Across the country, one who has just getting started, may well emerge as being better able to defeat the democrat nominee. Ive been asked and will be asked again if there are any circumstances, whatsoever that might develop that could change my mind. And it seems unlikely. Thats not a no but it certainly appears to shut the door on any potential run. It did not take long for other 2016 candidates to weigh in. Governor jeb bush sent this tweet. Mitt is a patriot and i join many in hoping his days of serving our nation and party are not over. Senator rand paul quote, my family and i wish mitt and ann the best. We have gotten to know them over the last few years and deeply respect the family and mitts service. Okay, joining us now to explain what led to this mornings Political Drama as we were watching it and senior Political Editor mark murray and msnbc host steve kornacki. First to you on this why . I think there are a couple of factors but to me maybe the most interesting was that the ground was beginning to crumble beneath mitt romneys feet. Just yesterday before todays announcement, you had dave could chal, the top strategist in 2008 and 2012 become the Campaign Manager in waiting for jeb bush. And there are also a host of other folks who are about to get on the jeb bush train who had been in the mitt romney or so mitt rommy faced a decision either he announced he would be in or out and do it quickly. The reason for being out and he just mentioned and some ways the most intrigue, its time for a new generation of republican leader and someone who may not be as well known as he is. I think that is a pretty not so subtle swipe at jeb bush because you couldnt argue jeb bush isnt a new generation. He and mitt romney are around the same age and close to the same i. D. Mitt romney has, although not as great. It seemed to be suggesting that is what is on board with any other republican whose name isnt jeb bush. Who is he tipping his hat towards . There are two names that come to mind. One would be Chris Christie and the New York Times is reporting that mitt romney and Chris Christie are going to be having dinner tonight. So that all of this news does create more of a lane for Chris Christie than existed yesterday and days before. On the other hand you can make the argument this helps scott walker. There was always going to be a republican governor, a current republican governor who would end up emerging. If you get mitt romneys financial backers behind scott walker, you end up having scott walker, someone who has won the state of wisconsin three times in the last four years, that could make a very intriguing matchup. Youve got someone to talk to on sundays, dont you. Thank you for that. Lets get to the big board. Steve kornacki youve been breaking down the data behind perhaps what the romney team was looking at. Not only the donations, potential donors but also what people are saying. Potential voters. Lets start on the donor side and pick up the point that mark murray was just making. This pressure that jeb bush created, the need to raise money and get started quickly if he was going to run. Lets look whats involved in that. This is the statement that jeb bush made back in december when he said he was interested in maybe running for president. Read it carefully, ive decided to actively explore the possibility of running for president of the united states. Actively explore the possibility. If that sounds legalistic its for good reason. It is because jeb bush is up for something we havent seen in president ial politics before. Hes taking a gamble here and it involves big money. Jeb bush has started his own super pac. You always think the candidates are supposed to keep a distance from that legally, thats true. Jeb bush however is actively exploring the possibility of running. Hes not a candidate. He can own and control that super pac and the key to super pacs is this, there are no limits on the money you can bring in. You can bring in as much as you want on whoever you want. The limit is 2600 per donor, per election per year. 2600 versus unlimited money. And the goal here for jeb bush over the next few months to raise an overwhelming amount of money in the super pac that mitt romney and everybody out there takes a second look at this and says, maybe i dont want to mix it up with jeb. He has too much behind it. Theres a downside to this. The risk that jeb bush is taking is this. If he becomes an active candidate, he gives up control to super pac and raises all of this money and becomes a candidate and not officially control the super pac anymore. Thats the downside. What about the upside . The poll numbers saying romney looks pretty good. Lets take a look at that. There were not too many polls that matched up mitt romney and jeb bush. Not many people thought mitt romney was going to go forward with this until a few weeks ago. Look at the polls that did test them together. 21 to 10 mitt romney 1910, mitt romney. 1914, mitt romney. 