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Republican Candidates Prep for the Debate; Kentucky Clerk Files Appeal To Delay Marriages; NYPD Releases Video of Cop Body-Slamming James Blake; Europe Struggles with Influx of Refugees; Tax Dollars Fund Stadiums Despite Record NFL Revenues. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 12, 2015 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:00:30] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everyone. 4:00 Eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.

Up first this hour, politics. It is the final Saturday before the CNN Republican primary presidential debate. Just this afternoon we are hearing from the candidates and how they are preparing to take the stage. Donald Trump, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul visiting tailgate parties outside the Iowa versus Iowa state football game in Ames today. Trump spoke at a campaign rally before attending the game.

CNN political reporter Sara Murray was at the rally. Fun assignment. He talked about I'm ready for this debate, I want to talk about national security, foreign policy, people will be surprised at how well versed I am on those. He also addressed his dust-up over faith with fellow candidate Ben Carson. What did he say about that?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Donald Trump went out there and said look, "I have a really strong faith, I read the bible," a pitch right there to Iowa's bloc of evangelical voters. He took on Ben Carson for criticizing his faith. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In all fairness to Ben, Ben hit me on my faith. You don't hit a person on faith. I don't know him. He knows nothing about me. I'm protestant, I'm Presbyterian, I believe strongly, believe in the Bible strongly, but he hit me in my faith. I believe strongly. You don't hit a person on faith. He was nice enough to apologize. He actually apologized which is nice. Most people won't do that so I respect that. But it's a tough thing when you get hit on faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: You could hear there Donald Trump criticizing Ben Carson for talking about his faith at all. It's pretty clear that Donald Trump even though he may not admit it knows he's in a battle with Ben Carson to win over those all important evangelical voters in Iowa. HARLOW: But in the latest polling we have, Sara, from this week, you

got Trump leading in support from evangelicals which is so critical there in Iowa, 32 percent to Carson's 28 percent. Scott walker wants those evangelical votes. I know you caught up with him today. Is he worried at all that his numbers are dropping?

MURRAY: You know, Scott Walker is at three percent in the latest poll in Iowa. A total collapse for a guy who was the front-runner here, whose campaign made it clear Iowa is the path to victory. I asked him, he cancelled a couple events in other states to focus more on Iowa and South Carolina. He says he doesn't want to be at events with a bunch of other candidates. He wants to make a one-on-one pitch to voters. He also says he may have been a little too midwestern nice in the first debate. This time he's promising to be more aggressive.

HARLOW: That's interesting coming from a Minnesotan who knows Minnesota nice pretty well. We'll see, that would be me, we'll see how that plays on the debate stage. Sara Murray, thank you very much.

Well, Democrat Bernie Sanders also on the campaign trail today trying to stir up support among southern voters. CNN's senior political reporter Nia Malika Henderson was with Sanders on the campaign trail and says he specifically targeted black voters in his speech in South Carolina today.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITIAL REPORTER: That's right, Poppy. I'm here in Columbia, South Carolina, where Bernie Sanders drew a crowd of 1,000 people to Benedict College. This, of course, is a historically black university, very much a must do campaign stop for anyone courting African-American voters which is exactly what Bernie Sanders is trying to do. He so far hasn't been able to make in-roads among African-American voters.

They for now seem to prefer Hillary Clinton. Today he was joined onstage by Dr. Cornell West who is a very prominent black progressive academic. He had been a surrogate for Obama in 2008, has since become something of a critic of Obama. But today he was Team Bernie, calling him dear brother, Bernie Sanders, saying he was on the move and going to win the White House. Bernie Sanders today talked about criminal justice reform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Racism remains alive today and our goal together must be to end all forms of institutional racism and make major reforms in our criminal justice system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:05:00]

HENDERSON: He talked about education reform. He also talked about making health care more affordable. In fact, making it universal. These are all things that very much resonated with this crowd. I think we will see more of this from Bernie Sanders as he tries to broaden his appeal to this very key demographic that will very likely decide the democratic primary, this primary of course is in February, February 27th.

