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CNN NEWSROOM

Ray Rice Fallout; Fighting ISIS

Aired September 9, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

We are getting new reaction to the NFL suspension of running back Ray Rice. He and his wife are speaking out today. The most detailed comments are from Janay Rice, his wife, who, as we know, was punched and knocked out by her husband inside of that elevator. We saw it all as it surfaced yesterday.

Today, she used her Instagram account to blame the media for Ray Rice's new suspension. Let me just read that for you.

She wrote this: "I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I'm mourning the death of my closest friend, but to have to accept the fact it is reality is a nightmare in itself. No one knows the pain that the media and unwanted options from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing."

She goes on: "To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass off for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific. This is our life. What don't you all get? If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you have succeeded on so many levels. Just know, we will continue to grow and show the world what real love is. Ravensnation, we love you!"

We are hearing from Ray Rice as well.

And Rachel Nichols, host of CNN'S "UNGUARDED," is here with me, along with Amani Toomer, a former New York Giants player, is now with the MSG Network.

Great to see both of you.

Rachel, just beginning with you on the news and your text from Ray Rice, please share.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ray Rice and I exchanged texts earlier and he said -- quote -- he said: "I'm just holding strong for my wife and my kid. That is all I can do right now."

And I know people's reaction to Janay Rice's Instagram post, to this text I received from Ray. There's people who are confused. They don't understand that sort of bond that both of them are discussing. And this is what we have been talking about for a while, right, Brooke? This is a complicated issue.

They met in high school. They were -- they have known each other for more than half their lives. They love each other. They have a child. That doesn't mean there's anything complicated about domestic violence. It doesn't mean there's any shade of gray about hitting a woman. It just means that it's a complex relationship and issue. This is different from getting your house broke into. It was a crime, and it's got a lot of layers to it.

BALDWIN: Amani Toomer, hello.

AMANI TOOMER, FORMER NFL PLAYER: How you doing?

BALDWIN: Nice to see you again. I hate the circumstances under which we're talking.

And, again, I think just it's so refreshing to hear your voice. We love having you on, but also just from a player perspective and just to remind everyone, you know, everyone obviously was aware of what had happened. No one had actually seen it until yesterday. And Ray Rice was three days from playing a game.

TOOMER: Yes, I think that would have been the worst-case scenario for the NFL, for Ray Rice to actually suit up and perform on the field, the fact that, you know, the NFL didn't go about it the right way, but at the end of the day, I think the suspension, the being released, not being able to play again, not being able of having the luxury -- because it is a luxury to play in the NFL.

NICHOLS: Absolutely, 100 percent.

TOOMER: For not to have that luxury, I think that that's -- it's proper.

But I think the process of how we got there is where everybody has the big problem, because we think that it should have been from the beginning. And when you look at domestic violence -- my mother actually was -- had a domestic violence hot line in San Francisco called Woman's Inc.

BALDWIN: No kidding. Wow.

TOOMER: And she said this is classic domestic violence in terms of the way the victim reacts. They're embarrassed. They don't -- everything they say is out of fear for what could possibly happen to them from their loved one, from their husband, from their -- the person who is doing this, perpetrating this domestic violence against her. This is something that is even deeper.

And maybe Janay doesn't even realize how battered of a woman she already has been and how tough this situation, how deep it really is.

BALDWIN: Can't begin to crawl into her head, have no idea on what someone in her situation would be thinking, feeling, going through. Obviously, she's frustrated. She's frustrated with the media, the whole story is out there for everyone to see. But I'm curious if you talk to just other buddies, fellow former

players, how they feel, how high this should go. I was talking to Mike Wise with "The Washington Post," sport columnist, and he is, you know, not mincing words, saying Goodell needs to go.

TOOMER: I think Goodell has a lot of answering to do. I won't go so far as to say he needs to go, but if you're the commissioner that comes in on the platform that you're going to hold players accountable and the player conduct -- and hold key players accountable with this new player conduct thing that he came in with, it's a tough job.

I mean, it's not easy to do this. You're going to say it, you have got to do it. And, ultimately, he got there, but just like I said before, the...

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: But he got shoved into it. And that is a huge problem. You can't...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How do you mean?

NICHOLS: You can't bring a league, sports league kicking and screaming. TMZ should not have to release a video to get you to act.

If TMZ hadn't decided to put this on their Web site yesterday, Ray Rice would be playing in that game on Thursday.

BALDWIN: You're absolutely right.

NICHOLS: And that can't be the way you run a sports league. That can't be a way you discipline people. That can't be the example you set.

It cannot work that way. If the NFL claims it is a leader, is the shield, they always talk about that, right, protecting the shield, you have got to take a leadership role. And we haven't seen that from them over the entire course of this case or, frankly, with the other cases that they have going on in the league. And you know I have been talking about this all day.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I know, I know you have. And we're grateful for you doing that and covering this whole story.

