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NFL Needs Different Attitude Towards Domestic Violence; Oscar Pistorius Granted Bail; Atlanta Hawks' Danny Ferry Faces Calls to Step Down

Aired September 12, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me.

The Baltimore Ravens won the game last night, but is it winning the PR war raging on right now? The team faced off against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first game since teammate Ray Rice was cut amid a growing domestic violence controversy. Despite an explosive video of Rice knocking out his then fiancee in an elevator, many Ravens in Ravensnation say they still support Rice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even though what he did was awful, I think people need to take a stand for him because his treatment by the league was horrible. The way -- like being punished twice for the same thing, I just - I don't believe that's right. I've spoken to him. I think a lot of us here have. He's genuine and he means well. And he made a mistake under the influence of alcohol, him and his wife, and people are letting that define him. And I don't think that's right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm making a statement. I'm making a statement because Ray Rice, yes, he was wrong, yes, I don't agree with what he did, but, man, it's like double jeopardy. They shouldn't have thrown him out of the league. That was wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe that everybody deserves a second chance. This is a situation that is between his wife and himself. I feel that everybody should leave them alone and let them deal with the situation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wore my Ray Rice jersey because I support Ray Rice. It's double jeopardy what Roger Goodell did, you know? I don't agree with what Roger Goodell did at all. You know, he got his punishment and I think they should have stuck to that. What the Ravens did I think is a little messed up, but I know they had to do what they do for the organization. But I stick behind Ray Rice 100 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't support what he did, but I support him as a person. I believe we're all human and we all make mistakes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: There you have it. If you tuned in to last night's game, there was something missing from the opening show. That would be this. That's "Run This Town" by Jay-z featuring Rihanna, and it was supposed be part of the Thursday night football prerecorded open until CBS yanked the song from the lineup just hours before kickoff. The NFL Network said changes were made to make more time to discuss the Ray Rice scandal. An awkward decision considering Rihanna, like Janay Rice, is a victim of domestic violence. The singer was assaulted in 2009 by then boyfriend Chris Brown.

Now, I know CBS' heart was in the right place, but removing Rihanna, a survivor of domestic violence, seemed a little off to me. It was like punishing her because she is an unfortunate reminder of something the NFL wants fans to forget about. And I'm not alone. "Washington Post" reporter Soraya Nadia McDonald is here. She wrote an article in today's paper called "Rihanna didn't do anything wrong, so why was she the one CBS decided to nix." We're also joined by CNN's senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources," Brian Stelter.

Welcome to both of you.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

SORAYA NADIA MCDONALD, REPORTER, "WASHINGTON POST": Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thanks for being here.

Brian, I want to start with you. Here's what the CBS sports chairman, Sean McManus, told "Sports Illustrated" about the program change. Quote, "we thought journalistically and from a tone standpoint we needed to have the appropriate tone and coverage. A lot of the production elements we wanted in the show are being eliminated because of time or tone." So my question for you, did Rihanna's history have anything to do with CBS' decision?

STELTER: I try to take a very skeptical eye on these things, Carol. But in this case, I believe CBS. They were fitting in a lot of news coverage into their half-hour pregame show. They even went to Scott Pelley, the anchor of the "CBS Evening News," in order to have more objective news reporting about what was going on with this scandal. So I actually think they were - they were right to move all this other content out of the way, including a comedy segment, and make time for more news coverage.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

So, Soraya, I want to read an excerpt from your article. You write this, quote, "she (Rihanna), through no fault of her own, reminds people of domestic violence, the very thing the NFL wants everyone to forget about. It avoided a night of tweets about Rihanna being juxtaposed with a team missing one of its top offensive players because he's a lady-basher." Soraya, you also noted wisely that Terrell Suggs and Ben Roethlisberger, two players that have been accused of sexual assault, were playing last night. They weren't pulled. Hypocrisy?

MCDONALD: So I think one of the main things that we're seeing with this story that really has people outraged is that it seems as though the NFL wasn't really moved to do anything about the Ray Rice situation until everyone called them on it because they saw this video. And that's come to light even more as we see that, you know, domestic violence isn't a problem that just sprung up in the NFL with Ray Rice and the situation with his wife in February. You know, this has been sort of an ongoing problem for them that they've sort of ignored and tried their best to sweep under the rug. And so you see them dealing with this because they've basically been rushed into a corner and they have no other choice because the outcry, based on the footage that we've seen of him punching Janay Rice is just so awful.

But we have all these other situations in the league that still aren't being dealt with. Not just involving players. I mean Roger Goodell still hasn't said anything about the sexual assault allegations that have been levied against Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

COSTELLO: That's a good point, right? So let's go back to the matter at hand because it seen that CBS tried to do what Soraya is suggesting because, Brian, James Brown, he spoke out domestic violence. Norah O'Donnell presented the controversy surrounding Roger Goodell. So how did that play?

MCDONALD: Sure.