1911, mitt romney. You look at those numbers, 21 19, 19 those are not overwhelming numbers. But hes basically doubling up jeb bush. If youre mitt romney and theres a strong sort of personal history there, a lot of animosity between romney and jeb bush. If youre mitt romney and you start seeing jeb bush make all of the moves to run for president , you start reading these stories about how jeb bush is going to unite the Republican Party, most electable republican, all of those things. And youre mitt romney and looking at the polls, youre probably saying to yourself wait a minute, why not me. Why do i have to yield to this guy . That explains the interest the last few months. The idea behind this might be is that enough to call down what will be the primary and general because we saw what happened in 2012, perhaps they are looking in the Rearview Mirror and saying we want the same thing, who else needs to drop out . Thats the thing. This is the test. Lets see how much money jeb bush is able to raise and how many big name republicans hes able to line up to support him. This is what his brother did. George w. Bush he did it in the First Six Months much 1999. Thats what jeb bush is trying to duplicate here. The problem is this that name bush, because of george w. Bush thats a very worrysome name for republicans, women the voteill the voters stands for that . The hard right has a real problem with what they saw as george w. Bush selling out conservatism, not as antigovernment and grew the government. They have a very big problem with that and they associate jeb with that as well. Theres a lot more resistance than there was back in 2000. Josh earnest was just talking about this at the white house during the briefing. Lets listen. The extent governor romney can use his influence to change the fundamentals of this debate that will focus on what we can do to benefit the middle class and those who arent in the top 1 , where so many of the republican policies seem to be aimed, that would be a really good thing. It certainly would be a way for governor romney although he has indicated hes not going to be a candidate, a way to substantially contribute to this debate. Steve, with romney stepping aside, remember the 47 video, does that alleviate what he is pointing to when we look at the Republican Party . Mitt romney had a specific image problem because of the background and private equity and all of that. Jeb bush has a lesser background but does have a private equity background as well and romney was said to be worried that would affect jeb bush too. In terms of the Republican Party is still the Republican Party, whether romney or bush is the nominee. The platform is the same. There is a difference when you talk about somebody like scott walker and Chris Christie potentially. There is that thing where they can connect potentially with voters who mitt romney couldnt connect with. You sort of say if its a top 1 message, you need a 99 messenger. Something christy was able to do in new jersey. Scott walker in wisconsin for that matter which is a democratic friendly state and swing state. Hes showing success at that as well. I want to play a fake phone call between jeb bush and Hillary Clinton released by senator rand paul. Lets listen to that. Well its true. Im thinking about running for president. Well jeb, so am i. I just wanted to call and give you a heads up and hopes we could work something out . What do you mean jeb . Its clearly my turn. Bush, clinton, bush now Clinton Hillary there hasnt been a Republican White House without a bush since 1977 and were ready to be back. Let me shoot straight with you, jeb, okay bill and i are dead broke. We need a place to stay. 1600 pennsylvania avenue its calling me home. Make we can work something out. We both agree on so many issues. Bigger government common core and amnesty for illegal immigrants. Well, weve both got problems. Youve got problems with the grass roots and ive got all of those damned conservatives. Lets say we make a deal. Sorry, hillary, i have to go. Mitt keeps calling. Thats rand paul and we cant help but smile. Part of that call is how they discuss how they share a lot of same policy objectives such as Immigration Reform and that goes to the idea of jeb bush perhaps being more like a centrist than way on the right. There it is again, its the difference between jeb and george w. , the difference between the climates. Back in 2000 when george w. Ran, it was the success in the 90s, we have to emulate bill clinton and that was what he was supposed to be. Rand paul trying to say, look hes too much like the left and too much like Hillary Clinton thats what hes doing with that call. Hes really saying hes too much like george w. Bush as well. This means so much to people on the right. They believe he sold them unite in the last decade and jeb with the moderating language he uses will do the same thing. Steve kornacki, we could spend another 15 minutes doing that but to get 15 minutes more join him 8 00 a. M. Eastern on msnbc. Sure there are two dozen candidates Still Standing in the 2016 race but after today, there will be just one nfl champion. Our super bowl countdown coverage is after the break. Stick around. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we know in the cyber world, threats are always evolving. At first we were protecting networks. Then, we were protecting the transfer of data. And today its evolved to infrastructure. 