But had this happened -- let me throw this out there -- had this not happened to a Ray Rice, let's say initially back when he was suspended those two games, it was some B-team player, what would've happened to him?

TOOMER: Oh, he would have been gone right away.

BALDWIN: Gone, boom, done. TOOMER: The fact he has currency in the NFL, which is the way he plays, which gives him another opportunity. Now, is that right or wrong? I tend to think it's wrong.

In this case, it's proven to be wrong.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: That is wrong, wrong, wrong.

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: But isn't that the way the world works? Let's not pretend the NFL is the only...

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: Right. Come on. Yes.

TOOMER: The fact that he's not in jail -- how could a prosecutor look at that and say, oh, we will give him, what was it, mediation or...

NICHOLS: Yes, exactly, a diversionary program.

TOOMER: Diversionary program. How does that happen?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Instead of re-victimizing potentially someone. Talking to my legal panel, they totally would sit here and agree with you and nod their heads with you.

Here's my other question, too. And, again, going back to Mike Wise, talking about potentially his next column, saying, listen, we're all enablers. We love football. It's not a multimillion -- it's a multibillion-dollar industry. And, you know, whatever happens with Ray Rice, if he's gone, gone, gone or maybe gone for a little while, people still love the sport. And they love the game and they love to forgive.

Am I wrong?

TOOMER: You're right. But I don't think domestic violence and football should even be connected together. This is an outlier. He's an outlier. He's not most of the players in the league.

BALDWIN: But there are other players facing domestic violence.

NICHOLS: Yes, but there are players and -- I do think, you have to look at it in context.

There are -- the justice system messed up here, right? We all think that the Atlantic City -- you were talking about the prosecutors, how did he let him go? It doesn't mean everybody in New Jersey boycott living in New Jersey. It means that they need to address the problem and how they handle it. BALDWIN: This is one outlying situation, one example.

(CROSSTALK)

NICHOLS: We can all love football and we can still love the sport, but we can demand that the sport do better.

BALDWIN: How do we do that?

NICHOLS: We can demand that they do better.

Well, I think that we look at the cases coming up. Ray Rice's situation is disciplined. He's handled and we can all be outraged about how it happened. But let's look at Greg Hardy, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, who was convicted, not just charged, but convicted of domestic violence charges for throwing his pregnant girlfriend on to a couch with machine guns on it, with guns on it.

And he's still playing in the NFL because he has appealed for a jury trial. And while they let that process play out, they're just going to let him play. You can be upset with Ray McDonald, who has had a domestic violence incident and a week later was on the football field.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Two star players, right?

NICHOLS: They brought felony domestic violence charges against him, felony domestic violence charges, and he's still playing.

So let's direct this into holding the NFL more accountable.

BALDWIN: OK. Deal.

NICHOLS: The league has to do better. They have to. They have to lead on this issue, because right now they're following.

TOOMER: Especially if you're Commissioner Goodell, who came in when he came when he got the job a couple years ago on this player accountability, holding players to a higher level.

NICHOLS: Yes, law and order commissioner, right?

TOOMER: Exactly. You have got to be. It's not an easy job to do that, and you took that on. Then you have to take it on and be and play that role throughout the whole way.

NICHOLS: It's not just with drugs. It's not just with guns. It's with treating women well, too.

BALDWIN: Amen and we're directing it. I hear you loud and clear, my friend. Thank you, both, so, so much, Amani and Rachel. I appreciate it.

Listen, NFL officials are not the only ones getting slammed for how they handled Ray Rice. A lot people wondering how police, prosecutors, to Amani's point, how they could have let him off knocking out his then fiancee and now wife. No jail time? How is that possible?

Also ahead, in mere moments, President Obama will be meeting with leaders of Congress about a strategy in the battle against ISIS terrorists, all of this just 24 hours before he speaks to the nation in a prime-time address. We will talk about what could be happening behind closed doors. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A prime-time announcement from the president of the United States that many expect could change the calculus on the role of the U.S. in both Syria and Iraq, a plan to hunt down and ultimately destroy ISIS militants.

Before we, Americans, hear his game plan at 9:00 Eastern tomorrow, the president is right now taking that plan to Congress, the leaders, calling in the top four leaders in search of what he is calling congressional buy-in. But buy-in can mean a lot of things. For now, at least, he isn't seeking formal authorization for military action, though he may make the case for a multibillion-dollar counterterrorism fund.

And the president could cite some new CNN poll numbers to do that, because, as you see, a majority of Americans now say they support continued U.S. airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq. And just one more thing for you. A virtually identical number actually support airstrikes inside of Syria.