A lot of the folks I talked to really didn't know Bernie Sanders going into this thing but they came away very impressed with his message on many of these issues where he's to the left of Hillary Clinton.

So Poppy, we will have to see what Bernie Sanders does to kind of solidify some of the support among African-American voters. Back to you.

HARLOW: Nia, thank you very much for that. On the campaign trail with Bernie Sanders. Donald Trump took a few jabs on late night television last night when he appeared on the "Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon." He was the butt of a few jokes like the mirror sketch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFED MALE: Question one, are you ready for the Republican debate next week?

TRUMP: You know, the truth is, I'm always ready. It's really going to be a big debate but I'm always ready.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: It's not just big, it's huge! Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Well, that appearance certainly did well for that network. It handed Fallon a solid ratings win against Stephen Colbert's late show.

And you don't want to miss what they were talking about right there, the next GOP presidential debate. The candidates there, you see them facing off in back-to-back debates that is Wednesday night, September 16th, 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

CNN will also host the first of six democratic debates, first of which is October 13th in Nevada. What do you want to hear from the candidates? Tweet your debate questions using the #cnndebate.

Coming up next, freed Kentucky clerk Kim Davis returns to work on Monday but is not giving up her fight in whether or not to issue marriage licenses to gay and lesbian couples. Her latest appeal next. I

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[16:10:12]

HARLOW: Controversial Kentucky clerk Kim Davis returns to work on Monday but her legal showdown is far from over. Her lawyers have requested another delay in her having to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples. She was released from jail this week but has been ordered to not interfere with the deputy clerks in her office that will be providing licenses to same sex couples. If she does, the judge says he will send her back to jail.

Nick Valencia with me from Atlanta following this story closely. I know there have been a number of appeals. The one to the lower court was struck, now they filed another appeal to a higher court?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a bit hard to keep up with isn't, Poppy. This is an appeal that was filed on Friday in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. The argument from her attorneys is that Kim Davis, those that were looking for marriage licenses from her, they were given them before she went to jail so since all of those looking for same sex marriage licenses from her were given same sex marriage licenses, her argument is she shouldn't have to be required when she turns - returns to work on Monday to issue those licenses, nor should her office be required.

Of course, a lower court judge has denied that motion so now her attorneys are taking it to a higher court in hopes of getting resolution there. You know this, Poppy, she has all along maintained that her beliefs as a Christian have kept her from issuing these same sex marriage licenses. She essentially is saying she would rather break federal law than break her own moral conscience.

Now, her supporters, they equate her to a martyr, a Christian martyr who stands for the Christian right. You see there Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee showed up for a rally earlier this week. Also Senator Ted Cruz has thrown his support behind her. Her critics asking why not just resign, as other clerks of the court across the country have done. Those that have opposed same sex marriages, others have stepped down. She is an elected official.

People are asking why not hold a referendum to see if people want her in that position. But she returns to work on Monday. We asked her attorney if it will be more of the same, if she is going to deny more same sex marriages. He was unwilling to commit to an answer, just saying she has given an oath to god and it's an oath she doesn't plan to break.

HARLOW: Nick, let me ask you, before I let you go. The other deputies, the deputy clerks that work with her in the office because she's not the only one issuing these licenses, there are others that are issuing them as well -

VALENCIA: Right.

HARLOW: What is their feeling about her? Do they agree with her? Are they rallying behind her? Do they not agree with her? How is that working internally?

VALENCIA: Well, we have seen all but one of her deputies fall in line and follow the law. Ten marriage licenses, seven of which were same sex marriage licenses, were issued in the time those five days that Kim Davis was in jail.

So her effectiveness really is going to be judged on whether or not she intervenes in these issuing of same sex marriages.

HARLOW: Right.

VALENCIA: You know, she is putting herself at risk of going back to jail, Poppy. The judge has been very clear that if she denies more same sex marriage licenses, that she's going to go right back to where she came from and that's prison. She spent five days there. She may be putting herself at risk to going back there again. Poppy.

