NFL Names More Bullies, Victims in Miami Dolphins Harassment Case
PAUL: Good morning. It is 28 minutes past the hour right now. Welcome back. I'm Christi Paul.</s>BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you with us. Here are five things you need to know for your new day. Volkswagen employees who built the Passat have spoken, they do not want a union at their Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. Now, the employees there rejected an invitation to join the UAW, the United Auto Workers. Three days of secret balloting ended with almost 90 percent voting against the proposal that ended last night. The state Republicans feared a union shop would drive business out of the state.</s>PAUL: Number two, South Carolina -- yes, people -- South Carolina got shaken last night by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was near the town of Edgefield. No injuries or significant damage thankfully has been reported so far.</s>BLACKWELL: Number three, the second round of peace talks to try to end the Syrian civil war has gone nowhere. Syria's foreign minister expressed this, quote, "deepest apologies for the lack of progress." The two sides have been meeting in one room with a U.N. intermediary. And talks started last month. Next month will mark the third year of the war which has killed more than 100,000 Syrians.</s>PAUL: Number four, President Obama is going to ask Congress to loan $1 billion in aid to Jordan. The president pledged a loan guarantee to Jordan's King's Abdullah II yesterday during a bilateral meeting. Now, Jordan is a key U.S. ally that's financially burdened with a cost of hosting hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees right now. The aid package would last for five years.</s>BLACKWELL: Number five now, if you're at the airport today, we feel for you.</s>PAUL: Uh-huh.</s>BLACKWELL: Already, 500 flights canceled.</s>PAUL: Ouch.</s>BLACKWELL: Hopefully, yours is not one of them. But there could be more on the way because of the snow in the Northeast. Airlines are struggling to get everyone on their destination on this busy holiday weekend, if you count Valentine's Day as a holiday.</s>PAUL: A holiday? What did I miss?</s>BLACKWELL: Most single people don't. On the ground, 165,000 homes still without power. A big improvement over the 400,000 out of power yesterday.</s>PAUL: I'm married, what does that mean for me?</s>BLACKWELL: Do you still</s>PAUL: Well, not holiday, I guess. I don't know. So, let's talk about the Miami Dolphins, because they're in the spotlight again and it is not one they want to be in. More allegations of harassment here. I want to tell you about this new report. According to it, player Richie Incognito is not the only bully on the team. Yesterday, the NFL released more than 140 pages from its investigation.</s>BLACKWELL: The findings, multiple players used racial slurs, homophobic names and inappropriate touching -- let's bring in CNN's Joe Carter and Nick Valencia. Joe, first to you, what else have we learning from the report?</s>JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, it's a 148-page report that you said. It covered, of course, a couple of months. Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to investigate the situation that was going on within the Miami Dolphins locker room. And really reading through the report yesterday the findings are quite disgusting. The takeaway, their workplace environment is much different than our workplace environment. I've been in many NFL locker rooms, it's vulgar, it's racists. At times, it's homophobic. They slow around slurs like game towels. It's very commonplace. But here in this report, the findings are that they crossed the line. It wasn't just one player, it was three players and it wasn't just one victim, it was three -- two players and an assistant trainer. And they did it to the point where Jonathan Martin, sort of the face of this, felt that he not only had to leave the team, but he felt his life wasn't worth living not once but twice. He considered killing himself not once but two different times. So, it got that bad. Coaches didn't know it apparently. The offensive line coach apparently did have some sort of idea what was going on. The head coach, the assistant coaches and general managers in the organization weren't aware of what was going on because he never felt -- I mean, Jonathan Martin never felt like he should report it.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Joe, when you look at the report, part of the interesting point is the mental health issues in the report. Jonathan Martin saying he had mental health issues going back to high school and he had a bipolar friendship with Richie Incognito. Sometimes, they were on very good terms. Other times, they were on not-so-good terms. And like Joe was saying, Victor and Christie, it seems as though from this report, you know, the culture a locker room it's what you'd expect the culture of the locker room to be in the NFL. This is a brutal sport. These are gladiators so to speak. It just went to the next level.