[Michael Smerconish, Cnn:] Thank you for joining me. And welcome to the program. I have a packed show today including this. Dewey beats Truman or the 2014 version anyway the Democrats win big in November. "The New York Times", "The Washington Post", the TV networks, they are all wrong, says Princeton professor, Sam Wang. And he's been right a lot. Then Mitt Romney will run for president, Pat Buchanan says it, so I'm inclined to believe it. He'll be here with me. And finally, he was running things during the Iraq war and they told the White House this thing is a mess. General Anthony Zini on Obama's war against ISIS. Let's get started. Up first today. What is wrong with the NFL? Early this morning star running back Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings turned himself into authorities in Texas to face child abuse charges. He admits to having hit his 4-year-old son with a tree branch repeatedly. The indictment says the little boy suffered substantial injuries. Peterson says, I did nothing wrong. I was just spanking my child. So what is wrong with the NFL? Adrian Peterson will not be playing for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday but around the league at least 10 convicted or suspected domestic abusers are scheduled to take the field. One is Carolina Panther Greg Hardy, a defensive end who's been convicted, not accused, convicted of beating his ex-girlfriend, throwing her across the room and trying to strangle her. And there is San Francisco 49er Ray McDonald. He was arrested two weeks ago accused of beating up his pregnant fiancee. Ray Rice of course will not play. As the whole world now knows he was fired from the Baltimore Ravens for delivering that awful knockout punch to his then fiance in an Atlantic City elevator. But others are avoiding suspension because in the past the league has been disgracefully lenient. One former player who's appalled by what he sees is Amani Toomer. Thanks so much for being here.
[Amani Toomer, Former Ny Giants Player:] Thanks for having me.
[Smerconish:] So tomorrow guys are going to suit up, some of whom have issues of their own. There is a guy playing for the Carolina Panthers with an allegation of domestic violence against him right now. Do you expect that there is a process about to occur where they get ferreted out as well, that they get punished by the NFL where previously they hadn't been?
[Toomer:] Yes, you're talking about Greg Hardy.
[Smerconish:] Yes.
[Toomer:] He's actually convicted by a judge and now he decided to go to a jury trial. You know, usually in this country you're innocent until proven guilty. But he's actually been proven guilty so I think that his case and there is another case of McDonald in San Francisco, who just got charged. I think McDonald has an opportunity to defend himself and he should be able to play. But Hardy, a player who's already been convicted, I don't see how the NFL after this situation after how bad it's looked, after how they made the whole domestic violence, doesn't look like the NFL is taking domestic violence seriously outwardly looking in. I think that Greg Hardy should definitely not be playing on Sunday.
[Smerconish:] A number of my radio callers this week, and I'd be curious to hear what you heard on the radio this week, we're drawing parallels with Michael Vick. And one argument was, well, when a guy has paid his penance, when he's been punished by the law, and I don't think that happened sufficiently with Ray Rice, he should be able to eat, he should be able to come back and engage in his profession. What's your thought on that?
[Toomer:] Well, playing in the NFL was a privilege.
[Smerconish:] OK.
[Toomer:] And you know, you have to there is a code of conduct that our commissioner has put forth and you have to live up to that standard. He could be able to eat, he could do he could, you know, work in a job, he can do anything he wants. He just might not be able to play in the NFL until he proves without a shadow of a doubt to the NFL and to all of the people in the community who he's affected by this behavior to come back. I don't look at it the same way. I think he needs to really get out in front of this thing and become like Michael Vick who got who was you know, did a lot of work with PETA. I think Ray Rice should be they should use him as a as a spokesperson to create awareness for domestic violence moving forward. And I think then I would be more willing to allow him back into the community.
[Smerconish:] You mentioned the commissioner. Let me ask you about Roger Goodell. It seems like there is a fact dispute as to what was said at a June meeting where Ray Rice and his now wife were meeting with Roger Goodell and Goodell is saying that he wasn't told that there was a punch in the course of that meeting, others are saying that Ray Rice's side of it is, I told Roger Goodell exactly what happened inside the elevator. Here's my question. If Goodell had been told by Rice at that meeting what happened inside the elevator and he chose to only suspend him for two games, does Goodell now need to go?
[Toomer:] I don't think Goodell needs to go. I think he needs to know what domestic violence is. I don't believe that he should just be fired because I just think that that's the easy way out. It's the easy way out to fire him. I think that what needs to happen is the league needs to move forward and to become just like Ray Rice, on top of this situation in terms of becoming you know, creating awareness. Because there is no other league, no other entity in this country that can create more awareness than the NFL. And I think they have an opportunity to turn the narrative from being the NFL doesn't care about domestic violence to the NFL champions the awareness of domestic violence.
