To see some change. I was among those that stood up for these boys. I watched one do 13 years and come out and work for us for three years. Im glad to see them get compensated. But no one can give you 13 years back. No one can give them the time back. We must continue to do better. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton, hardball starts right now. Devastating. Lets play hardball. Good evening, im Chris Matthews in washington. Here in an elevator, we see a man beating a woman to unconsciousness. We see him drag her limp body across the elevator floor. For this he was fired today from his job. Fired not because of the beating he gave this woman, but because you and i just got to see it. These are the facts of the
national Football League today. Beat up a woman and you get a twogame suspension. Have the pictures get out and suddenly the league takes action. Because of this, this is a fact brought brutally to light in this picture, its our top story tonight. Also, president obama will try this week to sell his diminishing number of supporters on war in iraq and syria. Can he do it . Can he get antiwar democrats to bring drones attacks, air strikes and special forces to destroy the Islamic State . Two other stories, a juror in the mcdonald verdict condemns all politicians and Debra Norville joins us on what it was like to speak at yesterdays funeral for joan rivers. Back to the big news tonight. Baltimore ravens running back ray price was fired today and suspended indefinitely by the national Football League after this mornings release of this video punching his fiance, now his wife, and dragging her unconscious out of an atlantic
city elevator. The ravens announced the termination of his fiveyear, 35 Million Contract shortly after 2 00 p. M. Today. That was this afternoon. Rice was charged with felony assault back in march, but his wife refused to testify. This case became notorious when rice got a slap on the wrist, a twogame suspension from the Baltimore Ravens and the nfl. They cared more about rice playing on the field than they did about his violent behavior off it. It took getting this gruesome footage out there today to pressure a professional Football Team to take serious action against a serious crime. Senator Richard Blumenthal is a democrat from connecticut who called for a tougher punishment before rice before what happened today. And Michelle Bernard is president of the center for women and public policy. Center blumenthal, as a former attorney general of your state, give us your sense of what criminality looks like. This picture looks like a serious crime to me. Looks like a serious crime. Its an assault. Domestic violence. And youre absolutely right that the punishment was in no way adequate. I protested and complained about it. And it took this gruesome footage to reach this result. Shouldnt have been necessary. But it also shows how inadequate, how sadly deficient the nfls new policy is. Roger goodell has lacked the leadership to move directly to a lifetime suspension, if there is this kind of assault. If there had been even the new policy, probably a sixgame suspension would have been all that would have been without this gruesome video. Michelle, your thoughts . Im stunned on watching the video over and over again. I keep wondering how anyone in the nfl could have watched that video and not known to throw him off of that team immediately. I have to believe they saw it before. We have a serious problem in the country in that people do not take Domestic Violence seriously. We have a congress that earlier in the year did not want to vote
on the violence against women act. Theres this belief that it doesnt happen. We have evidence here when we look at this video that there are still people who pummel their wives and others who think that theres absolutely nothing wrong with it. Well, the calibrations of Domestic Violence. That was a heavyweight knockout punch of your girlfriend, of your fiance, punching her like youre in a boxing match with everything youve got. And shes prone on the floor, unconscious there. Senator, you know the law. What is that . Its worse than assault and battery . What would you call that in a regular criminal case . If somebody saw a stranger on an elevator and did that, what would that be . Thats definitely aggravated assault. It could come close to an attempt at even more serious damage. But as pernicious and insidious as that assault is the fact that janay was then stage managed to
apologize for complaining. That is really the antithesis of what is required in these situations. Blaming the victim, having her apologetic and then the ravens tweeted it as exonerating rice himself. So this kind of syndrome, the cycle of violence, blaming the victim, and as far as the law is concerned, that would have landed rice in prison in my view. I would have prosecuted as an aggravated assault. The Ravens Organization and Head Coach John Harbaugh stood by their running back in may when rice held this press conference to apologize. I just want to first off apologize to, you know, steve barbady, Ozzie Newsome and coach harbaugh, and also want to apologize to my fans. I really treat my job as a very special job. And i failed miserably. But i couldnt call myself a failure. Because im working my way back up. I do deeply regret the role that i played in the incident that night. But i can say that i am happy that we continue to work through it together. Jamal, what do you make of the two people there testifying . Shes saying basically everythings fine. Yeah, i mean, i think it speaks to the level of ignorance, how tone deaf the nfl, the Baltimore Ravens, how they were with this entire issue. Anybody who i would like to think has just a cursory knowledge of the complicated dynamics of Domestic Violence, would understand the optics of having the woman who was victimized standing next to her batterer and apologizing for her role. I mean, what was her role, that her face hit his fist . That was her role in that and certainly that has been supported by the video. And so i think you had a collection of willful ignorance
