in the nba thinking, well, of course i dont agree with Donald Sterlings comments, and i think its abhorrent but if they can actually throw if they can throw him out of the league, what are they going to do to me if they find out i had subprime Mortgage Loans go bad in a small city which i made money. Which dan gilbert did in cleveland. Once those financial once those corporate entities got involved, that was pretty much it. I think if there were anything that put adam silvers decision to ban him for life over the top, i believe the corporations that bowed out in the relationship with the clippers did it. Chris, great to have you on the show and great to see you away from the other things we usually see each other at. One of the things that made a big difference here was the players. One of the things that came to light after adam silvers presser was how close the players came to boycotting the game. Not just the clippers warriors game but it was close to being no basketball played yesterday. Roger mason talked about that yesterday. Listen to that. Yesterday we had a call that mayor johnson had for us as players with the executive committee members, player reps and players across the league. Mayor johnson asked us what our views on the situation were. As you heard, we gave him three points. Additionally, i reached out to other players around the league and made it clear that the players were ready to boycott the games if this type of action was not something that adam silver felt was necessary. Hes talking about all the games that would have been played last night, steph curry from the warriors talked about how they would have done it, let the ball tipped up and they all would have walked off the court. What an incredible scene that would have been. That that didnt have to happen, is good. Im proud of the players that they were willing to go that far and to say, some things are bigger than the game. I said before the game, im not going to criticize the clippers players for playing in game four on sunday. I thought it would have been great if they had boycotted that game, not just the clippers but the warriors players as well. I think that would have taken care of this thing even faster. The nba, its tv corporations, its sponsors, corporate sponsors, they all would have gotten this thing done immediately and suspended Donald Sterling even as they were still investigating the situation. This showed me that the players were willing to go that far. Showed me they understood their power. They had 450 of the greatest athletes in the world. No one else can do what they do at the level they do it and a lot of power comes with that. This showed me they want to be viewed as partners with the nba, not just the labor. They want to be partners with the ownership and the fact that they were willing to go that far was great. Look, a lot of times the modern day africanamerican athletes get criticized for not being as socially conscious as muhammad ali and bill russell and jim brown and guys like that. These guys havent faced that time of overt racism that those guys faced. This was an example of where it was in your face racism and they showed they were willing to go the length and give up these games to make a point. Yes. Great point. Great point. Adam silver, huge day for him yesterday. Is seen in many eyes as a hero. He responded to this. His predecessor david stern was known differently, more of a dictator, unapproachable and difficult to deal with. Silver by taking this stance and using his role as a tool beyond just basketball to make change, has instantly gained the trust of his players and the entire clippers community. If you didnt know who he was before this, you certainly know him now. Isnt this a monumental step for him moving forward in terms of his negotiating power. I think this was adam silvers moment. I think it is interesting, we play revisionist historians a lot when we talk about that david stern did have a brusque side. The league still has to answer for why nothing was done when there was Public Record of Donald Sterlings discriminatory tactics and his racism before this. But nonetheless, david stern was adam silvers mentor. And this is a guy who was more socially and progressively proactive in regard to race and diversity than any other commissioner in the history of modern american sports. And adam silver took it one step further yesterday. He did not sound like a lawyer. He did not sound detached. He sounded like a person, a citizen of this world. Not just a sports commissioner. And i think it really was his moment. Having known him for 20 years, it was a sight to behold. Do we have a timetable for when the owners will actually have this vote . Yes. Theyre going to have a Conference Call on thursday. They have an advisory and finance committee for the nba. Thats when theyre going to determine the timetable, when theyll do the vote and also if the vote will be made public. The Players Association is really keeping an eye on this because while they were satisfied with yesterdays happenings, they werent content. Thats where roger mason told me in person. He said, look, we want to know when the votes happening. We want it to take place within a week, two weeks. They want to keep an eye on this and make sure this happens quickly and that everything the nba can do to get Donald Sterling out quickly, that everything to that