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Don Lemon Tonight

Source: Whitney Houston's Daughter Opens Eyes; Stunning Final Call; Denise White: Pro Problem Solver; Will NFL's Ad Have An Impact On Abuse?

Aired February 02, 2015 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's 11:00 p.m. on the east coast, in the middle of a second winter blast of snow, ice, and bitter cold. We'll tell you just how bad it's going to get.

Plus, another tragedy for the family of Whitney Houston, her 21-year- old daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, fighting for her life tonight, she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub full of water over the weekend.

Now a source says she opened and closed her eyes today, but doctors warned the family not to read too much into that. Is it a case of like mother like daughter? We'll talk about that.

And when it comes to the NFL behaving badly, who are you going to call? I want you to meet the Olivia Pope of pro-sports. What would she do to get America's game back on the right track?

We want to begin with the very latest right now on our wicked weather. CNN's reporters are live throughout the storm zone, Jennifer Gray is in Boston, Brian Todd is in Handover, Massachusetts and Jason Carroll is at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

But first to Jennifer, Jennifer, these temperatures are expected to drop sharply tonight. I understand flash freezing is a concern in lots of areas.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, big time, anywhere from New York City all the way up here to Boston. In fact, windchills are expected to be 10 to 20 degrees below zero by tomorrow morning. I can tell you, the snow has stopped and the skies are clearing.

We can actually see the moon now. The skies cleared very, very fast, but the winds will keep and so those temperatures are going to drop quite a bit. Of course, you mentioned that the parade has been postponed until Wednesday.

That's because crews have been out here 24 hours a day, trying to remove the snow, but when you look at the snow from just a couple days ago, and on top of that, the fresh snow, you can see the snow mountains that are just all over the city. It's actually incredible. The plows have been out, but the roads are still going to be slushy. The flash freeze is expected by tomorrow morning and as the cars go, it's just a soggy mess. We have set records across the board.

This has been the snowiest seven-day stretch on record here in Boston. It's been the snowiest February 2nd on record and we received more snowfall since January 1st, than they should receive in the entire year.

So it has been absolutely insane here in Boston as far as the snowfall goes. I want to get to my forecast maps. The snow is clearly pushed out. We are going to see improving conditions as far as sky conditions. Temperatures are really going to drop.

Earlier this afternoon, temperatures dropped about 20 degrees in just a couple of hours. They went from 30 degrees to about 10, just in four hours or so. So the temperatures are going to continue to drop as we go through the overnight hours.

Single digits, feeling well below zero, and then in the next couple days, we could see a little bit more snow. Of course, uncertainty still on that by Thursday so quiet weather, Don, tomorrow and Wednesday for the parade, but it will be very cold.

Temperatures in the single digits feeling well below zero for all the spectators coming out. Of course, the roads should be in better shape. That's one of the reasons they postponed it. People all over New England wanting to come to the parade so the roads needed to be in better shape than they are now.

LEMON: Cold and icy that's what they can expect from Boston tomorrow so be careful. Thank you very much, Jennifer. I want to go to Brian Todd in Andover, Massachusetts. Brian, what's it like where you are right now?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as Jennifer mentioned, the storm has passed, the skies are clear where we are in Andover. No flurries left and that's a welcome relief for people in this part of Massachusetts because they've just endured a second round of this, as we all known, the second round in less than a week.

And it's just been devastating. It's impacted two rush hours and as Jennifer mentioned, with the dipping temperatures, it's about to impact a third rush hour because those temperatures have frozen the roads here already.

And we can see some ice on the road in front of us. We're going to switch to our dash camera here as we head over Interstate 93. We're not on the interstate, but we are just over it here on this overpass and you can see out our dash cam that the roads are frozen.

These temperatures dipped very, very fast. You guys mentioned flash freezing earlier. That is going to be a huge factor again, as we head into the overnight hours and the rush hour. This was a storm that was really only, as we know, half as big in volume as the last one. The last one dumped about two and a half feet to most parts of Massachusetts. This one was only maybe half as much, maybe a little bit more than half as big as that one.

But it really seemed from our vantage point to impact this area in a much worse way because of a couple of factors. As I jump out of our vehicle here, I'm going from my camera to the dash cam camera and then we'll switch over to my photo journalist's camera.

