off the field right now! >> this guy that we have put in charge has tried to divide us once again. >> just kind of beneath i think of a leader of a country to go that route not what leaders do. >> black people, black athletes get attacked by people like you and the president of the united states when they have every right to be here! >> catcher bruce maxwell is believed to be the first major league player to not stand during the national anthem. >> rocket man should have been handled a long time ago. we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. >> translator: now he has tried to turn the u.n. arena into a gangster's nest where money is respected and blood shed is the order of the day. >> announcer: this is "new day weekend" with victor blackwell and christi paul. >> good morning to you. thanks for being with us.

politics, patriotism and nfl kickoff comes in a few hours in the nfl. >> what is going to happen on the field before the games after president trump criticized players who, quote, take a knee during the national anthem and doing this in protest of racial inequality. this morning, we know more nfl executives and athletes are speaking out, the controversy is spread to go another pro sports league. >> listen to this from the president about north korea. they won't be around much longer. the new threats after the north korea's foreign minister speaks out at the u.n. and pushing the countries closer to open war. >> the latest on president trump's travel ban is set to conspire today.

let's get first to what is happening with the nfl. he just issued this statement via twitter. the president trump tweeted this. you will see change take place fast. fire or suspend. >> a lot of people will be watching the moments before the games to see how many players will protest. >> i reached out and talked to former players and current players and even general managers. i could hear the discouragement in one of the general managers voices to whom i spoke. he said his organization would never fire a player for kneeling as president trump has seemingly suggested. his team has not had a player kneel in peaceful protest of racial injustice but now he says that might change. he said don't be surprised if there an entire sideline kneeling on nfl sunday today. so let's look at the reaction that president trump had remarks about athletes from the sports world yesterday.

nba star chris paul said the following. now cnn has obtained statements from 12 nfl franchises, a mix of owners and presidents who have spoken out in support of nfl players. san francisco 49ers ceo jed new york said, in part, quote. one of the biggest narratives among people with whom i've spoken and on social media, amongst athletes and celebrities yesterday is that president trump referred to people marching in charlottesville among whom were white supremacists as very fine people but also black athletes protesting racial injustice, sons of you know what. here is warriors star steph curry commenting on that

narrative. >> i don't know why he feels he needs to target certain individuals rather than others. i have an idea of why, but it's kind of -- just kind of beneath, i think, a leader of a country to go that route. it's not what leaders do. >> those comments yesterday coming after, of course, president trump uninviting the warriors and steph curry from visiting the white house. >> coy, we also saw nba superstar lebron james defend steph curry after the president revoked that white house visit. >> let's remind what lebron james tweeted yesterday. he said, quote. then later, yesterday, he explained in a video. >> basically at a point i'm kind of, you know, just a little frustrated, man. just because this guy that we have put in charge has tried to divide us once again, and,

>> you have lvenlg lebron jamej james. we are seeing sports stars going head-to-head with world politics. >> i know the protests are spreading. talk about a first we saw in major league baseball. >> bruce maxwell of the oakland a's kneeled with his hand over his heart before his game last night. here he is commenting on that after the game. i'll kneeling for the people who don't have a voice. this goes beyond the black community. this scope beyond the hispanic community because right now we are having an indifference and racial divide in all types of people. >> we will keep our eye on reacttions from the sports world as they come into us,

specifically today. the nfl games, who will protest and how many will protest, and how will they protest peacefully racial injustice in the nfl games? the first one at 9:30 playing in london in the nfl. >> coy wire, thank you very much. joining me is cnn politics reporter stephen collinson and of the chicago sun times, lynn sweet. steven, let me start with you. i want to read the president's first statement of the day via twitter. let me scroll up here. he says the following. this sounds to me like the president of the united states is calling for a boycott of the nfl. >> i think that is exactly what it is, victor. i think the fact that he chose to begin his day with his tweet shows you that the president thinks this is a winning political issue for him, despite the controversy he has whipped

up over the last few days. i think what is interesting, it shows us something about this president. first of all, when he likes to be in the thick of a fight, when he's in the fight, he never backs down. but more broadly, this is the way that -- this is his political method. most presidents in the modern era have tried to use the presidency as a platform for unity or at least give the impression that they are blurring divisions. throughout his campaign and throughout the his presidency, donald trump has sort of settled over areas of racial or culture discord and division in the country and used them to sort of, as a political tool, to reach out to his political base and to keep himself in the center of the news. i think that is something that is very interesting and something that is very different about this presidency. >> lynn, it's important also to, as we talk about with the president is tweeting what he has not tweeted about. he has tweeted in the last, i

