when you first heard what rachel nichols had said, what ran through your mind? >> first, i thought invasion of privacy. she did not expect her conversation to be overheard. she was expressing frustration over a lost opportunity that she thought she deserved. the fact that was aired i believe is very inappropriate. that's the first thing that happened. the second thing that came to mind, the question about what many african americans including my company and i experience is that people make a presumption because the pendulum is swinging to become much more equalized in america. that somehow african americans get their opportunity mainly or primarily because of their race and the desire to create a more equitable society. and that marginalizes us as business people and professionals. so those two things. and both, one is clear-cut and one is a little more complicated. >> yes, i agree. and subject to a lot of different interpretation. for what it's worth, what i heard was rachel nichols saying, hey, i get it, espn has a poor track record on diversity. and i myself

now, that's making a difference. >>> espn has pulled rachel nichols from covering the nba finals s asmaria taylor, who's a black female employee, for nba finals coverage instead of her. cnn has not independently obtained this recording and nichols has not denied its authenticity. >> in it, she reportedly says, in part, i wish maria taylor all the success in the world. she covers football, she covers basketball. if you need to give her more things to do because you're feeling pressure about your crappy long-term record on diversity, which by the way, i know personally from the female side of it, like, go for it. just you know, find it somewhere else. you're not going to find it from me or take me thing away. >> malika andrews will be the sideline reporter when it starts. espn is sidestepping this or trying to, but not having rachel nichols or maria taylor, instead it will be malika andrews stepping in. she like maria is black. espn says we believe this was the best decision for all concerned, in order to keep the focus on the nba finals. so really, sort of sidestep this controversy. ni

rachel nichols has been sidelined tonight. network removing her from reporting 30s -- duties during the nba panel for a comment she made about maria taylor and diversity. after being passed over for an assignment being taylor for las year. the late this case of is a cancel culture. clay travis, great to see you, clay. >> thanks for having me. appreciate that. >> look at the six because i start seeing stuff bubbling up on social media. rachel nichols caught on camera same racist things break up wan to see which he allegedly said because i'm thinking i would be stunned to see her using the letter and worker something tha 100 perceive both what a great it's racist language. this is what they are reporting about a conversation in july of last year. i wish maria taylor all the success in the world pitch ever football, basketball, and if yo need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your one time record on diversity, which, by the way i know personally from the female side of it, go for it . just find

i think it's unfair to her and what's going to happen to rachel nichols?care in this situation because this is another example of cancel culture. it's. >> sean: it's cancel culture and boycott culture, everything that we conservators, we kind of started our career at the same time although you are a lot younger and better looking.ur it's just always been the reality. >> nichols is being accused of racism but it also shows zero-tolerance for racism against black people which is the opposite of what the left thinks. white racism exists but it's social power is almost no. the social power against white racism is overwhelming and that's what this shows. that's whys this whole week stf it was nonsense. you have a higher potential with the white vote than john kerry did four years earlier and have we forgot about all that? can we all just lighten up? my goodness. >> sean: as long as they don't cancel stephen a. smith. he is probably going to be one of the best commentators out there today. straight-ahead, and absently heartbreaking story out of michigan. this ed

rachel nichols, maria taylor are on the same side.te male dominated profession. at the end of the day, that's what viewers want and should expect. this is a real black eye for espn. >> thank you very much, brian. >>> and next we're going to take you inside myanmar. this is an incredible and exclusive look for how rebels are planning to take on military hun a hunta and try to restore democracy. 72,808... dollars. yep... everything hurts. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ look...if your wireless carrier was a guy, you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible. not great at saving. you deserve better - xfinity mobile. now, they have unlimited for just $30 a month. $30 dollars. and they're number 1 in customer satisfaction. his number? delete it. deleting it. so break free from the big three. xfinity internet customers, take the savings challenge at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings or visit an xfinity store to learn how our switch squad makes it easy to switch and save hundreds. >>> tonight an exclusive look ins