by the ravens, by the nfl, that have led to this Public Relations blowup and nightmare. And thats why its difficult for me today, to give the ravens any sort of credit for terminating ray rices contract, when this was clearly a situation they didnt understand from the very beginning. Michelle, do you think this was the use by this professional organization, the ravens, to take this syndrome were somewhat familiar with, where the female spouse has been beaten up by the husband or boyfriend, and for whatever combination of psychological or economic reasons, decides to let it go, and they use that here and put her out there and basically apologizing for being part of that syndrome and shes a victim of it. By doing that, theyre revictimizing her. October 1 begins Domestic ViolenceAwareness Month in this country. If we look at what happened to her, the fellow in south africa, the olympian who was accused of Domestic Violence and killing
his girlfriend, seen it with chris brown, even locally, there was a woman who went to a judge to get a temporary restraining order, the judge pooh poohed it and the husband throws oil on her and lights her up and almost burns her to death. Its a very serious issue. When you put women in the position of apologizing for something that allegedly led someone to batter them, youre revictimizing them. Its a horrible thing. Its very sad this video has become public, but on the other hand, maybe it will allow people to actually begin to start taking it seriously. He could have killed her. Thats a lot more than assault and battery. If she had suffered a brain injury. If she had died, he would have been guilty of murder and what would the ravens have had on their hands . Senator, what is the legal aspect . Is there legislative action you can take in regard to this case and cases like it . Im certainly considering what legislative action there should be. Because what we need in this instance is not blaming the
victim and stagemanaging and apology from her, but emphasizing the courage and strength that women who are victims of Domestic Violence, survivors of this brutal crime, need to come forward and break with their past. Ive worked on this issue for a couple of decades now as a attorney general and now as a senator. And the skirge, the ep semic, the cycle of Domestic Violence which is repeated because young men see or experience it in their own lives, requires role models from these athletes that is exactly the opposite of what we saw with rice. And exactly the opposite of what we saw from the ravens and the nfl. So whether we can do it legislatively, whether we can seek more aggravated penalties at the state or federal level, my hope is that this incident will lead to changes in practices and much stronger penalties from the nfl. Great to have you. Senator, thanks so much for coming. Michelle bernard, i think youll be back later in the show. And jamal hill, thank you for your reporting. And thanks to tmz for having us know about this stuff. Sometimes without the tape, you dont believe it until you see it. Coming up, we elected president obama to end wars. Can he now sell antiwar americans on his battle plan against isis . Can he take us to war with the antiwar crowd . And well meet a jury in the mcdonald corruption trial that delivered that verdict against the former governor and his wife. Plus, if 80 of life is about showing up, look who showed up to say goodbye to joan rivers. Debra norville is going to join us. She was inside, she spoke at the funeral. Thats all coming late in the show. Finally, let me finish with quid pro quo politics, getting something personally for what you give a politician. This is hardball, a place for politics. [ male announcer ] ours was the first modern airliner,
revolutionary by every standard. And that became our passion. To always build something better, airplanes that fly cleaner and farther on less fuel. That redefine comfort and connect the world like never before. After all, you cant turn dreams into airplanes unless your passion for innovation is nonstop. We have new nbc news. Polling in three key senate races. Check the scoreboard. First to arkansas, tom cotton leads mark pryor by five points among likely voters. Its cotton, 45, pryor, 40. In kentucky, Mitch Mcconnell is up 8 over democrat alison grimes. Final to colorado, udal leads gardner by 6, 4842. So arkansas and kentucky, both red states are favoring republicans. While colorado, trending blue is right now going for the democrat. People are going home politically. And well be right back. When folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Welcome back to hardball. On wednesday night of this week, president obama will address the country about the threat from isis and how were going to destroy it. Yesterday on meet the press
