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Unguarded with Rachel Nichols

Senator Calls for Action Against Goodell; Floyd Mayweather Defends Abuse Record; Clippers Coach Reflects on Impact of Racism in NBA; Rice's Teammates Speak Out

Aired September 12, 2014 - 22:30   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But for now, he's a free man. Out on bail. Cheers not for a gold medal Blade Runner, but a killer whose future lies very much in the balance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS, the question of whether Roger Goodell should still be running the NFL has now reached the U.S. Senate.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: What will the NFL do to impose more stringent punishment?

ANNOUNCER: Boxer Floyd Mayweather faces tough questions on his own domestic violence history.

FLOYD MAYWEATHER, BOXER: When it's all said and done, only God can judge me.

ANNOUNCER: Ray Rice's friend and former teammate, Chris Johnson, weighs in.

CHRIS JOHNSON, FRIEND OF RAY RICE: I think it was a good guy that did something terribly bad.

ANNOUNCER: In a week when racism again tarnished the NBA, Clippers coach Doc Rivers tells his story.

DOC RIVERS, COACH, L.A. CLIPPERS: Someone broke in our house and burned the house down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RACHEL NICHOLS, HOST: Welcome to UNGUARDED.

A week ago it would have been unimaginable that America's most popular sport would be under investigation by a former director of the FBI and its commissioner would be hearing calls for his job. Yet, that is where the NFL and Roger Goodell find themselves tonight.

Goodell is particularly under fire, with questions about what he knew and when after running back Ray Rice knocked his wife unconscious in a casino elevator. We've seen an angry reaction from players like this one from

former Saint Jonathan Vilma. Quote, "He should be held accountable for his lack of action, just like Ray Rice has been finally held accountable for his actions."

And listen to this from Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal. Blumenthal said, quote, "Recent reports that the NFL had the Ray Rice battering video point to Roger Goodell's burgeoning, insurmountable credibility gap... If these reports are true, Commissioner Goodell must go, for the good of the NFL and its fans."

I want to welcome Senator Blumenthal in now. Thank you for joining us, Senator.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you, Rachel.

NICHOLS: All right. So I want to follow up on that quote we just put up. You're, of course, talking about how several times Roger Goodell has said the NFL never had that videotape inside the casino elevator, but then a recent A.P. report revealed a voice mail from the league office confirming they, in fact, had the video. How egregious is that?

BLUMENTHAL: I think that this credibility issue is extremely egregious, because it reflects on Roger Goodell's good faith in moving forward with more aggressive action against domestic violence. That's the big issue here. What will the NFL do to impose more stringent punishment, but also to educate its players and fans about the seriousness and severity of this problem?

NICHOLS; Well the National Organization for Women is reporting that during Roger Goodell's tenure as commissioner, there have been 56 instances of domestic violence. But in response, the NFL has suspended players for only 13 games combined.

BLUMENTHAL: Clearly, the NFL has failed before. If Roger Goodell lied to the American people about something as serious as whether he had this graphic, gripping tape, he has to go, for the sake of the NFL and the fans.

NICHOLS: And I want to get into this idea of the public trust. We've seen several members of Congress come out against Goodell in recent days. And Senator, earlier this clear, you were one of 50 senators who wrote a letter asking Goodell to intervene; get the Redskins name changed. You noted that an NFL team should not be nicknamed something that so many people consider a racial slur.

It seems like you have some issues with Goodell's moral authority. So why is Congress still granting the NFL an antitrust exemption?

BLUMENTHAL: There ought to be some scrutiny to a number of those special breaks that the NFL receives that give it a position of public trust. It's antitrust exemption, as a cartel, which otherwise would be broken apart by our Department of Justice or Federal Trade Commission. Its tax benefits under the law. Other kinds of special treatment it receives give it a special public position in our laws. But also a position of trust.

NICHOLS: But this is an organization that makes $10 billion a year. Taxpayers are currently losing out of hundreds of millions. Why should they be getting these special breaks right now? Why don't you take some steps to change this and your fellow members of Congress?

BLUMENTHAL: That's a course of action that certainly we ought to consider. Equally important, I call on the NFL to devote some of those billions of dollars in profits to the problem of domestic violence.

As one member of the Senate, my voice will be for greater responsibility immediately. Not waiting for a new law. And the Ray Rice beating, so far really punished only partly, is a call to action.

