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ESPN: Rice Told Goodell About Knockout Punch; White House: We Are At War With ISIS

Aired September 12, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Now to the Ray Rice fallout. Once again, Roger Goodell's version of events is getting sacked by unnamed sources. This time they are contradicting the NFL commissioner on what he actually knew before handing down the much maligned two-game suspension for Rice hitting his wife.

Listen to what Goodell told CBS and sports reporters on Wednesday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: When we met with Ray Rice and his representatives, it was ambiguous about what actually happened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What was ambiguous about her lying unconscious on the floor and being dragged out by her feet?

GOODELL: There was nothing ambiguous about that. That was the result that we saw we did not know what let up to that. We did not know the details of that. We asked for that on several occasions.

The description of what happened was not consistent with what the videotape was. When you see that, that was clear. That's why we took the action we did. It was completely unacceptable. It was graphic and violent and something we felt we had to make immediate reaction to.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: But ESPN cites four sources who say Ray Rice flat out told Goodell that he had hit his wife in the face and knocked her unconscious, his then fiancee at that time. ESPN quotes a source with knowledge of the meeting saying Ray didn't lie to the commissioner.

He told the full truth to Goodell and a second source told ESPN he told the truth. This is a public lynching of Ray. You'll notice I said once again because this report comes just one day after the "Associated Press" put into question another statement from the NFL commissioner that no one including himself saw the clip of Rice striking his then fiancee until TMZ actually released it on Monday.

So let's talk about this with Lou Ferrara, the "AP's" managing editor for sports. Nice to see you, Lou. So the "AP" is reporting and I know you've been very much involved in this, that there's a voice mail that shows that the NFL actually received the tape of this surveillance video.

So I guess the question is have you been any closer to figuring out who exactly at the NFL left this voice mail saying that they've acknowledge the receipt of the tape?

LOU FERRARA, AP SPORTS MANAGING EDITOR: No. We don't have details on who exactly may have received the tape. We just have a source who says he sent the tape that -- or a video arrived at the NFL and that person has confirmation that it did arrive at NFL offices. Who saw it, we don't know and we don't know details of how many people may have seen it if anyone at all.

KAYE: So you mention this source. This is a law enforcement source or just a source?

FERRARA: Yes. We've quoted a law enforcement official in our story. I should clarify the voice mail confirmed that one person did see it and said it was terrible what they saw. We don't know if the executives in the NFL saw it, at what level they saw it and we don't know how many people beyond that one person who confirmed that they saw it.

KAYE: Did your source tell you why this law enforcement source -- did they tell why they came forward now?

FERRARA: Nothing I can go into detail about. I think with all sources, there's interest in getting information out and in this case, there's been questions about not necessarily Ray Rice and that case as much as how the NFL is handling it.

KAYE: You went to the NFL with this information?

FERRARA: Yes.

KAYE: And tell me about that conversation what you can.

FERRARA: Well, I think you see quoted in our story the NFL said it was unaware of this and then immediately said they would look into it and the fallout from that was Commissioner Goodell coming back. He was in North Carolina at that time.

He came back and tapped former FBI Director Robert Mueller to look into things and that investigation internally is being overseen by two NFL owners, John Mara of the Giants and Al Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

KAYE: Certainly an interesting story and nice investigation on your team's part as well. Lou, thank you.

FERRARA: Thank you.

KAYE: Is there a double standard when it comes to stars and domestic violence? What about gender? Soccer star, Hope Solo, isn't getting the amount of attention Ray Rice is getting. We'll discuss that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: New York fashion week always shines a spotlight on what's new in designer collections, but what are designers saying about colors. Here's a look at what you might see in 2015.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK LAM: Colors don't work because it's an emotional grabber. Using really interesting colors done in milky suedes.

LUBOV AZRIA, DESIGNER: Creams, off-whites, perfect for spring.

PETER SOM, DESIGNER, PETER SOM: I think for spring I am loving this sort of light olive green I'm putting on the runway. It's a new color. It's fresh. It's also a color that I feel like you can wear anywhere.

JILL STUART, DESIGNER: The colors are muted and there is a play on stripes and different textures.

MICHAEL KORS, DESIGNER, MICHAEL KORS: Everywhere in the world of course flowers are exploding so you're looking at wisteria and beautiful purples and bright daffodil, greens and a perfect spring color.

ZAC POSEN, DESIGNER, ZAC POSEN: This season we worked with limited colors. I thought pure white to black as a counterbalance and then for the heat of the show we worked with red. You have to make trends and surprise people. That's what's key in fashion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The NFL's handling of the Ray Rice domestic abuse controversy still isn't sitting well with a whole lot of people, but some wonder if there's a double standard when the women is the alleged abuser.

Hope Solo, for example, she apologized this summer after she was accused of assaulting her half sister and her 17-year-old nephew. She pleaded not guilty. She faces two counts of fourth degree domestic violence assault, U.S. soccer still promotes her.

So let me talk this over with ESPN's Jemele Hill, she is co-host of "Numbers Never Lie." She is joining us now by phone. Jemele, is outrage against domestic violence different when the alleged abuser is a woman?

JEMELE HILL, CO-HOST, ESPN'S "NUMBERS NEVER LIE" (via telephone): I think that's a big difference. I think it's also we have to think of the different platform than most female athletes have. The question we should ask is hope is a big star in international soccer.

She's remained in this country. She's not a part of billions of dollars like the NFL is. The NFL is on three nights a week. It's number one sport in America. I think that it's less about a double standard and more about the popularity of that sport compared to what football is.

