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The Situation Room

Dallas Cowboys Marshawn Kneeland Dies at 24; Supreme Court Weighs Bid to Overturn Same-Sex Marriage Precedent; New Research Links Melatonin to Increased Heart Failure Risk. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 07, 2025 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning the NFL is mourning the death of Dallas Cowboys player Marshawn Kneeland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we offer our thoughts and prayers to his family, friends and teammates, please stand and join in a moment of silence to remember the life of Marshawn Kneeland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders honored the 24-year- old last night before kickoff. Police are investigating his death as an apparent suicide.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Sports Anchor Andy Scholes is joining us right now. Andy, one of Kneeland's teammates is speaking out. What is quarterback Dak Prescott saying?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Wolf and Pam, you know, Dak says the team is just struggling to deal with what just happened to their teammate, Marshawn Kneeland. You know, he had just scored his first touchdown of his career on Monday Night Football in that block punt against the Cardinals. He was just 24 years old. He was a second- round pick last year out of Western Michigan.

Now, Frisco police say they responded to assist Texas DPS with locating a vehicle that had evaded troopers during a pursuit. They found Kneeland's car, crashed on the highway, and began a search for Kneeland. And as authorities were looking for him, they were told that Kneeland had sent messages to people saying goodbye and that he was suicidal. And at about 1:30 a.m. local time, they found Kneeland deceased from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Now, the Cowboys are on a bye this week. And while speaking at an event in Louisiana, Dak, well, he says the team is just devastated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARSHAWN KNEELAND, DALLAS COWBOYS QUARTERBACK: Tragic loss. I hurt. Heavy, heavy heart today. I hurt for Marshawn. I hurt for his family. I hurt for his girlfriend. I hurt for every single one of my teammates. This is a pain that you don't wish upon anybody. We wish none of us had to go through this. We wish Marshawn didn't have to go through what he went through. And just thankful for each moment we have in this life. And don't take it for granted. And hug and love on those that you do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now, the Cowboys aren't scheduled to return to practice till Monday. Wolf and Pam, the team has made counseling resources available to all the players, coaches, and staff.

BROWN: I'm glad to hear that. Just so sad. I mean, it just really is. He was so young, had such a bright future. Andy Scholes, thank you. And also, we want to note to our audience, again, if you or a loved one is struggling, there is help. You can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. We'll be right back.

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[10:35:00]

BROWN: Happening now, the Supreme Court is meeting behind closed doors to consider taking up a bid to overturn its decade-old precedent legalizing same-sex marriage. The pending appeal comes from Kim Davis. She was a county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses after the landmark decision back in 2015. I spoke to the plaintiff in that blockbuster case, James Obergefell, yesterday.

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JAMES OBERGEFELL, PLAINTIFF, MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASE OBERGEFELL V. HODGES: Well, what Kim Davis and others are attempting to do is to use their religion, their interpretation of their particular religion, to persecute others who do not believe the same way. Kim Davis was a civil servant. She was there to serve every person in Rowan County, Kentucky, not just some. And her faith, her beliefs were not harmed by those couples who came for a marriage license. Do your job, Kim Davis.

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BROWN: Joining us now is the attorney for Kim Davis, Matthew Staver. He's also the founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. Matthew, thank you for coming on. I just want to start with getting your response to that argument from James Obergefell that Davis was a civil servant required to serve all, not just some.

MATTHEW STAVER, FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, LIBERTY COUNSEL AND ATTORNEY FOR KIM DAVIS: Well, thank you for having me. Kim Davis doesn't lose her constitutional rights simply because she's an elected official. In fact, she asked for a very simple accommodation. Just remove her name from the licenses, and that's all she asked.

Actually, she got sued in mid-July. By early September, she got the first accommodation. The Democrat governor at the time, Governor Beshear, said that the valid license was fine because even though her name was scratched through, it was still fine and valid. But David Ermold and David Moore wanted her name on their license. Well, she got another accommodation with a Republican governor with an executive order in December of 2015.

And then Democrats and Republicans came together unanimously and passed a law in April of 2016 granting the same exemption and accommodation. So, it was a very simple request. Remove her name. She got it in three separate forms, in September, December, and then the next year in April.

[10:40:00]

And she began issuing marriage licenses in September after Governor Beshear said that it's OK to strike through her name. So, why is this case going on? They got their license. She got the accommodation she requested. The reason is it's a vendetta against Kim Davis by David Ermold and David Moore to punish her and mock her faith. And that's why they came after her in this litigation that's gone on for 10 years to come against her personally. And now, she faces $360,000 in fines, and she's already spent six days in prison.