it looks like rachel nichols is talking to maria taylor, it's not happening.es to engage with her on the air. it's not an apology based on trying to come to an agreement. it's kind of what you have to do. that happened on monday. on tuesday, the decision was made to take her off of the nba finals. it's not like the apology led to a kumbaya moment. it didn't have resonance at all. howie: you're right. she was criticizing espn's approach to diversity. maybe the network felt stung and that's the reason for the retaliation i'm going to call it what it is. >> yeah. i think it's really just trying to get some pr win out of this. espn did not look good in that piece, i think it was by design, in that new york times article, it was losing the battle on twitter which as we know has so much relevance these days, i think undue relevance for a big organization like espn. you take rachel off the nba finals, you try take some of the heat off it. this may happen a during the nba finals, game 7, maria taylors' contract is up. i would say it's a huge win for maria taylor and w

i think it's just unfair to her and now what will happen to rachel nichols?are in this situation. this is another example of cancel culture. >> sean: it is cancel culture, boycott culture, everything we conservatives started our careers around the same time, a lot younger and better looking but we face this as conservatives our entire career and it's always been our reality. >> she is being accused of racism but it also shows you a zero tolerance or racism black people, which is the opposite of what the left thinks. a former editor of the national review and said white racism exists, but it's social power is almost null. the social power against white racism, overwhelming. that's what this shows. that's why this is nonsense. just a few years ago, barack obama was president of the united states for crying out loud, got a higher percentage of the white vote than john kerry did years earlier. have we forgotten about that? and we all just lighten up? my goodness. >> sean: as long as they don't cancel stephen a. smith. he's a buddy, i like him, a little hard on my

colleague and the network's efforts. >> i'm here with monty williams >> reporter: to basketball fans, rachel nichols is a fixture on the sidelines. now she has been sidelined for criticizing espn assigning maria taylor, who's black, to host last years n.b.a. county down to have the playoffs over nichols who is white. >> the first thing they tell you in journalism school is don't become testify story. >> reporter: she did become the story when a conversation she had last year was secretly recorded and later leaked. >> if you need to give her more things to do because you're feeling pressure about your long-time anniversary, go for it. just, you know, find it somewhere else. >> reporter: nichols apologized on the jump. h deeplhe co-hosts on espn. for disappointing those i hurt, particularly maria taylor. >> reporter: former espn colleague jemele hill. >> where you don't see a lot of black women in the role maria is in, she hears that 100 times a day. to the hear that from another woman colleague would be harmful and hurtful for her. >> reporter: reaction has been swift not only targeting nichols but a

the all-new ruggedly redesigned 2022 nissan pathfinder. ♪♪ >>> espn has benched reporter rachel nicholsconomic ols who is white is heard in a recording of a private conversation venting about espn's decision to have maria taylor who is black host shows during last year's nba finals instead of her. she said espn was feeling the pressure about adding diversity among on-air talent amid the black lives matter movement. >> i wish maria taylor all the success in the world she can cover football, she covers basketball. if you need to give her more things to do because you are feeling pressure about your crabby longtime record and diversity, which, by the way, i know personally just go for it you know, find it somewhere else >> nichols a joysed for the comments by saying how deeply sorry she was for disappointing her colleagues taylor has not commented publicly on this matter. >>> the billionaire race to space is on, and just six days from now sir richard branson is set to take off. he plans to beat both jeff bezos and elon musk flying to the edge of space this weekend with five other people nb

we also have to mention the only person who has really been disciplined, rachel nichols was taken offdisciplined was a young black producer who shared the video with -- who shared the audio with maria taylor in first place. she is no longer with the company after she saw her duties eaten into after this happened. it doesn't seem espn has handled it well given they've had so much time to prepare for it. >> i want to read maria taylor's tweet. i remember that i'm in a position to open doors and light the path that others walk down. i've taken some punches but that just means i'm still in the fight. remember to lift as you climb and always keep rising. in general we've had a lot of conversations surrounding race in sports. how does this narrative play into that? >> i think anybody who is a woman of color -- i'm not a black woman, but i think anybody who is a woman of color in the sports space knows that if it is not necessarily truly what rachel nichols believes or what everybody believes, there are a significant number of people who think that the only reason women and women of color ge