guess, 24 hours three or four times now about this issue of protest during nfl games. i went and searched. the only time he tweeted about nazis was not during or after what happened in charlottesville, it was in comparing the u.s. intelligence community to nazis. he said nothing on twitter about white supremacists to nazis but he goes after the protests there in the nfl. >> and they say you have turmoil in puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands and hurricane victims in texas and florida might be worthy of a tweet to rally some support, maybe some resources for them. make a pitch to make a donation someplace. i think the context of where and why he brought this up is also important to look at. there is a big election in alabama to fill the seat of jeff sessions. and there is a fight within the republican party going on. and president trump took on the job of carrying a candidate who may not win republican luther

strange over the finish line. he was bringing this up at a rally it try and whip up his base, whip up the crowd for this alabama election. i think if we look where this particular chapter of this -- if we could use the game analogy here started, it was getting this election done, you know, carrying his candidate. so what -- what do we have as a result of this is this whole new divisive conversation that you're talking about and, yes, where he doesn't pay attention to the more important racially divisive issues stemming from charlottesville than the peaceful protests over racial inequality by pro football players. >> so, steven, unlike the broad, almost universal repudiation of the president saying he saw some very fine people at a protest full of white supremacists and nazis, in this attack on the players and their right to

protest, he is invoking patriotism. is there a political cost for the president in this back and forth with these athletes? >> there is a political cost because it makes it much more difficult for him to rise above that sort of 40% approval rating level that he's at, which could have political consequences down the road. but i think the president also believes that he is speaking for a large group of people who are concerned about these protests and people who do find them somewhat troubling. so he believes, i suspect, that he is on solid political ground with people who are sympathetic toward him. i think if you look at the polls the last few weeks the president's approval rating has ticked up a little bit, basically, because of his handling of the hurricanes, signs that he was reaching out to democrats on the debt ceiling issue, and the daca bill. i think there is evidence that people are prepared to give him a chance and actually there are

some people that prefer the more moderate version of donald trump but for either political reasons or temp mental reasons, the president doesn't believe that is the way it's best for him to conduct himself as a politician and as president. >> lynn, finally to you. this is something that was brought up when sarah sanders, the white house press secretary, said that the comments from espn's jamil hill was a viable offense going to the president on twitter. is the president breaking a law here by calling for a boycott of the nfl or calling for the fire or the suspension of the employees of a private company? >> he is not breaking the law, but he is seemingly not working, really understanding how these sports -- sports works with contracts. you have deals. he should understand there is a contract of employment and not standing -- or kneeling or making some kind of protest, unless it's in a contract is not

a fireable offense. he shows either no understanding nor respect for the technical part, even if you wanted to fire someone, which i don't really was his point. he wanted just to kind of use his signature, you're fired, to fire up his base on this point. but legal, i don't see how it could possibly be legal to fire an nba, nfl, or major league baseball player over this unless it's in their contract. and so far, this is not a scenario i think really will happen. if anything, don't you think now that an owner would be loathe to discipline or fire any player just in the wake of what the president said? >> that is what our coy wire are hearing from the general managers and team owners. thank you both. >> thank you. so this sparring verbal between the u.s. and north korea, no signs of stopping there. president trump tweets north korean leaders won't be around lorge if th much longer if they consider a strike against america.

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new this morning. president trump and north korea are trading tough talk. the president tweeting this threat after pyongyang slammed him at the u.n. and here it is. >> this is happening as u.s. bombers and fighters staged a show of force off the north korean coast. yesterday at the u.n., north korea's foreign minister with president trump's threat to totally destroy north korea. listen to this. >> translator: none other than trump himself on a suicide mission. if innocent lives are harmed trump because of this u.s. attack, trump will be held responsible. the presideauthor of a new "nuclear nightmares" is joining us. thank you for being here. >> my pleasure. >> i want to ask you first of all about the president's tweet

they won't be around much longer. what exactly does that mean? do we know what the president's plan for north korea is? >> no. the president's strategy on north korea is incoherent. it's hard to understand what he thinks he will gain from this course of action. look. i don't want to be alarmist here, but this is an extremely dangerous situation. we haven't been this close to war with north korea in decades. the president's last four tweets attacked john mccain, the national football league, and north korea. it seems to be a compulsion of his to act in this way. the difference when he attacks football players, people will demonstrate. when he attacks north korea, millions of people could die. it's getting worse, not because of what north korea is doing, which is bad enough and which they shouldn't be doing, but