NICHOLS: All right. Well, we will be looking for you to keep following this senator. And we appreciate it. Thank you for your time.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

NICHOLS: And there is more breaking from the NFL tonight. Yet another domestic abuse case, this one involving a child.

Star Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson has been deactivated by the Vikings after being indicted by a Texas grand jury for recklessly injuring his 4-year-old son.

The charges stem from Peterson's physically disciplining his son with a tree branch that he described to police as a switch. And a Houston television station is reporting the child had bruises and cuts on his back, buttocks, ankles, legs and scrotum.

This is shaping up to be yet another big test for Goodell and the NFL, an organization being tested right now more than anyone would have imagined.

All right. Stay tuned. We will be back right after this break with a very controversial interview with Floyd Mayweather. You don't want to miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NICHOLS: I'm Rachel Nichols, and welcome back to UNGUARDED.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather is the world's highest paid athlete. Forbes estimated he earned $105 million last year alone.

But while Mayweather is adored by fight fans, there's a much darker part of his story. He's had a string of domestic violence arrests, citations, and in 2010 an incident that landed him in prison.

According to the police report, Mayweather grabbed the mother of his three children by the hair, punched her in the head several times, and threatened to kill her. This was all in front of his kids, who he also threatened to kill before one of them called the police.

But after Mayweather pled to a reduced charge and spent only two months in jail, he wasn't ostracized the way Ray Rice has been this week. The Nevada Boxing Commission didn't suspend him the way the NFL suspended Rice.

Instead, Mayweather has been allowed to continue to churn out pay days, and this despite even more women coming forward with stories of abuse in the time since.

Now given all this, you'd think Mayweather would want to keep a low profile heading into his fight this weekend, a fight that's expected to earn him $30 million. But instead what did Mayweather do? He commented on Rice, telling a group of reporters that the NFL, quote, "overreacted" in indefinitely suspending Rice.

Mayweather added, quote, "I think there's a lot worse things that go on in other people's households. It's just not caught on video, if that's safe to say."

Well, the next day, Mayweather backtracked from those comments. But when I had the chance to speak to the boxer, I asked him about Rice and his own brutal history. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLS: You recently made some comments on Ray Rice and how the NFL should have stuck to its original two-game punishment. Then you backed off those comments. Can you just clarify for us what you really think?

FLOYD MAYWEATHER, BOXER: Well, I spoke about that yesterday. So you know, I'll leave that in the past and try to focus on my future and try to focus on my fight Saturday, which is Maidana.

NICHOLS: Well, OK, but you are someone with a history of domestic violence yourself. You've even been to jail for it. Why should fans root for you with this kind of history?

MAYWEATHER: Everything has been allegations. Nothing has been proven. So, you know that's life.

NICHOLS: I mean, the incident you went to jail for, the mother of your three children did show some bruising, a concussion when she went to the hospital. It was your own kids who called the police, gave them a detailed description of the abuse. There's been documentation.

MAYWEATHER: Um-hmm. Once again, no pictures. Just hearsay and allegations. And I signed a plea-bargain. So once again, not true.

NICHOLS: But the website, Deadspin, recently detailed seven separate physical assaults on five different women that resulted in arrest or citation. I mean, are we really supposed to believe all these women are lying, including the incidents when there were witnesses, like your own kids? MAYWEATHER: Well, everybody actually -- everybody is entitled to

their own opinion. You know, when it's all said and done, only God can judge me.

NICHOLS: Right, well, we've seen this week, with the outcry against the NFL, the public wants the domestic abuse problem in this country addressed. Would you consider donating any of the more than $30 million you're going to make this weekend to an organization that educates and prevents against abuse?

MAYWEATHER: This weekend, what I will do that is make sure that millions and millions of dollars be saved for my children, because my children are who I love and that's who I care about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLS: Yes, the denial there with Mayweather is truly amazing. Right? And it gives an interesting window into the way an abuser can walk around, maintaining over and over again that nothing is wrong, despite hard evidence to the contrary.

Still, I've got to tell you, not as amazing to me as the denial of the public that supports him. I am curious how many of those who shuddered at the video of Ray Rice in that elevator this week are also planning on plunking down their $70 tomorrow for Mayweather's pay-per- view fight. It is worth considering before you pull out your credit card.

