Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hunt for Cop Killer in Pennsylvania; Smoke Creates Panic on JetBlue Flight; Kerry Speaks at U.N.; Goodell to Break Silence on NFL Players, Domestic Abuse.

Aired September 19, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The hunt for an accused cop killer intensifies today, putting small towns in rural Pennsylvania on high alert. The FBI has added Eric Frein to its 10-Most-Wanted list. They are offering a $100,000 reward for his capture. Frein is suspected of killing one trooper and injuring another before disappearing into the woods.

Jason Carroll reports from a very remote area in Pennsylvania where the search is now almost a week old.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a community where many people remember Eric Frein walking the streets in full military gear, so you can imagine how people are feeling out here, especially last night when police received a credible tip that Eric Frein was back in the area, near the home where he grew up with his parents.

Police ended up sending in a heavy police presence. As a result, armored cars, helicopters, state police walking around heavily armed. And, in fact, at one point they blocked off the streets leading into Eric Frein's neighborhood not allowing residents who live there to go back to their homes.

Investigators saying they have received numerous credible tips that Frein may still be in the area.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Jason Carroll, thank you very much.

We want to remind you again, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell scheduled to speak at the top of the hour. We'll bring that to you live.

Plus, an NFL story you probably haven't heard. A player actually quit playing to help out his younger brother, and actually saved his life. We'll tell you what happened and talk to them live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Some harrowing moments aboard a JetBlue fight. Smoke filled the cabin, and so did panic just moments after takeoff. Listen to this passenger.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN HUBBARD, PASSENGER: The engine blew out. And we were out over the ocean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean, the engine blew out?

HUBBARD: Our right engine blew out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You actually heard it?

HUBBARD: Oh, yeah. Popped, blew out. Smoke engulfed the cabin where you couldn't see the person next to you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That bad?

HUBBARD: It was that bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: With emergency vehicles lining the runway, the plane landed, and several passengers were hurt in the scramble to get to safety. And much of the ordeal was caught on cell phones.

Here's Stephanie Elam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, we've had a right engine failure.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terrifying video from inside the cabin of JetBlue flight 1416. The air thick with smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep your seat belt fastened.

ELAM: It was shortly after takeoff when something went wrong.

DEAN DELBAUGH, PASSENGER: I heard a weird noise. The landing gear came up then a pop.

ELAM: While in route to Austin, Texas, from Long Beach, California, the airline says there was an issue with the number-two engine on the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please stay in your seats and we'll try to clear the cabin of smoke.

ELAM: The oxygen masks failed to deploy, according to one passenger, forcing the attendants to manually release them.

DELBAUGH: We were way over the ocean, probably a couple miles out, and you immediately got the smell and it obviously was something burning. ELAM: The pilot immediately turned the plane back to Long Beach. You

can hear babies crying as the 142 passengers and five crew members braced for an emergency landing.

DELBAUGH: Once we turned around and got over land, it was very -- it was jarring all over the place and then people started to get really worried.

ELAM: He thought he was going die.

DELBAUGH: I thought this was it. My wife was right next to me, we were going on vacation, and she held me, she was crying, and I was like, well, here we go.

JARROD WEST, PASSENGER: The scariest part of the whole thing was when we were coming down for landing and the flight attendants were yelling, "Brace, brace, brace."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Brace, brace, brace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEST: And they kept repeating it and repeating it, and it was at the top of their lungs.

ELAM: After landing safely --

(APPLAUSE)

-- a round of applause from all on board.

PILOT: JetBlue 1416 is on the ground. JetBlue 1416 will be evacuating.

ELAM: The control tower told the pilot smoke wasn't coming from the engine. But the passengers weren't waiting. They quickly escaped down the slides.

JACKSON RATHBONE, ACTOR & PASSENGER: I figured, you know, it would be too hot to wear black.

ELAM: Celeb passenger "Twilight" actor, Jackson Rathbone, tweeted photos of everyone crowding the tarmac including his family, the plane in the background.

Four people were injured, thankfully, none seriously.

WEST: I'm just happy to be alive. I don't think I'll ever be mean to anybody ever again.

ELAM: Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Wow.

Just minutes from now, a reminder, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will hold a news conference. He's expected to make a statement and then answer questions about the league's personal conduct policy. He's also supposed to address a myriad of domestic violence issues currently plaguing the NFL. We'll bring it to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN.

SAVIDGE: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is now speaking before the U.N. Let's listen.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: -- Mr. al Jaafari for a very important statement and we appreciate very much your leadership and the new government's efforts.

Now, it's my privilege to make a statement in my capacity as secretary of state of the United States. Let me start again by thanking every single one of you for participating in this session. I've seen in the last weeks traveling around how extraordinarily busy everybody is and how committed to this effort everyone is through their actions and their incredibly busy schedules. I'm convinced that the fact that so many countries are represented here from so many parts of the world really underscores the clear need for all of us to come together, to welcome and to support the new inclusive government in Iraq and, of course, to put an end to ISIL's unfettered barbarity.