the president spoke clearly about eliminating the threat posed by the radical terrorist group which has overtaken regions of iraq and syria and has publicly deheaded two americans. Heres the president yesterday. Keep in mind, this is something that we know how to do. Weve been dealing with terrorist threats for quite some time. This is not going to be an announcement about u. S. Ground troops. This is not the equivalent of the iraq war. What this is, is similar to the kinds of Counterterrorism Campaigns that weve been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years. Well, that Counterterrorism Campaign could involve the deployment of special forces, more drone strikes, more air strikes, or arming and straining the Free Syrian Army. The question is, can the president sell this war . What will his supporters, his opponents, and the overall public do here . A new cnn orc pole out today should give the president a
sense of where the public stands. 45 see isis as a very serious threat to the u. S. 76 want more air strikes. 62 favor military aid to isis enemies. And 61 oppose u. S. Clrds on the ground. The democrat from washington gentlemen, let me start with mr. Mcdermott, would you support the use of special ops forces in the area of syria going after isis . Id have to be convinced by the president. Right now, you have senator kerry and senators hagel, negotiating with the saudis and with the jordanians. If we dont have support from some of our arrab allies going on the ground, i dont think we should get into it. If we say were going to do it all from the air and drop a few special forces here and there,
its not going to work. Its going to take more than that, and we have to have allies support us. I wouldnt support just americans alone in this event. Do you think its plausible that the saudis or jorr jordanians or the emirates would send fighting units into the field . Do you think thats even plausible . If it isnt, then its not possible to win this. Because you cannot win it from the air and win it by dropping in a hundred or 200 or 300 or even 3 or 4,000 of our special forces. Youre not going to win it that way. We should have learned that over the last 11 years. The president is faced with a pandoras box, that george bush took the lid off of and youre not going to get the lid back on with a few special forces and drone strikes. I agree with you completely. Congressman, on that same question, the president says no boots on the ground. But special forces are boots on
the ground. They may not be marching in parade fashion like in a trenchwarfare situation, or marching across europe to get hitler, but you put men on the ground there, special ops units, they could be captured. They will be killed. Do you think we should be doing that . I think jim is basically right. Youve got to have an overall coalition. Thats why i think the president has taken his time. Some were criticizing him, thinking that he should act in a kneejerk way. No, hes not doing that. Hes trying to make sure we have our allies on board. Its going to be a coalition of allies who also have things at stake, like those oot kurds and like those in in iraq and turkey and saudi arabia. They need to be all part of this. Now, you do these things, i think, in a coordinated manner. So if there happens to be one or two leaders that we know how to get the way that he coolly and calmly got osama bin laden, then you may do that. But overall, you have to make
sure that the Free Syrian Army maybe is the one, we got to know who we are arming and training, that we have those kinds of troops on the ground to do the ground work. But you coordinate it all, so that you can make sure you cut off the leadership as well as get the people on the ground, but do it with other sunni muslims and other allied states, countries. So that we can make sure theres a company hencive approach to geth this done. Let me go back to you with the same question i put to mr. Mcdermott. Would you support a resolution to put special forces into syria to fight isis . Would you do that . Again, if the president lays out his case and talks about that we are having this overall coalition and that theres going to be roles that each of us play, you know, as he did even when we went into libya. He said what the specific role that the United States would play and he told the truth. And thats whats important. The president telling us the truth as to what his plans are
and why hes doing what hes doing. It makes me think its going to be a fraternity frank and were the only ones doing it. The president drawn on his opposition to the iraq war. Hes been withdrawing troops and hes won the nobel peace prize. But now hes repositioning his presidency, after killing bin laden, wanting to strike syria, he will address the country about a prolonged conflict against isis. Yesterday the president warned about the dangers facing america if nothing is done. Lets listen. I want everybody to understand that we have not seen any immediate intelligence about threats to the homeland from isil. Thats not what this is about. What its about is an organization, that if allowed to control significant amounts of territory, to amass more resources, more arms, to attract more foreign fighters, including from areas like europe, who
have europeans who have visas and can travel to the United States unimpeded. That over time that can be a serious threat to the homeland. Let me go to mr. Mcdermott. Im uncomfortable with the phrase homeland. It strikes me as totalitarian. It suggests something strange to me. Like who else are we defending except america . Why dont you just say america . As if were facing some existential armageddon threat from these people. Do you buy the phrase homeland . I never heard it growing up, never heard it in my adulthood. Its a new word. Why are we using it . Is there some other place were defending . What are we talking about when we say homeland . Its the language of the neyo cons to get us further into wars. Your thoughts, though, not mine. From my point of view, its more of the war mongering that george bush used to get us in in
