[Blitzer:] Arguably this is one of the hottest times of the year for sports fans. Basketball in full swing, hockey is finally back. Everyone is counting down to the Super Bowl plus there's a ton of off the field news to discuss with the next guest, ESPN's Jeremy Schaap. Jeremy, thanks very much for coming in. Let's discuss some of these other issues. Let's start with Notre Dame's Manti Te'O. You interviewed him, what, for two and a half hours after we learned that the girlfriend on social media was really fake. You know this guy. Do you believe what he is saying?
[Jeremy Schaap, Espn Correspondent:] Well, you know, Wolf, it's always kind of an awkward condition as a reporter. We asked whether you believe someone you are covering, but the circumstances here were unusual. It was an off camera interview. So I felt in some ways as kind a proxy for people out there who were interested in the story. I can't say whether he was telling the truth. Nobody except a few people inside the story knew whether he was telling the truth. I could tell you I found him credible. I found him believable. His story didn't have any holes that to me it could not be explained. I think most people have come to the conclusion over the last eight or nine days hearing the evidence that he was most likely the victim here. The simplest explanation is most often the correct explanation. I think that's what we are probably dealing with.
[Blitzer:] In the on camera interview he had yesterday with Katie Couric, did you see any inconsistencies from your interview that was off camera?
[Schaap:] I didn't. I mean, there was elaboration and Katie Couric went places I hadn't gone, had him elaborate on some points that he made to me. But I didn't see daylight there between my interview last Friday and Miss Couric's interview, which I believe took place on Tuesday. At this point perhaps the public appetite for the story is drying up. It has been exhausting. It's been confusing. We might never know exactly what happened. But I understand there was late word that Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the alleged hoaxter is going to be talking for the first time and I just got an e-mail about this. I think to Dr. Phil, I don't know if you heard that.
[Blitzer:] That's what we've heard as well. We will look forward to hearing what he has to say. He is obviously the center of this whole storm. Let's move on and talk about another sports story. There is a Super Bowl coming up. I assume you heard about that. Not that long down the road. There was a Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Brandon Ayanbadejo. You probably know he caused a little stir. He is defending gay marriage, which is unusual for a pro athlete to talk about these kinds of issues. Listen to what he said to WBAL.
[Brandon Ayanbadejo, Linebacker, Baltimore Ravens:] To me personally, I just see it as a human rights issue. It's not gay rights. It's equal and human rights. Whether it's suffrage or going back to slavery or segregation, it's all the same to me. I've got a lot of scrutiny. I am known as the gay ambassador.
[Blitzer:] He supports gay rights. He is not saying he is gay or anything like that, but he is supporting gay rights. How unusual is this?
[Schaap:] Well, it's very unusual. I know him fairly well personally. He feels strongly about this issue. He is heterosexual. He is married with two kids and has a lot of gay friends. He wants them to enjoy the same rights that he and most Americans enjoy. But this is highly unusual because it is the last taboo in some respects. We never had a male pro athlete in any major team sports ever come out. Not with all the tens of thousands of athletes in the major leagues. The pro football and the NBA, the NHL, it's never happened. It's always been taught that it's too difficult for someone to do that in a locker room setting. I think based on the response of his outspokenness, we might be moving in a direction for the first time where active pro athletes from the major team sports who are male can say they are homosexual and not be ostracized. There have been female athletes in team sports and former professional athletes who are male on the team sports and overseas, there have been rugby players, in Whales, in Australia who have come forward, but never in this country. I think we are moving in that direction.
[Blitzer:] Yes, there is an active athlete in the baseball, football, basketball. When they retire from sports, many who are gay of course have done that, but only a few. You are absolutely right. Very quickly, a story close to my heart as a Washington Nationals baseball fan, you know the mascots, four presidents. They are about to add a fifth president. There is a big discussion who that fifth president for these races that Washington Nationals Park, who the fifth president is. You have to pick who you would like to see.
[Schaap:] I have to tell you, I follow this very closely and I was very happy to see Teddy Roosevelt finally win. If we're talking about stature, these are the Mount Rushmore presidents. I think we got to add Franklin Roosevelt. But if we are talking about someone who can win, it's got to be George H.W. Bush. He is the most accomplished baseball player ever to serve as in Yale and the college world series. He was a righty hitting lefty first baseman, an outstanding player, met Babe Ruth. I'm for Bush.
[Blitzer:] So what it would be George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and George W. Bush, that's what you're saying, right?
[Schaap:] That's what I'm saying.
[Blitzer:] All right I think George W. Bush although I like FDR, maybe
[Fdr -- Schaap:] Stature, yes. Two Roosevelts is confusing.
[Blitzer:] Maybe, you're right. I have to think about it and announce it tomorrow. We will be at the Nationals games and spring training coming up very, very soon. Thanks very much for that.
[Schaap:] Sure, Wolf.
[Blitzer:] A prominent Republican not mincing words saying his party needs to stop being stupid. Republican officials are meeting today in North Carolina. What they can do to rebound and remake their brand.