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Know where you stand with pnc total insight. A new investing and Banking Experience with personalized guidance and online tools. Visit a branch, call or go online today. The other guy on the other screen is out there in phoenix, youve got about 30 degrees on me. Its super bowl friday for you. Reporter its not as warm as we thought it was going to be my friend. Duel in the desert set for sunday evening. We were expected 65 70 degrees and we get off the plane yesterday and this is what we get. Its been sloppy and soggy and rain expected to continue today and tomorrow although it is going to move out in time for sundays game but it wouldnt Matter University of phoenix stadium is a dome as all venues are these days. On paper, richard liu, this should be a fantastic matchup. You have the best team in the afc, the patriots taking on the best team in the nfc, the seahawks, both teams, identical records. But as you know a lot of the coverage over the past week or two has been dominated by deflategate. Its been dominated by things like that. Richard sherman, heres a bright spot. Richard shermans girlfriend shes expecting to deliver a bouncing baby boy any day now. Pete carroll was asked about the possibility that Richard Scherr monday might not be on the field sunday. Carroll saying that hes going to leave that decision up to sherman. Also went on to say he looks forward to meeting little pety. We fully expect him to play in super bowl xlix. Roger goodell, the commissioner expected to take to the podium any moment now. This is something he does every year sort of state of the nfl, the commissioner going to speak again, any moment now here. Well listen to that live when it happens. This as the nfl continues to deal with a lot of issues off the field. This has been a very you know, ill say it its been a bad year for the league. A really bad year by some accounts. I want to bring in dave ziron, edge of sports. Com, spent some time talking about what the nfl has had to deal with this year. Always good to see you, my friend. How would you characterize this year for the National Football league . Well, how would you characterize the titanic after it hit the iceberg . The only thing that the nfl has going for it is its bottom line. The league has never been more profit ablg. If thats how they want to be judged then Roger Goodell has every right to go to the podium and say, guess what the league has been a big success in 2014. By his own metric he said this time and again, he wants the nfl to be more than just a corporate sports league. He wants it to be a symbol of something, the shield to stand for integrity. It wants to be something that is a moral exem plar for the country. If thats what he thinks the nfl is by any standard 2014 was an epic disaster. I posed a similar question to cam newton Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, now quarterback for the panthers. I talked to him a few moments ago, take a listen to what he had to do about the state of the league. Reporter how do you think the league handled the situations that were talking about here . Do you think the commissioner handled all of these situations whether its ray rice situation, whether it was adrian peterson, do you think the league handled them properly . To a degree i would have to say i dont think they did. If they did, it wouldnt be so many speculations, who saw the video and what happened with the video, why did the initial sanction be so to be what it was. Then he have to go back and say, no anyhoo thats neither here nor there. None of my business. Im just a quarterback. Do Players Trust Roger Goodell . See thats another question. Another answer thats kind of touchy. Some of them do. I hear the good bad and ugly. Reporter does cam newton . I have no choice but to. I have no choice but to. I respect Roger Goodell as a man and appreciate what he does for not only the nfl but the brand of the nfl. Yet what people dont know two different sides, thats the nfl that he represents and the nfl players. Reporter dave zirin, an interesting answer there. What do you think . Do you think by and large the players of the National Football league trust its commissioner . No not at all. And i would actually challenge you to find a player who when the cameras are off says they do trust Roger Goodell. As we see nowadays when the cameras are onl they dont trust roger good. Ell frgs and the majority of them on the seahawks and you have Roger Goodell have to hand the trophy to the merciless critics of his tenure. I hope to see it. I think this division is very real, not something created by players. Its been created by Roger Goodell for the hypocrisy, saying he cares about players safety and arguing for an 18game season. Things like that drive the players batty. They feel they are being put in a position where they have to defend like certain practices that they dont agree with and they feel like the nfl cares about money more than they care about the players. Always appreciate your insight. Thanks for being with us. Sports editor with the nation and edge of sports. Com. Roger good ell set to take the mode yum podium any moment. Hell be taking questions and undoubtedly get a lot of questions about deflategate and a lot of questions how the league has responded to myriad of myriad controversies this season. Well bring that to you live when it happens. We also want to get your thoughts on the big game. Who do you think is going to win . Will it be the patriots . Will it be the seahawks . You can tweet your responses to rfd, rfd pats or hawks depending on your Team Preference at the end of the broadcast well let you know which team is winning in the twittersphere. Well do that craig melvin and look at that poll as well. One side note my friend youre not a small guy, craig melvin. Cam newton hes a giant. Funny you should mention that. My photographer here you need me to get you an apple box. Really, an apple box . Im 61. Cam, come on could you at least not stand up straight and slouch a little bit for me. He did not. Thats a great interview, well see you later in the show. Also be sure to watch hardball tonight 7 00 p. M. Live from phoenix. And after that morning joe at night from 8 00 to 10 00 p. M. And ronan farrow will be there too. Much more news ahead, including the agonizing wait for word on fate of two isis hostages well untangle the latest after i break. Theyre still after me. Get to the terminal across town. Are all the green lights you . No. Its called grid iq. The 4 51 is leaving at 4 51. They cut the power. Itll fix itself. Powers back on. Quick thinking traffic lights and self correcting power grids make the world predictable. 