HARLOW: Nick, thank you very much. We'll talk more about this with CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos, when you look at, Danny, what her attorney, what Kim Davis' attorney says, he says this case - the case against her should not go beyond the four couples who originally filed the case against her, the same sex couples, but during her contempt of court hearing the judge expanded that order to include people who are not in the case before.

You say the fact that these individual plaintiffs no longer have a case does not destroy this case. I know it sounds complex and a lot of legalese but why is there still a case against her?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'll break it down. The concept is called (INAUDIBLE) what it means is that a court must have an actual case in front of it in order to act or issue an opinion or even have any power to begin with. The attorneys' argument is they created one. The idea that because those people who wanted licenses have them, there's no longer an issue before the court. And that is called the (INAUDIBLE) or rightness doctrine. The idea that if there isn't any pressing issue the court cannot hear it because it is not technically a case. There are exceptions.

The most famous exception would be, the issue of abortion. It's capable of repetition but evades reviewing. By that I mean that a pregnant female who wants an abortion would have to wait far more than nine months to have her case heard by an appellate court so even though every pregnant woman in the history of pregnant women is no longer pregnant after two years, they are still allowed to hear that case because it's an exception to the general rule that there must be an actual case and an actual issue before the court. But the argument is a creative one and it is true that as a general proposition, there must be a concrete actual injury before the court, not a future potential threatened injury.

[09:15:00]

But again, there are exceptions to that rule, where there is a direct threat of violation to a yet unknown plaintiff.

HARLOW: She will return to work on Monday. No one knows what she's going to do there, will she abide by the law of the land which is to issue these same sex marriage licenses, or will she refuse. Danny, can she overturn any of those licenses that were granted to same sex couples while she was in jail? Does she have any power that way?

CEVALLOS: We are certainly in a new area of the law. I don't think anyone has ever explored the degree to which a county clerk's office on her stamp is severable if at all from the actual name that appears on that document. As any attorney can tell you who practices in different counties, every county, every district courthouse all have different practices that they follow. Some may not have a name on a stamp. Some may have a name on a stamp.

We are sort of in a new area of the law where we will test the limits of what the individual county clerk as a person, how far she can sever that identity from her official role as the county clerk. So there is equally as good an argument that because you are the elected county clerk, you are an automaton. You are supposed to stamp and do these things that are part of your job as being a clerk.

Her argument of course is that you cannot sever the me, that is the clerk, and I have these personal religious objections. That really is what this controversy boils down to.

HARLOW: It does, and it's going to be fascinating to see what comes of it and where they fall on this. Certainly the judge in this case. Danny, thank you.

Coming up next, it is an issue that is not going away any time soon. I'm talking about campaign finance reform. I know you hear it over and over and over and things don't really seem to change. Guess what? We learned this week that it's an issue that is very high on Hillary Clinton's agenda. What she is doing to public corporations to try to bring about change. Next.

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[16:20:46]

HARLOW: It may not be dominating the political headlines but we hear it time and time again when elections roll around. When will there be campaign finance reform.

The "L.A. Times" had a fascinating article arguing presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is trying to shame companies into disclosing all of their political contributions. On Tuesday, we heard Clinton propose a plan that would force publicly traded companies to disclose any and all political donations, including to Super Pacs.

This is not a new idea. This has been proposed over and over again. It's been considered even by the Securities and Exchange Commission. So why hasn't anything happened?

Arthur Levitt is with me. He is the longest serving chairman of the S.E.C.. He was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, served a second five-year term in May 1998 and was the longest serving chairman ever.

Sir, thank you for being with me. You are very opinionated on this one. Will something like this actually happen, where the S.E.C. says all right, all money from publicly traded companies must be very clearly - to political campaigns must be very clearly laid out to the public, so basically you get out of this so-called dark money game. Will it happen? ARTHUR LEVITT, FMR. SEC CHAIRMAN: I hope it will, but I can't promise you that it's going to happen soon. As a matter of fact, I can tell you it's unlikely to happen soon. I think Hillary Clinton is on the right track calling for this but ultimately, it's up to the Securities and Exchange Commission to implement it.