i heard on the right their narrative is oh, sure rachel nichols was woke and all in favor of diversityer and then on the left there's an understandable impulse to say, you know, there are sometimes white people who appear to be allies but then behind closed doors the truth comes out. but in fairness if you listen though or read the transcript she doesn't disparage maria taylor, if anything she seems to acknowledge that maria is a terrific talent. but what she's saying is not that i wanted this came job but i have it in my contract to have this assignment. that sort of things, jim, has gone on in broadcasting forever and i'm not sure everybody realizes it, if it was two white guys it just would be a broadcasting thing. work it out. but you got other dynamics here and people will read into it whatever they want to read into it. >> let's talk about the olympics. just as we were asking ourselves what are the olympics without be bob costas, what are the olympics without fans. we got used to watching the nfl, the nba and so on without fans but the olympics. i mean that is going to be strange

the "new york times" revealing the tape of host rachel nichols, who is white griping to a friend thatad of her. >> i wish maria all the success in the world. she covers football. she covers football. you need to give her more things to do because your feeling pressure about your crappy long time record on diversity, which i know personally from the female side of it. go for it. just find it somewhere else. you're not going find it with me and take my thing away. >> nichols thought she was speaking privately, but her words were beamed back to espn for a camera set up for her live shots. the recording, which she called a spy video, made the rounds inside espn last summer, stirring racial tensions amid a nationwide reckoning about racism. >> this is a really unfortunate situation. >> reporter: now it's public. and even the nba commissioner is weighing in. >> i think it's particularly unfortunate that two women in the industry are pitted against each other. >> reporter: espn management is coming under scrutiny. >> it's a huge mess for espn. >> fierce espn critic clay travis, the founder o

. >>> basketball fans will not be seeing espn's rachel nichols during the nba finals. replaced her as a sideline reporter after a recording surfaced of nichols making disparaging comments about a black colleague. the comments came after nichols learned that she would not be hosting last year's nba finals coverage. during the private conversation, nichols suggested that espn picked maria taylor to be the host because she's black. nichols apologized on monday. >>> and there are more resignations from britney spears' legal and business teams. yesterday her court-appointed attorney filed a motion to resign from the conservatorship overseeing her nearly $60 million fortune. it comes after the pop star testified that she wanted to choose her own attorney for the conservatorship which she called abusive. there are also reports that spears' longtime manager, larry rudolph, is resigning. >>> coming up on "cbs this morning," we're going to take you to paisley park for a sneak peek at a special shoe collection belonging to superstar prince. everyone, ourn is to provide complete,

nefertiti, i honestly believe rachel nichols represents a large sect of society.his sentiment. diversity is cool if it doesn't impact me in any way. >> absolutely. to begin it is a rough week for black women and a rough couple of weeks. especially with espn and nichols, everything from the swim cap ban with the olympics and also the two twins who are now being disqualified for a few events. it feels like black women are attacked constantly in sport and in this particular case three things are happening right here. first in the comments themselves are sexist and racist. we have to acknowledge the racism in the comments made and the racist rhetoric and the comments made by rachel nichols to assume that again maria taylor didn't get the positions because of talent and super intelligent but because espn had to make a diversity hire. the second point is the scarcity politics taking place and what we saw taking place in that particular conversation was the politics of one. zero sum game. there's only one position for a woman thinking about sport broadcasting opportuniti

pete: espn reporter rachel nichols losing her gig for the nba finals after calling out the networks historyo there's a tape, it's a-year-old, she's claiming she may not get the gig on the nba finals because of the color of her skin and another co-host and she doesn't get the gig. what do you make of this? >> well she's actually lost two jobs now, and they are uncertain if her show is ever going to return to air, meaning rachel nichols, and this is all come out of a tape that was made over a year ago, when she was inside the nba bubble, did not know her home camera there in the hotel room was on, and had a conversation about being replaced by maria taylor, a black woman, and said the reason why she was losing her job bass aways of espn's issues with diversity implying quite clearly that maria taylor was getting her job, because of the color of maria taylor's skin and what's ironic about this is rachel nichols has always been super woke publicly. she praised the nba over the disastrous decision to move the all-star game out of charlotte, north carolina over a transgender bathroom bill. she's