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If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any symptoms of an allergic reaction stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Why pause the moment . Ask your doctor about cialis for daily use. For a free 30tablet trial go to cialis. Com how much money do you have in your pocket right now . I have 40 21. Could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement . I dont think so. Well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over time, for twenty to thirty years that retirement challenge might not seem so big after all. Working around the clock to free two hostages held by isis state. Isis reportedly said it would kill the pilot if jordan did not release this female would be suicide bomber in its custody. That Exchange Deadline has now come and gone and nbc news chief global correspondent bill neely joins us by phone. Bill, a lot of questions. What do we know in terms of what the negotiations are and whats happening . Yeah good afternoon. The deadline has long passed for any deal. Theres no sign of a deal. No sign of the hostages more anguish and agony for families in japan and jordan. And no word from the terror group isis. The two governments say they are working together two sets of families have been silent today and i have to say its beginning to look ominous almost like hope is fading especially for the jordanian pilot. Because jordans government has asked the family of the pilot to stop talking to the media. And its almost as if they are preparing people here for the worst. Why would they do that . Well, they are partly preparing for a backlash from jordans public if this pilot ends up being killed because the people here do hold the government and the king responsible for the fate of the hostage. Isis of course would love to destabilize jordan. It loathes this countrys moderate regime a country of course that is a staunch u. S. Ally. Isis will do everything it can to embarrass jordan but at the minute there doesnt look like any sign of a deal and jordan said last night that its the female suicide bomber was still in jordan so no sign at all that she is being swapped in a complicated prisoner exchange. As you have said this is a complex trinational negotiation going on. Some reports that jordan will execute its imprisoned jihadist should isis kill that pilot. Bill neeley with the latest. Much more from super bowl land where were waiting for Roger Goodell speaking right now about to get up to the microphone very shortly. And as craig melvin was telling us the whole idea behind this is what will he say in terms of the state of the nfl because 2014 was very difficult. Well have that when he hits the microphones shortly. Hes coming to the microphone right now. Lets stop by and listen in to see what he says. So many issues that he will address this afternoon. Good morning. Before getting to your questions, let me make a few comments. First, congratulations to the seahawks and patriots. They emerged as the best of the best in a terrific year of football. A season of amazing competition. And plenty of challenges, learning and real progress. We know when we meet our challenges effectively, we are a Better League and a positive contributor to society. Its on us. I truly believe that we will continue to make progress because the nfl is made up of good and caring people. Im realistic about the work that lies ahead and confident that we will do what is expected of us and even more importantly, of ourselves. We are doing more to protect our players from unnecessary risk. Hits too dwepsless players this season we are down 68 . Similar decreases in other areas pertaining to the safety of the game. We reported yesterday the concussions were down 25 this past regular season, continuing a threeyear trend. Since 2012 concussions in regular season games have dropped from 173 to 111. A decrease of more than onethird. The real credit goes to the players and coaches. They have add justed to the rules and the challenge of creating a culture of safety for our game. Theres more to do with Player Health and safety. Carefully reviewing and approving our concussion protocols will be a focus of our medical committees this off season. And we are establishing the position of a chief medical officer. This individual who we expect to have in place very soon will oversee our medical related policies in short, well work closely with our medical committees and advisers and Players Association. Theres more work to do on our fronts. While the quality of the game continues to improve, fans want every play to have suspense. But the exit point has become virtually automatic. We have experimented with alternatives to make it more competitive