STELTER: I thought they did. They went straight at the topic, in part because they knew they were going to be criticized if they did not. You know, CBS and other networks have multibillion-dollar deals with the NFL. That's why their news coverage of the NFL is so closely scrutinized. It's true for ESPN as well which has Monday night football. I think they bent over backwards to cover this objectively and seriously. And by the way, even though Rihanna was not part of the show last night, the video was not on last night, it is scheduled to air on all the other Thursday night football broadcasts. So whether we like it or not, she will be in some ways a reminder of this issue on Thursday night football all season long.

COSTELLO: Interesting. So, Soraya, after this is all over, will we have learned anything about domestic violence?

MCDONALD: You know, I think we've learned just from the segments that you played leading into this, you know, that people are very willing to forgive domestic abusers. I think one of the things we've learned is just how complicated this issue is. It's not as simple as necessarily saying, well, she should leave, without sort of considering, you know, the other factors that go into that when women are trying to make those difficult decisions. And you saw that play out on Twitter earlier this week with the hashtags, "why I left" and "why I stayed." You know, this is something that has to be approached with a lot of nuance and care, rather than, you know, judgment.

COSTELLO: Right. Right. And I hope you're right. I hope at least -- well at least we're talking about the issue and I think that's helpful. Soraya McDonald, Brian Stelter, thanks to you both. I appreciate it.

The Ray Rice scandal has triggered anger and disgust from people across the country, but it's also brought the issue of domestic violence, as we said, into the national spotlight. In fact, 16 female senators have already called on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to do more when it comes to domestic violence. They're asking for a zero tolerance policy. So I want to know what you think about that. Should Congress get involved? Tell me what you think on my FaceBook page, or share your thoughts on Twitter. And don't forget to use #cnnnewsroom. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail after being convicted of culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Now, culpable homicide is the South African term for killing someone unlawfully but doing so unintentionally. Pistorius faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, but he won't be sentenced until next month. CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps is live in Pretoria, South Africa, with more.

So, he's out on bail after being convicted of essentially killing someone, even though the judge ruled it was unintentional.

Kelly, can you hear me? Kelly?

I'm thinking we're having some transmission problems. You want to take a break and come back when we get this fixed? That we will.

We'll go back to South Africa after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail after being convicted of culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. Now, Culpable homicide is the South African term for killing someone unlawfully but doing so unintentionally. Pistorius faces a maximum of 15 years in prison but he won't be sentenced until next month. CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps is live in Pretoria, South Africa with more.

So, he's out on bail after being convicted of essentially killing someone, even though the judge ruled it was unintentional. Kelly, can you hear me? Kelly? I'm thinking we're having some transmission problems. You want to take a break and come back when we get this fixed? That we will. We'll go back to South Africa after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Alright, our transmission problem solved. As I told you a little bit earlier, Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius has been granted bail after being convicted of culpable homicide in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. CNN legal analyst Kelly Phelps, live in Pretoria, South Africa, with more on this. So he's been convicted of culpable homicide. Why did the judge grant him bail?

KELLY PHELPS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's not unusual for an accused person or convicted person to be granted bail pending sentencing, especially for an offense like culpable homicide, which is not governed by any mandatory minimum sentencing. So it is discretionary sentencing for the judge. She will need to determine at the sentencing hearing how severe a version of culpable homicide this conviction is, and then she will need to determine what is a fair sentence to attach to that. So it's not a foregone conclusion that he would get custodial sentencing. He certainly may get a direct term of imprisonment. But because it's not as serious an offense as murder, he is eligible for bail at this point as long as he is not considered a flight risk. The most important thing in this bail determination was securing his attendance at the completion of this criminal process, so that justice can be done.

COSTELLO: It seemed that the judge didn't believe any of the prosecution's witnesses.

PHELPS: Actually, quite to the contrary, she was very complimentary of the state witnesses, particularly the neighbors, who claimed to have heard Reeva Steenkamp screaming. She was, in fact, at pains to distinguish in her judgment the difference between reliability and credibility, so what she said was when you compared what they said they heard, with the objective time frames that we know from all of the phone records available to the court, it became patently clear that although they were given very honest and truthful testimony, they were genuinely mistaken as to what they had heard, because the time at which they claimed to have heard Reeva Steenkamp screaming was a time she had already had the very mortal wounds inflicted upon her, and it would have been a physical impossibility for her to have been screaming at that point. So the judge was complimentary of their credibility, but ultimately found their evidence to be unreliable and genuinely mistaken.

COSTELLO: So it was Oscar Pistorius screaming and not Reeva Steenkamp?

PHELPS: Yes, and it was never contested that Oscar Pistorius was screaming. What was contested was whether they had both screened or whether it had always been only him screaming. This is where you heard the discussion about, could he have sounded like a woman when he screamed? And what the judge essentially found was, if you look at the timeframes of the chronology of the phone records, he had to have been the one who was screaming because there were only two people in the house, Reeva Steenkamp would already have been unconscious and therefore the only person left to have been screaming was Oscar Pistorius himself, which must have been very pitched due the hysterical and emotional state that he was in at the time.