it the favorite place. We started out hearing about weapons of mass destruction. That was untrue. Absolutely untrue. And he knew it. But he took us into this war and then was about getting osama bin laden, and after that, it was a democracy, and after that, it was the awakening of the people out in the Anbar Province and they have been shifting, but its all about war mongering, trying to make people at home afraid. Because they thiknow that if yo can make people afraid, you can make them do anything. They can to keep the American People afraid for him to carry on this kind of stuff. I dont like the term homeland because its really war mongering. Theyre stuck trying to deal with iraq. They got dams and all kinds of things theyre working with. Theyre not coming to the United States. We talked about the ideology involved in it. The president may be doing what he thinks he has to do, but hes buying into the lingo. Dempsey starts talking like it, then he starts talking like it. This is the challenge you have. Go back to the bush years and they portrayed Saddam Hussein as a threat. You theres not going to be a u. S. Anymore. Right. Exactly. It would be a mushroom cloud. The president has the challenge here of trying to talk about isis in a realistic way. Its not a direct threat to us now. Its a threat to the region. It could be a threat to us down the road, in a way that sort of still gets him Political Support to take step by step action. So what he wants to have is to have a somewhat nuanced conversation. When it comes to the neyo cons and the hawks, they dont like that. And his supporters on the left sometimes are uncomfortable if you talk in terms like homeland. So if he can come before the public and sort of talk honestly about why isis is a problem, without it being an existential dramatic problem, thats what he has to do. The people who pushed us into iraq are the same people pushing now. Robert kagan, the ultimate neyo
con. A whole page in the wall street journal, about how this is Like Fighting hitler. They spoke about a Global Coalition to destroy isis. Lets hear him. Tomorrow, i will travel to the middle east to continue to build the broadest possible coalition of partners around the globe, to confront, degrade, and ultimately defeat isil. As we build this coalition, i want to underscore that almost every single country on earth has a role to play in eliminating the isil threat. We are clear that president obama and i and the entire Team Absolutely understand this is something we must achieve and we will be successful. Congressman, last question to you. Would you support the president if he said, we have to go in
there, americans have got to go in there and do it, just us . I think the president has said hes not going to do that. Hes been very clear. It would have been easy for him to Say Something that would make people fearful. I agree with jim, thats what was done before. What he said here and the reason he used the term homeland is to distinguish from the immediate attack here in the United States as opposed to who is taking place in syria and iraq now. So that and hes been clear. Hes saying, i think the ones that are wanting war, theyre trying to make it seem like its an imminent threat on the United States. Hes saying its not. He said it could be in the future if theyre left unchecked. But by putting the coalition together and dealing not on the homeland, but doing what we have to do there, then we wont have to worry about the homeland, well keep the homeland safe in that regard. We grew up with the term america, its good enough for me. Its america, its not the freaking homeland. Its our country, stop talking internationally and weirdly about war in this armageddon
struggle that youre obsessed with. Its not world war ii either. Thank you for coming in and congressman, and david core, my friend, thank you for joining us. Up next, the bubba w. Show. Former president s yuck it up together. Isnt that cute . Well take a look at the first debate in kansas between pat roberts and independent greg or man. The people of kansas elected me to go the to the u. S. Senate. The u. S. Senate is in washington. My home is dodge city and im damn proud of it. [ cheers and applause ] mr. Or man, well, i suspect senator, ive been to dodge city more this year than you have. [ cheers and applause ] [ male announcer ] if you suffer from a dry mouth then youll know how uncomfortable it can be. [ crickets chirping ] but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath . [ exhales deeply ] [ male announcer ] well there is biotene. Specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants,
biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. [ applause ] biotene for people who suffer from dry mouth. Biotene their biggest customer is demanding refunds for defects. So i offered to help. At ge capital, we bring expertise from across ge. So i call in our access ge engineers, and together with columbia, we work backwards. From the cabinet factory, to the place they peel the logs. We find the source and help replace the machine. Problem solved. If you just need a loan, just call a bank. But at ge capital, were builders. What we know, can help you grow. I am so noh my gosh. Now, its not even funny. Driver 1 you ready . Yeah go [sfx] roaring altima engine woah ahhhha we told people they were riding nissans most advanced altima race car. We lied. About the race car part. Altima, with 270 horsepower and active understeer control. How did you . What i dont even, im speechless. Innovation that excites. While a body in motion tends to stay in motion. Staying active can ease arthritis symptoms. But if you have arthritis, this can be difficult. Prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain, and improve daily physical function so moving is easier. Because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain. And its not a narcotic. You and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. All prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. They all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. This chance increases if you have Heart Disease or risk factors such as high Blood Pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. Nsaids, like celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin
or allergic reactions, or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. Patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. Dont take celebrex if you have bleeding in the stomach or intestine, or had an asthma attack, hives, other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. Get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. Tell your doctor your medical history and ask your doctor about celebrex. For a body in motion. My golden years will not just be gold plated. I had 3 different 401 k s. E trade offers rollover options and a Retirement Planning calculator. Now i know when im going to retire. Not if. We were laughing about going to restaurants and having to spend our time about taking selfies with people. At least theyre still asking, you know. Thats right. [ laughter ] time now for the side show. That was former president s bill clinton and george w. Bush sharing the stage today to launch a program called president ial leadership scholars. But as you can see, their joint appearance was also an opportunity for some laughs. Take a look at what happened when clinton took a curious phone call in the middle of their q a. Its hard to make good decisions in complex environments. [ phone ringing ] [ laughter ] theres only one, only two people have this number, both related to me, i hope im not being told im about to become a premature grandfather. Thats right. That would make national news. And with rumors of a hill clinton or jeb bush candidacy in 2016, they were asking about whether we could expect about political announcements from either of their respective families. If either of you has any political announcements, endorsements or predictions you would like to make, now would be a really fun time. [ laughter ] its like the time, remember the woman and i think in canada, asked us about, what about another clintonbush matchup. And the answer was, the first one didnt turn out too good. [ laughter ] of course hes referring right there to the 1992 president ial election where his father lost to the guy sitting next to him there. Anyway, next up, hbo funnyman is known to poke fun at the media. In june he went after he. But last night it was the
correspondence of 60 minutes in the spotlight in a montage depicting their curious interview style. Watch this. And now, 60 minutes anchors prompting people to deliver the exact sound bite they need. You got to hand it to them. Yes, you do. He was off and running. He was off and running. He is sort of the father of hot sauce. Hes the father of hot sauce. Does that surprise you . It does surprise me. And youre saying we shouldnt . I think we shouldnt. And theres no reason to prepare. No reason to prepare. And thats essentially a commercial for groopro. With the crowd there . With the people. Thats quite an image. Quite an image. It was almost a cakewalk actually . A cakewalk . Yeah. To beat the system . Yeah. To cheat . Yeah. I think they call that leading the witness. Up next, well talk to one of the jurors who delivered that
verdict against Bob Mcdonnell and his wife. Youre watching hardball, a place for politics. Im on expert on softball. And tea parties. Ill have more awkward conversations than im equipped for, because im raising two girls on my own. Ill worry about the economy more than a few times before theyre grown. But its for them, so ive found a way. Who matters most to you says the most about you. At massmutual were owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. Ready to plan for your future . Well help you get there. There was no question she reminds you every day. But your erectile dysfunctionthat could be a question of blood flow. Cialis for daily use helps you be ready
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support them as a couple. And thats not going to change. How come the team wasnt able to see the video until today . I have no answer for that. How do you feel as far as [ inaudible ] well, you know, we will have exactly what weve had so far. You know, weve got the guys that we have, and im excited about our offense. You know, im excited about some of the things we did yesterday in terms of yards and points and our opportunities to score points, we need to score more points and first downs and things like that, i know we can play a lot better than we did and im looking forward to it. You said it changed for you. How did it change . I dont think i want to get into all the details about it. I believe its pretty obvious. Its pretty apparent. Everybodys seen the video and well just leave it at that. Coach, did the nfl see that video before today . I dont have any understanding or knowledge of