Securities and Exchange Commission is so burdened with other matters, namely completing the work on Dodd-Frank and bringing cases that have abounded in terms of corporate malfeasance that to get this issue through a deeply divided commission which is divided philosophically is extremely unlikely. The chairman of the S.E.C. is not putting this item high up on the agenda.

I think for good reasons, because she realizes that the Republicans and Democrats on the commission are unlikely to come to a consensus agreement. Another fight that she doesn't want to take on to the ones that she's already waging.

HARLOW: You are saying it just comes down to political bickering. You also point out that Hillary Clinton, for example, or any frankly person who is a presidential hopeful when they do become president faces a real problem in actually implementing this, because of where funding comes from. Why is that?

LEVITT: Well, I think that the president has got to really focus on who she or he appoints to chair the S.E.C. that's the general on the front line to call for funding and to call for action. What the president can do in terms by executive orders and by keeping the pressure on the S.E.C. to enact this and gaining congressional support for it, that can be significant.

If the president makes this an action item, he or she can make a difference. The most important difference the president can make is the caliber and quality of the person that he or she will appoint as head of the S.E.C..

You say about the S.E.C. right now, quote, it is a failure to act that offends not only us who are alumni of this agency struggling to retain our deep pride of association, but investors and the professionals who serve them. You see this as offensive.

LEVITT: I think it's deeply troubling that a political, philosophically charged S.E.C. has been unable to come to grips with a very important issue because Congress has burdened the S.E.C. with too many rule making obligations that have kept them tied up and arguing among the commissioners on split votes up and down the line.

I think that's unfortunate. I think investors have suffered as a result of failing to reveal the source of political contributions for every public company. I think it's extremely important.

[16:25:04]

HARLOW: Ultimately finally, sir, can any president who in their campaign has taken money or some of this dark money, if you will, accepted money that hasn't been clearly laid out from corporations, can they actually argue for this?

LEVITT: A strong, tough president who cares about a legacy would make this a high agenda item in my book. I'm glad that Hillary Clinton has called for it. I hope that if she becomes president or whoever becomes president makes this an action item. It's critically important to investors.

HARLOW: Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the S.E.C. and the longest serving chairman, thank you, sir.

LEVITT: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up, CNN's one-on-one interview today with the former tennis star who was tackled and body slammed by a police officer here in New York City in a sting operation gone severely wrong. What James Blake had to say about that take-down.

Plus the police reform he's now insisting on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Former tennis star James Blake telling us here at CNN today he has not yet decided whether he will file a lawsuit or not against New York City Police Department, this after earlier this week he was tackled and body slammed by a plain clothes police officer in a case of mistaken identity.

Surveillance video released by the NYPD, you're looking at it now, which shows Blake as you saw him casually standing there outside a Manhattan hotel. Suddenly the officer rushes at him, forces him to the ground face down on the sidewalk. It turns out the officer had completely wrong person in this case about credit card fraud.

Today, my colleague Don Lemon sat down for an extensive interview with Blake and asked him if he thought race may have been a factor in this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST, "CNN TONIGHT" (on camera): Your mom says I'm glad he took the path of least resistance, she said. It could have gotten really ugly.

[16:30:01] You don't think about them as being black until this kind of thing throws it back on you.

She thinks it has something to do with race. He says it doesn't. Do you?

JAMES BLAKE, FORMER TENNIS STAR: You know, I think the race issue is a huge issue. I don't think it's appropriate for this incident because I think this incident needs to be more about the force and the fact that this can't be used and these kind of police officers can't be encouraged to be back out on the streets.

I think the issue of race is a bigger one for a whole different interview and I don't want to muddy this situation, muddy this incident that really needs to create change in the police brutality, in the accountability of these police officers with the racial issue. I think there's probably -- there probably is a gray area with Bill Bratton being so clear one way and my mom being so clear the other way. I'm sure there is a gray area. And somewhere in the middle that we can talk about, but I think that's for really a different discussion.

LEMON: You said, "I am determined to use my voice to turn this unfortunate incident into a catalyst for change in the relationship between the police and the public they serve."

If that's not through a lawsuit or maybe it is, how does that work?

