Homes Evacuated as Large Wildfires Devastate Northern California; WNBA Players Association President Nneka Ogwumike Interviewed on New Contract Negotiations
PAUL: A California court has ordered President Trump to pay more than $44,000 in legal fees to adult film star Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels. The order was issued earlier in the week, but it was just made public yesterday.</s>BLACKWELL: She sued the president in 2018 to try to be released from her nondisclosure agreement. The president's legal team made a deal out of court, but Daniels still had to pay legal bills, or she racked up the bills, at least. Daniels said she had an affair with the president back before he was in office, 2006, 2007, while married to Melania, which the president denies.</s>PAUL: So California is under a state of emergency this weekend as all of the people there, many of them, I should say, are forced to evacuate their homes and try to seek shelter because of the raging wildfires we have been watching.</s>BLACKWELL: And this is happening during rising cases of COVID-19 across California. Firefighters are struggling to contain more than 500 fires that were mostly started by lightning and spread because of high temperatures. Let's go now to CNN's Paul Vercammen. He is live from Napa Valley. Paul, we can see evidence of what these fires have done near you, but what's the situation this morning?</s>PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, Christi, the situation is they're trying to get a handle on all the blazes, a record set in California as at one point more than 900,000 acres were burning after all of these lightning strikes. And what the strikes and fires left in the aftermath, devastation. Look behind me, as far as you can see, I'm in Lake Berryessa in Napa County. We have charred remains of houses up on this ridge right here in the foreground. This is the lightning complex of fires, a complex because many fires hit at once in a very, very, very small concentric circle. And here we've had 314,000 acres burned, some 560 structures completely destroyed. This is now the second largest wildfire in California history, it's that devastating. And so this weekend firefighters are trying to catch up, get ahead of things because they are promising that on Sunday in the afternoon we possibly could have more lightning strikes. So pins and needles here in California, which has already been devastated by wildfire. Back to you, Victor, Christi.</s>BLACKWELL: So much there. Paul Vercammen for us, thanks so much.</s>PAUL: Thank you, Paul. We have some new information we want to give you that we're just getting in here. The coronavirus pandemic, just minutes ago another disturbing milestone has been reached. The number of people who have died in total across the globe has now surpassed 800,000. And we're all, I know, trying to figure out how to live and stay safe and go to work and have our daily routines, and that includes people in sports leagues. From Little League through pro sports, they're trying to decipher ways to return safely to play. The WNBA is one league that is set up in a bubble for its teams. This is obviously the effort to keep players and staff safe. Our next guest was key in negotiating how that worked. Fast Company named her one of its most creative people for leveling the field, also noting her efforts in crafting the league's new collective bargaining. It is pretty spectacular. So we have Nneka Ogwumike. She is power forward for the L.A. Sparks and president of the WNBA Players Association. Nneka, we are so grateful to have you here. Thank you.</s>NNEKA OGWUMIKE, PRESIDENT WNBA PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: Thank you so much for having me, Christi, I appreciate it.</s>PAUL: Absolutely. We appreciate you as well. So talk to us about what it's like in the bubble? I know there was a bit of a dicey start to it.</s>OGWUMIKE: Yes, coming in, even as someone who has been through every step of the process, there was still a lot left to be imagined when we got here. We're very thankful for IMG Academy here in Bradenton, Florida, for hosting us and providing such great hospitality. But right now, we're kind of on this, kind of feeling a little bit more like a home away from home. We have been here for about six weeks. Games are in full swing. We're halfway through the season. And we test every day. And it's our new normal.</s>PAUL: OK, so, Nneka, I wanted to just bring to light some things that you've done this year. As I said, you're president of the WNBA Players Association. Just a couple of weeks ago, as I understand it, you helped secure what is described as one of the most progressive collective bargaining agreements in women's sports, a nearly 83 percent raise, pay raise, and paid maternity leave for all the players. That's in addition to many other things. A lot of people are sitting back, going, how did you make that happen?</s>OGWUMIKE: It is refreshing to speak about the CBA. We had the opportunity to collaborate on such a new monumental agreement with our new commissioner in Cathy Engelbert, and I think that everything about it was historical, not just the signing of it and what we were able to agree on, but the process by which we came to the table, too. We're developing a new relationship with the league. It's more collaborative. And as you said, this new agreement had more changes than we've ever seen before. And we had working moms in mind. We had, of course, women in sports in mind. And I'm grateful we were able to communicate with all players to get a little piece of what everyone needed in this latest agreement.</s>PAUL: We know that there is a really strong activist tradition in the WNBA. I know we all have together watched the recent events when you talk about George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery. How does that effect all of you individually and collectively, and how are you moved to do something?</s>OGWUMIKE: Quite frankly, as we were negotiating the terms of this bubble season, amplifying our voices was a nonnegotiable for us. It certainly was for me. As you've seen in the history of the WNBA, we have always spoken out about social injustices and try to be active members of our community. And so the bubble provided an opportunity for our movement to meet its moment. And it's really been great for us to be able to band together with our social justice council, led by the first vice president Layshia Clarendon, and the work with the league, most notably Bethany Donaphin, and of course our executive director in Terri Jackson to be able to come together as a league, amplify our voices, bring awareness to those that are watching us, and also to those who have never seen us before, and understand that we've always been about this fight. We're a league of 70 percent black women, and we want to represent our communities as best as we can while we're playing in this new normal that we're experiencing right now.</s>PAUL: So let me ask you one quick thing before I let you go. In 2016, I know players were punished for wearing shirts that supported victims of police brutality or gun violence. And I know that this year, we have lawmaker Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and also the owner of the Atlanta Dream, write a letter criticizing the league for promoting Black Lives Matter, for that movement. Do you think league officials did enough to push back on that?</s>OGWUMIKE: I think that our league has a responsibility to address those types of things, and as players, naturally, especially as WNBA players, we speak out about things. I feel as though we collaborated as players to not only display the types of people we want to be associated with and the types of people that represent us as a league, but also as citizens, which is why we were able to support our sisters in Atlanta with "Vote Warnock" shirts, and have conversations with the honorable Stacey Abrams, with Reverend Raphael Warnock and also with former first lady Michelle Obama, and not just to represent those in leadership who are representing our interests, but also to show that collectively we have a voice, and to show also that women really know how to get things done together. And hopefully we can provide that as an example for others that want to be impactful in their communities as well. But I look forward to seeing how else the league will handle it.</s>PAUL: You are showing that in a very way, Nneka, very good way. Good luck for the rest of the season. So grateful you could take some time to talk to us. Take good care.</s>OGWUMIKE: Thank you so much.</s>BLACKWELL: Up next, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and V.P. nominee Kamala Harris give their first joint interview. And you'll hear what Biden says when he's asked if he would shut down the country to contain the coronavirus.