because of the escalation that the president has introduced largely with his actions starting at the united nations this week. >> blaine harden wrote an opinion piece today in "the new york times" saying that north korean offensive strike, that it's unlikely, unless they believe that their country's actual existence is at risk. >> right. >> how far do you think it will go? do you really think that -- let me ask you do you really think that north korea would take a preemptive strike? >> no. that is exactly right. neither leader wants to strike the other. neither leader wants to go to war. it's similar to the situation in 1914 when great powers made military moves thinking it would cause the other side to back down and they didn't back down. that is what is going on now. these are two relatively inexperienced, impulsive military leaders in charge of a massive military force playing a game of nuclear chicken on the

korean peninsula. i don't think either one wants to start a war. the risk here is that we will stumble into a war. one of those american planes could stray too close to north korea. there could be a north korean commander who lets loose an artillery barrage at the wrong moment. what if kim jong-un actually does fly a nuclear armed missile over japan and explode an h-bomb in the pacific as his foreign policy threatened to do this week? what is the trump response? it's this tit for tat and bringing the crisis up to a fever pitch that is what worries nuclear security experts around the world. >> well, it begs the question, how often can either of them, can president trump or kim jong-un make threats like we are hearing without taking action? because there is a credibility risk here. >> big. that is exactly right. they call this the commitment trap. when you keep saying that you

are going to do things, at some point, you have to do them or else you lose face, you lose credibility. and so the president -- i understand that in his briefings with his national security team, he keeps demanding military option. he thinks there is some quick option like his cruise missile strikes on syria. but north korea is not syria. you hit north korea and they will strike back. the fear is that the president overrules his national security advisers and take a risk, just as he recovery yuled them in his speech at the nuu.n. his senior aides did not want him to make these threats. they knew what would happen and they knew this was risky behavior but the president at the last minute put them back into the speech and made them at the u.n. podium and triggered this current es ka cycle. >> is there a way to walk back from this with the president?

>> yes but i have to tell you at this point the chance of negotiations are diminishing, particularly as he slams the iran deal, an agreement that the united states made in good faith two years ago. the u.n. security council approved, he is threatening to pull out of the iran deal, at the same time, he is, apparently, willing to still talk to north korea. why would you trust a president who would do those things? so the escalation, the attack on negotiated settlements make it very difficult for him to back down. could he? yes. but you have to do this soon. if you have any intention of having a dialogue with north korea, now would be a good time to start. >> joseph cirincione thank you for your input. >> thank you. will it be prison or probation? anthony weiner's sentencing is scheduled for tomorrow with lewd contact with a 15-year-old girl. prosecutors are asking for 21 to 27 months in prison.

weiner admitted to sending graphic photos and having obscene video chats with the girl but weiner's attorney says he is making progress and ncounseling and are asking for probation. >> we will be right back.

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thanks for spending time with us on this sunday morning. i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. >> the president of the united states appears to be hinting that fans should boycott the nfl. he is saying this morning. >> if nfl fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespect youring our flag or country, will see change take place effect.

athena jones is for us live where the president is spending the weekend. good morning. the president is quite vocal this morning about this fight with the nfl players. >> reporter: that is exactly right. president waking up a little over half an hour ago with the nfl and these anthem protests still on his mind. you just read the first tweet he sent out. he followed that tweet just a little while with another saying -- let's read the two tweets he put out. if nfl fans roo efuse to go to games -- he followed up that tweet by the one you read earlier. nfl attendance and ratings are way down. boring games but many stay away because they love our country. league should back u.s. so here you have the president waking up early, tweeting about this issue, continuing to press this issue. he is now encouraging protests against the nfl. this is not something that is likely to make nfl team owners

happy. he is encouraging people to protest the nfl peacefully in order to effect change and in this case in order to get peaceful protesters who are players fired for protesting in a way he doesn't agree with. he is doubling down on all of this. this comes as the president is getting a lot of backlash, not just on social media, but also on the wearair waves he is pick with black players. a lot of people are saying why didn't we see this passion for him with the charlottesville, virginia, march last month. why is he calling neonazis and kkk supporters very fine people? so the big question for today is will there be more protests in response to the president's actions? we saw a baseball player taking

a knee for the first time in a recent game. we saw a performer, stevie wonder, taking two knees at a concert last night in solidarity with these protesters. we can't read the president's mind or know his motivations but you you believe he would not be pressing this issue if he didn't feel it was somehow working in his favor. despite all of the blow back he has gotten on social media, the folks in that huntsville, alabama, crowd, really seemed to eat up what he had to say on friday night and seemed to be in agreement with his point of view. i think that is part of why we are seeing him continue to press this. >> athena jones in somerset, thank you. >> can an nfl player be fired for protesting? we will talk about that coming up. stay close. hey grandpa. hey, kid. really good to see you.