play and we expect to advance these ideas through the Competition Committee this off season. We are looking at expanding the use of technology and innovation for our football and medical staffs as well as our fans. Last Year Technology improved officiating. It enabled us to engage in replay and officials to use Wireless Communications on the field. Replay and other officiating decisions took less time. Thats important. Fans dont want delays. Coaches dont want delays. They want action and accuracy. We are looking at other ways to enhance replay and officiating. That includes potentially expanding replay to penalties. If it can be done without more disruption to the pace of the game. Were discussing rotating members of the officiating crews during the season as a way to improve consistent cycy throughout our regular season. In officiating consistency is our number one objective. The possibility of expanding the playoffs has also been a topic over the past several years. There are positives to it. But there are concerns as well. Among them being the risk of de diluting our regular season and conflicting with College Football in january. In another important area, we are continuing our work to uphold the highest standards of responsible conduct so that we represent our fans and communities in a way that will make them proud. Yesterday we held the first meeting of our new League Conduct Committee chaired by michael bidwell, the committee reviewed our new personal conduct policy. It emphasizing ongoing education, prevention support services and raises the standards for all of us in the nfl. Most importantly, it is clearly more effective. On the issue of footballs used in the nfc champion game ted wells and our staff have been hard at work conducting a thorough investigation. As you would expect we take seriously anything that potentially impacts the integrity of the game. We are focusing principlely on two questions, why were some footballs used in the game that were not in compliance with the rules . And was this the result of deliberate action . I want to emphasize, we have made no judgments on these points. We will not compromise the investigation by engaging in speculation. When ted wells has completed his investigation, and made his determination based on all relevant evidence we will share his report publicly. Finally, on steps to grow the game and serve the fans we are excited about the success of thursday night football and the extension of our agreement with cbs. We have the best partners in media and together we will continue to develop new platforms, expand fan interaction, and deepen fan engagement. Technology great football and our fans is a winning combination. How our fans especially younger ones connect with the game is changing every day. To that end, we are aggressively pursuing the streaming of a regular season game with our first over the top telecast. It would be carried on broadcast stations in both team markets but also reach a worldwide audience including millions of home that do not have Traditional Television service. Let me finish with this. Footballs popularity is extraordinary. The credit goes to the players, coaches and the fans. We know the nfls impact is far reaching. It is most dramatically seen on super bowl sunday. It means we have enormous responsibility to lead every day by example. It is what our fans deserve. We are humbled by and grateful for their passion. They are the ones who inspire me, our owners and coachers and men like our Walter Payton Award Finalist who are with us today. And we know we must earn the trust of our fans every day. I know you have a question on these and many other issues so lets get to it. Roger, from the associated press, in light of what you just finished, your statement, with such a focus on the offfield issues and including what the public perceives as failures in the leagues investigative process dating back to the saints bounties and problems on the field you just referred to what do you plan to do specifically before next season to restore faith in the league and quote unquote shield . Yes, barry. Weve already begun that process, barry. We have already begun the process of adding Additional Resources in terms of individuals that can bring a expertise to our office and expertise to investigations as you know last fall i announced that we would hire a special council for investigations and conduct. Were in the search process and hope to conclude that in the very near future. We have great people working for the nfl and we are adding resources, adding assets that will make sure that we have it a thorough and fair process. Were also as we demonstrated with ted wells not afraid to go outside and get outside perspective that can be valuable to us, a professional perspective that will give us the kind of outcome we want which is a fair with the truth being clear. Roger, st. Louis post dispatch. I have a twopart question. What is the leagues level of commitment to keeping a franchise in st. Louis, he is sfeshlly given the the efforts to build a new stadium for the rams for the second time in 20 years . And secondly rams ownership appears to be more interested in the l. A. Project than the st. Louis stadium project. How does this meet relocation guidelines which call for teams to exhaust every opportunity in their own market before moving . Thank you. Well jim, first answer to your initial question is that we want all franchises to stay in their