BLAKE: Well, like I said, I want to see change. I want to see this not happen. That was my first reaction once I realized that I needed to speak up about this, is I can't imagine this happening to someone I care about and I don't want to go through this again. I don't want to go through it personally and I don't want to go through it and see it happen to anyone around me and I know there's a lot of people out there that feel the same way.

So, we need to find a way to stop this from happening. I'm sure it won't be overnight. I'm sure tomorrow, this is going to happen somewhere. I don't want that to be the case. I don't want it to be brushed under -- swept under the rug and said it happens once in awhile but we'll move past it.

That's what I don't want. I don't want a lawsuit that says here's $5 million, go away. I want to keep talking about this. I want to open a dialogue with Commissioner Bratton, with Mayor de Blasio about real solutions, about accountability, about making sure that this isn't going to happen and these types of police officers are no longer able to do this.

LEMON: What do you say to that officer if he's sitting where I am?

BLAKE: The first thing I would say is, you took advantage of me in a very vulnerable situation and in doing so, you hurt my family. I want him to know this isn't just hurting me. Every time he's done this or would do this, it hurts a whole family.

And that's not fair. That's not fair to use your badge to do that, because you've got that badge and you are supposed to treat that with respect and with honor, the way we are supposed to respect and honor it. I don't think he deserves, I would say to him I don't think he deserves to ever have that badge again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's talk more about this. Joining me now, CNN law enforcement analyst and retired NYPD detective Harry Houck.

You saw the video. You served with the NYPD. And, look, James Blake pointed out in that interview, most cops are heroes, wonderful people, but this should never have happened. I think everyone across the board agrees with that. What was your first impression when you saw this video?

HARRY HOUCK, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I was mad.

HARLOW: Mad.

HOUCK: Yes. I get really mad in the way this guy approached this man. There was no need for that type of force on this gentleman at all.

HARLOW: Even if it was the right person.

HOUCK: Even if it was the right person. Listen, I did grand larceny, I did identity theft for a couple years also. The fact is, let's forget it was a minor crime because, you know, a minor crime, a police officer can be killed. You know, that's not the point.

The point is that when you approach a man like this, on a case like this where he has been identified, you just walk over and approach him. He was just leaning up against, looked like he was texting somebody or something. You got five police officers. Just go over and surround the man and talk to him.

You see his hands. So there's no reason doing that. Then tell him listen, I'm sorry, I'm a police officer, you're under arrest, have you been identify in a crime. Turn around, handcuff him and straighten the whole situation out.

Once a person identifies somebody, you got probable cause now for a stop.

HARLOW: We know this officer, Officer Frascatore, had several complaints and is a defendant in two lawsuits alleging excessive force against two individuals in New York City. But it was only -- those were filed, one of them in 2013.

HOUCK: Right.

HARLOW: So two years, granted, they haven't been proven but he has been out on the street working these jobs. Then after this case, he's on desk duty like that.

HOUCK: Right.

HARLOW: Why? Because we're talking about it?

HOUCK: Of course. This video.

HARLOW: Well, there may be video in the other cases. I don't know.

HOUCK: OK, I'm sure --

HARLOW: Is this because this was a famous person?

HOUCK: I'm sure they are being investigated. Maybe there's not enough -- you know, remember, this officer is allowed due process like everybody else. HARLOW: Totally.

HOUCK: OK? So the fact is of course, CNN, we are talking about it on CNN here and there's a video out there. This man is famous and yes, the video is clear that this officer did not act properly at all.

HARLOW: This points to what James Blake said in his interview with my colleague Don Lemon. That is how many times has this happened and no one talks about it. They are talking about it because I'm famous and because I brought it to light.

HOUCK: Listen, I'm sure it happens. You know, it happens other times.

[16:35:02] Are we looking for perfection in our police department? I'm sorry, but it doesn't exist in the world that we live in.

HARLOW: So, Bill Bratton and Mayor de Blasio apologized for this and also said the police department has taken what they would deem very big steps, allocated $29 million to retrain essentially 22,000 officers.

James Blake is asking for even more. Is he right? Is more need?