</s>BLACKWELL: Beyond the typical racism and homophobia, do you see in the locker room --</s>VALENCIA: They would berate his sister. I mean, things like that. They were saying he wasn't black enough. There are offensive linemen, you know, the coach, implicit in this bullying, he knew what was going on and culture and let it happen.</s>PAUL: We'll have to see what happens.</s>CARTER: It's the combination of a perfect storm. You're looking at somebody like Richie Incognito who they're calling the ring leader but there are two offensive linemen named as well, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey. They sort of follow Richie Incognito's lead. But here you have the ultra alpha male. He's had trouble in college, he had two different universities and in the NFL. You've got that alpha male who everybody has said say sensitive person. So, you have the combination of a perfect storm of two people going against each other, where at sometimes, Jonathan Martin felt like he had to join in that vulgar joking and he felt like he had to be accepted and it would lessen the harassment that he was receiving.</s>PAUL: Well, listen, we want to move on to this other big story in NFL. Former NFL star Darren Sharper yesterday charged in the alleged drugging and raping of two women. And he's also being eyed for crimes three other states. Joe, what else do you know about this one?</s>CARTER: Well, according to court papers as you said, charged with two rapes in California. Under investigation for sexual assaults in Arizona, Nevada, Louisiana. In California, according to the court papers in October 2012, he met a couple of women in a nightclub. All three of them went back to his hotel room. The women allege they were given a shot of something. They passed out, one woman she woke up and believed she was raped. The other woman said she interrupted Darren Sharper's actions. We don't know exactly what those actions are, but she interrupted his actions. Now, there are two other women who met him in the same club in January of this year. Same exact pattern happened. They went back to his hotel room. They received a shot of something. They passed out. One believed that she was raped.</s>VALENCIA: Yes, because of that, these other cases that prosecutors found in other states that they're trying to get his bail increased to $10 million. Like Joe was saying, it's this pattern, meeting two women, takes him back to the hotel room, gives them something to drink and that's when the alleged sexual assaults occur. So, this is a serious thing for this NFL star.</s>CARTER: Yes. If he's convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison. I mean, they are seeking -- prosecutor is seeking several charges, including two counts of rape by the use of drug. And again, if convicted, he could face up to 30 years in prison.</s>BLACKWELL: Well, certainly not the last we're going to hear about it. Those two stories. But I want you to stick around for one more we have, a bit lighter here -- 63rd annual NBA all-star game in New Orleans. The jazz for the conference matchup, NBA legend and TNT Sports analyst Charles Barkley landed in an exclusive interview with President Obama.</s>PAUL: It turned into a bit of a lovefest.</s>BLACKWELL: A little bit.</s>CHARLES BARKLEY, TNT SPORTS: Watching LeBron James play at the peak of his superpowers, it's an amazing debate. I never thought I would say somebody like -- this guy might be as good as Michael Jordan.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know LeBron, I know LeBron. When you're standing next to him and then you watch him close up, I've never seen somebody that size, that fast who can jump that high, who's that strong, who has that much basketball savvy, all in one package. So we don't yet know where he's going to be. Now, I'm a Chicago guy, and Mike will always be the guy for me. Just because, you know, that was a magical moment for the city. And, you know, he was a champion. But, you know, Mike's now retired. LeBron, when you look at him, you think he might be able to play at a high level for another seven, eight, 10 years. He's 29 years old. In terms of every aspect of the game, LeBron has a chance to be, you know, as good as anybody.</s>BLACKWELL: That's probably the most relaxed I've seen the president in quite some time.</s>PAUL: Well, Charles Barkley -- you know, they're talking sports.</s>BLACKWELL: That's right.</s>PAUL: Nothing against Charles, he's talking sports. And that's the big love.</s>VALENCIA: Who wouldn't be comfortable around Charles Barkley?</s>BLACKWELL: You can watch more of the exclusive interview during pregame coverage of the NBA all-star game that starts tomorrow night 7:00 Eastern on TNT. Joe, Nick, thank you.</s>PAUL: Thank you, guys, so much.</s>BLACKWELL: Still to come on NEW DAY, actress Ellen Page holds back tears during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign. Up next, why she got emotional, and what she said that triggered a standing ovation from that crowd.</s>PAUL: Plus, a step towards marriage and equality in Virginia. But same-sex couples who want to wed may want to wait a little bit before setting that date. We're going to explain the legal challenges straight ahead.