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♪ share the spice of life. we want to get some clarity together for us here on what has been happening this morning. for that let's go to michael mccann, a legal writer for "sports illustrated" and brian stelter. the president is tweeting, guys, about the nfl. moments ago, this is what he said. if nfl fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our flag and country you will see the change take place fast. fire or suspend. first of all, michael, is it legal for the president to entice a private entity to fire an employee? >> i think the president ironically, has a first amendment right here. he is complaining about another player exercising his first amendment right but he, himself, has his own right to suggest changes. he can't compel the nfl to make

that change or any team to -- >> he can make the statements publicly but he couldn't go to the nfl and say you need to fire this person? >> exactly right. it's a private company that is not under the discretion of the president or any elected official. >> so that is first and foremost. the other tweet that he just put out there as well a a couple of minutes ago. nfl attendance and ratings are way down. boring games, yes. many stay away because they love our country. league should back the united states. brian, is there any accuracy to that? >> i think it's false to say ratings are way down for the nfl. there have been some modest declines in the ratings in the last couple of years. actually the presidential election partially blamed last year. folks were so interested in cable news coverage of the election, ratings might have been down a bit. yes, some modest declines. the president said on friday night the ratings are done massively. that is false. he said this morning way down. that's false. the biggest shows on tv are all

nfl games. so, yes, there are some issues for the nfl but i don't think we can look at what is going on with the game or attendance and say it's because fans hate those anthem protests that they are fleeing by by the millions. there are problems on the edges but not a major disaster for the nfl. >> michael, if a player was fired for kneeling, is that legal? >> it's probably legal because nfl teams have very broad discretion in terms of whether they can cut a player but it's the analysis is deeper than that in the sense a player would have the right to arbitration to contest that and could file a federal lawsuit, trying to override an arbitrator's decision and there is the state laws that may protect free speech and potentially defamation law plays a role. it's probably legal just because player contracts give teams so much discretion. >> why is the president even

bothering to tweet about this at all? i'm amazed that he is tweeting about this this morning. he has a health care bill that seems to be going down in flames again. why isn't he spending 100% of his energy on that? a curious topic even though it's sunday and everybody loves talk about football and for the president to be weighing in. it can have a chilling effect on free expression when you know the president is speaking out. of course, the opposite is also true. we are going to see a lot of players today take a knee because they want to protest the president. >> brian, i'll be honest with you. i notice the look on your face, victor. i think a minute ago when you were reading the tweets. we were telling you were trying to process what you were reading. >> we are always confused by his use of twitter, right? whether it's about north korea or this. there are some big issues on the president's plate. he has got ongoing recovery efforts in puerto rico, for example. i also oftentimes wonder if he is trying to get folks to talk

about anything but russia. if i can just point out the president's twitter power. his most prominent popular tweet about sports yesterday was about stuff curoccu steph curry and lebron james responding. he had 6,000 retweets and 1.2 million likes. the president has power on twitter but the athletes i would argue they have even more power on twitter. >> michael, to that you say what? >> brian is correct. this is not going to work for the president in the sense that if his goal is to get the nfl or teams to sanction or fire players for kneeling, the opposite is going to happen because teams have already come out on record embracing this and even the commissioner. roger goodell is not very popular among players. this, oddly enough, i think, is linking him more closely to players in support of the right to protest, and as brian mentioned, if the president's goal was to diminish this activity, the option is going to

happen. we are going to see more players kneeling and protesting even if they are not certain they agree with the underlying point, they agree with the right to express views. i don't think this is really the right approach. fountain president wants to discourage this, i don't think this is going to work. >> brian stelter and brian mccann, so great to have both of you here this morning with us. >> the backlash to the president's comments about protesting athletes and now spreading to the entertainment industry. stevie wonder said and did this last night. >> tonight, i'm taking a knee for america. but not just one knee. i'm taking both knees! both knees in prayer for our planet, our future, our leaders of the world. and our globe. e ear. >> stevie wonder made that

gesture just before his appearance at the global citizens festival. he told the concert attendees there he did not come to preach, that is his word but, that quote, our spirits must be in the right place all the time. president trump doubling down this morning contending if you're a professional athlete who protest, you need to be fired or suspended. his rhetoric bridging the divide between sports and politics here. a look at the broader impact on american culture with our next panel. you see these two gentlemen there. we are happy to have them here and they have a lot to say on the other side of the break.

