*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 Defense Department says the U.S. military conducted airstrikes against what it says were “facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups” near the border between Iraq and Syria.
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison for the murder of George Floyd, whose dying gasps under Chauvin’s knee led to the biggest outcry against racial injustice in the U.S. in generations.
President Joe Biden has announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down infrastructure plan that would make a start on his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle.
An appeals court has suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race.
The final edition of Hong Kong’s last remaining pro-democracy paper sold out in hours, as readers scooped up all 1 million copies of the Apple Daily.
After weeks of regulatory crackdowns and public denouncements, the Chinese government has delivered a crushing blow to bitcoin mining in the country.
Apple Daily was forced to shut down Thursday after five editors and executives were arrested and millions of dollars in its assets were frozen as part of China’s increasing crackdown on dissent in the semi-autonomous city.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a Pennsylvania public school wrongly suspended a cheerleader over a vulgar social media post.
Gov. Ned Lamont has signed a bill making Connecticut the 19th state to legalize recreational use of marijuana, which remains an illegal drug under federal law.
The Tokyo Olympics are not looking like much fun: Not for athletes. Not for fans. And not for the Japanese public.
