tv Meet the Press NBC February 2, 2015 3:18am-4:01am EST
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we have to charge these guys. we have to charge them both. we know that they did this crime. >> this case wasn't going to get any better. >> reporter: the idaho latah county prosecutor agreed and on may day 2013 -- three years after rachel vanished -- david stone and charles capone were charged with her murder. they pleaded not guilty. >> this case is all about smoke and mirrors and convincing people from day one that i murdered my wife. >> everyone, please rise. >> reporter: in the preliminary hearing prosecutors laid out their theory of the crime, producing that maintenance yard worker who told the story about charles and david's alleged "you kill my wife, i'll kill yours" plan. stone's wife alisa hung on every word. frightening connections were being made in her head, and with that came the sudden awful awareness that the sheriff's officers may have had been right after all, her husband did want her dead.
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she immediately filed for divorce. >> the pieces all came together for me. >> reporter: and there's this account of him going to a coworker and saying, "i'll give you 10,000 bucks if you'll kill my wife." what do you think of that story, that he was soliciting someone to kill you? >> yeah, i'll never know. >> reporter: this is beyond marital deceit. >> oh yeah. >> reporter: if the stories were true, then you had married a stranger. >> exactly. >> reporter: who is dave stone? >> it's a mystery to me at this point. >> some of the things that came up in that preliminary hearing, i looked like a monster, and i'm not. coming up david stone tells a chilling tale of what he says happened the night racael disappeared. >> i said what the [ bleep ] are you doing? he looked at me had a look on his face that i had described as satan. imagine if razors could move up and down, and all around. hugging tight, swirling left and turning right. behold, new venus swirl.
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former pro football player ickey woods will celebrate almost anything? unh-uh. number 44... whoooo! forty-four, that's me! get some cold cuts... get some cold cuts... get some cold cuts! whooo! gimme some! geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. whoo! forty-four ladies, that's me! whoo...gonna get some cold cuts today! >> reporter: almost four-years after that weekend rachael anderson never came home, her family believed they might finally get some answers. police had arrested her estranged husband charles capone and his pal david stone in connection with her death. but this past september it was only charles capone in the latah county courthouse facing a murder charge. >> we are convinced that you
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will find the only possible verdict, finding the defendant, charles capone, guilty of first degree murder. >> reporter: as the trail opened, the state's case had zigzagged another unpredicted turn. the maintenance yard worker had backpedaled on his murder for hire story and wouldn't testify to it. so now the jurors wouldn't hear of a juicy "you kill my wife, i'll kill yours" plot, but rather a straightforward and nonetheless terrifying story of a lousy marriage turned fatal. county prosecuting attorney bill thompson and deputy prosecuting attorney mia vowels knew they had their work cut out for them. >> our approach was convince the jury through the evidence not only that rachael was dead, but there's only one person in this world who could have been responsible for it, and that's charles capone. >> reporter: what was the biggest hill to climb in this? >> because we didn't have a body, it was mostly a circumstantial case. >> reporter: mia vowels took the lead and called a parade of witness to convince the jury that rachael was indeed dead.
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>> a good mother. had a good attitude toward family. >> reporter: her ex-husband, dennis plunkett, had missed a call from her at 8:09 that friday night. >> and that was the last contact i ever had with her. >> reporter: rachael's two sons testified they'd never seen their mother again after that friday. >> have you seen your mom since? >> no. >> reporter: to show jurors just how nasty charles and rachael's divorce was they played back some of those eerie stalking phone calls. >> it's funny. you just don't get it. >> reporter: captain dan hally testified that the defendant had been behind those head-game calls all along. capone even admitted as much to him. >> he told me that he had been involved in the stalking and harassment. >> yeah, i know she was afraid. >> reporter: ashley and amber, the daughters, recounted the terror of their mom's ordeal. >> she had the feeling like her life was going to end, a dreadful feeling. >> reporter: the prosecutors zeroed in on charles' character.