So, this case presents an ideal fact pattern from a free exercise of religion perspective and also for the court to reexamine the wrongly decided Obergefell opinion from 2015.

BROWN: Yes, I want to dive a little bit deeper into that because, as you just noted, you argue that the First Amendment should shield your client from any legal liability here, but you made the choice to take it even further and try to overturn Supreme Court precedent. Why go that far?

STAVER: Well, certainly the free exercise clause should protect her free exercise of religion, and she did get the accommodation, so it's obvious that they were able to do that. But she still lost her liberty, and she now faces $360,000 in fines.

Well, the problem, however, originates not from the free exercise clause or from this defense that she should have, but from Obergefell. That was wrongly decided. So, Chief Justice John Roberts read his dissent from the bench on June 26, 2015, when Obergefell was issued. He never did it before. He never did it after. And he did that to emphasize his strong opposition, saying five lawyers imposed their will, not a legal judgment, and that their opinion had nothing to do with the Constitution. I think that's very strong.

And so, Obergefell is on very weak ground, even weaker ground than Roe v. Wade. It was an opinion by five people that invented a right that doesn't exist, and consequently, we need to interpret the Constitution according to its understanding and its intent, and this gives the court an ideal opportunity to reevaluate and overrule that wrongly decided opinion.

BROWN: And we're going to get to what the conservative justices have said in just a moment, but Obergefell was decided by the majority, saying that it was a violation of the 14th Amendment, due process, equal protection, for same-sex couples to be discriminated against not being able to get married, which paved the way for them to be able to have marriage. Now, you have more than half a million same-sex couples married in the U.S. since that decision. Obergefell and others say Davis' faith, as you know, this is what they argue, was not harmed by same-sex couples who came to her for marriage licenses. And I want to play a little bit more of what Obergefell told me yesterday and get your response.

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OBERGEFELL: Kim Davis, you know, I would just like to remind people that there are people of faith in this country who believe that divorce is wrong. Kim Davis has been divorced three times. How would she have reacted if the judge appointed to hear her divorce petition said, well, I'm sorry, Ms. Davis, my religious belief is such that divorce is wrong. And for that reason, your divorce petition is denied. That's no different than what she is attempting to do to the queer community in the United States.

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BROWN: How do you respond to that argument?

STAVER: Well, Kim Davis admits that she made a mess of her life when she had these multiple divorces, but that was before she gave her life to Jesus Christ and her life was radically changed. And she wanted to be faithful. And she simply asked for an accommodation, just remove her name. And once that happened in September of 2015, she issued licenses to both same and opposite sex couples. She had no problem doing that. She just didn't want her name on that particular license to affirm a relationship that conflicted with her religious beliefs.

And in fact, beside that, the president of the Senate of Kentucky's legislature issued a brief saying Kim Davis was prohibited from issuing a same-sex marriage license because all of her actions were governed by state law and the legislature needed to act in response to Obergefell. Had she done something that was not authorized in state law, she could have been criminally prosecuted for doing so.

So, she was following the law. She was following her conscience. She got the accommodation, they got the license, but then it turned into a vendetta against her faith to mock her faith and punish her personally.

BROWN: Well, many Supreme Court -- those observers view your bid as a long shot bid. And we have heard some skepticism from conservative justices. You had Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently say that, telling the New York Times, there are, quote, "very concrete reliance interests" at stake when it comes to same-sex marriage.

[10:45:00]

You have said about same-sex marriage, quote, "It's not a matter of if, but when it will be overturned." If the Supreme Court declines to hear Davis' case, will you work to bring another one to the Supreme Court?

STAVER: Absolutely. And when Obergefell is overturned, which I know it will be because it has no constitutional basis.

BROWN: How do you know it will be?

STAVER: I just know because it has no constitutional basis, just like Roe versus Wade. I knew that would also be overturned and we worked for years to do it. And ultimately, we were successful. But in this particular case, the respect for marriage act passed by Congress a few years ago, essentially grandfathers in everyone who has a marriage license.

So, the next day after Obergefell is overturned, either in this or another case, the licenses will still remain valid. The States will go back to doing what they did before June 26, 2015. And that is have their own marriage policy. Some will adopt same-sex marriage. Some will not, just like under the post-Dobbs decision with regards to abortion, it will go back to the States where it's always been up until June 26, 2015.