All right. After this break, yet another scandal over racism has rocked the NBA this week. Stick around as Clippers coach, Doc Rivers, offers us his unique perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERS: I can make two choices. I can live in the past. And be stuck there and with anger. Or I could move forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NICHOLS: Welcome back to UNGUARDED. I'm Rachel Nichols.

Now this week, the NBA saw another owner forced to sell his team due to troubling comments on race. This time, it was Atlanta's Bruce Levinson, who wrote an e-mail essentially complaining that the Hawks had too many black fans. Lovely.

Well, we thought there was no smarter person to talk about the intersection of basketball and race than Clippers coach Doc Rivers. This is his first extended interview since navigating through the very center of the Donald Sterling scandal. And his outlook may surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIVERS: All right, let's bring out Steve Ballmer!

NICHOLS: We have come such a long way from April 25, when TMZ first posted those very first audio recordings of Donald Sterling. If you had to describe in a few adjectives what your life has been like over the fast five or six months what words would you use?

RIVERS: That's a good question.

You know, I guess uncertainty. To start, the future was uncertain. Confusion, clutter. You know, because that encompasses all of them.

NICHOLS: What do you remember about the first time you did hear the initial tape? You called the team meeting for the very next day?

RIVERS: That morning. It was difficult, because I had to decide what to wear. You know, isn't that interesting? You see them -- normally, just throw on your Clippers stuff. And I was -- I'm sitting there putting it on, taking it off, trying to decide.

NICHOLS: You actually did that?

RIVERS: Yes, it was hard. I mean, it didn't feel right on you. Honestly, it just didn't -- when you put it on, it did not feel right on your body. Period. But I eventually decided that, of all the days I had to wear it, today is the day that I must wear it.

NICHOLS: And Commissioner Adam Silver shortly after that held that big conference.

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: I am banning Mr. Sterling for life from any association with the Clippers organization or the NBA.

NICHOLS: He bans Donald Sterling from having anything to do with the team. He talks about trying to force him to sell. There's great positive reaction to that around the NBA. But that leaves you stewarding the franchise.

RIVERS: Yes.

NICHOLS: And then all of a sudden, it's not just the team you're in charge of as coach, but people in the front office, the people who sell tickets.

RIVERS: They didn't have anyone to talk to. And as upset as our players were, that was the most emotional moment, I thought, through the whole thing.

NICHOLS: Really?

RIVERS: Because yes, you know, they were upset. Think about being an operator and answering the phone and some of the things they have to hear.

NICHOLS: You played for the Clippers for a year in the early '90s. You played for Donald Sterling. RIVERS: Mm-hmm.

NICHOLS: In the years in between when you came back to coach, he was sued, by Elgin Baylor for racial discrimination. He was sued by the U.S. Justice Department for racial discrimination, and he settles for the largest amount ever at that point.

RIVERS: Yes.

NICHOLS: You knew those things. Why did you feel comfortable going to work for him in the first place?

RIVERS: Well, I didn't at first. But I looked at it as this crazy challenge. That, you know, man, if we can turn this thing around, this will be really cool.

NICHOLS: Did you have any reservations, though...

RIVERS: Yes.

NICHOLS: ... about working for someone who might be a bigot?

RIVERS: At that time I did not, because I didn't think about it in that terms. Honestly. There was history. And there's no denying that. There was history. And that was the gamble that I took. But that's also why it took so long. You know, it took months, at least two for me to decide, should I or shouldn't I?

NICHOLS: You wrote a book on basketball toward the end of your playing career, and there was an entire chapter on race.

RIVERS: Yes.

NICHOLS: This is not an issue that you run away from.

RIVERS: No, I don't think any of us should. It's part of our life.

Growing up in Chicago in the early '60s, it's very segregated. And you didn't mix; you didn't meet other groups. You were in your group. So I think it's important.

NICHOLS: You met your wife Chris at Marquette in college. She's smart, beautiful, talented. She also happens to be white.

RIVERS: Yes.

NICHOLS: And that caused some problems.

RIVERS: That caused a lot of problems in college, you know? She had her tires slit. Things written on the sidewalk.

NICHOLS: and then what happened in San Antonio, though?

RIVERS: That was the worst. That was awful. We were on vacation, and someone broke into our house and burned

the house down. One of our dogs, two of our animals were killed in that -- in the fire. And that was awful.

NICHOLS: And the police told you they thought that was racially motivated.

RIVERS: They know it was. That was the one thing they were sure of. Because of some of the stuff...