This impacted the area in worse ways because of the visibility factor. It was whiteout conditions everywhere we went today and the visibility was almost nil for much of the day.

Also, as we look at these guys, the real heroes of this, the snowplows, the spreaders, the salt trucks, they've been out almost 24 hours, trying to get ahead of this storm. For much of the day they couldn't because of the rate of snowfall.

Now that the snow is over, they can really get out in earnest. They couldn't do the salt for a lot of the day because we were told that when the road conditions get very, very cold, the salt is not as effective. But you see them all staging over here.

They are about to deploy. These guys have been working tirelessly and they'll be working throughout the night, Don, to get these roads ready for the morning rush hour, which again, is going to be pretty complicated.

LEMON: Brian Todd out in one of our mobile units. Brian, thank you very much for that. Jason Carroll is at LaGuardia Airport for us this evening. Jason, you have been tracking flight delays and cancellations all day. That's some tough work. What's the very latest?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it has not been good for the folks out here. I have to tell you. I mean, we were talking to one woman and her daughter from Toronto. They had all the energy in the world. They said our flight's going to leave on time. They got to the gate only to find out that their flight, like so many, had been canceled.

We've been watching the board all day long, updating viewers all day about the cancellations. Actually we're seeing most of the cancellations still at Chicago, O'Hare. They're topping the numbers still at 538, at last check, LaGuardia at 451, Boston at 328, Newark at 312 cancellations and JFK at 177.

Just with all the cancellations, it doesn't mean there wasn't some humor there. I want to bring up a quick picture from one JetBlue worker and he was out there on the runway and I don't know if you can make it out in that picture there, but he scrawled in the snow.

Hello, I'm cold. So that brought a little bit of humor to some of the passengers who were there. Also, JetBlue, speaking of JetBlue, they took to the internet to apologize for the weather-related delays. They weren't the only airline that did that.

So did American and Delta as well. The big problem now, Don, are those people who had their flights canceled and didn't have money for a hotel. In the back part of the airport, over in that direction over there, you know, way down in there, there are a number of people who have started to camp out.

The bar over there now is open. They've decided to stay open a little bit longer to help out and bring some spirits to some of those people who can't seem to get out of the airport. Right now, LaGuardia for a lot of people has become Hotel LaGuardia at least until tomorrow morning.

LEMON: Jason Carroll literally they're serving up for people this evening. I'm sure Brian Todd is out there scrolling hello, I'm cold in Andover, Massachusetts. Jason Carroll, thank you very much.

When we come back, the tragedy of the family of Whitney Houston, her 21-year-old daughter, Bobbi Kristina, is fighting for her life tonight. We have the very latest on her condition.

Plus, tough times for the NFL, tonight meet the league's fixer. You could call her the Olivia Pope of pro sports.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Some breaking news tonight to report to you, Whitney Houston's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, open and closed her eyes several times today according to a source close to the family.

Bobbi Kristina has been in a medically induced coma since she was found face down in a bathtub full of water over the weekend that was at her home in Georgia. The circumstance is eerily similar to the death of Whitney Houston almost three years ago.

I want to bring in now CNN's Victor Blackwell. Victor, you're at the hospital. Bobbi Kristina, according to a statement from the Houston family is, quote, "fighting for her life." What are you hearing there this evening?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to sources, the family has also been told to prepare for the worst, but continue to pray for a miracle. Those sources say that not only did Bobbi Kristina Brown open and close her eyes today.

But she also suffered several seizures today. Doctors considered briefly reducing the sedatives in her brain to test for brain function, but they've decided for the moment to leave her in that coma.

As you said, she's been in this medically induced coma since she was found face down in that tub of water. CPR efforts were attempted at the home but failed, and then she was brought here to North Fulton Hospital and she's been here ever since.

LEMON: Victor, what does that mean, when they say she was found unresponsive? Do you know exactly what that means? Was she breathing? Did she have a heart beat?

BLACKWELL: Well, according to the law enforcement sources who briefed CNN on what happened there, she was not breathing. She did not have a heartbeat. Don, I went back and watched -- I don't know if you remember, the 2012 lifetime series, "The Houstons, On Our Own."

