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Ray and Janay Rice: Couple in "Good Spirits"; Critics: Roger Goodell Should Be Fired

Aired September 09, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go. You're watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me today because for the next hour, we are focusing on the firestorm surrounding the NFL, one of its players and domestic violence in America.

But before we begin, I want to make sure we're all clear. Make no mistake, Ray Rice wasn't fired for beating his then fiancee, knocking her unconscious, dragging her body without regard. No, Ray Rice was fired because video of that existed.

And you, America, saw it. And that alone is the new outrage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANAY RICE, WIFE OF RAY RICE: I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night. But I can say that I am happy that we continue to work through it together. And we are continuing to strengthen our relationship and our marriage and do what we have to do for not only ourselves collectively but individually and working on being better parents for Raven.

And continue to be good role models for the community like we were doing before this. I love Ray and I know he will continue to prove himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was Janay Rice back on May 23rd after her husband, Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice was criminally indicted for hitting her. And while everything has changed since then for Ray Rice in his career, his wife's support is unwavering.

Janay Rice speaking out via her Instagram account blames the media in a post here. Let me read this for you.

She writes, "I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend. But to have to accept the fact that it is reality is a nightmare in itself.

"No one knows the pain that the media and unwanted options from the public opinions from the public has caused my family to make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing."

She goes on, "To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his (INAUDIBLE) off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. THIS IS OUR LIFE. What don't you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you've succeeded on so many levels.

"Just know, we will continue to grow and show the world what real love is. Ravensnation, we love you."

Let's get going here on this special hour. On CNN with me now, "CNN SPORTS" host Rachel Nichols, host of "UNGUARDED." And she has just received a text from Ray Rice.

What did he say?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He just said that he is just trying -- I don't have a screen up there -- he's saying that he's just got to be strong for his wife and kid.

And I understand that. Look, I've known Ray for a long time. And he has always been very attentive to his daughter, Raven. And comes from a family with a single mom. His dad was killed in a drive-by shooting when he was younger. His mom is a special ed teacher.

Ray goes and works with the special ed kids a lot and I think that's been a lot of the sort of confusion of some of the people who have known Ray Rice for a long time before this incident.

And it is part of the lesson of domestic violence in general, which is that what you see all of the time isn't the full story in both directions. It's why it's a complex issue. It's why Janay Rice wrote what she wrote on her Instagram page.

It's easy to just break this down into why is she doing that or why is he doing that. There's shades of gray throughout all of this. And what we have to remember is it's never the person who is hit, it's never her fault and it is a problem that absolutely has to be solved because we just can't keep going through this over and over again.

BALDWIN: It's incredibly complex. I can't sit here and say I can understand, because thank goodness, I cannot understand what that feels like.

But we are dedicating much of this show to domestic violence and raising awareness and I have a couple of guests who will hit on that very point. But let's stick with the sports and the news today, too.

The NFL, TMZ, they're the ones obviously who released this video. TMZ is basically saying the NFL chose not to pursue the video once upon a time. And the NFL today was saying, no, no, we asked police and police didn't give us the video, correct?

NICHOLS: Right. And look, this is where the NFL to me needs to take a larger role. The NFL needs to be a leader on this. They can't just be like, hey, they didn't give it to us, oh, well. The NFL needs to move ahead. They've got investigators for the former FBI agents, former police officers who will investigate potential draft picks -- no stone unturned, we like to say. (CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: When it comes to --

NICHOLS: And yet, with this, according to TMZ, they didn't go to the casino and ask for the video. There are maybe some other avenues with lawyers that they could have gone down and tried to get the prosecutor to give them the video.

And they're just basically saying, hey, no one gave it to us. And the NFL, I think, is going to be called upon in the wake of all of this to not only look at making the domestic policy, the domestic violence policy more strong -- which they've already done, by the way, since Ray Rice was punished.

But also, how they approach these cases. We've talked in the past couple of days about when they interviewed Janay Rice, they did it with Ray Rice next to her. That is a difficult position to put both of them in.

It signifies an approach that is going to have to change with the way the NFL pursues this. And they've got more domestic violence cases in the pipe here on the NFL. Ray Rice's situation is not the only one. And that's another big thing to remember. Everyone needs to watch out for. There's a lot more to this issue.

BALDWIN: We have much bigger questions about the NFL, talking to a former player, Amani Toomer coming out, the New York Giants. So he has a lot to say, so stay tuned for that. I thank you so much. Phenomenal reporting on this story and for sharing the text message here from Ray Rice himself.