carley: this espn drama is all over social media involving long time host rachel nichols who was pulledosting duties at the nba finals after the new york times released audio not really criticizing but basically saying her colleague maria taylor was given a promotion for diversity reasons. she was upset because maria taylor would be taking over one of her own jobs, reaching adam silver who reacted saying both of these women are fantastic at what they do. this is a really unfortunate situation. larry elder was on hannity last night with a different take. >> they will tell you until tonight i didn't know who these two people are and at least we are talking about them. can we get back to sports? when did we get into all this politics? >> my suspicion is what is going on his jealousy. carley: she should an on-air apology for her remarks, she didn't know she was being recorded at the time and she said in a private conversation she west maria taylor all the success in the world. jillian: racial nichols has never been involved in any drama or anything and she was contractually obligated for th

rachel nichols is apologizing to her colleagues.r, who is black, was chosen ahead of her to host nba finals. in that chat nichols is heard telling lebron james and pfizer that nichols got the post because they have a terrible diversity record. >> i also don't want to let this moment pass without saying how much i respect, how much i value our colleagues here at espn and how deeply, deeply sorry i am for disappointing those i hurt, particularly maria taylor and how grateful i am to be part of this outstanding team. >> so far taylor has not responded to our request for comment. >>> here's something from my home state in lake charles, louisiana. louisiana woman took matters into her own hands to get an alligator to stop blocking traffic. yes, it happens, folks. watch as she uses her foot to persuade it to leave. another man holding a stick walked over to try to help but the stubborn alligator wasn't having it. authorities sent out a reminder saying it's dangerous and illegal to handle gators and it's better to leave it to the pros. eve

a year after the audio surfaced of rachel nichols talking about maria taylor.well. >> yeah. i worked there for 12 years. i know both women -- >> they're both very good. we should say they're both very good at what they do. yeah. >> yes. they're both very good. both very admired professionally by a lot of people in this business. and essentially in a private conversation that was, you know, that a lot of people at espn heard because it was on a company server, you know, rachel said some very disparaging things about, you know, maria, and there was an assignment that was promised to her contractually and it was going to go maria and all hell has broken loose. gayle, you've been in tv a long time. we know what happens behind the scenes is a competitive business. sometimes it does not bring out the best in people. i think here what needs to be addressed is culturally how these things happen. like what is allowed to persist in certain workplaces. and i think i'm disappointed in the fact that, you know, maria has this very high-profile job, it's great to see a black

i want to ask but a controversy at espn surrounding the broadcaster rachel nichols. got a job hosting nba will finals coverage because espn was feeling pressure on diversity. what is your take on all of this? >> i know both women maxt rhea and rachel. i've known rachel, i mentored her. she went to northwestern as i did and i've known her for years and we worked together at the "washington post." and i think it is best to quote rach old this. she has talk about how deeply, deeply sorry she is for what happened. she's apologized. obviously, this is not good but her apology i think stands as the answer to the question. her apology, she went on air and apologized. she apologized, she tried to reach out to maria. it is a really tough situation. obviously something rachel should not have done and of course it was captured on a hot mic, so to speak. that doesn't change it and her apology, i believe, stands for itself. >> notably, maria taylor right now is in this limbo with her contract at espn. they have yet to give an indication that they plan to renew her. perhaps she ha

we told you that maria taylor was angry after rachel nichols was caught saying taylor shouldn't havetaylor left espn after the african-american rejected a contract that wasn't enough to overcome the bad blood. an npr story included a photo of another black woman at espn. breitbart is upset that tom brady joked around with president biden, saying many people don't believe he won the super bowl. when the buccaneers visited the white house. keep in mind, brady wouldn't join his new england teammates in visits to the trump white house. now breitbart is running headlines saying five times brady called trump a friend before stabbing him in the back. a paper is being sued after a claim of a sexual assault survivor. the ban was lifted earlier this year. the suit says somnez was depressed and endured physical pain, embarrassment and humiliation. liberal new york times columnist is taking a leave of absence as he decides whether to run for oregon governor as a democrat. he returned to his family farm a couple years ago but the transition from pundit to poll sounds like a long shots. i'm buy ya

the reason the controversy about rachel nichols and maria taylor at espn received so much attention thisso many of our workplaces. in case you missed the kerfuffle, it's a core about one employee, nichols, thinking she was denied a gig or opportunity in favor of another, taylor, and that race somehow played a factor. it raises an interesting question, namely, is it necessarily racist when a white employee questions the hiring or elevation of a minority colleague. a quick recap of the facts. it was july 2020, so, a years ago that initianicole has a conversation with two.