I want to thank Secretary-General Ban and welcome our new Iraqi counterpart, Foreign Minister al Jaafari.

I don't need to remind anyone here that the last two times the eyes of the world were focused on Iraq was when its government was in confrontation with the international community with great consequences. Today, however, we come together in support of the new Iraqi government that's already made great strides in a short amount of time. And we must not miss this moment.

Last week, I made my second trip to Baghdad in just over two months in order to meet with the new Iraqi government. I was very encouraged to hear them reaffirm their commitment to govern in the interest of all Iraqis and to finally begin to address the deep divisions that we're all aware of, including those over energy resources, regional autonomy, and the composition of the security forces. All of these have plagued Iraq throughout its modern history.

They are also committed to empowering local communities to mobilize and maintain security control in their area and work with the international community to defeat ISIL. Indeed, Iraq --

SAVIDGE: That's Secretary of State John Kerry talking to the U.N. If you want to follow more on that speech, go to CNN.com.

We also want to tell you, there's a press conference coming up from the NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Right after this break, Anderson Cooper takes over.

Thanks very much. Good to be with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper. Thanks for joining us.

This is CNN's special live coverage of a major moment in what has been a nightmare for America's biggest sports. Just minutes from now, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will hold a news conference, breaking his silence, answering questions about the domestic abuse scandals involving NFL players and the league's response to them. This is the first time we are hearing from Roger Goodell in nine days since he reacted to that video released by TMZ that showed Ray Rice hitting his then-fiance inside an elevator, knocking her out. Initially, Goodell suspended Rice for just two games. After that video surfaced, the public's reaction prompted the Baltimore Ravens to kick Rice off the team and the NFL suspended him indefinitely. Rice is currently appealing that decision but, in just a week, the crisis has gotten deeper.

Here's a look at the most recent players now under fire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS ANNOUNCER: It's Dwyer. He's in.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jonathan Dwyer, a running back for the Arizona Cardinals, now in custody.

(CROSSTALK)

TURNER: The football star is the sixth NFL player making headlines for alleged abuse in the past few days. Dwyer arrested at the Cardinals training facility stemming from a slew of alleged abuse beginning in late July, including one count of aggravated assault against a 27-year-old female, causing a fracture, and another involving his 18-month-old child.

SGT. TRENT CRUMP, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: He has been interviewed by our detectives. He has admitted involvement in the incidents, however, has denied allegations of physical assault.

TURNER: Police say during one incident, he threw a shoe at the 18- month-old and then tossed the cell phone of the female victim out a window preventing her from calling police. The Cardinals say they have taken the immediate step to deactivate Jonathan from all team activities.

UNIDENTIFIED SPORTS ANNOUNCER: Jonathan Dwyer who had the touchdown.

TURNER: Half a dozen NFL players across the country are now facing domestic violence charges. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no rule book for this.

TURNER: Wednesday Carolina Panthers' offensive end, Greg Hardy, took a voluntary paid leave of absence after being convicted of domestic violence. In May, they say he choked his then girlfriend, dragged her by her hair into a bathtub and threatened to kill her. The Panthers' star has asked for a new trial.

ZYGI WILF, OWNER, MINNESOTA VIKINGS: We made a mistake and we need to get this right.

TURNER: The Minnesota Vikings deactivating running back, Adrian Peterson, facing a child abuse charge, retracting from an earlier decision to keep him in the game after sponsors voiced their outrage. Many of Peterson's teammates say he should stay on the field.

ADRIAN PETERSON, FORMER NFL RUNNING BACK: Growing up, that was nothing. My mom always whipped me up and things like that. In my culture, that's how I was raised and how my mom raised her kids. Like I said, man, look at me now. I'm in the NFL.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Now the opinions of many sport watchers carry the most weight with NFL is those of major advertisers. Anheuser-Bush spends $50 million a year and that doesn't include commercials during the game. The company says it's, quote, not satisfied with the league's handling of the situation." PepsiCo has a more mixed message. Its president decries the behavior of the players in trouble but still supports Roger Goodell. The company has $100 million annual deal with the NFL. And the "Wall Street Journal" reports Verizon has a billion-dollar four-year deal with the league. And Verizon CEO called domestic violence the plague, and he wrote that Verizon will continue to work with the NFL to, quote, "be a voice for change."

We have a panel of former NFL players, legal experts, analyst and a domestic abuse advocate standing by to cover all of the angles.

We want to start with Rachel Nichols, host of CNN's "Unguarded." She is in New York, at a location where Roger Goodell is about to hold this news conference.

Rachel, do we have any idea what Goodell is going to be speaking on?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, UNGUARDED: We certainly expect him to address the incidents over the past couple weeks. We also expect him to announce new changes coming to the NFL's personal conduct policy. That's what was newly created a few weeks ago domestic violence policy is under and we expect them to say they'll work with the union to make new and more consistent rules because that's been one of the biggest problems here. The public really has lost its faith and trust in the way the NFL is handling the situations. You have Adrian Peterson deactivated and reactivated and then deactivated the day after that. There's no rhyme or reason. And you have an Etch-A-Sketch philosophy, you scribble out a punishment, you see public backlash, sponsor backlash. People don't like it. Then, you shake up policy and you scribble out a new thing. That has to stop. We expect him to address that today.