I want to move along and talk about Janay Rice, her outspoken support for her husband has caused domestic abuse victims to flood social media with their own stories today, some using the hashtag #whyistayed. Others using a different hashtag, #whyileft, explaining why they walked away from abusive relationships. Here is just some, just a picture of what they have to say today.

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BALDWIN: As Ray Rice and the NFL are under fire over a domestic violence incident, Vice President Joe Biden is marking the 20th anniversary of the Violence against Women Act at this moment.

The vice president says he has evidence of progress since the law was enacted.

But has that been felt in the NFL?

You know, a lot of people have questioned it in the wake, of course, of what we're discussing for this hour, the Ray Rice scandal. Rice did apologize for hitting his wife before the public knew really what that knockout blow looked like. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAY RICE, NFL PLAYER: It's just totally inexcusable. And I'm here today to tell you that I made the biggest mistake of my life. Me. She can do no wrong. She's an angel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: However, while Rice himself says he is the only one at fault just minutes ago, you heard Janay say, quote, "I do deeply regret the role that I played in the incident that night."

So joining me now to discuss a much bigger issue here at play, talking about domestic violence with a domestic violence attorney, Jessica Miles, and Rachel Sklar, the founder of THEList.

So ladies, welcome, first and foremost. This is so, so, so important that we talk about this.

Rachel, to you, first, this is personal for you. I don't know how many moons ago you were in a psychologically and physically abusive relationship. You wrote about that some months ago about the punch. It sort of in an odd way bonded you, which we'll get to.

But given your view, your lens, when you read what Janay Rice wrote on Instagram today, what was your read?

RACHEL SKLAR, FOUNDER, THELIST: My read is that what Janay Rice isn't the issue. The issue to me is that the NFL and the Ravens chose to implicitly blame her for her role and make her take the blame.

There was that infamous tweet which has now been deleted, where they said, Janay, I guess then at that point it was Palmer, regrets her role in the incident and they talked about mitigating factors.

You know, that video shows absolutely no mitigating factors. So, you know, my personal experience notwithstanding and my personal experience as we've seen from the #whyistayed and #whyileft has been shared by many, many women.

The issue here is not about what Janay Rice should or should not do, the point is that domestic violence is serious, needs to be taken seriously and that the NFL did not take it seriously. As you said at the top of the show, it was one thing when the world hadn't seen the video and quite another thing when the world had.

BALDWIN: It changed everything. It changed everything.

Your read.

JESSICA MILES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ATTORNEY: I fully agree. I think that Janay's comments are heartbreaking and yet they still show blaming herself, saying we regret this moment every day of our lives.

I certainly hope that he regrets it. But that is -- I feel like that is still reflecting the victim blaming.

BALDWIN: Is that what you see in these different cases?

MILES: Absolutely. I think that's part of why people stay is they feel some sort of responsibility on the victim's side.

And she also indicates feeling alone. And I -- she is definitely not alone. And that's why I'm so glad you're bringing attention to this issue because one in four women is physically assaulted by a intimate partner in a lifetime. Domestic violence costs our country over $5 billion a year in lost wages and unpaid medical bills. It's a truly tremendous problem.

She's not alone, but she feels that way and that -- that is very unfortunate.

BALDWIN: And men, too, we should point out, just reading a little these different statistics today, something like 14 percent of men, victims of domestic violence.

Here's the other issue with this whole story. When we talk about this video a lot of people are saying this is wonderful in that it is raising awareness. Others are saying every single time someone clicks on this video, she is revictimized.

Where do you stand on that?

SKLAR: That's a tough one, right? The -- it's out there. So awareness about difficult things doesn't get raised without awareness of those difficult things.

And I think that the reason the video was so important is because, you know, it's irrefutable. You don't even see the sort of -- like the classic paradigm of losing control and then apologetic. You know, I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry, I don't know what came over me. I mean, that video showed a --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- limp body and leaves her there.

SKLAR: And the others, the other feet that, you know, that you could see in the video, like the concern was very clearly for him and not for her. And that is what is so important about watching that video. It's difficult to watch. But you know, the NFL needs to have their callousness thrown in their face by the world so that this change can happen. That is an organization that really needs to change.

MILES: I agree. And I think you see so clearly in that video. This is not an anger management issue. There was some talk with his pretrial intervention and what he might be getting in terms of counseling, that there would be anger management. He wasn't having any trouble managing his anger. He was perfectly calm after he knocked her out and he pulled her off the elevator and he discussed it with the casino employee. Perfectly calm.

BALDWIN: Why have you said that this would further empower abusive men?