NICHOLS: Someone burned your house down?

RIVERS: Yes. You know, what do you do? You fight it. You live your life. My dad always said "no victims." You know, I can make two choices. I can live in the past with anger, or I could move forward and get my family moving back.

I knew my kids, we had to get them normal. They never saw the house. I had it bulldozed before they could see it. I didn't want them to see that. You don't forget. There's nothing wrong with not forgetting, but you have to move on.

NICHOLS: After everything the franchise has been through, after everything you've been through personally in your life, there are people who would think the overriding emotion would be anger. But instead what is your overriding emotion as you move forward?

RIVERS: Victory. No victims. And let's get it right.

This is really cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NICHOLS: Now that is being the bigger man. Doc Rivers, impressive as always.

All right, coming up, we are going to get back into the NFL and where the league should go next on domestic violence. And we'll talk to two of Ray Rice's former teammates, including one who saw his own sister lose her life at the hands of an ex-boyfriend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSON: I think domestic violence goes way beyond what we're talking about as far as Ray. I mean, this is a nationwide thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NICHOLS: Welcome back. I'm Rachel Nichols.

We've been talking about the NFL's attitude towards domestic violence in the wake of the Ray Rice video. And as shocking as that video was for the American public, it was even more shocking for those who know Rice and his wife, Janay. Rice is not Floyd Mayweather. He has no public history of abuse

of any kind. In fact, he was known as one of the NFL's good guys. So I now want to bring in two of Rice's former Ravens teammates. Chris Johnson won a Super Bowl with Ray Rice less than two years ago, and Derek Mason was one of the players who helped mentor Rice when Rice first came into the league.

And Derek, the guy you know was not the guy you'd expect to be knocking his wife unconscious in an elevator. So how do you reconcile that?

DEREK MASON, FORMER MENTOR OF RICE: You can't. It's a guy that you, at least myself, spent four or five years with. And to see this on a video is shocking.

NICHOLS: And that is what is amazing, is that people sometimes find it hard to believe, "Oh, this guy I know could do that." But that's usually how this goes.

I mean, Chris, your personal story is just heart-wrenching for people who don't know. Your own sister was a victim of domestic abuse. She was shot to death by her ex-boyfriend. Yet you and your wife have been friends of Ray and Janay Rice for years. So what has this been like for you?

JOHNSON: Well it was kind of a touchy feeling when I first seen the video. But I think, in Ray's defense, it was a good guy that did something terribly bad. That now that he's paying the consequences for.

NICHOLS: You stood up in the Ravens' locker room after we saw another incident of domestic violence in Kansas City, a couple years ago. Why did you think it was so important to tell players about your story?

JOHNSON: That was the day that my sister was shot and killed. I was trying to make sure that, you know, everybody in the locker room is a close brotherhood. It's like a brotherhood. But at the same time, we don't -- when we get out of meetings and we get out of practice, the first thing we do is grab our cell phones or we try to see what's going on in our lives, instead of talking to your fellow teammates and find out, you know, what's going on at home? What's going on with your fiancee? What's going on with your mom? What's going on with your wife? That's things that we men, real men need to talk about in the locker room.

NICHOLS: And Derek, do you think, though, there needs to be more formal policies inside the NFL? Because from what I remember, you guys get sort of one talk once a year that half the players are sleeping through.

MASON: I'm not going to sit here and say the NFL is not doing anything. But in this situation, I think they need to do a little bit more. Because if you look at it, there have been countless guys that have been arrested for domestic violence in the last, you know, four, or five, or six years. And the policies have -- they have not gotten strict.

So, you know, hopefully after this situation, and Goodell, you know, whatever you say about him, he did take a stance on it, albeit it was after the fact, with implementing another policy. Six games for the first offense. You know, a suspension, yearlong suspension for the second offense. I think it should have been -- the first offense should have been a yearlong suspension. And then if it happens again, you're out of the league.

NICHOLS: Certainly going to have a lot of eyes on them to see where they go from here. Thank you, guys, for giving us that insider perspective on the locker room, on Ray Rice. We really appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

MASON: Any time, Rachel.

NICHOLS: All right. That is it for us tonight, but you can still get your UNGUARDED fix by following me on Twitter and Facebook and on the Web at CNN.com/Unguarded. And of course, we'll see you right back here next Friday night on UNGUARDED, where the end of the game is just the start of the story. Good night.