that. [ inaudible question ] well, not that im involved with. You know, im involved right now with the Football Team and getting ready for pittsburgh. You came into the league when ray came into the nfl as a head coach. You had a strong relationship with him. It has to be personally devastating to you. Its always when someone that you care about does wrong, you know, and is faced with the consequences of doing wrong and rightfully so, it is tough. It is hurtful. And my pain is for both of them as a couple, you know, in Going Forward. My hope is that they can make it work. And from everything that i understand, and in talking to ray, up until his suspension, talking to him a lot, you know, it seemed like they really were working hard and they were doing well, in the right direction, and i hope they can weather this part of it too. Ill be praying for that. If i can help in any way, my wife and i can help in any way,
we will. And thats where its at. Can you share any of rays reaction to the news today . You know, i really would rather not. Its more personal. Coach, are you satisfied with the level of diligence that the organization took to see what occurred on that video . Absolutely. Absolutely. Sure. Im not following where youre going with that. Im just curious why the team wasnt able to see the video. I dont know why that would be a hard thing to understand. It wasnt made available. It wasnt there for us. From a legal standpoint . As far as i know, yeah. It wasnt something we ever saw. Ever had access to. Did you discuss it with the team as a whole today, and how was the tone of the we did. And you know, it was i think the team responds just the way everybody responds to these things. Again, youre talking about somebody you know. So its a little more challenging when youre talking about someone thats part of your family, so to speak. And so our guys, you know, they felt it. And all the same emotions that everybody out there would feel, you know, we all felt. Why did the video change the teams reaction so drastically . What did you think happened in the elevator before you saw the video . I dont want to get into all that. Talking about feelings and that stuff, i think its pretty easy for everybody to understand, you know, anybody thats got a heart can understand how that goes. [ inaudible ] excuse me . [ inaudible question ] im sorry. Say it again. [ inaudible question ] right, im not going to get into all that, aaron. Those are personal conversations and thats really where that belongs. I want to respect that. [ inaudible question ] you know, the timing is the timing that it is. And we have a Football Game to play thursday night. We have no control over that. I dont have any feelings about that at all. It will not impact us in any way. Football wise. You cant allow that. This is professional football and well be ready to play thursday night. This affects your organization on so many different levels. For you, which is the most difficult . I wish i had an answer for that. Thats a pretty deep question. I havent given it that much thought to think of it on that many levels right now. What would be one that you can think of. I dont have those options, i dont have that list in front of me right now. [ inaudible question ] i dont know. The expectation is to move with our team Going Forward and be the best Football Team we can be. [ inaudible question ] certainly. You know, everythings discussed. Like i said, it wasnt a long meeting, though. Why wasnt it long . Is there anything else . [ inaudible ] right. We held marshall back. Hes healthy. No injury there, but we sat marshall out today. All right . Anything else . Who is your starting running back thursday . Bernard pierce, justin forcet, theyll both play a lot. And lorenzo will be a big part of it too. Good. Good question. Thanks. All right, thanks a lot. Thank you. Thats Baltimore RavensHead Coach John Harbaugh on the termination today of star running back ray rices contract. That was today after the release of that videotape weve been watching that showed him well decking basically his fiance. Joining me now from redskins park, is diana raseeny and misnbc goldie taylor. And rob, i want to hold you after we hear from the two women. First of all, diana, theres a good question posed by one of the reporters at that press conference. What did you need to see in that picture that you didnt already know . It wasnt about slapping somebody. That was a decking. It looked like a heavyweight boxing mau boxing match, he was limp as a rag doll, then he kicked her to get out of position because he might be interfering with the elevator. For five minutes there, John Harbaugh seemed to avoid anything that required him to get into detail of what he knew. He claims he did not see that video at all. So you have to believe him. But i just kept thinking, if John Harbaugh did not know, Roger Goodell needs to be the one standing up there right now, letting us know whether or not he saw that. I was looking on twitter just a few minutes ago and here in d. C. , tmz did a interview with a local fox affiliate here and harvey levin said tomorrow
morning were all going to wake up with some big news. Apparently the nfl had a blind eye to this video. They apparently saw this. So theres still a lot more to this. But John Harbaugh today really just trying to do his best. Sounded like it didnt take them long to make that decision to cut ray rice. A picture is worth a thousand words. And you know about this issue of abuse, but this is a knockout punch. And you have to ask yourself, first of all, for it to exist once in history, its unbelievable. You have to wonder what the pattern here before and after this behavior. And of course you will understand more about this, why did she cover for him when it came up to his contract and Everything Else before . Sure. The Power Dynamics within Domestic Violence are absolutely something thats very complicated. You dont know why people stay or why they go. But you do know that both men and women happen to be abused. What i didnt see from harbaugh today was any detail to his answer. What i did hear from a lot of
