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Historic NCAA Settlement To Let Schools Pay Student-Athletes; Trump Airs Grievances In His Appeal To Black Voters; U.N.'s Top Court Orders Israel To Halt Rafah Offensive. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired May 24, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: And with me now to talk about this as Donte Stallworth, he's a former NFL wide receiver and played for the University of Tennessee, as well as many NFL teams. And Jeffrey Kessler joins us as well. He was lead attorney in the antitrust suit against the NCAA. Jeffrey, let me start with you first. You've been involved in several suits for athletes, including the fight for the women's national soccer team. Why are these changes needed right now for the NCAA? I mean, I suppose -- it sounds like we're going to start treating student athletes like pro athletes in this country?

JEFFREY KESSLER, LEAD ATTORNEY IN ANTITRUST SUIT AGAINST NCAA: So this settlement has been a very long time colleague. The reality is that big time college sports earns billions of dollars every year for these schools. And the only ones who have not been able to benefit from this has been the athletes. This is a life transforming opportunity for these student athletes to share in the revenues they've been generating.

ACOSTA: Yes. They're the ones making all the money. And they haven't been reaping any of the rewards. And Donte, you're with me here in the studio, I want to ask you about this. I know, of course, you played in the pros for many years at Patriots and Washington Commanders and so on. But you played at the University of Tennessee, this doesn't go far back enough to guess, work to your benefit?

DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: No.

ACOSTA: But how might it have changed your life? Had this been in place back then?

STALLWORTH: Yes, I think it would have changed a lot of players lives. I think, you know, initially, you look back and you see, you could have learned a lot of financial stability, a lot of financial -- they have a lot of financial resources from that aspect. And a lot of guys don't make it to the NFL, like I was fortunate enough to do but it gives you an opportunity to kind of see how the sausage is made now. And now the NCAA has reaped the benefits for so long. And now they have to pay the cost. When, as Richard noted, this is a long time coming, they could have easily have taken care of this decades ago. And here we are today. And it looks like the House of Cards is starting to fall. ACOSTA: Yes, I mean, I guess what about the notion that, you know, college athletes, they're in college, you know, I am sure -- I can just hear there are some old traditionalists who have been -- who are watching this and saying, you know, they're in college, they should be getting an education and so on, they shouldn't be focused on getting paid like the pros, what's your response to that?

KESSLER: So this is not the drama club. These athletes as Danto know, work 45 hours a week, before they go to a single class, they are asked to dedicate themselves to make these teams great, and to bring in all these money to these schools. So it is their time, just like everyone else in this country has an opportunity to reap the rewards of what they generate. These athletes deserve this. And let's not lose sight of the fact that the big revenue sports of basketball and football, most of these athletes are athletes of color. These are communities that will just so benefit from having the access to these funds to help them in their later life.

ACOSTA: And Donte, I mean, I have to ask this question, because, you know, there, you do hear the criticism from time to time in college sports that you have sort of like the elite, the top power five conferences, like the SEC and the big 10, and so on. And then you have these other schools that are just sort of fighting for crumbs trying to get in there, trying to, you know, make some noise in their respective sports. How does this work to their detriment, those smaller schools, to some extent, if they aren't paying their athletes like these big conferences, or the SEC is paying an athlete? Obviously, if you're a kid who is very talented in football or basketball, you're going to go to one of those conferences where you get paid, that might hurt smaller schools medium sized school?

STALLWORTH: Yes, I think it could. But I think also to, Jim, at the same time, that's -- that was happening before all this revenue started, right?

ACOSTA: True. Yes.

STALLWORTH: Kids would rather go to the University of Michigan than a much smaller school, if you have the ability to do that. But, you know, as Richard noted, you know, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, notes that the average American works around 40 hours a week, and these players are going to class, you know, with 45-plus hours a week on top of extracurricular activities with the sports related activity. So this -- they have already a full time job and then they're asked to go to school.

ACOSTA: Yes.

STALLWORTH: As well, school is really secondary. I mean, it just to these big conferences, it really is and it proves that through the NCAA, by the way they have treated these players for so long.

ACOSTA: Yes. Donte, do we have any idea how much a top athlete could make?

STALLWORTH: I don't know. But you know what, for me, I'm -- I don't -- ACOSTA: Honestly, how much Caitlin Clark could have made.

STALLWORTH: Yeah. Oh, my god, I know. She just looks out. Yes, well, actually, she won't because she's a part of that, you know, back 10 years to 2016.

ACOSTA: Yes, yes.

STALLWORTH: So she should reap some of the benefits which is good for her and all the other players that helped the NCAA make so much money.

[11:05:06]

ACOSTA: And are the school is going to be able to afford this, Jeffrey Kessler? I mean is that, I suppose I'm asking you a silly question, they make so much money now of these sports. Yes.

KESSLER: So let your feet to follow you by. College football and basketball earns more money every year than the NBA, than major league baseball as the National Hockey League. They are second only to the NFL and they are gaining. So the money is there.

ACOSTA: Yes.

KESSLER: There is a reason why the strength and conditioning coach at Alabama makes a billion dollars a year because the money can't go to the athletes.

ACOSTA: Did I just hear that correct?

KESSLER: Yes.

ACOSTA: Not the head coach, the strength and training coach?

KESSLER: Oh, no. The head coaches were making way over 10 million.

ACOSTA: My goodness. All right, well, there's a lot of money sloshing around might as well give it to these kids coming from these neighborhoods that were they sorely needed. Donte, Jeffrey Kessler, thanks, guys. Really appreciate it. Huge, huge development in the sports world.

KESSLER: Pleasure. Thank you.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. Thanks so much.

In the meantime, falsehoods and fear mongering at Donald Trump's rally last night in the Bronx in addition to spreading election lies and demonizing immigrants, former President spent a large portion of that rally or love fest, as he called it, airing his many grievances and talking about how he views himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm OD'd on Trump. I turn on the television, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. How do you do it? I say do what? How do you get up in the morning and put your pants? Buddy you put the pants on. And I'll explain it to you someday. I was sort of like a hot guy. I was hot as a pistol. I said to somebody was a hotter and before or hotter now. I don't who the hell, though. It's a horrible thing. But many of those hostages are dead. It would have never happened if the election weren't rigged.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Let's discuss now with CNN political analysts of Washington bureau chief of The Boston Globe, Jackie Kucinich, and Marc Caputo, national political reporter at the Bulwark. Jackie, I don't know if we want to get into the pants thing, the pants part of the conversation here. Maybe we'll just skip past all of that. Your thoughts on this rally last night? I mean, he's in the Bronx. Obviously, you know, he would love to say that he could win New York. That's not going to happen. But maybe there was a larger point to the rally that, you know, using this as a backdrop to appeal to minority voters, a key voting bloc in the election and a demographic that he's been chipping away at.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. You're right. I mean, part of this is proximity. I mean, he's kind of stuck in New York right now. So but I think it's places like the Bronx, this is going to be an election that is decided on the margins, in places like Georgia, in places like Michigan, in places like Arizona. And, you know, well, he probably won't, you know, you'd never say never, but he probably won't win a majority of black voters. If he just peels off some of those people that may have voted for Joe Biden, that might be enough in some of these states where it's going to be very, very close.

ACOSTA: Yes. Mark Caputo, I mean, let me ask you, you know, he was talking about the election of 2020. I mean, I guess we've moved beyond the point that, you know, his supporters are just going to eat this up every time. And they're just going to continue to hang on to these election lies. But I do want to ask you about this new piece that you have out about an aide his campaign calls the human printer, and she has built a career spreading many of these election lies on OAN before joining his 2024 campaign. Tell us a little bit about that. You said that she may be behind that infamous unified Reich video. What more can you tell us?

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Natalie Harp in 2023, she got hired by the Trump campaign after being an anchor on OAN as you pointed out. And she is essentially the personal assistant of the president or the former president, but as the campaign culture, the human printer, why? Well, like a lot of older people, heck, like perhaps a lot of younger people. He doesn't want to just look at his iPhone all day.

Donald Trump prefers to read things on paper. Well, you got to print those things. So Natalie Harp actually follows him around at all times of the day, and especially on the weekends at the golf course, with a portable wireless printer that she uses to print up posts, you know, tweets or I don't know what we call them nowadays, comments on Truth Social, as well as articles, some of them flattering articles that praise the former president. And some of them articles from sort of more far right news sources that go after his enemies both within the Republican Party and without.

Now as a constant presence, Natalie Harp is perhaps one of the most influential aides of former President Trump that no one's really ever heard of, because in Trump's orbit, proximity to the principal is power and she has perhaps the most proximity throughout the day and especially on the weekends with former President Trump.

[11:10:07]

ACOSTA: It almost sounds like a rival to Dan Scavino, who was that aide who was always at Donald Trump side and tweeting on his behalf and so on.

CAPUTO: Yes. Very --

ACOSTA: Yes.

CAPUTO: -- very much so. And in fact, when that unified right video was posted, the Trump campaign intentionally said, this was posted by a junior staffer to point out that Scavino who is overall, who heads up Donald Trump's sort of social media account wasn't the one who posted it. It was Natalie Harp.

ACOSTA: Interesting. All right. And Jackie, I do you want to get back to, you know, some of the things that Trump was saying last night, falsely claim that he oversaw the best job market for -- in the history of this country for African Americans. That's not true. The black unemployment, poverty rates have hit historic lows under President Biden. Let's talk a little bit about this particular subject because I mean, it's getting back to our earlier conversation. And we had Kate Bedingfield on earlier in the previous hour. And she said they're worried about this inside the Biden campaign that these margins are so tight.

And it just makes you wonder when, you know, last night, Trump is saying things like, you know, migrants are bringing diseases into this country and so on. You know, we were just talking with Marc about the unified Reich video that was playing earlier this week, they've took it down off of his Truth Social account. Why is it that he is able to chip away at some of these demographics, away from the President, when at the same time he's engaging in this kind of rhetoric? Have you been able to make sense of that?

KUCINICH: So I think you're absolutely right, that the Biden campaign is taking this seriously, which is why you see them spending money, which is why you see them sending -- running ads that are targeted to black Americans. But I think at the root of this right now is the economy. While you know, on paper, it looks good. A lot of people don't feel it, where they live and their day to day, there's still things that the grocery store is still expensive, even though inflation has gone down.

You're going to summer, I promise you they're going to be attacks on Biden and gas prices, because that is, you know, the -- for every time there is a season. But I think because of that because of people's personal economies. That is why -- that's why this door is cracking open, particularly with some of these more usually stable, Democratic demographics.

ACOSTA: All right, very good. Jackie, Marc, we do not refer to you Marc as the human printer. You are a reporting machine. Maybe we'll call you the reporting machine. Jackie and Marc, Jackie, you are as well, great -- both of you great reporters. Thanks a lot. Really appreciate it.

[11:12:40]

Still ahead, we're following the breaking news. The United Nations top court, ordering Israel to quote immediately halt its military operation in Rafah and we'll look at how some big retailers are using their own detectives, get this, to combat the brazen gangs of thieves that sometimes attack some of these department stores and retailers. We'll talk about that in just a few moments. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:17:41]

ACOSTA: Breaking news out of The Hague, the U.N.'s top court has just ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE NAWAF SALAM, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: Under the genocide convention is that it must immediately hold its military offensive and any other action and Rafah governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza, conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Of course President called the humanitarian situation in Rafah, disastrous. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a call last hour with his cabinet to talk about the ruling. And joining me now to talk about this is Barak Ravid. He's a CNN political and global affairs analyst. He's also the politics and foreign policy reporter for Axios. Barak, good to see you. What's the implication of this ruling?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, I think this is the first time since the International Court of Justice started discussing the Gaza war back in January, that it is putting out a ruling that calls on Israel to stop part of its military operations in Gaza mainly now in Rafah, where the maybe the most concerning operation of all since the beginning of this war, something that even President Biden has put the red line on several weeks ago.

And I think this is interesting because it is going to increase international pressure on Israel to stop this operation. But it will also increase the pressure on the Biden administration to say whether Israel has crossed President Biden's red line or not. I think that in next few days, this will go to the U.N. Security Council for a vote. And when this comes to a vote in Security Council, Biden will have to decide whether to veto it or not.

ACOSTA: Well, speaking of the President, "The Washington Post" has a piece out that says the Biden administration is straddling its own red line on the Rafah invasion going on to say the administration often appears to be taking both sides and satisfying neither. I mean, this has become a very thorny issue for the administration. I would have to think that Netanyahu team knows that and what effect might that have?

[11:20:00]

RAVID: I think the Israelis managed to both by the briefings they gave to the Biden administration both by steps they took on the ground to sort of convince the U.S. that it hasn't crossed Biden's red line yet, that it managed to conduct this operation in a more targeted way than the U.S. thought, and that it managed to evacuate more Palestinian civilians from the area of the opposition than the Biden administration thought. And the combination of those two, keeps the Biden administration for now, for now I have to say from saying that these have crossed Biden's red line.

ACOSTA: All right, Barak Ravid, we'll keep watching this. Thank you very much, really appreciate it.

And after days of delays and a rocky start groups are now distributing humanitarian aid that was offloaded at the U.S. built pier in Gaza. More than 500 tons of food and other supplies have been handed off to partners. CNN military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton joins me now. Colonel Leighton, this delivery of aid was initially hindered by Hamas drone attack on the IDF. Some of the trucks were apparently looted. I mean, that's according to what we're hearing on the ground. What's the security situation there now? And how is this working out with this period? Is it going to have an effect do you think?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I think it will have some effect, Jim, in the term -- in terms of getting some aid to the Palestinians that needed. However, the problem is, is that the security situation in Gaza is always going to be tenuous, and the types of things that you mentioned the drone attack, plus the fact that there was looting, that is, unfortunately, a natural occurrence in a situation like this. And they've got to expect that this will continue, especially if there's no internal police force, worthy of the name in Gaza that can actually help distribute the food and at least create order in the distribution centers. So that's going to be the -- I think the key factor.

ACOSTA: Well, and that's the issue, right? I mean, the food, the aid can get to the pier.

LEIGHTON: Right.

ACOSTA: Where does it go after that?

LEIGHTON: Right. So basically insipid a containment area once it's offloaded from the pier, it goes from the ship to the pier to the containment area. And that containment area then serves as the initial distribution point. And from that distribution point, it then goes to all the different places that organizations like the U.N., tell, you know, say that they need. And those are the kinds of things that that we're going to have to think work through when it comes to planning for these kinds of things, there's going to have to be basically an iterative process that is going to look at how the aid is being distributed, how effective that distribution is, and then what needs to be done to improve that distribution.

ACOSTA: Well, and the Israelis have responded to a lot of this criticism about aid going into Gaza and saying that they're doing everything possible to allow aid into Gaza, and so on, does that stand up with the facts?

LEIGHTON: I would say anything possible is maybe a bit too far and too rosy a picture that's being painted at this particular point in time. What the Israelis have failed to do, quite frankly, in this operation is create a situation where they are working with the local population. In essence, the old hearts and minds adage is not very effectively employed by the IDF. And I know there are a lot of cultural bridges, a lot of issues that, you know, are inherent in this situation. But the real problem is, is that they've never sought to accommodate any aspect of the Gaza population. And the Gaza population looks at Israel as more of an enemy than a distributor of aid.

ACOSTA: And getting back to our conversation with Barak a few moments ago about what this U.N. top court is saying, the International Court of Justice is saying, I mean, obviously doesn't have any teeth. And what might this have in terms of an impact on the Israelis? Might they look at this and want to circle the wagons even more. Have the reverse effect of what the court is attempting to accomplish here?

LEIGHTON: I think that might in fact be what is happening here, what will happen in this particular case, because what you're seeing is the Israelis are already in a circle the wagons mode when it comes to pressure from the United States Congress when it comes to pressure from Democrats here and in the U.S. And when it comes, frankly, from -- pressure from some elements of the U.S. population. This international pressure, especially in this legal form, is also going to add to that.

Israel does not accept their jurisdiction, the court's jurisdiction in this case, and as a result of that, it's going to be another instance of, see, they're all against us. We Israel are standing alone, and that will serve to unify the political situation for Prime Minister Netanyahu to some extent in Israel.

ACOSTA: All right, Colonel Leighton, as always, thank you very much, really appreciate it.

In the meantime, we're also following escalating tensions with China today that launched a second day of large scale military drills around Taiwan. The Chinese military claims its testing its ability to quote seize power and occupy key areas. And it comes just days after Taiwan's new president took office. Taiwan says dozens of Chinese aircraft, warships and other vessels have been detected in and near the Taiwan Strait. A senior Biden administration official called Beijing's moves, reckless. [11:25:11]

Coming up, we'll take you live Uvalde where -- in Texas where families are marking two years since one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:01]

ACOSTA: It's been two years since a gunman took the lives of 19 children and two teachers inside of Robb Elementary School classroom in Uvalde Texas.