BROWN: Right. But as Justice Coney Barrett mentioned, you know, there's the reliance issues, right? There's child custody issues, financial planning. If someone were in a state that didn't support same-sex marriage, how do you unwind that practically?

STAVER: Well, you don't because the respect for marriage act keeps everything in status quo. It's just going forward. So, for example, Florida has, and many states have, a state constitutional amendment that's still in the constitution of those states. Florida would then revert back to its previous section of marriage between a man and a woman. But all the licenses that are in Florida or people that move to Florida from another state, they'll be recognized under the full faith and credit calls. So, all the domestic issues will not be harmed.

I think the respect for marriage act actually takes away the argument for reliance because there's nothing that will actually change other than going forward, the states will be re-empowered to do what they've always done and that is have their own marriage policy and then recognize out of state same-sex marriage or other kinds of marriages that they don't necessarily recognize in their state. And that's based upon decades and decades of law under the full faith and credit act.

BROWN: Matthew Staver, thank you so much for your time and coming on to make your case.

STAVER: Thank you, good to be with you.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, a Situation Room Health Alert. What you need to know about the potential link between melatonin and heart failure. We'll speak to a cardiologist about that when we come back.

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[10:50:00]

BROWN: Well, you may have seen the headlines this week. Warning of health risks associated with the popular sleep supplement, melatonin.

BLITZER: New research from an unpublished study links long-term use to a 90 percent increase. This is what the study suggests. A 90 percent increase in heart failure. But there's more to know before you toss that bottle of melatonin in the trash. Dr. Jayne Morgan is a cardiologist, vice president of medical affairs at Hello Heart. Doctor, thanks so much for joining us. What's your initial reaction to this study?

DR. JAYNE MORGAN, CARDIOLOGIST, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL AFFAIRS AT HELLO HEART: Yes. Thanks for having me, Wolf and Pamela. First of all, this is an abstract. And so, an abstract is sort of an encapsulation of what you may expect, but it is not a full-fledged release of the data.

Secondly, many limitations in this study. For instance, it's unclear whether people who were in the control group actually had just more chronic types of insomnia or longer durations. The reason that is important is because sleeplessness in itself is a risk factor for heart disease. So, it's unclear whether melatonin was actually causing that or if melatonin is just a marker of people who have more severe levels of sleeplessness.

BROWN: Yes, because that was one of the questions I had. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone, right? It's often marketed as a natural safe remedy. A lot of people take it. From a cardiologist perspective, help us understand how it could impact the heart or if it's more of just what you said, that dynamic of it could just be people who have insomnia who take it, you know, and that impacts the heart.

DR. MORGAN: You know, melatonin is quite interesting. It's secreted by a gland deep in our brain called the pineal gland, and it actually responds to darkness. So, it begins to secrete when it becomes dark, and it helps us sleep. It helps us to relax. That's how it works in our circadian rhythm.

When you're taking it artificially, in the United States, not well regulated. So, one manufacturer may have different levels or even different quality than another manufacturer, and even two bottles within the same company may not be the same. So, it's sort of a buyer beware. But overall, when you're taking melatonin, it is to help the body relax.

If you are a heart patient or a blood pressure patient, it can interact with some of the blood pressure medications like calcium channel blockers. That's a big category. It can make your blood pressure go up a little bit, and then there are other medications where it might actually drop your blood pressure. So, one thing I want to caution about this study is it does not show cause and effect. It has many, many, many limitations, and it rather suggests an association.

BLITZER: So, very quickly, Dr. Morgan, if people who are watching right now are taking melatonin, should they reconsider and stop taking it?

[10:55:00]

DR. MORGAN: I would say it's too soon to reconsider. Something else that's interesting in that study, 61.4 percent of that study are women. The average age was 55. When you talk about menopause and perimenopause, you're dropping progesterone levels, which cause sleeplessness, estrogen levels that can increase your risk of heart disease, and that's also a confounding factor in this trial. Once again, whether or not even the age demographic was a marker.

BROWN: That is a very important point, the impact of menopause on the female body. Dr. Jayne Morgan, thank you so much. Great to see you.

DR. MORGAN: Thanks so much, Pamela and Wolf.

BLITZER: And thanks for me as well. Coming up after the break, we're tracing flight delays and cancellations at airports across the United States as the Trump administration begins cutting flights nationwide.

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