david: fox sports broadcaster jim gray joining me now on all this. jim, thanks for being here.efore the president's comments it appears the kneelings were dying down rather than heating up, is that right? >> absolutely as you mentioned. very few were participating. colin kaepernick is out of the league. there were very, very few, four to six had participated. but the tide turned entirely after that speech in alabama when the president referred to those folks that they should be fired and called them sons of, that was rallying cry i and, entire league came together and united. they did not appreciate the president's comments. thought they were wholly inappropriate and it galvanized them. david: jim, i was wondering why they were dying down? did they saw connection between the kneelings and drop in ratings for the nfl? >> well you know that is being discounted in some quarters and in other quarters it is being, excuse the pun, trumped up. a lot of factors go into that. the ratings were down last year. competitive imbalance is part of the reason. the games just weren't good in man

for more on this, sportscaster fox news contributor jim gray joining us now. w damaging do you think this is to the game? >> well, it's just damaging to the national fabric and the frame of it. now we have people who have to make a decision. mike tomlin the head coach of the steelers said he didn't put his team out for the national anthem because he didn't want to make his guys decide which side to go on. a great quarterback in the nfl said today it is time to pick sides. well, where will our common experiences be? where will we share the common good of society the we can't share it at sports anymore -- if we can't share it at sports anymore? when you look back on social change, back in the 68 olympics, and ali's career, but never have we seen a league, an institution galvanized like the nfl players and owners did today, virtually in unison the way they turned out in their support of giving these players the right to do this. eric: you mentioned their support. we saw about 100 players or so who were kneeling, but you just mentioned the steelers, the coach told

jim gray will join me next.nd the wife of american sniper hero chris kyle has a message for the millionaire football players mailing before the flag that he fought for and you should stay tuned for that. 16 years after the 9/11 attack we have a much better handle on who's applying the thousands of planes in the sky, right? wrong. a chilling report from the spotlight investigative team next. >> 16 years after 9/11 attacks in 13 years after a congressional mandate, pilots licenses still do not include biometric capabilities or even a photo of the license holder. ♪ with advil, you'll ask what twisted ankle? what muscle strain? advil makes pain a distant memory nothing works faster stronger or longer what pain? advil. remember that accident i got in with the pole, and i had to make a claim and all that? is that whole thing still dragging on? no, i took some pics with the app and... filed a claim, but... you know how they send you money to cover repairs and... they took forever to pay you, right? no, i got paid right

jim gray later on this.eter, now to the topic, the reason you were sent to alabama was the luther strange special election coming up. the president going down to stump for that. how much of the rally was about big luther and how much of an effect did it have on the president's supporters there? >> the stories about strange, reland were woven into the rest of the president's remarks about the other things that he was addressing, but the president cast senator strange as one of the most reliable republican senators who always plays ball with the white house and he says that he is the only republican, he thinks, could win in november here in alabama. >> i told luther, i have to say this, if his opponent wins, i'm going to be here campaigning like hell for them, but i have to say this and you understand this, just look at the polls, luther will definitely win. you know what i'm saying? roy has a very good chance of not winning in the general electi election. >> he was referring to judge roy moore, strange's oppo

arthel: we are going to speak to writer and post caster jim -- sportscaster jim gray. where are you? reporter: i'm in los angeles getting ready for the game tomorrow. what's all this talk about players taking a knee. what's the talk? >> it galvanized the players and in this instance the owners. they have come together on this issue. in most of instances the owners and players are have much together. this is uniting them much deeper. there is a deeper connection they have to the community than in most of instances the president does. when they are fighting for the issues important to them, social injustice and some of the issues that have gone on, they cannot afford to be on the opposite side of their players and those in their community who want to see social justice. it brought them together. arthel: roger goodell is standing up for the teams overall. as you mentioned, these teams, the players do a lot of good in the community, et cetera. what's the consensus on the commissioner's reaction? >> it's difficult to take on the president of the united states and very diffi

our liberal culture and search and process are not acceptable. >> bill: we are going to turn to jim graythis is going to go on for some time, i'm not too sure. i think last night was an indication that the leak has figured it out. a lot of voters took part in it, players took part in it. the whole locking of the arms, getting you to stand, gets you on the field. and you don't nail. what do you think of that? >> yes, that the meeting took place with several owners and players. and what came out of the meeting is this cannot be the nfl against the president trump. we have to move again sets. so if you want to use it for social justice, we can come together and unite, but to 5% of americus as they do not like those and are very unhappy. but i want to point out something to you that is very ironic. i had a conversation yesterday with mark davis, the owner of the oakland raiders. and if you look at every single player in the national football league it, they wear the helmet on their helmets. the american flag. it take a look at every player. and nasa astronauts have the same sum in the milita