HOUCK: Listen, I got no problem with training but it always comes down to money. We used to drive police cars, used to have to keep them together with duct tape because we couldn't get them repaired. So, I mean, as far as money for training, that means you have to take police officers off the street, you got to put them in to training.

I'm for any and all kind of training. But this isn't a systemic problem in police departments. You know, there are a couple officers that are bad. Now, I just read a statistic lately that only one half of 1 percent of police officers are involved in misconduct. That's nothing, all right? Maybe that's too much, I agree with it, but in a perfect world it's way too much, and you know, we could stop it.

But we do not live in a perfect world. Things like this are going to happen from now until the end of time.

HARLOW: Regardless seeing that video makes you mad.

HOUCK: Oh, yes. I was really annoyed at that. There was no reason for that police officer's actions at all. None whatsoever.

HARLOW: Former NYPD detective Harry Houck, thank you, as always.

HOUCK: Thank you.

HARLOW: Appreciate it.

Coming up next, the migrant crisis in Europe as European governments wrestle with a steady stream of refugees looking for anywhere safe to call home. Tens of thousands take to the streets throughout the continent calling for their governments to help. CNN has been with those migrants struggling just to find shelter. A report from the front lines of this crisis, next.

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[16:40:26] HARLOW: A show of solidarity across Europe today for the hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking safety from violence in their own countries. Those rallies took place throughout the continent, including this one in Central London. Europe is struggling to deal with the influx, mass influx of refugees looking for safe harbor.

CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson takes a look at what many of these refugees are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the border between Greece and Macedonia, delineated by little more than some barbed wire across the railroad tracks. What started out as a bit of a smuggling point for refugees and migrants coming into Macedonia has evolved. There are now border guards on both sides of the front here who are helping manage the groups of people coming through, limiting them in groups of several dozen at a time so that the numbers don't overwhelm the authorities here.

Now, the migrants and refugees here, almost all of them have come across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greek islands. They traveled the length of Greece and are now entering into Macedonia, the latest stop on the migrant trail into central Europe. Upon arrival in Macedonia, the migrants are brought to this temporary transit center where they get some food and some water and some shade.

Now, there are tents here but we have to stress, this is not a camp. It is a transit center where the people are given documents that give them permission to stay in Macedonia for a period of about 72 hours -- 72 hours to apply for asylum. The government of Macedonia says among the tens of thousands of people who have arrived on the borders, only a couple dozen have applied for asylum in Macedonia. That means that the vast majority of this wave of humanity, they are just using the entire country of Macedonia as a transit country to get to other countries in Europe such as Germany and Sweden. And based on what we have seen on earlier stops on this migrant trail, there are many, many more thousands of people on their way here.

Ivan Watson, CNN, on the Macedonian border with Greece.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Ivan, thank you very much. And for all of you watching, you can find out more about the crisis and ways you can help. Go to CNN.com/seekingrefuge. Again, CNN.com/seekingrefuge.

Coming up next, switching gears on Thursday, the NFL kicked off what is almost certain to be another record money-making season. But did you know that you helped pay for a lot of the billion dollar stadiums, the new stadiums these teams are playing in? Yes, your tax dollars and the NFL, the owners keeping the profits from those stadiums. Straight ahead, we're going to break it all down for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:47:48] HARLOW: In this week's "American Opportunity", the cost of being a sports fan. The football season has officially begun. It started this week, in case you missed it.

And NFL fans will once again be pouring into stadiums and watching from home by the millions. The NFL is set to have another record money-making season with an expected $13 billion, $13 billion in revenue this year. Last year, the league raked in $12 billion up 16 percent from 2013.

But whether or not you are a fan, your tax dollars are helping pay for a large chunk in some cases of the construction of some of these stadiums. The cost of which is likely nowadays to rise to more than $1 billion.

From Atlanta to Minneapolis, the construction of professional sports stadiums is booming. There are signs that the trend is accelerating. Just last month, Wisconsin governor and presidential hopeful Scott Walker signed a bill subsidizing a new basketball arena for the Milwaukee Bucks, agreeing to spend $250 million in taxpayer money.