current markets, thats a shared responsibility. Thats something we all have to Work Together on. The league has programs including stadium funding programs that we make available. We will work and have worked with communities, including st. Louis. We also will make sure that were engaging the Business Community and Public Sector in a way that can help us lead to solutions and work in those communities in your case st. Louis and make sure it works for the community as well as for the team. So our teams can be successful over the long term. The second part had to do with the interest in the ownership, you know, stan has been working on the stadium issue in st. Louis as you know for several years. They had a very formal process as part of their lease. That process it did not result in a solution that works either for st. Louis or for the team. So i dont think the stadium is a surprise to anybody in any market that is having these issues. Theres quite a bit of discussion about it and the st. Louis representatives seem determined to build a stadium. Thats a positive development, something we look forward to working with them. Commissioner bob kravitz, indianapolis, robert kraft said the other day that he felt you and your office owed him an apology if nothing came out of the investigation, the wells investigation. What are your thoughts on that matter . Well bob, my thoughts are this is my job. This is my responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. I represent 32 teams. All of us want to make sure that the rules are being followed. And if we have any information, where the potential is that those rules are violated i have to pursue that and i have to pursue that aggressively. So this is my job. This is a job of the league office. It is what all 32 clubs expect and i believe our partners and fans expect. We will do it vigorously. And it is important for us to be thorough and fair. Roger sanityta barbara, the los angeles times, 2016 marks the 20th year without a franchise and the 20th Consecutive Year ive asked this question coincidentally. Earlier i do recognize it already. Want me to finish it for you . Should i drop the mike . Earlier this month, as jim mention rams owner announced plans for an 80,000 seat stadium in hollywood park. Considering that he has the land, the vast resources both financial and political, can anyone else win this race . Whats the criteria that the league is going to use to determine which team is or teams are able to relocate to los angeles . And what if an owner decides to go rogue and without the nfls blessing says im going to move my team no matter what you say . Well sam, several points you made there. Let me try to be responsive to all of them. First, let me start with your second question. The ownership takes very seriously the obligation for us all to vote on any serious matter including relocation of a fran choice. Theres a relocation policy that is very clear. We have shared it with our ownership over the past several years. He have em if a sised point in each of the meetings. We would have the relocation itself and potential stadium funding and potential super bowls, a lot of things would likely be subject to a vote. And our ownership takes that very seriously. We take that very seriously. Any relocation will be subject to a vote. As it relates to the first part of your question there have been no determinations of us going to los angeles, any particular team going to los angeles or going to any particular stadium. We have several alternatives that were evaluating both from a sight standpoint. There are teams that are interested but are trying to work their issues out locally. And so as a league we havent got to the stage yet. It will all be subject to a relocation policy. There are requirementses in that policy as you know. Particularly as it relates to cooperation and working to make sure they solve the issues in their local market. But im confident that all of that will be covered within the relocation policy and with our membership approval. Roger, fox sports 1, i realize this question might seem to some people petty, especially in comparison to other things but Marshawn Lynchs cooperation or lack there of has become a big story. Since even before you were commissioner you concerned yourself with growing the game and marketing the game. Whats your take on how he handled the media this week . Has your office made a decision youll be fined . I dont believe any decision has been made on that. Our staff will look at that following the super bowl and make a determination as they have in the past. Ive been very clear that when youre in the nfl, you have an obligation. An obligation to the fans. It is part of your job. There are things that we all have to do in our jobs that we may not necessarily want to do. I think marshawn understands the importance of the super bowl the importance of his appearance and the importance of him as an individual in this game. And fans are curious. Fans want to know. The media would like to make the story clear to our fans. I understand it may not be on the top of his list. But everyone else is cooperating and everyone else is doing their part because it is our obligation. As i say, there are a lot of things we dont like to do in our jobs but it comes with the territory and with the privilege of playing in the super bowl. Commissioner goodell, kkfn denver. Speaking of jobs its been a tough year for you in your job this year. Many