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jennifer norberg recalled what her friend's neck looked like after charles allegedly attacked rachael four months before she disappeared. >> i observed that she had some red, dark colored marks on her neck. >> reporter: then, prosecutors produced a business neighbor, an actual eyewitness, who saw charles arguing with a woman outside his auto shop that fatal night. >> she jumped out of the car, flailing her arms right up into his face. >> raise your hand and be sworn please. >> reporter: so far, the testimony was all appetizers before the prosecutors' main course. their head-snapping all or nothing star witness, none other than charles' good buddy david stone, no longer a co-defendant for murder. now the man pointing the accusing finger. >> s-t-o-n-e. >> reporter: stone's journey to the witness stand began a year earlier during that preliminary
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hearing when capone whispered something to him. >> charles leaned over to me and said, "you shouldn't even be here." and i thought, "how right you are, you son of a bitch." >> reporter: a shaken stone listened to the state's mounting case against him and decided he wasn't going to take the fall for charles. >> the prosecution did a real good job of in making me out to be a monster, and i'm not. >> reporter: they told you something like, "we know there is blood on your hands here." >> that was one of the things they said. >> reporter: in cop talk they flipped you. they flipped you against him. they were going to give you consideration in exchange for your story. >> the cops had nothing to do with me telling the story. >> reporter: stone says there was no deal with the cops, rather his pastor convinced him to come clean. >> throughout numerous visits we prayed in closing prayer that the truth would set me free. >> reporter: maybe so, but the prosecution counted on his testimony to put away his former friend away for a long, long time. >> do you know the defendant,
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charles capone? >> i do. he's sitting next to mr. monson. >> reporter: once on the stand, stone set off on his tale about the events of friday, april 16th, 2010. >> i was inside the shop, and i'd heard a noise. >> what kind of noise? >> kind of like a thud or a bang, or just something kind of loud. >> reporter: when he looked outside, a struggle. >> when i came around closer toward the back side of rachel's car, rachael was on her back, and charles, he was on top of her strangling her. >> was rachel moving? >> very little. >> what did you say? >> i said what the [ bleep ] are you doing? and he turned around and he looked back at me, had a look in his face i had described as satan. and he told me shut the [ bleep ] up you get a hold of myself. you're in this with me now. i know where your family's at. >> why didn't you intervene at this point?
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>> fear. >> what were you afraid of? >> i'm watching somebody kill his wife. i don't know what he's going to do to me. >> reporter: the two men moved rachel's body into the shop. david stone testified they ditched the loaner vehicle rachael was driving at the convenience store/bus depot near her home and then returned to stone's garage. after that stone said he went to his job site and rounded up some old truck tire snow-chains, like these from his jobsite, and they wrapped up rachael's body. >> once we placed rachel's body in the chain, we rolled her across the chains. >> reporter: then he said the two put rachel's trussed-up, weighted-down body into his suv. with david stone at the wheel they drove south and onto the red wolf bridge over the snake river. >> he just said "stop!" i put the durango in park, got out, opened the hatch. we pulled rachael out, went to the side of the bridge and threw her over the side. >> reporter: prosecutors
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interrupted stone's narrative to play for jurors a recording made at the bridge. >> he was pulling the package out and i assisted him. and we proceeded to the side of the wall here and threw the package over the side. >> and what was in the package? >> the body of rachael anderson. >> reporter: into the fast moving river never to be seen again. what would the jury make of this man giving them such critical evidence, the play by play of the crime itself? you know they're going to hate this guy? >> that's the reality of the case. >> reporter: did it matter whether the jury sat in moral judgment on your star witness, mia? >> no.
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they won't like that he didn't intervene and that he helped dispose of her body, but that doesn't change the fact that he witnessed what he did. >> reporter: as the state rested, it looked, ironically, as though its star witness would prove to be the best thing the defense had going for it. david stone, would the jury believe a word he said? coming up and what about the other man at the center of the case? though he won't take the stand, charles capone take the tough questions from us. >> this whole thread of this thing, i'll kill your wife if you'll kill mine -- did that happen?
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the last good man in america. [children shouting] listen to me. why are you swinging the bat at rocco like that? - you hit my child! - not in front of the kids! they're going to come after you. this is how people get scarred for life. i'm gonna put that maniac away. they want a fight? i'm going to destroy them.
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announcer: the slap starting february 12th at 8:00/7:00 central part of the new nbc thursday. >> you may find yourself in a quandary about as to what actually happened. >> reporter: charles capone's defense team had to convince the jury that their client hadn't strangled his estranged wife, rachael, and tossed her body into the snake river with the help of his friend david stone. charles had maintained his innocence. >> this just can't be what's going on in life right now. i can't be, at this point right now, sitting here with a guy from "dateline". >> reporter: and the guy from "dateline" is here because of what is believed to have happened by the authorities on that friday night. his attorneys' strategy was threefold. discredit the buddy's damning eyewitness testimony.