[Smerconish:] Meanwhile, Janay Rice says, hey, media, back off, essentially it's your fault.
[Toomer:] Well, that's the classic, my mother telling me that most victims are very apologetic and they take on a lot of the responsibility of the action of the abuser themselves. Now that's if Roger Goodell and the NFL realized that before and they knew, they looked at it through the victim's role, then this situation would have been handled much differently.
[Smerconish:] Amani Toomer, good to see you. Wear the ring next time. Please?
[Toomer:] I know. I know. It's
[Smerconish:] What was it? A trophy case?
[Toomer:] It's too big to wear out.
[Smerconish:] A good problem to have. A good problem to have. Thank you.
[Toomer:] I'm not complaining about that, too.
[Smerconish:] Thank you for being here.
[Toomer:] Yes. Thanks for having me, Mike.
[Smerconish:] Meanwhile, who the heck is advising NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell? By any standard his handling of the Ray Rice scandal has been a PR disaster. So let's talk to an expert in crisis management, somebody who knows the NFL well, Lanny Davis, former White House special counsel to President Bill Clinton. He has also represented Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder. Lanny, thank you so much for being here.
[Lanny Davis, Former White House Special Counsel:] Hi, Mike.
[Smerconish:] If today you were whispering in the ear of Roger Goodell, you would be telling him what?
[Davis:] Well, first of all, I'd be telling him to restate that he got it wrong to begin with when he only imposed a two-game suspension based upon the first videotape that he saw. He said he got it wrong, now he's got to expand on that. I happen to think that he not only got it wrong for only doing two games, I would recommend a full year suspension for the first incident of domestic violence to send a message to all men including Adrian Peterson, that violence, whether it's women or children, is not acceptable and you're not playing in the league for one year and the second incident it's suspension indefinitely. So that's what he got wrong. And now I think he needs to be more forthcoming about exactly what he plans to do going forward for all of these other incidents that we're now hearing about of men who play football who think violence is OK on the field and violence is OK off the field because it's off the field. They need to be told that there is no distinction when you're violent against women you're out, you don't play football and at least for one year you never play football. If you do it a second time, you're out forever.
[Smerconish:] I read your book, I know the mantra, the Lanny Davis mantra. He did not tell it all, tell it early nor tell it himself.
[Davis:] No, he didn't. And I think that not asking the casino for the second videotape was a mistake. I think he's right that law enforcement during a grand jury proceeding wouldn't turn over that tape. But I also would beg to differ that you characterize that there were facts about what was told behind closed doors, let's talk about Mr. Rice. Mr. Rice did not follow my rules and was not honest with the public when he held a press conference. He didn't say, I cold cocked my girlfriend and that's why I dragged her out.
[Smerconish:] Right.
[Davis:] He left that part out. And now he sends four anonymous sources to ESPN to say, I actually told Mr. Goodell that I cold cocked my girlfriend when you have two people on the record, the president and the owner of the Ravens, disputing the anonymous sources. So at the very least, Mr. Rice has not followed any of the rules of crisis management. He did something terrible, he should take himself out of football for a year and get help and then go
[Smerconish:] Lanny
[Davis:] teach other men not to touch women and not to be violent against women.
[Smerconish:] Give me just 30 seconds on Adrian Peterson. Today's latest ripple in this now ongoing NFL saga. How should Goodell respond to this?
[Davis:] As strongly as striking a woman certainly as strongly as beating up a child much less his own child. He needs to be the teaching moment for this country about abusing children, and that should be part of the equation in the NFL, off-field behavior, whether it's drunk and driving, whether it's violence against women and children, they are just as responsible off the field as on the field.
[Smerconish:] Lanny Davis
[Davis:] That's should be the message from Commissioner Goodell.
[Smerconish:] As always, thank you for being here.
[Davis:] Thank you.
[Smerconish:] Have to take a very quick break. When I come back, here's what I want to talk about. President Obama is sending more Americans on dangerous missions to Iraq and Syria. But Congress has not weighed in. Don't our elected representatives owe us a real debate about whether this is a risk worth taking? Mitt Romney says he's not running again for the White House in 2016 but Pat Buchanan says oh, yes, he is. And we're going to talk. And why isn't anyone prosecuting Ray Rice? He committed a crime that the whole country has witnessed and no one is charging him? We'll talk about that right after the break.