And these aren't your grandfather's stadiums. They include everything from steakhouses to fish tanks to -- yes, those are people in a swimming pool like this one at EverBank Field in Jacksonville.

This topic is enough to get comedian John Oliver hot under the collar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN OLIVER, HOST, LAST WEEK TONIGHT: Sports teams are successful businesses with wealthy owners and yet they still get our help. Two years ago, Detroit got approval to spend more than $280 million in taxpayer money on a new arena project for the Red Wings. Just six days after the city filed for bankruptcy. Even though the Red Wings' owner is Mike Ilitch, founder of the little Caesar's Pizza chain, worth $5.1 billion. That's a little hard to swallow.

I mean, sure, not as hard to swallow as a little Caesar's crazy bread with an assortment of seasonings but still pretty hard.

We don't just help teams build stadiums. We let them keep virtually all the revenue those stadiums then produce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The question becomes do huge payouts from cities make economic sense for the communities that these stadiums are housed in? We decided to ask a man who knows this topic extraordinarily well, Economist JC Bradbury, as we stood in front of the estimated $1.5 billion Atlanta Falcons stadium that is under construction.

[16:50:12] For the record, we at CNN did reach out to the Falcons multiple times for a statement on the public funding and invited them on the program. We did not hear back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JC BRADBURY, PROFESSOR OF SPORTS ECONOMICS, KENNESAW STATE: What we have over here, we have a nice new shiny stadium where the Atlanta Falcons and new Atlanta MLS team will play. The old Georgia Dome was built in the early '90s was here for the Olympics, and they are going to replace that building which isn't even that old with this new building right here.

HARLOW: It's a whopping 84 feet apart.

BRADBURY: Right. Exactly. Hard to believe how close they are. In fact, you can't see a space between them if you look at it.

HARLOW: Increasingly we are seeing these stadiums, one in my home state, Minnesota, one going up in Detroit, Atlanta, talk about it in Los Angeles. With the price tags, $1 billion and over.

BRADBURY: Right. This stadium is slated to be about $1.4 billion. You see the price tags going up. We tend to think of sports stadiums as being the blue collar peanuts and popcorn crowd. But now, it's more the steak and martini crowd. You have to have craft beer. You're going to have your luxury suites.

HARLOW: It's all fine and good if it makes economic sense for a city when you are using the taxpayers' money. You have spent more than a decade studying this. What do the numbers tell you? Does it net-net create more jobs long term help the city economically?

BRADBURY: Well, economists are famous for not being able to agree on anything but there's one thing they agree on. Sports subsidies are not a good idea for making money.

HARLOW: Why?

BRADBURY: That's because when you look at it, you go to a stadium, you see people buying tickets, buying food. You go, they must be making tons of money.

In reality what you are seeing is people who were spending their money on other things locally, spending it elsewhere. So, if I was going to a movie, to a restaurant, now I'm going to a sports team, the city didn't get any richer.

And here, it's very evident where you have people who are once spending money over there now spending money over here. It's not like this area got a whole bunch richer. It stayed in the same place.

HARLOW: But here's the thing -- looking at the numbers, $4.7 billion in taxpayer money across this nation has gone into building 20 new NFL stadiums since 1997. So, if you're saying it doesn't make economic sense, why does it keep happening?

BRADBURY: Well, that's one of the things there's just a lot of ignorance out there in the populace about it. And, you know, economists have been trying to get this out to people, we like sports, it's a fun popular political issue, if I'm a politician and running, I say I brought you this sports stadium, I like sports stadium, there's not much controversial about a sports team. Everyone likes it.

But the reality is that it will cost taxpayers a little more and it is a small amount. If I'm going to have to pay $30 a year more in taxes, I don't necessarily notice that. But team owners are reaching these huge windfalls because they get the concentrated benefits and disperse costs among voters.

HARLOW: So you must be the team owners' worst nightmare.

BRADBURY: I don't know that I'm the worst nightmare. I'm a huge sports fan. I love watching sports.