sometimes you need a breather, right? you think let me take a walk and get away from it all. what about taking a walk while you speak with a therapist? this is a growing trend. walk and talk therapy. >> i can't tell you how i feel about something in 140 characters. i can kind of. >> walk and talk therapy is

exactly what is sounds like. rather than being enclosed we have a walk outside. you know this is how i should be approaching it. yet i'm shutting that out right now. for some clients, coming to therapy in an office setting is intimidating. walking side-by-side, clients are a little more free to express themselves. >> it makes me just open up a little different and it makes the conversation seem more natural. >> i maintain their confidentiality. if we are a little too close to others, we will stop for a minute and let people pass. >> i'm an outdoors guy by nature. i like to garden and i like being active, so this is just a natural fit for me. the park itself is really part of the therapy process. when i had therapy in the past and you go into an office, it just feels sterile. >> when we are out walking, we are moving forward and it's the exact same thing we are doing in the therapy process. we are moving forward. patrick woke up with a sore back.

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savings card holders pay as little as $0 for three bottles. start saving today at restasis.com. trump's criticism of professional athletes is now starting a conversation that is extending beyond the sports world. the #take a knee now the top trending topic on twitter as supporters of those athletes, as well as those who back the president on weighing in so let's talk about it with mark hill and ben ferguson are with us this morning. the president, ben, has tweeted about this anthem protest a half dozen times the last 24 hours. not once about the 3 million people in puerto rico who have no clean running water. but you agree with the president. tell us why. >> well, first, i think it's very clear that the u.s. government is very much involved people and others when it comes to those in puerto rico. he did the same thing in florida. i think you can tweet about a

socialish and national disasters the president has been able to do in florida, as well as in texas. i think the president has hit a chord here with a lot of americans who have a real problem with the nfl right now. this is the same league that refused the dallas cowboys request to honor the police officers that were slaughtered in dallas and said, sorry, you cannot put a little decal on the back of your helmet for the game on sunday after those police officers were murdered. yet, at the same time, the nfl allows their players to disrespect the flag of the united states of america and every one who has protected and served this country. i think you're going to see a big backlash on the ratings here. i think people are underestimating the power of people who have a remote control saying i'm not support ago league that literally allows their employees -- this is no, sir an issue -- i want to make this clear because people have been confusing this. you have the right to protest. you have the right to do this. but when you work for a company, a company has a right to say

that you can or cannot do this during work hours. no one is trying to take away these players' rights to do this. i think the nfl, it's an embarrassment that they are supporting disrespecting this country all races who protect and defend this country and every race in this country has had someone die for this country sesk in o serving in our military and it's sad. >> mark? >> this is not a question of first amendment. i'm a little surprised that ben has this position around donald trump weighing in on twitter. when president obama weighed in on the skip gates controversy when a harvard professor was arrested outside of his home and the president said that the police behaved stupidly. that a president shouldn't be weighing in on these private matters there are bigger fish to try. i i would imagine given north korea and other things, he wouldn't be obsessed with it.

but he's really obsessed with it and weighing in on private matters. and it's not only about first amendment, they have a right to do it. but i don't see sit as disrespectful to the country or disrespectful for soldiers, it is to say, we are here to fight for freedom and justice. colin kaepernick's stood up or kneeled and said, hey, there is not freedom and justice in this country for all people. the vulnerable are under attack, there's state violence and we need to do something about it. and i think the players standing in necessasolidarity with him i necessary thing. i think every player takes a knee. and there is a huge difference between an entire team putting a decal on their helmet and individual players enacting their right -- >> hold on, finish, mark, quickly. >> marc, people act as if