MILES: I think that -- well, I think the NFL's response clearly did. I think it's absolutely disheartening. I think that it's understandable the prosecution dropped charges in light of the reconciliation and the difficulty of proceeding with a victimless prosecution.

But obviously their response being so minimal compared with everything else that they have punished people for more harshly gives the message that it's OK.

BALDWIN: When did you finally -- I just want to end on this.

When did you finally say this is not OK in your relationship? If you'll share.

SKLAR: It just got to that point. So I was in an abusive relationship; it started out verbally and he would get explosive and angry. He punched a wall; there's still a dent in my wall from that. And then there was a physical altercation after which the disengagement process occurred and the police did come. I was offered a victim report, which I did not fill out.

And so -- you know, and I'm not going to go questioning my motives and my responses at the time. They were what they were. But I can say from my own experience that so often it's not that simple as like the police came, great, I can just hand over this problem to you.

BALDWIN: Of course not.

SKLAR: It's about, in that moment, you know, the pressure's on you to not ruin that person's life, to not escalate it further, to, you know, we can deal with this, we can make it happen.

BALDWIN: But you got out.

(CROSSTALK)

SKLAR: I did get out. And I'm happy every day that I did.

But, you know, when I see this, I won't say it's a trigger in terms of it doesn't upset me, it angers me because I recognize that this happens so often. And I just -- one of the reasons that I shared my story is because I'm an advocate for women. I -- you know, people see me as being competent and powerful. It can happen to anyone.

BALDWIN: You know what --

MILES: It's about relationships.

BALDWIN: Good. We should be angry. We should be angry and we should be talking about this.

Jessica and Rachel, thank you both so, so much.

We're going to stay on this for the rest of the hour, by the way. So let me ask you this, as we talk about the NFL, do you think the NFL

commissioner, Roger Goodell, should he lose his job? A lot of people calling on him to resign, including my next guest, a very well- respected columnist at "The Washington Post." You'll hear his thoughts next.

Also ahead, the video, the video from the elevator.

Why did it take a media organization like TMZ to not only get their hands on this video, but also to release it for changes to happen?

And how were they able to get that video in the first place? Why couldn't the NFL do it?

You're watching CNN, THE SPECIAL REPORT.

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BALDWIN: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is one very powerful man. You know, in this league of multimillionaire athletes, he reportedly gets paid more than any player, $44 million last year. That's what we saw in one report.

And the commissioner oversees a hugely popular and, might I add, profitable business. The NFL generated $10 billion in revenue last year with a goal of $25 billion by the year 2025. But Goodell's handling of the Ray Rice case has put him in a painful spotlight. Mike Wise: Mike Wise joins me now. He's a columnist for "The Washington Post," and he penned quite the piece in "The Washington Post," basically saying Roger Goodell should lose his job.

Mike Wise, welcome.

MIKE WISE, "THE WASHINGTON POST: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. So let me just make sure everyone sees this portion of your latest column and let me just read it to everyone else.

Quote, you write, "This entire episode has taught us about the NFL from beginning to end, how a $9 billion colossus is far more concerned with preserving its image than with the behavior of its employees.

"Roger Goodell is not a leader of men. He's an overpaid, tone-deaf functionary whose power now needs to be checked. He needs to go, too."

Mike Wise, it's one thing to say he needs to go. But hello, reality check. You know, this is the NFL we're talking about.

Do you really think he will go?

WISE: Well, unfortunately, the NFL's not a democracy as it is a multimillion -- multibillion dollar American corporation. And Roger Goodell works for the NFL owners.

But I do believe if someone as strong-minded and strong-willed as Robert Craft from New England gets involved and he lobbies some of the other owners that this is not good for business and there will be some economic price to pay if we don't do something, I think there is -- there is a, an opportunity to ask Roger Goodell to step aside.

And mind you, I don't -- I don't do this cavalierly. I don't call for anybody's job.

BALDWIN: I know you don't.

WISE: Based on just this instance, Brooke. He's had a pattern of not being transparent regarding concussions. He's backed himself into a moral corner in many ways by refusing --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But wasn't he known as the sheriff for a while there?

WISE: Well, it's a great point. Roger Goodell was Mr. Law and Order. He was the lord of discipline in the NFL.

And it's amazing how stringent he's been on other punishments. I mean, there are guys that have taken amphetamines or smoked marijuana who have gotten two -- twice as much punishment as Ray Rice regarding domestic violence.

I think he was so tone-deaf on this issue that there is -- that there is a serious argument as to, which should be held in this country, about should the commissioner of the NFL remain.