people in america went through the year youve had, probably would have resigned or been fired. Can you envision any set of circumstances which would lead you to resigning or being fired as your job as commissioner . No i cant. Does that surprise you . Listen, i it has been a tough year. Its been a tough year on me personally. Its been a year of what i would say humility and learning. We obviously as an organization have gone through adversity but more importantly its been adversity for me. And that is something where we take that seriously. Its an opportunity for us to get better. Its an opportunity for us for our organization to get better. So weve all done a lot of soul searching starting with yours truly. And we have taken action. A lot of the concerns that we had back in august where we didnt have a policy that addressed a very complex issue, we didnt have answers for that. We didnt fully understand those issues. Well now, we have experts in the field. They are in our office. They are helping us understand this. Advisers that have given us a better understanding of the issues and how to deal with these complex issues. We went on road and last county had well over 150 experts, whether former players or College University president s, Law Enforcement officials, how can we do a better job of managing these complex issues . And we set out to create a new personal conduct policy which is unanimously approved by 32 owners in december. We made enormous progress. Things we didnt know and things where we were in august are not where we are today. Were in a good place in knowing and learning and being more hum having a lot more humility as an organization and as an individual its been a tough year but year of great progress. And im excited about the future. The second and probably important issue for us is that we want to make a difference in this area. Not justin ternlly but externally. Weve done a great deal to bring more awareness to these issues of Domestic Violence and sexual assault. Were committed to that. Were working with various organizations bring awareness, understand what victims and survivors are going through. One of the most compelling moments i had this entire fall was going to shelters or going to hot line center and being able to speak to the advocates and hear the fear the emotion, the economic consequences. That is compelling and it will make you understand this issue much more deeply. And we as the nfl and this commissioner understands that a lot better today than he did before. And i where we with make a difference in society in general. Because this is a problem in the broader society. Commissioner john suck live from cnn. Taking into account what the mexican market means for the league, the largest attendance but it has been since 2005 since there was a game in mexico city and the fans cant understand why. Can you explain to them why . John we had a tremendous experience in mexico. It was a tremendous success for it. And we want to get back there. We want to play more games there. It is a combination of stadium availabilities making sure we can do it at the standards and the level we expect to do it. When we do it we want to do it well. Weve had a tremendous focus in london and we are looking at other markets, including mexico and we hope to be back there soon. Rachel nichols from cnn. Roger, you have faced a lot of problems over the year with a wide range but a lot of the problems is a conflict of interest. When you do Something Like hire an outside investigator like ted wells into the investigation you are still playing him and robert kraft who owns the patriots is still paying you, so even when you do everything right in one of those investigations it opens you up to a credibility gap with the public and the highprofile players, what steps can you take to mitigate those conflict of interest issues . Well rachel i dont agree with you and the assumptions you make in your question. I think weve had people with uncompromising integrity. Robbet mueller, i think you asked me that last fall about a conflict of interest. Their integrity is impeccable. Tedwells integrity is impeccable. Their conclusions are drawn only by the evidence and only by the attempt to try and identify that truth. So i think we have done an excellent job of bringing outside consultants in. Somebody has to pay them rachel, so unless you are volunteer volunteering, which i dont think you are, we will do that. But we have the responsibility to protect the integrity of the league, whether we have an owner or a commissioner being investigated, they are done at the highest level of integrity and quality. Roger, good morning. Roger mott nbc news a lot of players have been vocal about criticizing you and your leadership. A twopart question. One, how would you describe your relationship with the leagues player and what plans do you have in mind to try to improve that relationship Going Forward . Well ron, obviously there is close to 3000 players in any given time in the nfl. I communicate with our players on a regular basis. In almost every case privately. I seek their input, particularly when we are making decisions that affect players which are most decisions. We spend an awful lot of time talking with former players in our personal conduct policy. We reach out to the Players Association for their perspective. So we will not agree on every matter. We understand that. But no one has more respect for the players and what they do in