COOPER: Also, Rachel, there is -- obviously Ray Rice is appealing his indefinite suspension and may have grounds to stand on on this. The league basically gave one punishment and then reversed themselves and has given another punishment.

NICHOLS: There's no question about that. Look, I don't think there's anybody that likes what Ray Rice did. The punishment was extremely inconsistent. First, the NFL issues a two-game suspension and then after the video becomes public, and there's a big outcry, then they turn around and go incredibly in the opposite direction and suspend him indefinitely and they said that was because there was "new information." The police report in the incident which was easily obtainable by anybody specifically says that Ray Rice struck his wife with his hand knocking her unconscious. Now, you didn't see it in the police report. There's no video accompanying it. You know what he did. Regardless of whatever Ray Rice said to the NFL in the meeting with Roger Goodell when he was pleading for his job, you would expect him to maybe sugar coat what happened there.

There was a police report open for anyone to see. The NFL could have launched its own investigation. The idea of its new evidence caused people again to question their process. Not question that Ray Rice should be punished. Of course, he should be punished. What is the process going on here? Is it arbitrary? Are they paying attention? Are they working to get it right in the first place? That's the problem. Roger Goodell will face those questions today.

COOPER: Rachel, stay with us.

I want to bring in Sunny Hostin, joining me here in New York; and also Sean Gregory, NFL writer for "Time" magazine.

Sean, what do you anticipate hearing from Roger Goodell? He's been silent since giving that interview to CBS this morning while we've seen a whole slew of other players with various allegations.

SEAN GREGORY, NFL WRITER, TIME MAGAZINE: A lot of criticism for going in a bunker and even that interview on CBS, you want everyone to answer questions and have him in a public setting and a press conference setting where people can ask the stuff. One thing, as Rachel said, is what about the Greg Hardy case? He was convicted of assault and abuse, domestic violence.

COOPER: He's appealing it. That's why the team is allowing him to play, but he was convicted.

GREGORY: He was convicted. A judge said that you are guilty of this. Then a video -- the video says a lot. The police report in the Greg Hardy case was there in May. There's so many questions and inconsistencies he's going to have to face today, and this is the right forum to do it. And people have wanted to hear from him.

COOPER: Sunny, do you anticipate any major news out of Roger Goodell?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I hope we will hear major news. I think, to Rachel's point, the Etch-A-Sketch policy is a brilliant way of describing what's going on. You Etch-A-Sketch something and shake it up and it changes. People want to see leadership and people want to see him step down and hand over leadership to someone that's more capable. That probably will not happen. If we hear a zero-tolerance policy for domestic violence, if you get arrested, you are suspended until resolution of the case. And then perhaps you still -- you know, no diversion program for domestic violence. I think if we hear something like that just a real hard line on domestic violence and child abuse, people will be pleased.

COOPER: Rachel Nichols, is Roger Goodell going to make a statement and then also take questions?

NICHOLS: He's expected to. We'll certainly be waiting for that. I think Sunny is right. Anyone who is expecting him to get up there and resign is going to be disappointed. But I wouldn't be surprised if when he does take those questions someone asks them about it. I wouldn't expect to get the answer those people are looking for though.

COOPER: It's interesting, Rachel, because it seems Roger Goodell has sort of changed his story somewhat on Ray Rice and exactly on what Ray Rice told the NFL.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. This is what has been so troubling. Again, nobody is supporting what Ray Rice did at all. That's not the discussion here. The discussion is how serious is the NFL about handling this? And were they serious in the first place? It seems like they didn't look into this very much. The investigation certainly was not as thorough as TMZ's investigation.

And then when they did have him in the room, they didn't take into account readily available information like a police report. They said that they based their decision on things that he or his wife said, which was extremely questionable since they talked to his wife with not only Ray Rice in the room, which is a huge breach of protocol, but with several officials from the Ravens in the room. So Roger Goodell is interviewing Ray Rice's wife on what happened with her husband sitting next to her. The man who punched her unconscious, and also his bosses, the people that control his salary. And they have a child together. Remember that. This is a family supported by football. That was a position that was incredibly questionable for Roger Goodell to come out later and blame Ray Rice for saying he didn't quite tell us the truth about what happened in that elevator.

I'm not sure -- Sunny, you're a lawyer. I am not sure that any case is settled strictly on the say-so of the person involved in the incident being questioned. It's up to the governing body to do its own investigation and make its own decision. And the fact that he came back months after the fact, saying Ray Rice didn't tell us the truth or, wait, we didn't really have the video. And then, of course, we all remember the Associated Press report that said that, in fact, someone in the NFL office did have the video. So there has been a ton of backtracking.

COOPER: Yeah.

NICHOLS: And people will ask about that today, for sure.