case is to that point is done. Mike, can you help me get inside Don Sterlings head here a little bit . Jim gray is saying sterling tells him the team is not for sale, even after adam silvers action. What value do you derive in continuing to own the clippers. Why do you want to own a professional Basketball Team if you cant stand black people . Getting inside his head its a little scary. You could park cars in that head right now. So, you know, i dont know. Its a hard one to but look, this is not just about racism. I think this is about a billionaire. Many billionaires in this country, not all, but many of them create their own alternate realities where people they dont have equitable relationships. Everybody in their family and everybody that works around them works for them. Theyre dependent on them, therefore, they surround themselves with people that tell them what they want to hear rather than what they need to hear. Donald sterling needs sensitivity training before anything. I dont care how long he lives. After that, stop being a stubborn old coot. Sound advice from mike wise thanks to you. Go ahead, chris. Id like to add this. Everyone i talked to who knows Donald Sterling in some way, they say hes going to fight this as much as he can. Hes going to bring this to court. Hes going to drag this thing out. And fight it. Now as far as why he might want to own an nba team with black players, thats why a lot of people, including myself compared his mentality to that of a slave master. Back in the antebellum south. He doesnt mind having sex with black people. He doesnt mind beingen fromly with black people but he views them as subhuman, as inferior, people he can make money off of but people he shouldnt treat with equality and justice. Thats a problem and thats why the players were so upset. My last point was chris and i worked at the New York Times many years ago, covered nba. We happened to work with a colleague named william rhoden. He wrote a book called 40 million slaves. Today that book comes to prophecy. Chris, mike, thank you so much. Up next, the president makes yet another push to raise the minimum wage as the senate takes up the matter across town. Well listen in and talk about the other big number besides 10. 10 today, 0. 1. As the cycle rolls on for april 30th. [ male announcer ] this is kevin. To prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, hes agreed to give it up. Thats today . [ male announcer ] well be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. I was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. And now ive got to take more pills. Yup. Another pill stop. Can i get my aleve back yet . For my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easyopen red arthritis cap. To prepare our kids to compete main todays economy . Way woman a wellrounded education that focuses on science, math, and Career Training for students who dont choose college. Man and thats exactly what superintendent of Public EducationTom Torlakson has been working on. Woman because every Student Needs the real world skills for the jobs of tomorrow. Man torlaksons Career Readiness initiative is helping schools expand job and Technical Training across the state because it makes a difference. Woman so tell Tom Torlakson to keep fighting for the career and Technical Training our students need. Female announcer sleep trains interest free ends sunday. Its your last chance to get three years interestfree financing on beautyrest black, stearns foster, serta icomfort; even tempurpedic. Plus, get free delivery, and sleep trains 100day low price guarantee. But hurry sleep trains interest free for 3 event, ends sunday. Sleep train your ticket to a better nights sleep president obama in the white house east room, upping the ante in his effort to up the federal minimum wage and began by calling out republicans for blocking a vote on legislation this morning. They told americans, like the ones that are here today, that youre on your own, without even looking them in the eye. We know these americans. We depend on them. The workers who benefit from a minimum wage increase often work full time, often in physically demanding jobs. They average 35 years of age. Most lowpaying jobs are held by women. But because republicans in Congress Said no, to even allowing a vote on the floor of the senate, these folks will have to wait for the raise they deserve. The good news is outside of washington, folks arent waiting. While republicans have been deciding whether to even allow a minimum wage bill to come up for a vote, youve seen ten states and the District Of Columbia go ahead and raise theirs. Yesterday the Hawaii Legislature voted to raise their minimum wage to 10. 10 an hour. Maryland did the same thing earlier this month. I know we have maryland state legislators here today. Thanks for the good work. So the aks that have been taken in just four states, maryland, connecticut, minnesota and hawaii, means that over a million workers will see a raise. Whats more, weve seen Big Companies like the gap and Small Businesses from a pizza join in the st. Louis to an ice cream parlor in florida increasingly choosing to raise wages for their employees because they know its good business. They know that it means employees are more likely to stay on the job, less turnover. Means that theyre going to be more productive and customers see the difference. Thats one of the reasons i issued an executive order requiring employees on new federal contracts to be paid a fair wage of at least 10. 