Joining me now, Dana Bash, our chief congressional correspondent, and Newt Gingrich, "CROSSFIRE" host, who has an op-ed today outlining some of the questions congressional leaders should be asking the president. He would know as a former House speaker.

Welcome to both of you.

And, Dana Bash, just first to you out of the gate. Looking ahead to tomorrow night, really for this meeting today between, you know, the president and his congressional leaders, what can we expect from this meeting?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that the top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, is going to tell the president he does think that Congress should have a role. And he does think that Congress should authorize the strategy that the president is going to put out there.

He said so publicly, he said so on the campaign trail. I was with him in Kentucky a couple of weeks ago. And he told me that he is going to say so privately in the meeting with the president that they're having as we speak. But despite the fact he says he believes that, that a majority of the Republican Caucus in the Senate believes that, there is very, very much a split. Some Democrats agree. They say, this is a big deal. This is a big,

imminent threat and Congress needs to have a role. The flip side is that we are hearing almost as firmly, but maybe not as publicly, that many Democrats and Republicans are looking at the calendar, see that many of them are up for election or reelection in about two months, and that this is a very dicey thing,and that maybe it's best to leave this to the president, not get on record with something that may be popular according to that poll you just showed.

BALDWIN: Right.

BASH: But these things have a tendency to spiral out of control. So that's sort of where the reality is now.

And let me just put one other political reality in here, and I'm sure that the former speaker would agree with this, that for Mitch McConnell saying it's OK to take a vote and we should take a vote might be not, you know -- not to say this is all politics here, but might be politically beneficial, because the majority of the vulnerable senators are Democrats.

So if this could be potentially hurtful to anybody, it would be most likely to Democrats in the Senate, the ones that he wants to be defeated so he can become majority leader, rather than -- Republicans.

BALDWIN: OK.

And, Mr. Gingrich, we can get you to respond to that. But first I'm just curious, just from your perch, you know, some time ago, as the former speaker and just knowing what -- you know, what prime time means for the White House. I mean, do you think when we see the president appear at 9:00 tomorrow night, what would justify?

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What would he -- say OK. We're just with you, Newt. What would he say? What would he need to say? What bit of news might he be dropping on America at 9:00 at night?

NEWT GINGRICH, CO-HOST, "CROSSFIRE": Well, this will be one of the most important speeches of his entire presidency. He's speaking as commander in chief, he's speaking about national security. He's speaking about war and that's what -- there's no other way to characterize it. Here's a man who did everything he could to get us out of the Middle East now having to explain why we're going back into the Middle East, adding yet another country, Syria, which clearly is going to have to be bombed as part of this.

So this is a very, very important speech. I think it was exactly right to give it a night. It's exactly right for all the networks to carry it. This isn't about politics. This is about the United States in a wartime situation against an enemy who has promised to kill us if they can.

And I think we need to take them very seriously. If they can destroy us, they will. If they just have to cut our heads off one by one, they will. These are bad people. And the president's exactly right to go to the country.

But I agree with Mitch McConnell. He had better ask the Congress to wrap itself around this. This should not be Obama's campaign. This should be an American campaign endorsed by the American Congress.

BALDWIN: OK. Just to run through, too, Newt some of your points, for these congressional leaders to ask of the president a narrow focus of Iraq and Syria is doomed to fail. But ending radical Islamism, that that is key.

But my push to you is, how is that -- how is that even realistic? Ending radical Islamism?

GINGRICH: Well, you look at what Prime Minister David Cameron's now doing in Great Britain, he's taking very severe steps. He is lifting the passports of people. He has also said they're going to imprison people.

(CROSSTALK)

GINGRICH: He's prepared to go into the schools and change what they're teaching. He's been very direct in the last three or four days about much has to change.

Remember, two of the people killed recently are from Minnesota. One of those people had actually had 10 years of clearance to be on the airport in Minneapolis among -- around some commercial airliners. What if that guy instead of going to Syria to be a terrorist had decided to be a terrorist on the airport?

This is big stuff. There are over 10,000 foreign terrorists from over 50 countries who have flocked to the Islamic republic. I think we have to confront this as a worldwide phenomenon, much closer to epidemiology than it is to traditional nation-state warfare.

BALDWIN: So you bring up David Cameron and all those restrictions, he's laid out all these plans. How does the president counter that, realistically?

GINGRICH: Well, I think realistically, Ted Cruz, for example, has proposed introducing a bill that says in effect if you sign on with the Islamic republic, you cease to be an American citizen. I think that we're that -- we know that there are recruiters in Minneapolis- St. Paul today particularly targeting young women, three of whom who have apparently left for Syria in the last few weeks.