Bobbi Kristina Brown, actually in that series described a similar incident that happened in 2012 in which she said her then boyfriend, now husband reportedly, Nick Gordon, found her, she was not breathing in 2012, did not have a heartbeat.

She said that she believed it was a seizure although in that series, they didn't go into any other details. So reportedly, this has happened before.

LEMON: Did investigators find anything to indicate any sort of -- like what would have happened? Was it an attempt of some sort? Were there any drugs or alcohol use involved in any of this?

BLACKWELL: No, they tell us that they found no drugs or alcohol inside the home. Right now, they're considering this to be a medical incident. The questions that we're still trying to get answers to is were the two men, Nick Gordon, her husband, and the other man, who found Bobbi Kristina Brown in that bathtub, were they there the entire night and the morning, Saturday morning right before they found her or did they come home and find her? And exactly, of course, why did she end up there? How did she end up there?

LEMON: Victor Blackwell reporting for us. Victor, thank you very much for that. I want to turn now to Howard Samuels, a clinical psychologist and founder and CEO of The Hills Treatment Center.

So Dr. Samuels, you're the founder and CEO of The Hills Treatment Center. This is what Bobbi Kristina said months after her mother's death on the lifetime reality show "The Houstons, On Our Own." Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBI KRISTINA BROWN, WHITNEY HOUSTON'S DAUGHTER: We feel mom hard like big time for some reason. It feels so different. It feels so different without mom. I was sitting there like, why, like why. I just, I want to sleep. That's all I want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the similarities to her mother, Whitney Houston's death, found in a bathtub, nearly three years ago and now Bobbi Kristina face down and unresponsive in a tub but with water. What do you think is going on here?

HOWARD SAMUELS, THE HILLS TREATMENT CENTER: Well, first of all, very spooky circumstances, that it would be the same type of situation. I don't really think -- I'd be shocked if they didn't find drugs or alcohol in her system. She has a history of, you know, reports of cocaine use, alcohol abuse, smoking weed, very strange Twitter and Instagram comments. I don't think there's a question that she is an addict alcoholic. It runs in the family.

Her father has reports of being an alcoholic addict, obviously Whitney. It's a family disease. I'm sober 30 years, and alcohol and drug addiction runs in my family. And so, you know, it's very unfortunate.

And what I think is really key here, Don, I don't think it had to get this far. I really don't believe the family was as aggressive as they should have been in being able to get this girl some help.

LEMON: Yes. That has not been confirmed, but we've seen reports, we've seen the behavior, we've seen her parents' behavior, even on the "Being Bobby Brown" show and in public, very pretty faced, very pretty girl.

And then just what she Instragrammed just a short time ago she is so thin that she's barely recognizable. She's been in the public eye her entire life, for good or for bad, outside of her home and then inside of her home. Does she have a fighting chance here, having been in the spotlight so long?

SAMUELS: Absolutely. I mean, you know, there are a ton of rich and famous people here in Hollywood, celebrities that are sober and that are living recovering lives. But she has to have a leader within that family. There has to be a member in that family who has to lead her on that path and I just don't see it.

Britney Spears was -- the reason she's alive today and doing well is because her family saved her life. Her family went out and got a conservatorship where her family took control. The same thing has not happened in this case.

LEMON: Yes. When we saw her parents, many times, they were supposed to be raising her. They needed some raising themselves, if you really look at it. The evidence is out there. The relationship between her and her father is strained.

This is the statement that Bobby Brown released today. He said please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at the time. Family is very important when it comes to getting over these situations.

But there's also, again, a family history of abuse here, Bobby Brown has said he's been clean and sober when it comes to drugs and alcohol for over 14 years now. The mother wasn't.

She was very close to her mom, but family is very important here. Can her grandmother come in and do what they did for Britney Spears? Can her father do it? Who can do it at this point?

SAMUELS: Well, the father has to take the lead role. I mean, the grandmother too, I mean, family is the only thing that is going to save the addict alcoholic. It's the family. My family intervened on me, and stopped the money flow and actually saved my life 30 years ago and got me into treatment and saved my life.