If this was Serena Williams, I think it probably would have gotten more traction. But the fact of the matter is that she's not in a sport that's as popular as the NFL.

KAYE: Let me ask you about something that Christine Brennan from "USA Today" said and you could react to this. She said that Solo has been convicted of no crimes, but neither was Michael Phelps when USA swimming suspended him in 2009 after pictures surfaced of him smoking a marijuana pipe. What's your response to that?

HILL: How they deal with her within their sport deserves to be criticized. If you want to use maybe in the similar sport, Olympic sport as a comparison, I think that either a suspension or her not being allowed to participate in some things would have been completely reasonable.

And I think the measure regardless of gender that I go by is when you have been accused of something or involved in something or your name is attached to something that for whoever you represent is not good for that brand, you better believe that if Friday night.

I got into trouble tonight I won't be working at ESPN on Monday or I for sure won't be on air on Monday. And so it's well within your employer's right if you are causing considerable damage to their brand to sit you down.

KAYE: Right. Absolutely. All right, Jemele Hill, thanks for weighing in. Appreciate it.

Coming next, CNN's Erin Burnett just spoke with Retired General Stanley McChrystal who stepped down after privately criticizing President Obama. We'll talk to her about what the general says about ISIS and U.S. military action.

Plus, hear which former CIA chief compared America's ability to drop bombs to casual sex.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In just a moment, we'll bring you Erin Burnett's interview with General Stanley McChrystal, but in case you missed our breaking news happening this hour. Listen to what the White House just said about ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The administration hasn't wanted to call this a war on ISIS, but is it not a war?

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The question that you are asking though goes to sort of the central question that is important for people to understand. This is not a situation where it's the United States against ISIL. The fact is, ISIL has indicated that they're ready to go to war against the world. And this president, as is expected of American presidents, is stepping up to lead an international coalition to confront that threat and to deny ISIL a safe haven. And ultimately this international coalition will be responsible for degrading and destroying ISIL.

So I think what we conclude from this is the United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with al Qaeda and its al Qaeda affiliates are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: All right, so there you have the White House saying, we are at war. But listen to what the Secretary of State John Kerry told our Elise Labott yesterday about that very same topic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Is the United States at war with ISIS? It sure sounds from the president's speech that we are.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I think that's the wrong terminology. What we are doing is engaging in a very significant counterterrorism operation. And it's going to be on for some period of time. If somebody wants to think about it as being a war with ISIL, they can do so. But the fact is it's a major counterterrorism operation that will have many different moving parts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And as our Elise Labott told me just moments ago, the administration seems all over the place on this terminology. And you can see it there for yourself.

Meantime, U.S. military planes are already flying over Iraq and Syria looking for the ISIS targets that would be on the receiving end of American airpower. But one retired U.S. general has an eyebrow raising analogy for those airstrikes.

Quoting here, "The reliance on airpower has all of the attraction of casual sex. It seems to offer gratification, but with very little commitment," that is from Retired Air Force General Michael Hayden, who also led the CIA and the National Security Agency.

And he's not the only retired U.S. general with something to say about what the White House now calls a war with ISIS. Erin Burnett is joining me now to talk a little bit more about this.

You just spoke with Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal. We should remind our viewers though before we talk about that interview that he left in a shroud of controversy after an explosive "Rolling Stones" article quoting him for mocking government officials including Joe Biden.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "OUTFRONT": He had a stormy relationship at the end with President Obama. But he's the man who was responsible for capturing Saddam Hussein and the murdering of Osama Bin Laden and Alaz Zarqawi.

He said it's sort of ridiculous that there is this discussion going on, on the ground, this is a war. And it's a war that he believes makes sense ISIS is a threat to the United States and bigger than anything he saw during his time in Iraq dealing with the counterinsurgency.

So a very significant statements from General McChrystal, but this issue of who's to blame? As you know, John McCain is saying, the president's to blame for pulling troops out of Iraq. Others are saying, no, it is George Bush who is to blame.

I asked him about that issue. Who is to blame? He served under both presidents and here's how that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: The blame came as ugly and simplistic. But it is going on in full force, as you know. Some say President Obama didn't really want to renegotiate, if he had, he could have kept troops in.

And then there are those who point out rightly that it was President Bush who signed that status of forces agreement, which committed to troop withdrawals under the terms under which they were withdrawn and he was the one who signed that agreement. Is one side or the other more to blame or is this plenty to go around?

GENERAL STANLEY MCCHYRSTAL, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): Yes. I remember what Joe Namath said years ago. You never get blitzed in the press box. Unless you've been in the position where President Bush or President Obama has been, it's really difficult to understand all the context of a decision.

I think there's plenty of blame for everybody. But I think we spend way too much time thinking about blame. If you think about our strategy now against ISIS, the one thing we absolutely need is cohesion in the United States in support of the president's strategy.

Is it a perfect strategy? No. I've never seen a perfect strategy. But I can guarantee that it's a weaker strategy if we don't fall behind it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: He also had a lot to say about the sticky subject of arming rebels.

BURNETT: He did. He was adamant about that. He believes the United States should arm the rebels. He thinks it is a necessary risk and that that must be done. He is very strong on that and he also talked about air strikes. General Hayden likening relying on air strikes to casual sex.

That is something General McChrystal would agree with. He said air strikes are just a part of the solution and we talked about ground troops. We'll have that full interview coming up tonight. KAYE: All right, I'm sure it's a great interview. Looking forward to watching the rest of that interview. Erin, thank you very much. You can watch Erin's interview with Stanley McChrystal tonight on "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT." That's at 7:00 eastern on CNN.

All right, everyone, thanks so much for watching today. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.