Anybody who is a recruiter ought to be, frankly, locked up in jail. Anybody who is raising money for them ought to be locked up in jail. This is going to be a serious worldwide campaign. It's not just happening in Iraq and Syria. It's happening all across the planet.

And the fact that there are over 10,000 foreign terrorists from over 50 countries should sober all of us who care about both our civilization and our safety.

BALDWIN: What about military? What about specifics? What about not just Iraq and Syria? What about airstrikes vs. ground, vs. arming the Kurds, potentially even the Syrian army?

(CROSSTALK)

GINGRICH: Look, first of all, I think it's quite clear that we can have enormous impact. We're already starting to have an impact if we can combine our airpower with local ground forces.

I think if we expand the training of special battalions such as the Iraqi battalions that have been helpful in the last few weeks, you have a handful of Americans in there and Special Forces who are providing targeting for the aircraft. We can degrade the Islamic republics pretty rapidly.

And if we ally ourselves and everybody is willing to kill them, you will find lots of folks in the region who suddenly decide they're with us. But I think one of the tests of the president is, we have to lead. We can't say we will do as much as the Iraqis or we will do as much as the Turks. If we're serious about this, we can put together a coalition, but it will be an American-led coalition.

BALDWIN: Hmm. Newt Gingrich, thank you so much for coming on. And we will be watching the president speaking, as you mentioned, prime time 9:00 tomorrow night from the White House.

GINGRICH: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Moving away from that and back to Ray Rice here and this whole story, listen, he may be out of football, but does he belong in a jail cell? That's what a lot of people are asking today. Did someone drop the ball in this case, let him off a little too easy? And this case says something about domestic violence across this country. But do celebrities get a pass? And while the NFL is taking a lot of criticism, should fans have taken a stand against Ray Rice? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When it comes to running back Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, the timeline of events that eventually led to his indefinite suspension from the NFL has been months in the making.

One question is this. Why did it take actually seeing the video from inside of that elevator before something of this magnitude was done? Again today, the NFL reiterated it had not seen the video before TMZ released it for the whole world to see yesterday.

And I should add, we're just learning this today, the casino where this whole thing happened released the following statement regarding that video. They say this: "Rebel" -- this is the company, the casino group -- "cooperated fully with the investigation, giving the tape to the Atlantic City police, the Atlantic County prosecutors office, the Division of Gaming Enforcement and Ray Rice's own attorney," but added they can't comment if the NFL reached out to them for the tape.

So, let me bring in HLN host Jane Velez-Mitchell.

We have a lot to talk about on this one. Good to see you here.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN ANCHOR: Good to see you.

BALDWIN: Before we get into what you're really passionate about, because I want to make sure you share that, I'm just curious in learning what the casino says who they shared that tape with, and knowing it was the prosecutor's office was included in that list and that he was given, what is it, diversionary...

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, an intervention program where basically his record will be completely wiped clean as if it never happened.

And that's because we have a two-tiered system of justice in this country, one for the rich and famous, the other for everyone else. Do you know how many times I have gone in to cover celebrity court cases and gotten there early and people with public defenders, boom, boom, boom, boom, it's happening so fast, sent away for years without a second thought, while all the parties, the judge and the defense attorney and the prosecutor know each other and chuckle away, their lives ruined?

But then when the celebrity comes in, whoa, it slows down.

BALDWIN: Changes the game.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It totally changes the game. This is privilege and power, absolutely.

BALDWIN: Your -- women unite, the point you were saying to me in the commercial.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here's the thing that really I have been thinking about more and more. This is part of a war on women. This wasn't taken seriously because it involves a woman.

Now, we know Donald Sterling was banned for life from the NBA for racist comments. Shouldn't domestic violence, attacking a woman, pummelling a woman, be as serious as racism? I certainly think so.

But we live in this post-feminist stage where a lot of women who don't even know who Gloria Steinem is are not really involved in speaking up and fighting for women. So, I believe we should call on all women now for a new wave of feminism. Let us unite and get back into standing together as a gender and saying no, because the NFL will not change its ways unless they feel their pocketbook is at stake.

Remember, women are in the household, we control the remotes. And we can really put a dent in their business if they refuse to take violence against women seriously.

BALDWIN: That's exactly what a "Washington Post" columnist who is calling for the end of the commissioner, Roger Goodell to step down. He says he is getting these e-mails from women fans, big fans of the NFL and they say they are not patronizing these games until more changes are made.

Thank you so much, Jane Velez-Mitchell. I appreciate it.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And I will speak live with two survivors of domestic abuse, their powerful stories as we cover the whole story here coming up.

Also ahead, Apple. Apple has been criticized for not releasing any new products since CEO Steve Jobs died. But, today, it unveiled a long awaited device. Could it be the next big thing? We will show you coming up.

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