LEMON: She just inherited over a million dollars from her mother's estate. She's 21. When she turns 30, she's going to inherit $12 million, probably more by then, because that's going to go up. So she needs someone who is looking out for her and not looking at the dollar signs that she's going to inherit.

SAMUELS: That's where the conservatorship is. You go to the courts, you go to the judge, you ask for control over this person's life, because she cannot control it on her own. Exactly what they did with Britney, it's the same type of situation.

LEMON: We're certainly hoping for the best for her, 21 years old is still very young, still a child in many people's eyes. Thank you, Dr. Howard Samuels.

SAMUELS: Exactly. Absolutely.

LEMON: When we came right back, even on the NFL's biggest night, there was plenty of controversy on and off the field, including big trouble for a hall of famer and a former Super Bowl winner, more on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The Super Bowl averaged 114.4 million viewers last night, making it the most watched telecast in U.S. history. A smash hit by any measure. But there was plenty of controversy on and off the field.

Joining me now is CNN and Turner Sports anchor, Rachel Nichols.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Turner owns the Cartoon Network too so maybe we can get a show on there as well.

LEMON: You know what? I would love to be in animated.

NICHOLS: Let's talk after the show.

LEMON: All right. Deflate gate, did it become more loaded yesterday considering the outcome of the game?

NICHOLS: Absolutely. Now you have the team that won the Super Bowl. So there are questions, how do they get to the Super Bowl? This is not just a team that played in the Super Bowl. This is the team that is holding the trophy.

A lot of people want to know about the integrity of the organization, the integrity issues surrounding the game that got them there. And I think there will be increased pressure on the NFL investigators.

What's interesting, going forward now is that the investigative group doing this, they haven't even spoken to Tom Brady yet, not spoken to Bill Belichick yet. So you know, look, I'm sure it's on purpose. They are marshaling all of the other conversations and evidence before they go to them. But there are certainly people who are wondering what taking them so long, and would like them to hurry it out. The Patriots they want this over with.

LEMON: Everyone is saying, they won, they have been vindicated. You say no way.

NICHOLS: There are certainly Patriots fans who feel and I understand this, in this game, where all of the footballs were held on to by the league, and we couldn't do anything to them, they were the better team, the team that won. So that says something. I think they're right about that. But the investigation is still going to go on.

LEMON: So you were in the stadium, what was -- during that last play, was it like -- aaah?

NICHOLS: I don't know if you can have 70,000-plus people both yelling, screaming, crying and going silent all at once. It was a pro-Seahawks crowd. I'm watching it on the monitor. Look at Richard Sherman's face. What is going on? Tom Brady was crying. They had made Tom Brady cry.

He had acknowledged later, he thought the game was over. This is just -- come on. Everybody is wondering why do you not run Marshawn Lynch, the best running back in the game, the toughest guy to take down? Why don't you just run him on the goal line there?

LEMON: He got them there, why wouldn't he be able to carry it all the way in?

NICHOLS: Pete Carroll's explanation was they didn't have the personnel to match up with the Patriots' personnel out there. He thought, throw the ball, and almost waste a down if it didn't become a touchdown. He wasn't counting on it becoming an interception, but maybe you want to account for that, maybe, just maybe.

LEMON: How is Russell Wilson doing?

NICHOLS: You know, I have a lot of admiration for Russell Wilson. He came out right after the game. He said this is my fault. He said that anybody else who wants to take responsibility, they have to look at me.

And along the day, he sent some tweets, talking about the fact that he's not going to let one play define his career or his life. He said, I'm 26 years old, which I think is a good way to look at it. He said I'm always getting better. Change is coming. We're going to get through this. You got to admire that attitude, right?

LEMON: Rachel Nichols, yes, Turner Sports, CNN, the Cartoon Network.

NICHOLS: NBA TV. TNT. TBS.

LEMON: What else? NICHOLS: Let's buy another network. What are you doing next week? Let's go shopping.

LEMON: I think you can handle all that. Thank you, Rachel.

NICHOLS: Thank you.

LEMON: Appreciate it. When professional athletes find themselves facing big trouble, they turn to a professional problem solver. She's known as the Olivia Pope of sports. CNN's Miguel Marquez has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Denise White, sports fan, plus --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get it, get it, get it! Get the ball.

MARQUEZ: Technically she manages professional athletes. The reality --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The game.

LEMON: Here's Brooklyn Nets star and client, Joe Johnson, to explain.

JOE JOHNSON, BROOKLYN NETS: She's my therapist, my sister, my mother. So for me, I call her for anything and everything.

MARQUEZ: You know that ABC show "Scandal," Denise White is to players what Olivia Pope is to the president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Run. Run and win.

MARQUEZ: For sterling athletes like seven-time all-star Joe Johnson, Denise White handles everything from dog walking to endorsement deals.

JOHNSON: Definitely, I come to her with all my problems, man. She helps me solve them.

MARQUEZ: For others, the flight to success, a bit more turbulent. She says she spends more time to crisis management these days. She's been called a fixer, cleaner, scrubber, polisher, whatever it takes to whip a pro-athlete into shape making them marketable.

DENISE WHITE, CEO, EAG SPORTS MANAGEMENT: I'm not always the most popular person around because I'll go up against someone that has done by athlete wrong or is trying to. I'm a fighter.

MARQUEZ: Take the case of now Redskin wide receiver and part-time rapper, Desean Jackson. White has repped Jackson for four years. Last year a story that rocked the sporting world, suggesting Jackson was in a gang. The Eagles unceremoniously cut the pro-bowler, his career wobbled. Jackson and White said, gang?

WHITE: Absolutely not. I'm worked with Desean for years. You had a couple journalists who took pieces of stories and combined them together and made him look like something that he wasn't.

MARQUEZ: Today Jackson has a multi-year, multimillion dollar deal with the Redskins. His endorsement deals solid even making thousands just for a tweet, from career turbulence to blue skies.

WHITE: He bounced back gracefully. I think he's a better person for it.

MARQUEZ: Imagine what White could do with the NFL scandal du jour.

BILL BELICHICK, HEAD COACH, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: This is the end of this subject for me for a long time.

MARQUEZ: And some less than choice moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Tom Brady a cheater?

TOM BRADY, QUARTERBACK, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: I don't believe so.

MARQUEZ: Today White's EAG represents dozens of athletes and celebrities winding their way through media, business, and the occasional call in the middle of the night crisis.

WHITE: If the person is, you know, has been arrested for whatever it may be, you know, have you called your attorney first? Then you call me, let me see what I can do to help out the situation, whether it's publicly with the media or get you help before it reaches the media.

MARQUEZ: So how is it a former beauty queen, Miss Oregon, has found success in the mail dominated sports business world?

WHITE: I wasn't your typical beauty queen girl.

MARQUEZ: She says with a smile. Confidence is what she got from a tough upbringing in the ultra-competitive beauty queen circuit.

WHITE: I learned to fight at a really young age and I've kept it going for many years.

MARQUEZ: And with it has grown a major league business.

WHITE: There we go. That's what I'm talking about!

MARQUEZ: When she talks, the sporting set listens. Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Don't underestimate beauty queens. Up next, I'm going to talk to Denise White and get her take on some of the scandals this season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, sit down and watch this. You're going to learn something. I promise you, you will like it. Super Bowl XLIX now in the history books as a tumultuous NFL season ends with more than its share of scandals.

My next guest represents athletes who find themselves in the wrong kind of spotlight. Joining me now Denise White, the CEO -- I'll say that again. Denise White, the CEO of EAG Sports Management. Thank you for joining us.

You were supposed to come here last week. You weren't feeling well. Are you feeling better?

WHITE: I am, I'm still fighting a touch of walking pneumonia and bronchitis, but I couldn't leave you hanging, Don. I had to come here and make sure I made my appearance.

LEMON: Well, you look like a million bucks. People always underestimate beauty queens and they shouldn't. Before we get to the reputations and all of that, what did you think of that last play of the game?

WHITE: That was a hard pill to swallow. We actually represent somebody on the Seattle Seahawks, so I was excited. I was home in bed, feeling under the weather. But it was just unfortunate.

I just don't know how you call a play like that on a second down with one yard to go, and you have money Lynch and you do not give him the ball. It was really a tough pill to swallow. And unfortunately something Pete Carroll is going to have to live down for a really long time.

LEMON: I'm just here so I won't get fined. But the Patriots are the champions. Tom Brady won his record tying third Super Bowl MVP. But will deflate gate always be a footnote on this Super Bowl win for the Patriots?

WHITE: I think it will be. It's unfortunate that the Patriots have a history in not always abiding by the rules. So I think America in general, they want to find out what happened. The NFL investigation is still going on.

Rachel alluded to it earlier, that both Tom Brady and Bill Belichick still have yet to be questioned about it, but unfortunately, you know, it is a little, it's something that people are going to wonder about.

And once it does get, once they do figure out exactly what happened and who knows what that will be, but I think we all have an idea, then there's going to be an asterisk next to the Super Bowl win for them.

LEMON: How would you advise them?

WHITE: Unfortunately, with their issues that they've had in the past, it's something that I think, if I had been Tom Brady, I would have said, just come clean. It's something that -- it's known around the league. Sometimes guys do deflate their balls, not under regulation, but to the point where they're comfortable with them.

And maybe that was something that Tom Brady -- and again, I'm not accusing anyone. If in fact this happens, maybe he decided he wanted the balls less inflated so --

LEMON: So you're saying, coming clean is the best thing.

WHITE: Come clean. Yes, my motto is always tell the truth.

LEMON: How would you write the press release, if I was at a press conference, when they ask you this, what would you tell him to say?

WHITE: Say, well, unfortunately, I have, you know, those balls were directed by me to the ball boy to deflate those balls because that's my comfort level in throwing them. And if they went under regulation on accident or on purpose, I'm sorry that happened.

It will not happen again. I apologize to my teammates, I apologize to the league, and I apologize to the fans, if that did happen.

LEMON: I'm in the studio with a bunch of NFL fans. What do you think? Would you buy that? No? Well, she's not saying that they did. But would you buy it? No. No? All right, I would buy it. Because I would say, at least the guy's being honest.

WHITE: Honesty is the best policy when something like that happens.

LEMON: Absolutely.

WHITE: And I think in his press conference he alluded to everything but telling the truth and I think everybody kind of knows the truth at this point.

LEMON: Can we talk about Warren Sapp now?

WHITE: Warren Sapp.

LEMON: Hall of fame -- let me tell the viewers. I'm sure most of them know. Warren Sapp arrested for soliciting a prostitute and two counts of assault. He was in Phoenix covering the Super Bowl for the NFL Network. With all that is going on with the NFL, it's still surprising. What do you think of this?

WHITE: Well, he is retired. That doesn't give him any excuse, though because he was there on behalf of NFL Network, which is owned by the league. So he does have -- he does have things that he needs to pay attention to when it comes to still representing the league as a past player and a current analyst for NFL Network.

It's unfortunate. This isn't Warren Sapp's first brush with the law and unfortunately he found himself in a precarious situation this morning. And the alleged incident, I still like to say alleged, because he hasn't been found guilty of anything yet.

Although he did admit this morning to police, that he did have sexual relations with one of the prostitutes. So unfortunately, this is something that the league has to look at. And more importantly, the NFL Network has to look at.

And I'm sure by now, if they haven't already, he won't be working with them any longer. The league has a lot that they're working on to make the shield a little brighter than it has been this past year and things like that are not going to be tolerated anymore.

If you're going to be a broadcaster or an athlete with the league, you're going to have to, you know, pay attention.

LEMON: The reports are that he's not working with the NFL anymore. So none of the several NFL scandals this past year, from domestic abuse, the murder trial, none of it stopped fans from watching the game, record numbers, 114 million-plus viewers. So what pressure does the NFL really feel to clean up its image?

WHITE: I think they feel a lot of pressure, especially from the women's rights groups. I don't think that there's any less pressure than there was, just because we had record-breaking ratings with the Super Bowl.

I mean, America loves football. They're not going to stop watching that. They proved that, regardless of what happens. But women's groups and domestic violence groups are going to make sure that the league pays attention and it does what it needs to do to rectify the situations that we've had this past season.

So I don't think it lessens the impact at all, and I think it actually brings more awareness. Look how many people watched the super bowl yesterday.

Look at the couple ads they had regarding domestic violence and domestic abuse. So I think it's bringing a lot more awareness, quite honestly.

LEMON: All right, thank you, so glad you feel better.

WHITE: Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

LEMON: All right, see you soon. Get better.

Coming up, it's not just a Super Bowl's fantastic ending that everyone is talking about. The NFL unveiled a powerful public service announcement on domestic violence. We'll get reactions to that ad next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The NFL has been under pressure, I should say, to take a strong stand against domestic abuse. So the league used the Super Bowl to make a statement, a strong statement. Check out this NFL public service announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: 911, Operator 911. Where's the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 127 Brimmer.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: OK, what's going on there? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would like to order a pizza for delivery.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: Ma'am, you have reached 911. This is an emergency line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Large with half pepperoni, half mushroom.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: You know you've called 911. This is an emergency line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know how long it will be?

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: Ma'am, is everything OK over there? Do you have an emergency or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: And you are unable to talk because?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: Is there someone in the room with you, just say yes or no?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: OK. It looks like I have an officer about a mile from your location. Are there any weapons in your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED OPERATOR: Can you stay on the phone with me?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. See you soon, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: It is very powerful. As we said, joining me, Kim Goldman, sister of Ron Goldman, victims' rights advocate and author of "Can't Forgive," and also Juan Carlos Arean, a senior director of the National Latino Network, and Roxanne Jones, founding editor of ESPN the magazine. What did you think of the ad, Roxanne?

ROXANNE JONES, FOUNDING EDITOR, ESPN MAGAZINE: I thought it was a good start, Don. I watched it with a lot of people across generations. The younger women thought it got buried during the half- time. I agree with them. It's the bathroom break time. The older crowd, dead silence. The men did not like it, very uncomfortable.

Even their wives are like. We don't talk about this stuff. But the fortunate stuff, the younger women loved it. They wanted more attention for that ad. They wanted to see it again.

LEMON: Juan Carlos?

JUAN CARLOS AREAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LATINO NETWORK: Well, it's good to hear that younger people are paying more attention to this issue. From our perspective, it was a touchdown completely. People were talking about it all over the place, 16 million tweets.

LEMON: Wow.

AREAN: More than 5.5 million views of the YouTube ad. The domestic violence hotline went 25 percent in terms of calls perform.

LEMON: So you liked the ad?

AREAN: Yes, I'm part of the organization that produced it.

LEMON: Kim, what did you think?

KIM GOLDMAN, AUTHOR, "CAN'T FORGIVE": I thought it was great. I agree that I do think the timing of it was poor. People get up to go to the rest room during half-time. That was unfortunate. But I did think it sparked some dialogue. I got some great messages about people that it helped them open dialogue with their children and that's always going to be a plus when we get to have conversation about real issues.

LEMON: So open dialogue. Do you think it will help stop abuse?

GOLDMAN: I don't know if it will help stop. I think it will help, like I said, educate and empower young people to make healthier decisions, so they don't engage in behaviors that may lead to this, or end up in an unhealthy relationship. But I definitely think we keep that train moving in the right direction.

LEMON: There are some domestic abuse survivors who worry that the ads will give away secrets, a woman calling to order a pizza when they're calling 911. Do you believe that?

AREAN: Well, I think it's a rare occasion that someone would use exactly that scenario.

LEMON: But that ad was based on real 911 calls.

AREAN: Yes. But I don't think that's a super-spread tactic. There are millions of calls to 911.

JONES: And people do order pizza. The one thing I would say, the younger women and the younger boys, I watched the game with, they thought the ad was too subtle. They started out saying I wasn't sure what was going on. They don't read the hype like we do.

LEMON: That's what I said, were you happy with it? Because you talked about placement and we discussed this before, whether it went over some people's heads.

JONES: Too abstract. One of the women said, you know, this is an ugly issue. We thought it was building up to, we would see some of that ugliness. She was ready to talk about it, wanted to talk about it, but she did say that, you know, it should have been more impactful. There were other ads, like the throw like a girl. That touched me that grabbed me. This one was too soft.