I wish owners would say or politicians would say, look, it's a great thing for Atlanta to have a new football stadium. We're all going to pay a little more taxes for it. We will all be happier because of it.

Don't tell me it will make me richer. Don't give me a lecture on why it's good for me because study after study shows it's not.

HARLOW: Detroit -- Detroit's a city I cover very closely. In the middle of Detroit filing bankruptcy and emerging from bankruptcy, new stadium for the Red Wings. New hockey stadium going up in Detroit. I talked to a lot of business owners there who tell me they love that, that it is revitalizing part of the city where it's really need.

Your take?

BRADBURY: Well, there's not much evidence of such revitalization. And certainly right around stadiums you sometimes see a small boost directly around it but it's also very distracting because if you have games, then people don't want to open a shop near there because you can't operate a normal business while games are going on.

All I can point to is that the numerous studies that have been done say it's just not there. The numbers don't show --

HARLOW: But, JC, what about all those jobs? What about all those construction jobs?

BRADBURY: So, what we did was, we took a perfectly fine stadium, we're going to destroy it and we are going to build a new one. It's not like those people had nothing else to do. All these construction workers could have been building something somewhere else. That land could have been used for something else. They could have been building roads. They could have been building schools.

I know that sounds a little cliched because you can always do something else with your money. But those things tend to have higher return to communities and can build stronger communities that can bring in businesses if you have stronger schools, better roads, that bring other business. Sports teams are just enjoyable and fun to be around and that's fine but we need to admit that.

HARLOW: So, who should pay for it?

BRADBURY: The owners of these teams. They are the ones who are making millions and billions of dollars. Why are we subsidizing private wealthy business people when -- for sports games when any other private business would have to do it on their own?

HARLOW: Do you think this is going to change? Do you think these stadiums as they pop up going forward will be more privately funded?

BRADBURY: Well, you know, it was funny, when economists who study sports and sports stadiums get together we sometimes talk about is the tide turning. And, you know, I remember a decade ago having a conversation with an economist going definitely I think there's going to be less public funding.

[16:55:01] Nothing happened.

It seems like more and more people are hearing about it. I'm hopeful as the public becomes more educated, they will become less sympathetic to these types of projects.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Our thanks to JC Bradbury for that.

I also want to end on this note. In Los Angeles, with the lack of a professional sports team, it has become somewhat of a joke. Several stadium sites have already had groundbreakings planned, even without the official commitment of a single team. Construction costs in part set to be paid for by you, the taxpayer.

You can see more of our "American Opportunities" stories at CNNmoney.com/AmericanOpportunity.

Up next, a troubling mystery in Arizona. Someone shooting ten times at motorists on the freeway there, over 11 days. What's happening? Next hour, I talk about the investigation with the man who helped hunt for the D.C. snipers.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are just away from the triathlon and the team is ready. They have spent the last eight months swimming, biking and running, all in preparation for this day.

Julia and Eugene Smookler, our first married couple to participate, say they are ready to cross that finish line together.

[16:59:50] JULIA SMOOKLER, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: Overall the experience has been amazing. You know, eating habits, and trying to help each other out with that, meal planning, to be able to give each other the time.

GUPTA: Sixty-seven-year-old Linda Garrett has overcome a knee injury.

LINDA GARRETT, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: It's a setback. It's an ongoing setback.

GUPTA: While it still hurts she's adapted to get the job done.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will finish the race. I will finish the race.

GUPTA: Robert Lara is still loving the ride and he's learning to cook healthier food.

ROBERT LARA, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: It's still a work in progress but nothing's burned down. So, that's good for him.

GUPTA: Thirty-six-year-old Erica Moore has dropped weight, stopped drinking and is already signing up for more triathlons.

ERICA MOORE, FIT NATION PARTICIPANT: I really got in the zone and I really feel like I awakened the triathlete within myself.

GUPTA: And last, but certainly not least, PH.D. candidate Chip Greenwich says despite challenges in time management he's determined to get to the finish line.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to do it. That's why I put my mind to do it. Anything I put my mind to do, I do.

GUPTA: All in all, the team is looking good. So, I'll see you guys at the starting line. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEOTAPE)