bears. that owners had all the cards going forward. i mean, they had a $4 billion lockout fund from the networks, even if not football is going to be played, and what they thought was public opinion on their side, because historically, fans do not side with players in these sports labor conflicts. out buy think they underestimated a couple of key facts. first a lockout, not strike. second of all, a lot more knowledge by fans on the questions of concussions and health among nfl players. third of all that knowledge as about concussions and health had a radicalizing effect on players themselves in keeping then unified. you had 1,900 players and very few defections in this process, and one objective observe worry have to give to warren smith, executive director of the nfl players association a lot of credit for keeping his side united over the last four months. andrew, do you see it that way? how do you see the deal shaping up? it s like a $9 billion business.
they need 24-32 votes to approve a settlement negotiated over the last two years but in the last seven weeks negotiations with the former union. in washington, d.c., the player reps continue to talk. they had a conference call scheduled for later today. things aren t happening as quickly there. there are issues over recertifying the union, to have a recollective bargaining agreement once again, but on two fronts, things are happening and this four-month lockout appears to be on its way. we re not there yet. maybe turbulence, but we ll have a landing fairly soon. if you look at the way this deal is shaping up, are you happy with this? is this fair for the players from your point of view? well, i m not getting paid. but i am happy for the players. i mean, i think if there are delays right now part of it has been lighting up with $7 billion victory cigars. when this negotiation started it was looking to me like the 27 yankees against the bad news
another decade or so. that s something every voter should be alerted to. i have a bill open and transparent so the voters can look at districts before they re locked into some. i hope legislation like that can pass, but it s unrealistic to think with this, either party is looking for that. each is seeking party advantage. a couple seconds left. i m a debt ceiling end game what are you hoping for now? what s the sort of jim cooper benevolent end game in the days ahead? the best solution on the table so far, the gang of six solution, bipartisan. dick durbin, tom coburn. balanced, everything on the table. there s something for everybody to dislike, but i know of no other substantive way to get $4 trillion in deficit reduction while we pass the deficit. it would be disastrous if we do
this rising in arizona. a movement afoot now, related to the law they passed last year that was so controversial, to actually raise private donations to create a border fence. a state senator there behind the idea of raising up to $50 million and showing lots of pictures of how poor the fences are, even those that do exist, along the border. is this a constructive way to tackle our immigration laws, jimmy? i don t know. i mean, look. it s simple. this president, for all the people that criticized him, in are more border patrol agents on the ground in the air, on video, than any other president in the history of the united states. i don t care what we do, if we put up a 70,000 foot wall, if we put up land mines, if we dig a ditch that s deeper than the guadalcanal, it doesn t matter what this president does. folks on the border and people on the wire are going to bitch,
teachers we want? arizona puts that in mind for me. what s your take? a great point. look, fundamentally that s part of the argument we re having as a knt right now in terms of what is the role of government? time after time, state after state and here at the federal level you re seeing republicans strangling government to make it to actually make it fail the people, and in a sense creating, i guess, this opportunity for private industry. yes, if you believe there a is a role for government which i think there is and certainly when it comes to immigration antsz education, for example, we should be having the conversation what is the appropriate role of government? how do we make sure government has the resources it needs to do those functions? and then what is the appropriate role for private industry? building a fence is not, by the way, going to solve the problem that we have with immigration. all right. guys, hold on a second, because we re going to be back in a second with