LEMON: I thought it's interesting. Kim, you disagree. At least you did when last we spoke, because you thought the ad was very powerful in its abstractness. You thought that you didn't have to show everything?

GOLDMAN: Because I sometimes think that people assume that if you have a bright purple bruise, therefore that means there's domestic violence. But there are other hidden things that pertain to violence and sexual assault that sometimes are not so obvious.

So I kind of like the fact that there was some subtlety to it. It did generate some conversation because people were confused by it. You got to talk about the shame that's associated with sexual assault and domestic violence. So people are talking about it and I give it an A- plus in that regard.

LEMON: It was a smart move? Because there have been so many players associated with domestic abuse charges in the NFL.

GOLDMAN: I'm a talker. I run a non-profit that works with teens. So as far as I'm concerned, any opportunity you can to give kids the tools to make healthier decisions is a good one. When you look at the NFL, these are role models.

Our kids are emulating these players. I think you have to be very responsible when you're a professional athlete or any kind of professional that what you do out there, impacts young people.

LEMON: You mentioned the amount of tweets and the amount of attention. But what about the amount of calls, did this generate more calls?

AREAN: It generated 25 percent more calls to the domestic violence hotline. I agree, starting the conversation will not stop violence, but it's the first step towards stopping it.

LEMON: Ray Rice's suspension overturned. He became a free agent. Do you think fans will welcome him back on the field?

JONES: I would hope not. I would hope a team wouldn't welcome him back. Like today? It just happened yesterday.

LEMON: But you don't think he deserves a second chance?

JONES: I believe in second chances. But I don't believe in yesterday you were wrong and today we forgive you. No. He needs to go away, work out his relationship and his issues, or do something. But I'm not ready to take him back as a football fan, as a woman, as anything.

And I would hope that he can't get a job for a while. He has some work to do and that was a very serious -- outside of football, that was a very serious abuse case, I think.

LEMON: Do you agree?

AREAN: Absolutely. I agree.

LEMON: Do you think that we are, meaning the American public and maybe the league, are too quick to forgive sports figures with a history of domestic abuse?

GOLDMAN: Well, being that my brother was murdered by one, I would say yes. I think that we are a culture that is very quick to forgive someone who is a public figure, on the big screen, entertaining us. I think we should hold people more accountable. We are fans.

We are paying and we should be holding them to a different standard. And I think ray rice and other men that follow suit have a little bit of repentance they need to be doing.

LEMON: Kim, Roxanne, Carlos, thank you very much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Storm affecting a lot of people. Want to bring you up to date. CNN's Jennifer Gray live for us to Boston. People are going to wake up to freezing temperatures and going to be slip-sliding around.

GRAY: Yes, you bet. Temperatures are going to be very cold. Windchill dipping well below zero, 10 to 20 degrees below zero. That's very cold. That's why there's concern for that flash freeze. We just have a slushy mess on the roads right now.

With temperatures dropping so cold, that flash freeze is definitely a concern. The plows have been out here. The salt trucks have been out here. Temperatures dropped 20 degrees in just about two hours. We were out earlier this afternoon.

The winds really picked up. But thankfully the snow has stopped and now we're just dealing with very cold temperatures. The parade that was supposed to happen tomorrow for the Super Bowl champions was moved to Wednesday because they haven't had time to keep up with it snowing like it was all day today.

The plows really couldn't get out there like they wanted to and so now they're playing catch-up. Race against time, trying to get the streets plowed. You see all the snow mounds. This is from that snow we saw a couple days ago, combined with today's snowfall.

It's just incredible to see this around the city. They hauled off a lot of snow over the weekend and now with the next snowstorm back in, it is just really piling up. We set a lot of records. We set the daily snowfall record for February 2nd.

The seven-day snowiest stretch ever in Boston. And we've also received more snowfall since January 1st than they received in the entire year, Don. And just to think of it, we could see a couple more inches later in the week.

Of course models are disagreeing on that as always. We'll continue to watch it, but in the meantime, just very cold for tomorrow and Wednesday.

LEMON: More maybe in the middle of the week, let's hope not. People stuck in the airport. Thank you. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. Our coverage continues with John Vause and rosemary church at the CNN center in Atlanta. Good night.