Tennis Star Forced to Explain Rape Comment
TAPPER: Forget the New York Giants or the Jets, neither is governor Chris Christie's favorite. Watch the governor riling up a New Jersey school assembly.</s>GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: My favorite football team are the Dallas Cowboys, which by the way, is not the smartest thing for the governor of New Jersey, to want to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.</s>TAPPER: Christie says the Giants and Jets of his childhood, quote, "Pretty much stunk, and why root for a team that makes you angry?" Just days before Wimbledon, tennis star Serena Williams finds herself having to explain a controversial remark about a high-profile rape case. In an interview with "Rolling Stone" magazine, she talked about the conviction of two Steubenville, Ohio, high school football players who assaulted a drunk 16-year-old classmate. Williams said the girl should not have been drinking and that she, quote, "shouldn't have put herself in that position," unquote. CNN's Rachel Nichols is working the story for us. Rachel, what is Serena Williams saying about this controversy?</s>RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Jake, I want to put that quote in a little bit more context for you, as well. The beginning of the quote in "Rolling Stone" had her saying specifically ,"I am not blaming the girl." She then went on to question did the girl's parents -- I'm using her words -- teach her about drinking and not drinking to the point where she couldn't remember anything and then that's where she followed, saying she shouldn't have put herself in that position. That's the context of it. Of course, it still angered plenty of people, and that's why Serena then came out with a statement today. And she said, quote, "I'm currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what is written in 'Rolling Stone.' What was written, what I supposedly said, is insensitive and hurtful and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame." Serena then went on to say in her statement that "My prayers and support always go out to the rape victim, in this case most especially, an innocent 16-year-old child." So she clearly feels at this point she needs to come forward and clarify her remarks and hopes that this kind of puts an end to the issue, but of course, she's about to start Wimbledon, Jake. She'll be giving plenty of press conferences over the next two weeks, and you can bet she's going to be asked about that.</s>TAPPER: You've known Serena since she was 15. What's your perspective here?</s>NICHOLS: You know, she went on in her statement to say that she's always been very supportive of women's issues. And that's actually true. She and her sister, Venus, have made such a point of being vocal on these that there's actually a documentary about that coming out later this summer. So I think we can look at her actions over the years and trust that what she says in her statement today is true, that her general feeling about this is what it is. And then separately, when she wants to talk about the fact that, hey, maybe you tell your daughters, your young girls "Don't get so drunk as a teenager that you could fall prey to predators. Don't put yourself in position to be the victims of crimes and people that would want to hurt you." Doesn't necessarily mean that they are at fault for those crimes. It just means that you need to be smart about certain situations so you lessen the chances of being in those positions. Now, confusing those two things is something Serena did because of course, the victim in the Steubenville case didn't do anything wrong. And she needs to basically come forward and say that, which she thinks she said today.</s>TAPPER: Right. Well, I mean, I do wonder what about the parents of the two convicted rapists? Did the parents teach them that sexual assaulting and raping young girls isn't a good idea? But we'll leave that where it is.</s>NICHOLS: Certainly -- yes, I would certainly hope that parents all over teach them that.</s>TAPPER: Right.</s>NICHOLS: And I think that Serena's been on record in the past saying things. I just think that for her, at this point, she sort of says things casually. And I would like to give her the credit of admitting that she was wrong, because she was wrong in this situation. The comments that she made were wrong, and I think that she came out and said that they were wrong and apologized. It's something that gets added to that ledger, and then we'll see where she goes forward from here.</s>TAPPER: All right, Rachael Nichols. Just one quick note from you. Is LeBron James going to wear his headband tonight or is he not?</s>NICHOLS: We'll move on to something a little bit more lightweight. Yes. The game seven of the NBA finals. Game six, if you were watching, LeBron's headband, something that he is rarely seen without, came off. And he played like a beast, as he said, after that. So the big question is, is he going to wear it tomorrow night? I was able to sit down for an interview that will run on CNN during the day tomorrow. But he did reveal an exclusive sneak peak, Jake. He did say that he's going to start with the headband. In fact, he was very funny during the interview. He took his headband and kissed it. He apologized for abandoning it last night, and he said that he's going to start with it in game seven. But then he'll see how he plays. If he doesn't play well that headband could go again.</s>TAPPER: Interesting. All right. We'll all be watching. The interview start airing tomorrow on "NEW DAY," which airs at 6 a.m. -- beginning at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning. Thank you, Rachel Nichols. Coming up, Prancercise rides again. If you like the original, and millions of people did, for some reason, you have to see what's coming up next.