toptier nfl Sports Writers is that the nfl and the ravens were comfortable enough that they had seen that video and able to characterize it to them, contemporaneously when this happened. So for them to say today, they did not see the video, i think something doesnt jibe here. So im skeptical. What im more skeptical about is what the d. A. Didnt do. What we see in this video, as you said is clearly an aggravated assault case. You dont need the victim to come forward in this. You have a videotape. So we want to know why he was eligible for a diversionary program. I believe in redemption. You know, ive been through Domestic Violence and ive had a spouse who needed recovery and therapy, so i understand the gamut of it. But this was not Domestic Violence. This was aggravated assault. Thats a crime punishable by we the state, we the people. Not only does he deck her and drag her limp body out of the
elevator, but then you see him kicking her to get her out of position. I mean, hes treating her like not even a life form. He kicks her at some point, because her legs are still into the elevator door. The behavior is just unbelievable. And i wonder, a good question, if anybody saw this before and said were going to keep this guys 35 Million Contract alive because what he does on the field is more important than this, if thats the case. Your thoughts . Obviously the video is horrific, no question about it. I think some of the questions were really good. I think your last guest makes a great point. We were focused very much here on the nfl and on the ravens and the decisions they made, but this all started with Law Enforcement and an investigation that Law Enforcement did take place, and they made the decision not to give ray rice any more serious punishment other than a diversionary program. The nfl has made it clear they, in some sense did take a cue from Law Enforcement in the way they handled it. So its not just the nfl and the ravens that should be looked at
here. Its really in Law Enforcement and generally our societys treatment of incidents like this. Well, lets go back to diana. As a woman and a sports expert, what is this about getting the woman here, the fiance at the time, later the wife, to get up there in public and apologize for what . Being his target . I mean, its incredible that she says to the world im somehow responsible for this guy decking me. Thats the part of this conversation that i think is the most disturbing. I think today we all saw this video, were all freaking out about it. It was a very disturbing video. But i think the conversation we need to start having is now, whats next for her . What decision is she going to make . She knew the whole time what really happened. We didnt know. We assumed he hit her. But apparently, sources inside the Ravens Organization had told me that the players were told by ray rice that something completely different went down inside that elevator. So i dont know what he said happened, what sort of scuffle they had, but from what they saw in that video, that did not even come close to the way he explained it happened. So she knew that he punched her across the face and she stood by him that whole time. And hearing john talk about how hes praying for the couple, showing support for the couple, i know he needs to do that as an nfl head coach. Ray rice probably doesnt have too many people in his corner. But it still makes you wonder, like you guys were saying here, this is a Domestic Abuse case here and a lot of attention needs to be drawn. And really the woman in this case, she needs to make a stand here. Because there are a lot of young women watching this right now. Youre not kidding. And this is going to be a case everybody in america is going to know about, and theyre going to watch the behavior of the owners, the behavior of the nfl, the behavior of the guy who did it, and how he handles it, but more importantly how she handles it. Diana, thank you for joining us from redskins park. Goldie taylor and rob, thank you very much for coming on in this strangely very important evening for america, and well be right back. Kid hey dad, who was that man . Dad hes our broker. He helps looks after all our money. Kid do you pay him . Dad of course. Kid how much . Dad i dont know exactly. Kid what if youre not happy . Does he have to pay you back . Dad nope. Kid why not . Dad it doesnt work that way. Kid why not . Vo are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed . Wealth management at Charles Schwab then you dont know aarp. E trip when you think aarp, get inspired with aarp travel. Plan and book your trip online and get hot travel tips from the pros. Find more real possibilities at aarp. Org possibilities. When folks think about wthey think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. Its one more part of our commitment to america. Theyre about 10 times softer and may have surface pores where bacteria can multiply. Polident kills 99. 99 of odor causing bacteria and helps dissolve stains. Thats why i recommend polident. [ male announcer ] cleaner, fresher, brighter every day. Welcome back to hardball with several thousand onlookers lining the streets, joan rivers died last week at the age of 81. Rivers had joked about what she wanted her memorial to look like in her 2012 book. I want my funeral to be to be a huge showbiz affair with lights and camera and action. I want it to be hollywood all the way. Dont give me some rabbi rambling on. Anyway, the funeral featured yesterday a parade of celebrities, everyone from barbara waterers to Sarah Jessica parker and hugh odonnell. Roger mcdon performed hey big spender and other tunes. Bag pipe performers concluded the ceremony. By all accounts, it was, indeed, a huge showbiz affair. A friend of joan rivers spoke at the affair, deborah, it seemed to me that when we first discovered joan rivers as a young woman, she was absolutely nobody had ever been that good. She was up there with carson. That good. Its so unlikely that she and i were friends, too. When joan rivers first went on carson, i was going into first grade. So fast forward all these years later when i was actually on nbc