politics happens the moment you take a knee. it's all political, it's a question of which politics you support. >> ben? >> first of all, it's not political to support the country that you're a citizen of and you live in and to honor those who have fallen, to protect and defend this country. the second point that i have to make here, that is just -- i can't believe we're even having this discussion, is the fact that i -- these players -- >> i can't believe we're having the discussion, either, because there's so many other things that the president probably could be tweeting about, like the people in puerto rico, his health care bill, north korea -- >> but victor -- >> but he started his day with these two statements about athletes who were protests. but go ahead. >> and you can tweet about something about athletes. this is a hot-button issue. that's the reason why we're having this discussion right now. >> it's a hot-button issue? this has been going on for more than a year. the president just injected this in alabama to help luther strange. >> i think he talked about it in alabama because i think he sees

it as literally starting to be more and more cool factor around disrespecting this country and the flag and those who protect it. that's what a lot of people are saying around the country, victor. there's one other thing here. if these players actually do believe in what they're saying right now, then maybe they should do a couple of basic things. for example, colin kaepernick's didn't even vote in the last election and isn't even registered to vote. how many of these players walk out there because the camera is on them and they see a moment to be in the limelight and they see a moment to jump on twitter, who didn't even vote in the election. if you want me to respect your opinion, then actually back it up with being a registered voter, voting against donald trump. how many of these guys taking a knee voted against donald trump? >> cnn has actually reported on president trump's spotty voting record, but that has never stopped him from opining about everything under the sun. marc, let me come back to you. >> he's registered! >> does this now become solely about the president today. that it dilutes the initial reason that these athletes took

a knee? >> i think quite the opposite. it's a galvanizing effort. i've got to respond real quick. ben says, yeah, but donald trump is reasoninged. ben's point is you have to vote to matter. and donald trump didn't vote. i don't know how registering -- >> he's voted quite a few times in his wife. >> he's 71. >> colin is not even registered. >> ben, let me answer uninterrupted. i don't want to reinforce suddenly this narrative that these players aren't doing anything. these players, particularly colin kaepernick's, has donated over $1 million, he's worked on scenes in front of and behind the camera, and to suggest it's somehow an act of grandstanding and self-interest to do what colin kaepernick's has done to me borders on absurd. his entire career stands in jeopardy now because of the choice he's made. >> -- from a guaranteed contract.

>> let him finish. marc, go ahead and finish. >> first, again, ben, these are half-truths. even the san francisco 49ers acknowledge that he walked away from that contract, they would have released him anyway. it was obviously a strategic move by the team. he didn't just quit the nfl. that's just not true. and you know that as well. >> he had guaranteed -- >> ben, let me ask you this question. you say that the president is bringing this up pause it's a hot topic and it's becoming, as you say, cool to disrespect the country. but is the president not bringing this up because you go to a rally, you have to say something. he can't say, hey, look at my wall. he can't say, boy, we've really repealed obamacare and the infrastructure bill is moving along. and the tax reform bill is moving along. that this is just the president shouting squirrel because some of his agenda ideas are suffering. >> i don't think so. i think this is an issue that he is seeing -- look. you even said it earlier, victor. this has been going on now for what, a year, over a year now? >> and the president brings it back up randomly in alabama at a

rally. >> when you have more and more players who continued to kneel on sundays and when you talk about when you're at a campaign rally and you're talking about issues and talking about the state of this country, a prime example of the state of the country right now is how many people are growing up and being taught that all of a sudden it's somehow cool to be dis -- un-american or dis this country or be ashamed of this country. >> we've got to wrap it there. up against the clock. we've got to get to the 8:00 hour. >> quick programming note to tell you about before we wrap things up. how will senator susan collins vote on her party's last-ditch effort to end obamacare? she's going to talk to you at "state of the union" with jake tapper. that is this morning at 9:00 eastern and pacific. thank you so much for being with us. we hope you make good memories today. "inside politics" with john king starts after this short break. i tell them the thickness of your enamel determines essentially how white your teeth are going to be. the strength of your teeth needs to be there in order for that whiteness to last.

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megan's smile is getting a lot because she uses act® mouthwash. act® strengthens enamel, protects teeth from harmful acids, and helps prevent cavities. go beyond brushing with act®. another dramatic "no" from john mccain and a last-ditch republican effort to replace obamacare is on the verge of collapse. >> they finally get a president who will sign the legislation and they don't have the guts to vote for him. >> plus, a big week on the world stage and a war of insults with north korea's jim jong-un. >> rocketman is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. >> and now, a war of words over athletes' protests during the national anthem. >> get that son of a [ bleep ] off the field right now. out. he's fired. >> "inside politics," the biggest stories sourced