MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: National Football League Scandals
Interview
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Joining me now, U.S. Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland, Kim Gandy, who is with me now. She`s of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. And former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Don McPherson. It`s Iggles, by the way, not Eagles, we pronounce it.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you, sir, for joining us.
Congresswoman Edwards, you have been on the show so many times. And I just want to know. This is a judicial decision obviously by -- or judicious decision. Why wasn`t the knowledge that this woman -- we saw her lifelessly being dragged out of an elevator. We saw a police summons which said she had been punched and the fact that she was knocked cold by this guy. Why wasn`t that enough to take him out of the league?
REP. DONNA EDWARDS (D), MARYLAND: It should have been.
And I think that it`s not enough for the NFL to say, we got it wrong. They got it horribly wrong. And what is happening right now is that the combination of that video just underscores how wrong they got it.
MATTHEWS: You know, I just wonder, if it was a guy he had knocked out in the elevator -- I mean, this is aggravated assault. This is not like, gee whiz, he was having a bad night or we get along. Or, Kim, respond to this, as a woman as an expert on this idea of, generally speaking, what does -- how does this fit into the category of violence against women, as you see it, in the whole range of things?
KIM GANDY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL NETWORK TO END DOMESTIC
VIOLENCE: Well, there`s no question.
This is a perfect demonstration of the kind of domestic violence that we see all the time. And I will tell you, if this had been a guy he punched out in that elevator, this prosecutor would not have given him pretrial diversion. And...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: You mean, in other words...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: ... counseling?
GANDY: Yes, exactly.
MATTHEWS: Let me go to the football player.
Don, what do you think of this? I know football players are supposed to be tough. You hit the line hard. It`s a lot of -- it`s all a contact sport. It`s about being a strong, macho kind of guy. What other players, if another player sees this, what`s the reaction?
(CROSSTALK)
DON MCPHERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I think the reaction is, as the general public has had the reaction, when they saw the actual punch itself, became -- kind of recoiled back at how horrific this was.
I think the problem here is, what`s so disturbing is that the initial video wasn`t enough for the Ravens to take action with one of their employees. If that had been anyone on the set, we all would be out of a job.
And so what the problem is, something -- we know something happened in that elevator. Did we have to see the video evidence? The problem is that -- not that the Ravens or the NFL saw the video of the punch. It`s that the public saw the video of the punch, and that`s why the Ravens took action.
MATTHEWS: Well, what about the -- I`m looking at the picture we saw before, Congresswoman, when we saw him being -- him pulling her out of the elevator and then kicking her to move her into position so she wouldn`t be caught on the moving elevator. It`s not exactly what you saw to your bride to be. Let me kick you out of the way here.
And then he sort of tries to shake her awake, to call it whatever it is. But then why do you think that Janay Palmer here stood up for him again today? Is this some syndrome?
EDWARDS: You know what?
MATTHEWS: What would you call it?
EDWARDS: No.
Chris, I want to tell you, I have worked on domestic violence for a long time. In fact, I used to have Kim Gandy`s job at the National Network to End Domestic Violence. And what I know is that we`re going to have to offer an awful lot of support to Janay and to other women who experience violence.
She may not even identify herself as a victim or even a survivor of domestic violence. But there`s going to come a point at which she`s going to really understand that and know that, and have to look out for her own safety.
And so I don`t want to place the blame and the focus on her and her response. The question is what our system does to respond, whether those are employers like the NFL, whether it`s the judicial system, and a prosecutor who, you know, negotiates a pretrial diversion program for a clearly brutal assault that ought to be prosecuted.
MATTHEWS: Yes.
EDWARDS: These are system responses that are needed, and we don`t need to place the blame on victims like Janay Rice. We need to make sure that the system works...
MATTHEWS: Sure.
EDWARDS: ... so that it prevents him from doing it to any other woman.
MATTHEWS: It`s not about placing the blame. It`s about the needed testimony in court. How does a judge or a prosecutor move ahead without testimony of the person who was hit?
EDWARDS: They do it all the time, and they can do it. You do not need -- that videotape, the statement is enough to move forward on, whether it`s a restraining order, a prosecution or a conviction.
And so we can`t just depend on victims to be the one, because there are a lot of issues that they`re going through as well...
MATTHEWS: I understand.
EDWARDS: ... to pursue a prosecution. This is about the public interest in pursuing a prosecution for a violent offense, and it shouldn`t be allowed to happen. It shouldn`t be allowed to stand.
And the NFL really needs to stand in the court of public opinion to explain why it is that they didn`t act before now. I mean, it really is outrageous to even look at those first pictures and wonder, what did they think happened in that elevator? Did she hit herself?
And then clearly from the statement, that is true. And so I don`t even understand now especially the NFL`s inaction. And we`re talking about a history here. I actually remember working in 1993, before the passage of the Violence Against Women Act, on a Super Bowl ad with the NFL recognizing the need to educate the public and to be leaders in leading on this issue of domestic violence. Well, they need to get it right in their own house.
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