Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid kneel in protest during the national anthem on September 12, 2016 in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

New York Magazine reports that on Thursday an arbitrator rejected the NFL's request to dismiss Colin Kaepernick's collusion grievance against the National Football League. As a result, the case will move to a trial-like hearing not open to the public.

Arbitrator Stephen Burbank ruled that Kaepernick has enough evidence to pursue his claim that NFL owners have acted in collusion against him in not hiring him to play in the league. Kaepernick is seeking damages equal to what he would have earned if he were still playing in the league. Kaepernick could be awarded compensatory damages for the pay he lost due to collusion, in addition to punitive damages, potentially totaling tens of millions of dollars.

The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback began protesting police violence against African Americans by taking a knee during the playing of the national anthem. The protest action created enormous criticism from President Trump, even though taking a knee is a historical form of civil rights protests, and the national anthem was not part of NFL proceedings until the US military became a major NFL sponsor.

New Poll (Of 60,000 Americans) Gives Clinton Wide Path to Victory US News

Our heads are spinning with the latest polls showing the presidential race in a dead heat. Each day the pundits pull us right and left with bullet-point analysis filtered through their own political agendas and personal preferences. Many of these polls survey 400-600 people.

Sigh! What are political junkies to do! Seek safety in numbers? In the for what it's worth column, a new poll released this morning by Morning Consult gives some relief to Hillary Clinton supporters, and it will be interesting to see if the media even mentions it or treats it differently from a poll of 400 people.

What is also encouraging is that this poll agrees that the race is dead even in five states: Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Florida and New Hampshire. What pollsters and pundits are missing, says the poll results, is new states that are in play.

So grab your morning French Roast and read on. And don't get cocky. ~ Anne

"Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump if the election were held today, heading to a relatively easy victory even if Trump were to win the key battleground state of Ohio.

A massive new poll by Morning Consult finds Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, would collect 320 Electoral College votes to Trump's 212, far more than the 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House.

The poll, taken between April and early July, surveyed nearly 60,000 registered voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a large enough sample to make a complete estimate of Electoral College results as the presidential race stands now.

When eight toss-up states are removed, Clinton leads 225 electoral votes to Trump's 190.

The poll, taken between April and early July, surveyed nearly 60,000 registered voters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, a large enough sample to make a complete estimate of Electoral College results as the presidential race stands now.

When eight toss-up states are removed, Clinton leads 225 electoral votes to Trump's 190."

Clinton Beats Trump Among College-Educated in Bloomberg Poll Bloomberg Politics

Hillary Clinton is decimating Donald Trump among college-educated voters. In 2012 Romney beat President Obama by 14 pts among white voters with a minimum of a college degree. This group -- one that represented more than one-third of the 2012 electorate -- now backs Clinton over Trump 48 pts to 37 pts, according to a new Bloomberg poll of 653 college-educated, likely general-election voters July 7-10, 2016.

These voters could be critical for Clinton in swing states like Colorado, North Carolina, and Virginia. Theoretically, the challenge could be greater in states like Iowa and Ohio with more non-college degree voters.

Hillary's current and substantial gender gap among white men all but disappears once those men are college-educated. Among white women with college-degrees, Clinton beat Trump 54 pts to 33 pts.

Obama Urges Civil Rights Activists and Police to Bridge Divide New York Times

President Obama had activists from Black Lives Matter in the same room with law enforcement leaders today. It was tense and potentially more tense than a similar meeting arranged after Ferguson.

"President Obama said on Wednesday that the profound tensions between the police and African-American communities were likely to worsen “for quite some time” after the series of wrenching shooting deaths this month, urging law enforcement officials and civil rights activists at a lengthy and at times tense White House gathering to keep pressing to bridge their differences.

“Not only are there very real problems but there are still deep divisions about how to solve these problems,” Mr. Obama said at the White House, after meeting for over four hours all afternoon and into the evening with the group.

“There is no doubt that police departments still feel embattled and unjustly accused, and there is no doubt that minority communities, communities of color, still feel like it just takes too long to do what’s right,” Mr. Obama added. “We have to, as a country, sit down and just grind it out — solve these problems.”

Race Relations Are at Lowest Point in Obama Presidency, Poll Finds New York Times

For Whites Sensing Decline, Donald Trump Unleashes Words of Resistance New York Times