on the today show. She made just scathing jokes about me. And then a couple years later, i was on her talk show and i had the chance to say to her everybody made jokes about you and i made jokes about you and she leaned forward and said youre sorry, arent you . I said yeah, i am. Joans comedy was never meant to be hurtful, but it was meant to be sering. She was big for so many years. But, then, when she left carson, she had her show on fox, the first woman to host a late night show. And they pulled the plug on the show when she refused to say to her husband, who was executive producing they dont want you here. She said if he goes, i go. So they said goodbye. And three monts later, he killed himself. That was the trap door of her life. Basically fell out from under her. Lost her husband, lost her job,
lost her finances. She basically went bankrupt. She didnt throw in the towel and say thats it. Good night, gracie. She just kept on going. I was impressed by the crowds yesterday. Wall street journal comment, which is my favorite, there was nobody like her. In fact, some people are knockoffs or imitations of other, stronger more vivid figures but there was never another joan rivers before her or while she lived. She was a seriously selfinvented woman. Was she different besides what you see . Yeah, in person, she was every bit as funny. And she could make something as stupid i remember once we were sitting at a luncheon and she sits there and as this guy is putting down the plate, she said who would you rather sleep with. . Him or him . And its this toothless waiter who basically she was so quick. The timing was brilliant. And she was falloffyourchair funny. I rebel one time she had a dinner party. The elevator in her building was broken. So rather than, you know, ask her guest to walk up however many flights of stairs it was, she founded in the yellow pages, 1800strongguy waiting at the base of the stairs. And they were paid to pick all of the ladies up and put them under their arm and just come up the stairs with the ladies. She made everything funny. And even im just so glad that she wasnt in her hospital bed and knew that she was in her hospital bed. She would have made that funny. And she would have loved that funeral. Everybody who was anybody was there. It was invitation only. And i think the one thing that everybody in that temple would agree on, joan made you better. If you were going to be with joan rivers, and you probably ran into her over the years, if you were going to be with joan rivers, she made you smarter. She made you cleverer. She was just so sharp. And, you know, you just didnt
want to disappoint her. And i dont know anybody who has the impact on anybody the way she did. Deborah nor ton, its great having you on. And great insighted into what happened in that temple yesterday. What a great sendoff. Thank you, deborah norville. Well be right back after this. We know were not the center of your life, but well do our best to help you connect to what is. Their biggest customer is demanding refunds for defects. So i offered to help. At ge capital, we bring expertise from across ge. So i call in our access ge engineers, and together with columbia, we work backwards. From the cabinet factory, to the place they peel the logs. We find the source and help replace the machine. Problem solved. If you just need a loan, just call a bank. But at ge capital, were builders. What we know, can help you grow. [ male announcer ] momentum has a way of quietly exploding onto the scene. The new ram 1500 ecodiesel. With 28 highway miles per gallon, 420 poundfeet of torque. Guts. Glory. Ram. Everyone is looking for ways while to cut expenses. S unique, and thats where pg es Online BusinessEnergy Checkup tool can really help. You can use it to track your Actual Energy use. Find rebates that make equipment upgrades more affordable. Even develop a Customized Energy plan for your company. Think of it as a way to take more control over your operating costs. And yet another Energy Saving opportunity from pg e. Find new ways to save energy and money with pg es Business Energy checkup. Let me finish tonight with this question. What an elected politician should be allowed to do for someone who gives them money . Should they be able to reward them . If not, how can we defend the practice of awarding em prized amount bas door ships to people who contribute money and raise money for their campaigns. What about showing up at a contributors house to recognize the host and your perj regard for them . Isnt this like governor mcdonald showing his personal support for a businessman . Youre showing up lending your prestige to the person because they gave you money. Can politicians do other favors like hosting them overnight at the white house . Letting them sleep in the lincoln bedroom. What about writing letters of recommendation for their children at toprated colleges. What about introducing legislation favorable to a contributor . Dont politicians do this all of the time . Isnt it the reason business people, labor unions and other pressure groups give money to political campaigns . Where is the line . If a politician cannot return a