BALDWIN: But you know what, Mike Wise, you know this, I know this, you know, come Sunday, everyone's watching football. I mean, there is the outrage, the tweets, the columns. Today, it's the games, it's the tickets, it's the clicks on Sunday. We're all enablers, to your point, not to give away your next column or anything.

WISE: I think there's something to be said for that. And it's unfortunate. The good news is, my inbox today was filled with a lot of emails from women, some of whom were in abusive relationships, some of whom just cannot deal with the notion that this happened and there was nothing done before this video came out from TMZ.

And they said they're not patronizing the league anymore. Roger Goodell has got to go.

BALDWIN: How about that. Mike Wise, our friend with "The Washington Post," we'll be watching for your next column. Thank you so much for your perspective.

WISE: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And according to the NFL, they didn't have the elevator video of this whole Ray Rice-Janay Rice, this one-way fight here. But this entertainment website, TMZ, they were able to get it. We'll take a look at what took so long, what it took to get this

video, to get it released.

And in the past 14 years alone more than 700 NFL players have been arrested. A stunning statistic from the dark side of America's most popular sport. Stay with me.

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BALDWIN: All right. First of all, here's what you know. You already know that celebrity website TMZ is the one responsible for tipping the tables here on Ray Rice. Posted the video, showing the Ravens star running back viciously knocking out his fiancee, dragging then her limp body out of this casino hotel elevator.

Horrible to watch every single time.

TMZ also reports that the NFL never asked to see the video. This is not the first time TMZ's managed to score major headlines involving celebrities or high-profile figures. Let's look back at just this year.

In April, TMZ exposed former L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling, that whole racist rant. That was TMZ. That audio clip cost his team -- it cost him his team, I should say, and his reputation.

Then there was the infamous elevator fisticuffs video of Jay Z and his sister-in-law, Solange Knowles and now Ray Rice and Janay Rice.

Joining me to talk about TMZ and the power they have in news gathering, CNN's senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter.

And we should also just be entirely transparent to all of you and say that TMZ is owned by CNN's parent company, TimeWarner.

That said, it was TMZ that broke this thing wide open.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: And it's a different kind of news organization than CNN is. Even though it's ultimately in the same parent company, they have different standards than CNN.

And I generally think that's OK, because it's all part of a complicated news ecosystem. But people need to know how this content's obtained and where it comes from. And although we don't know the specific case in this case of how it all went down, we know that TMZ makes no secret about the fact that they pay for material, videos, pictures, audio, that sort of thing, and that they're OK. They're comfortable paying for it. They think it's worthwhile. But it's definitely a different standard than an outlet like CNN would think.

BALDWIN: Do we have any idea -- I know you said we don't know on this incident. (CROSSTALK)

STELTER: What's so interesting about this one is that the casino where this happened, the Rebel Casino, went into bankruptcy recently. And it's closing down just a matter of weeks ago, days ago.

You've got to wonder if it's a coincidence that this has happened now. Maybe there were employees there who were more willing to help TMZ out, now that the casino was shutting down and some people were losing their jobs.

Just a speculation on my part. But I think we probably will end up being the story down the road.

BALDWIN: What else (INAUDIBLE) you about this whole thing?

STELTER: Well, they're an outsider. And a lot of other news organizations that cover the NFL are insiders.

Think about the fact that all the big broadcast networks have really important relationships with the NFL because they broadcast their games. That sometimes creates conflicts with the real serious journalists who also work at those companies.

It's not that ESPN wouldn't have wanted to get a hold of this video, but TMZ was more motivated. TMZ's an outsider. And sometimes it takes an outsider to come along and get content, get information, get scoops that insiders can't get.

BALDWIN: Create real change.

STELTER: But it's definitely controversial. Exactly. But it is definitely controversial --

(CROSSTALK)

STELTER: -- to think about paying -- a lot of journalists get very uncomfortable with that. Then again, the "National Enquirer" has been doing it for decades. So there's always sort of different layers in the news ecosystem and they feed off of each other.

I saw "The Baltimore Sun" TV critic, David Zurawik, wrote yesterday in, of course, the hometown paper for the Ravens. He said, "God bless TMZ."

BALDWIN: How about that.

STELTER: Yes.

BALDWIN: Brian Stelter, thank you so much. I appreciate it here just on that angle of this.

And then, you look at these different charges, drunk driving, bar brawls, domestic violence, murder, I am talking about NFL players just in the last 14 years, some accused, some convicted, some still awaiting trial. Listen, you know this. There's still a very dark side to the NFL.

And my next guest knows all about it.

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