rachel nichols is the stepdaughter of diane sawyer now by all accounts very hard working, very good atld be hard to convince me that she hasn't benefitted somewhat from those associations. for her to make that claim that taylor didn't earn her position is ironic. >> i think that default to in her comment is something that is lost. i've talked with so many people about this, a lot of people, white people, don't key in on that assumption that is made, oh, that it's because maria taylor is a person of color that she's being given this assignment. but you know, you and i -- we were babies together in news. >> yeah. >> and you and i have talked for years about this. you personally have experienced this as a black woman, as someone -- just speak to this. you got a full ride to journalism school and people would make assumptions about you because of this trope. >> yeah. you and i go back like babies and pacifiers. and i have faced this in my life many, many times. i felt like i was there as a diversity token. i was there on a full academic ride and finished with a perfect gpa. we're always ha

rachel nichols during last year's bubble in orlando a new report over the weekend from the "new yorkon for her colleague, maria taylor, to host the 2020 nba finals coverage nichols said taylor won the job because espn was feeling pressure on diversity. join us now on the potential fallout for espn, sarah fisher, axios media reporter this is one of the stories where this happened to be espn, but i think across all media, dealing with the same type of issues i don't know if all our viewers are familiar with what happened, so you might give us a brief summary of the story itself. >> yeah. over the weekend, "the new york times" put out this bombshell report, basically explaining leaked recordings of rachel nichols, an anchor at espn, her conversation with a third party, not at espn, about the network giving maria taylor a contract to host the nba finals, something she said was in her contract it is causing controversy. the way nichols framed it said, look, i don't wish this person ill, but she's only getting the job because she is a person of color. now, the issue brings to light a lot o

here are some of taylor's departure comes after the leak of a reporting in which her co-worker, rachel nicholszed on air after the news broke saying she was deeply sorry for those she hurt particularly taylor. espn said there's no doubt we will miss maria, but we remain determined to continue to build a deep and skilled talent roster that thoroughly reflects the athletes we cover and the fans that we serve. >> it was such an unfortunate situation i think for all involved because they are both so good at what they do. rachel and maria. while maria hasn't said where she's going, i think she's going to do all right. she's very good. >> from what i hear she's going to do very well. >> yes. >> everybody and their cat wants her. you go, maria. >> she's amazing. >> a lot of very talented women over there at espn. >>> all right. right now we've got a list of five iconic artists who will be celebrated at this year's kennedy center honors, and the divine miss m is among them. ♪ did you ever know that you're my hero ♪ >> oh, my gosh. >> we all had that hair back in the day, didn't we? bette says that she

if you look at the conflict between rachel nichols and maria taylor and many of stephen a.n a. saw this as he apologizes and bends the knee at the woke altar. what you learn is you can never apologize enough. >> clay let's play that apology because i guy that's known for speaking his mind had to apologize. let's look at this. >> i want to express my sincere oops apologies to the asian community. a lot of racists were quick to say that was my intent. that's not where i'm going. i was wrong, period. >> we really knew what he was talking about to begin with but this was just the woke crowd trying to destroy the man. >> look, i think otani is an unbelievable story and i think many times media gets wild ly over-focused on what athletes say and don't focus enough on what they do. peyton manning and michael jordan probably the two best marketers of their generation in football and basketball they aren't on social media. usually, if you are an excellent talent you don't need any additional attention beyond what you're doing. ohtani pitched the first inning as a starter and also was

part of of that probably has to do with the fact like the rachel nichols thing, a little bit too closeracist. if you come after me i'm white, i can be fired, we can't live in this racist environment. will: 83% voted no confidence. rachel: she is dominican-american, the principal is. she is a dominican american. teachers of all colors actually gave the no confidence vote. will: i truly believe everyone in america wants to teach america's full history, america's full experience. what we're looking at here quite honestly the downstream effects of critical race theory what we've been talking about all along. it imposes upon you, upon us, upon the society a racist view. you see each other through the prism much race. here is the effect. downstream effect. i need to get rid of all the white teachers. where did you think this was going to go? pete: that is a great point. we have to go backwards to go forward. will: paula lev, did not return our request for comment from "the new york post." rachel: thank you, will. we'll turn now to some of your headlines. two of the three men found dead earli