*By Michael Teich*
Nike debuted its [controversial new ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq2CvmgoO7I) featuring Colin Kaepernick Wednesday, part of its "Just Do It" 30th anniversary ad campaign.
The roll out came after some public backlash and a tweet from President Trump criticizing the company's decision to sign on the former NFL player, who set off a string of player protests the last two seasons.
While Nike's campaign has proven to be a polarizing initiative, leaving some consumers to pledging to boycott the brand, military veteran and Sports Illustrated writer and producer Scooby Axson sees the move as a net positive for Nike.
"At the end of the day I don't think it's going to hurt their bottom line," Axson told Cheddar in an interview Wednesday.
Axson, who served 16 years in the U.S. Army, thinks those unhappy about NFL players kneeling for the anthem are demonstrating false outrage and that their anger is misplaced.
"If you want to say somebody is disrespecting the flag or the anthem, the NFL does this every single Sunday when they drape that flag across 100 yards, and that's per the flag code. The federal flag code says you shouldn't do that," said Axson.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/nike-doubles-down-on-kaepernick-with-thursday-night-football-ad).
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released its 2023 Spring outlook and the ongoing trend of unseasonable weather could be continuing.
Adam Bry, co-founder and CEO of drone manufacturer Skydio, joined Cheddar News to discuss the company's latest funding round and the Russia-US drone collision.
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voiced support for the city's reparations committee's recommendation to pay eligible Black adult residents $5 million
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday evening said its long-awaited digital payment system, the FedNow Service, will start operating in July. The service is designed to provide a national platform for financial institutions to settle payments in real-time and at lower cost. That could include large banks, payment processors, and the U.S. Treasury.
A week after the second-largest bank collapse in U.S. history, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is set to tell the Senate Finance Committee that the nation's banking system “remains sound” and Americans "can feel confident” about their deposits.
A federal judge in Texas raised questions Wednesday about a Christian group's effort to overturn the decades-old U.S. approval of a leading abortion drug, in a case that could threaten the country's most common method for ending pregnancies.
Texas Rep. Greg Casar spoke with Cheddar News to give his thoughts on abortion rights and union protection.
Texas officials have announced a takeover of Houston’s nearly 200,000-student school district.
A federal judge will hear arguments Wednesday in a high-stakes court case that could threaten access to medication abortion and blunt the authority of U.S. drug regulators.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell should be very cautious when deciding to raise interest rates or he risks another bank crisis, Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif. 8th District) told Cheddar News.