10 an hour. So americans have been way out in front of congress on this issue. In fact, about three in four americans support raising the minimum wage. Thats because we believe that in the wealthiest nation on earth, nobody who works full time should ever have to raise a family in poverty. Thats a basic principle. [ applause ] and at a time when those at the top are doing better than ever, while millions of americans are working harder and harder just to get by, that three out of four americans understands that america deserves a raise. As we mentioned, the senate effort to raise the minimum wage fell short this afternoon. Democrats simply dont have the votes to overcome a republican filibuster. But heres why the president may be able to make his case, at least to the american people. Extremely weak new gdp numbers show our economy grew only 0. 1 last quarter, the slowest pace in more than a year and down drastically from the 2. 5 we saw in the previous quarter. The president making the case we cant grow our economy without americans making a livable wage and spending that money on products and services. Chuck todd is at the white house for us. Chuck, the timing of this event seems pretty ironic, considering the minimum wage that was taken today. And of course the new gdp numbers. Well, it is but whats interesting is the white house, their own chief economist essentially blamed the weather, didnt connect it necessarily the way you just connected it to minimum wage. I think they certainly, look, they believe this minimum wage issue is a way to talk about the economy in a way that can help democrats, unite the party. This is a case where it doesnt matter if youre a blou state democrat or red state democrat. Theyre all on the same page when it comes to raising the minimum wage. Its a good tool for Campaign Democrats in a campaign year. It does seem, for instance, today was a political vote. They want to be able to show this as a good issue for them. But ive not heard the white house make the direct connection as much. Like i said, on these gdp numbers they sent out six or seven different graphics talking about weather as the chief reason why these gdp numbers were so low. Yes. Do you think thats something that can work, chuck . The weather, weve had a hard winter but weve had a hard winter in 2010 with snowmageddon. Can the white house sell the case that this is an independent event they had nothing to do with . I think well find out the next quarter. If thats the case, they made a case that showed their other piece of evidence they say was weather related was on certain auto sales that showed that january and february were just disastrous but march as weather got better in more parts of the country, you saw an uptick. Well know if theyre right about this or not after the second quarter. You know, the other piece of evidence they use, they said this was the third worst winter, essentially for gdp quarter in the last 40 years. Wow. That was you know, that was the evidence they were pointing to, saying, hey, this is an anomaly, particularly giving the growth we saw in the Fourth Quarter of last year. Being here in new york, we can attest to that. Stick with us. Speaking of numbers, there is mixed news for the white house. Our latest nbc news wall street journal poll, which you know a thing or two about, president obamas Approval Rating has jumped 3 points to its highest level in six months. But its still in the low 40s. Thats not helping democrats feel any better as the midterms creep closer and they fight to keep control of the senate. Lets bring in a friend of the show. Brian, what struck me is where the president s slight improvement is coming from. Its coming from women. How much of this shift is because of his push to raise the minimum wage . Obviously an issue that has Strong Majority support among women. So i think these issues that the democrats are voting on, whether its paycheck fairness for women or the minimum wage are designed to help bring the Obama Coalition back together to vote in the midterms and perhaps to sort of discourage republican voters. I would sort of try to distinguish that from his daytoday favorability ratings, which i think are much more tied to issues like the economy. They kind of gel together, right . If his Approval Rating is higher, that will boost turnout. If democratic voters are fired up, they will do better in the midterms. Its kind of hard. Its a causation correlation issue to say because hes focusing on these issues, that explains the uptick in his approval. Brian, on the cover of the new republic, you have sasha eisenburg drilling down into things we felt for a long time that there are reflex voters who show up every two years like clock work and unreliable voters who show up usually every four, republicans have the lions share of the reflex voters. Democrats have the lions share of the unreliable voters. Eisenburg towards the end of the piece makes an interesting point, the new democratic Progressive Agenda is about persuading some of the reflex voters, especially those working class white people who republicans havent been able to take away via the culture wars. What do you think about that . I think you see democrats doing everything they can, whet