sportscaster jim gray joins us now. good morning, jim. >> good morning, shannon, how are you? lot of folks out there feel like when their favorite singer, actor, athlete starts talking about politics when what they want from those people is an escape from reality they're an a collision course. >> that's what we have here now. the fans don't want this going into the weekend 70% wanted them to stand for the anthem. they also want their president to have the proper decorum. i have spoken to several owners, general managers and players throughout the national football league. when the president said if his speech that these guys are sons of [bleep] that ignited this and why we have what has resulted. they are unified and have come together in a way that i haven't seen in professional sports in my lifetime. go back to john carlos and tommy smith when they raised their fists or social change and mohammed ali. never have we seen almost in unison and entire league speak out for the freedom of speech and while a lot of people feel it's disrespectful to the flag, they feel it was more d

for more let's go to jim gray. the forecaster at fox news sports. they must be cringing over this at the white house. >> yes, absolutely. this is nothing they wanted, and now they are in response mode and they know the president of the united states has a tremendous following and can be very damaging to their game. they have galvanized. they have unified under these divisive comments and i think what struck the most is when the president said they should be fired. the nfl players believe this is social justice that they are trying to change and not trying to be disrespectful to those who went before them in the military. they send a very mixed message , and many of the fans, 70% of the fans are against the kneeling. they look at it as very disrespectful and that's what the president is commenting on. they see that social justice and they're not going to stop. this has brought the entire national football league together. >> we saw that earlier today when a large group of patriots were among the players taking a knee in foxboro. some people were yell

gray live in houston for us. thank you. >>> u.s. defense secretary jim mattis is warning north korea of a military response after the rogue nation claimed it tested a hydrogen bomb. nbc's jennifer johnson reports this is the country's first nuclear test during the trump administration. ♪ >> a heightened level of concern worldwide after north korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. this time a hydrogen bomb intended to be loaded on to an intercontinental ballistic missile. >> mr. president, will you attack north korea? >> later, a blunt message from the defense secretary. >> we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country namely north coria, but as i so. >> reporter: president trump is calling on china, north korea's largest trading partner to clamp down on president kim jong-un tweeting north korea is a rogue nation which has become a great threat, an embarrassment to china. despite harsh u.n. economic sanks nothing is slowing down the nuclear buildup and now the u.s. wants to take a more powerful action. >> i want to draft a

gray hall channel6 "action news." >> and the philadelphia fire department is welcoming cadet class 193. they graduated from the academy today during a ceremony at the university of pennsylvania. mayor jimey who's father was a firefighter congratulated the group and wished them well in their careers of protecting philadelphia residents. >>> a group of golfers hit the lynx today to raise money for the families of fallen police officers. the fifth annual protect the badge golf outing was held this afternoon at jeffersonville golf club in norristown. the event created by channel6 photographer mike mccloskey. he might be a lousy golfer but he's a great guy and has tremendous commitment to this cause. 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to a family who has lost a loved one in the line of duty. get four unlimited lines for just forty bucks each. taxes and fees included. and now, netflix included. so go ahead, binge on us. another reason why t-mobile is america's best unlimited network. >> actually i got a hunch mccloskey is a pretty good golfer. he deserves credit for a job well done. >> he's a good golfer. >> eagles will have. >> that back earned you got to figure other guys will ha

jim, sarah, i completely agree. it feels like every anniversary of 9/11 the weather is spectacular which remind us of that day. a change up on a beautiful note. hi, thin clouds coming in putting grayy and those clouds will be with us through the day tomorrow. they're serious high clouds from irma. we're getting a taste of it now moving across southeastern united states. you can see it's 150 miles center south of atlanta. my heavens we have so much rain in that area and if you did not see this before he, these are tropical storm warnings and that's the first time atlanta had a tropical storm warning and that went into effect tomorrow and will remain until tonight. obviously coastal areas have to watch for struch because as everyone has been saying just because wind were down to 50 storms done in our area including isabel. now that the storm is weakening it can cause problems and lack of power and falling trees are among the biggest ones. focusing locally, temperatures on the cool side here. 72 degrees. in the district culpeper 69. winchester 66. ands as we look at evening forecast weep keel it dry. 00 temperature, 70, 71 by 9:00 and about 68 and 11:00, 66. while high pressure conti

jim. see you at 7:00. in about eight minute from now >> thanks, gale, appreciate it >> bye, natasha. >> bye bye, take care. >> well, actress kate walsh is opening up about her health. >> the former grays star reveals that she had a brain tumor back in 2015. while she tells cosmo political continue, felt tired but blamed it on busy schedule turns out to be benign mass, she said, about the size after lemon, pressing against her brain. surgeons removed the tumor three days later, and now walsh said she pays much more a then sean to her health. >> good for her. i really like her on that show >> very good. >> just ahead of the holiday shopping season toys "r" us filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. >> struggling with the 5 billion-dollar long-term debt. the company says it intends to use the bankruptcy protection to re-structure that debt. there are approximately 1600 toys l us and babies r us stores all around the world, the company says they will continue operating as usual. >> mcdonald's is taking steps to make their happy meals a little more healthy, fast-food chain dumping apple juice from its kids meals, instead will include organic juice made by honest kids with less sugar. happy meal h