COSTELLO: So he's going to be sentenced in, what, a month?

PHELPS: We resume for the sentencing hearing on the 13th of October. And during that week of the 13th of October, evidence in aggravation and mitigation of sentence will be put forward by the various parties to the judge and she will then have the task to determine what the fair and appropriate sentence on the facts of this case will be.

COSTELLO: Alright, Kelly Phelps reporting live from South Africa this morning. Thank you so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, could a racial controversy sync a second member of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks front office? Nick Valencia is on that story. Good morning, Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. It just keeps getting worse and worse for the Atlanta Hawks. Now audio, new controversial comments, this time by the general manager. We'll play you a portion of that audio right after the break. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The Baltimore Ravens are not the only pro-sports team that finds itself in the middle of a firestorm. The NBA's Atlanta Hawks are struggling with a racial controversy that has forced the team's majority owner out. In the meantime, general manager Danny Ferry faces calls to step down himself, following a conference call where he used racial slurs about a potential free agent and the calls could be getting louder now that the audio of that phone call has surfaced. CNN's Nick Valencia has it. He joins me now. Good morning.

VALENCIA: All week we've been telling you about Bruce Levenson, the Hawks controlling owner, and his inflammatory e-mail that was uncovered by an internal investigation. That investigation, triggered by another set of controversial comments, this time from the team's general manager, Danny Ferry. And on that conference call, he was talking about free agents. One of them, free agent, Luol Deng, who happens to be from Africa. Now CNN has obtained a portion of that conference call and we want to play it for you so you can listen for yourself.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DANNY FERRY, ATLANTA HAWKS GENERAL MANAGER: If you manage it the right way, he'll be fine. He's still a young guy overall. But he is also -- he's a good guy overall but he's not perfect, he's got some Africa in him and I don't say that in a bad way other than he's a guy that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That comment was Sterling. Tape this [ explicative ]. That's going to be on TMZ tonight.

FERRY: But he's like a guy who would have a nice front store that's beautiful and great but he may be selling some counterfeit stuff behind you.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Now you can hear some nervous laughter on that tape, that coming from Michael Gearon, a minority owner of the Atlanta Hawks, and you can also hear some noticeable gasps on. Whether or not this should cost Danny Ferry his job, that's up for debate. We have reached out to the Atlanta Hawks franchise, they have not gotten back to us. Carol.

COSTELLO: I'm just stunned someone would say something like that. Anyway --

VALENCIA: It is a controversial comment, especially in the wake of Donald Sterling's comments earlier this year. The NBA has put out a statement themselves. Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, seemingly standing behind Danny Ferry for the moment, anyway, Carol. He says the discipline of a team employee is typically determined by the team and in this case the Hawks hired a prestigious Atlanta law firm to investigate the circumstances of Danny Ferry's clearly inappropriate and unacceptable remarks. Adam Silver, the commissioner, goes on to say, in my view, those comments taken alone do not merit his losing his job.

COSTELLO: Alright, we'll see what happens. Nick Valencia reporting live this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, flash flooding strands dozens of motorists in Memphis and more rain could be on the way. Look at where the storm is headed. A look at where the storm is headed next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Memphis, Tennessee, dozens of homes were evacuated after heavy rains triggered flash flooding. Several people had to rescued from cars that got stuck in high water, including this guy. He was pulled to safety just before his car was swallowed up by the rising waters. Even more rain is expected later today. Indra Petersons is tracking the bad weather. She joins us now. Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning. The last thing you want to think about is the month of September, they typically see about 3 inches. What they saw yesterday was 4.5 inches in just one day. And here's the concern, more rain is still on the way, Carol. Take a look into the southeast, anywhere around the Gulf, especially around Brownsville.

Two to four inches of rain is going to be expected and it's the weekend, everyone knows it's the weekend. What are we talking about? The southeast looking for rain but it's not the only system. Look out in the Midwest, there's another one. So there's going to be two chances here for people to get rained out, especially on the East Coast. Look at Saturday, the entire Eastern seaboard here talking about the threat for showers by Sunday. Sure even northeast, like we are, it feels a lot better but by Sunday you're talking about rain, and even heavy rain again, concentrated right around the Carolinas. And that's just one side of the equation. We keep talking about this.

Look at the rainbow here. You have all the colors. Why? The huge temperature drop coming for so many of you. High today in the 40s? Summer went away very quickly and that cold air is moving in, into the mid-Atlantic about a good 10, 20 degree temperature drop is moving in. By the time you get to Saturday it's going down even more. That's the concern people are looking at as we head through the weekend. Does this sound like a good weekend forecast? Sorry if not.

COSTELLO: No, it's not and I'm not ready for cold weather.

PETERSONS: I'm with you. Welcome to New York.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Indra. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.