our communities, what they do on the field, their importance to the nfl Going Forward and ive had the great privilege of working with them closely for now some 30odd years and that is a privilege for me. Their wellbeing and for theure theure future are important me me. We work on player safety and making it safe for them. And we do everything that while they are here and when they transition out of football we are helping them be successful. I will continue to reach out for them and continue to have the input they are willing to give me. And we will work with the Players Association. But when we disagree on matters, such as the personal conduct policy, we wont compromise the nfl. We agreed we need to raise standards in the nfl. That is what the openers said. We have to agree we are not competely reliant on completely reliant on Law Enforcement. Our owner as agree with that. We dont want to wait until Law Enforcement concludes investigation that takes months. We have to take action. We have a grievance on that. And so we will continue to work with them and continue to try to find ways to strengthen that policy and to address any issues they raise. John jason, dallas sports source. Yes jason. In respect to technology and digital media, has there been greater discussion about using both better to better persuade more kids and parents about getting involved with football rather than being diswaded by it . Absolutely jason. Weve spent a great deal of time as you know with usa football. We help with the Players Association to create that. To help us promote the game of football on all levels. And theyve done an extraordinary job. We created a headsup Football Program just two or three years old now in which the Adoption Rate on the youth level and now the High School Level is extraordinary. It is teaching coaches how to teach safe techniques and teaching kids how to play the game safely and that is good for the longterm future of the game and well continue to invest in it as weve done. Weve committed 45 million to youth football through our nfl foundation and to promote the game and to promote it being played safely. Somebody who played football through Youth High School i think the values the character that comes from playing a team sport like football is extraordinary and i want kids to have the same opportunity. Nfl commissioner Roger Goodell. The state of the nfl is not good. The state of the nfl is good. 9 billion in revenue last year. Some of the issues being addressed. Well go to terry oneill and drew mcgary from dead spin. Terry, one of the issues brought up toward the end of the q a was the issue of domestic. How well did he aggress that . He failed utterly. Look he has consistently Roger Goodell was consistently refused to admit the nfls entire Business Model is built on a culture of violence combined with disrespect for women. Look at the way they treat cheerleaders and the fact there arent any women coaches in major position of authority within the nfl. You put those two things together, violence with disrespect for women, you will have a Domestic Violence problem. Zero zero acknowledgment that is a problem. And he said it is a problem out in society. He wants us to believe that the nfl doesnt have a problem with violence against women but we know better. Hes really not fooling anybody. Does the problem you just described of the nfl and the players and the perception that all women have when they put the two together and as you said terry and drew when we look at this, in terms of growing from 9 billion to 25 billion in revenue which is what he would like to do and the opportunity here is with women and how well did he address this time around and what is that stake . The difference of 16 billion, is it a really with the female fan base here . I dont know that that is going to be the sole reason they want to grow their that they can grow their profits. They just want to grow to make more money so they can own more stuff and skew your town out of more stadium money. I think, in general i was disappointed by the press conference. He didnt have any plan at all to work on immigration or to fix the national debt, which extremely disappointed me. You wanted that didnt you . He carries himself like a head of state. They may have well had bunting up there and heads of state clapping. And you want to respond to that . Terry . Terry oneal we may have lost terry. But back to you, drew she was scourging, she couldnt respond. You are a scourging individual. And deflategate. And as we reach a new generation of players, parents are saying im not so sure. And he did address that. I think what goodell does when he addresses people he says we are handling it. You should believe me. I have integrity and our people have integrity and that is it. You sort of how he was caddy with Rachel Nichols when she was talking about conflict of issue with the nichol report and he said we have integrity and laughed it off. Thank you. Appreciate you stopping by today as we cover the commissioners nfl state of the union pressing there. Rf daily. The reid report is up next. Welcome to the reid report and im joy reid. Weve been listening to Roger Goodell press conference and weve been listening to him talk about deflategate. Lets listen to him talk. We are focusing principally on two questions. Why were some footballs used in the game that were not in compliance with the rules. And was t
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