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sow reasonable doubt about the state's evidence. and, offer alternate suspects. right off the bat they suggested to the jury that there was another person who just might have had a hand in rachael's disappearance. maybe that infatuated onetime boyfriend william slemp. slemp died before the case came to trial, so the defense attorney asked daughter amber what she knew about him. >> did you also, in your conversation with your mother, consider another person as being the suspect? >> yes. >> and was that william slemp? >> yes. >> reporter: and was the boyfriend perceived as a menace? the defense produced a request for a restraining order against slemp that rachael had filled out. >> during cross-examination the defense got detective jackie nichols to concede another connection between rachael and slemp. >> i recall seeing letters from william slemp. >> reporter: after seeding the thought with jurors that maybe someone other than capone did it, the defense team turned its
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sights on the cops, all the things they hadn't found in their investigation. for starters, there was no physical evidence recovered at charles' garage. >> you didn't see any signs of a struggle outside? >> that's correct. >> reporter: and, when cops recovered rachel's vehicle, there were fingerprints, but not capone's. >> they didn't match anybody that was in the system. >> reporter: but, attacking the evidence wouldn't be enough. >> everyone, please be seated. >> reporter: just as for the prosecution, the defense case lived or died on the credibility of david stone. during a grueling, day-long cross examination, charles' lawyer attacked david stone's veracity and his motives. david claimed he helped dispose of rachael's body, and then kept quiet all those years because he was in fear of his life from charles. and yet they continued to pal around. >> why did you keep that contact every day? >> well, i kind of like to know where someone's at if i'm concerned about my safety. >> reporter: capone's lawyer suggested that david stone was only out to save his own neck. and were you hoping for some leniency? >> and still am. >> reporter: hour after hour the lawyer hammered away at david,
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who had easily admitted to lying his way through any number of police interviews. >> did you feel that your word might not be real good? >> i mean, based on the fact that i had been lying for three and a half years, wouldn't you? >> reporter: in the defense close, it came back again to a central question, could the jury believe david stone? >> at the end of the day, what stone is telling you, it cannot be true. there is no physical evidence of any foul play anywhere at or near that shop. >> reporter: charles capone declined to testify in his own defense. >> and you feel comfortable in that decision? >> yes sir, i do. >> reporter: prosecutor bill thompson had the final word for the state. >> rachael's gone forever. he insured that her body, her physical essence, is also gone forever. but we can't let that allow him to escape responsibility. >> reporter: after seven days of testimony the case went to the jury. let me ask you that cut to the chase question. on friday that night at the
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garage, did you get her down on the ground? >> no. >> reporter: did you throttle your wife and kill her? >> i can tell you honestly, no. it's a lie. it's been portrayed as stuff that absolutely didn't take place. i've done many things, you know, that i'm not proud of, you know? paid my dues, moved on, you know? tried to be a better person. >> reporter: this whole thread of this thing, "i'll kill your wife if you'll kill mine," did that happen? >> i can't answer that for you right now. >> reporter: you can't answer it? >> i can't. >> reporter: capone says he's made mistakes along the way, but did not kill rachael. >> i don't have that in me. i don't have that -- i want to care about people. i want to love on people. i don't want to take somebody's life. you know, one officer, she says i'm a sociopath and i have no heart, and i don't care, and i haven't suffered from this. yeah, okay. >> reporter: are you a sociopath? >> no, i don't believe so. i've seen my share of psychologists and stuff like that. and i think i'm pretty normal. i mean i think, like most men, i just make poor decisions. >> charles was on top of rachael, strangling her. >> reporter: why does he tell the story in court that he does? because he sinks you. >> because he's going to get
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charged with solicitation of murder. how much time was he going to do for trying to hire somebody to kill his wife, you know? wouldn't you have tried to get out of that? >> reporter: it took the jurors nine hours to decide whether they believed david stone's story. there was a verdict. rachael's family and friends were called back to the courthouse. >> when the jury came in and we stood there, it seemed like for an eternity. >> madam clerk, if you would read the verdict of the jury. >> you know, our hearts were pounding. >> is the defendant charles anthony capone guilty or not guilty of murder in the first degree? >> reporter: the clerk read the jury's verdict. >> guilty. >> it was like this weight just was lifted from everyone. >> reporter: rachael's daughters had waited 4 1/2 years for this day. so, you hear the words, huh? >> um-hmm. it's just bittersweet. >> reporter: you're not getting your mom back. >> no. >> reporter: at the end of this. >> huh-uh. all it is protecting other women and children from being harmed
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by him. >> reporter: charles capone will be sentenced in february. because of his prior convictions, he faces life without parole. david stone, who ultimately pleaded guilty solely to failure to notify authorities of a death, was sentenced in october to three to seven years. >> i want to apologize to rachael's family. >> reporter: with good behavior, and credit for time served, he could be out in 18 months. >> it's a day that i think about every day. and i will the rest of my life. if i could change it, i damn sure would. >> reporter: why didn't you go get your phone and call 911? you knew you had just witnessed a murder. >> i froze. and all the way up to that point, i thought he was my friend. >> reporter: did you solicit a hit on your wife? >> never. >> reporter: did you want her dead in those days? >> no. >> reporter: so where did this story come from?
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>> that's a good question. >> reporter: david stone's former wife alisa still doesn't know for sure if he wanted her dead. i bet there are very few people on earth that could put themselves in your shoes and even understand what you've been through, alisa. >> you know, i've been through a lot, but nothing compared to what rachael's family's been through. i don't think my pain's comparable to what her daughters and sons have been through at all. >> reporter: ever since the day in november 2013, when david stone gave his horrific tale to the cops, there have been intensive searches made of the snake river below the red wolf bridge. captain dan hally enlisted multiple agencies including the coast guard and volunteers with specialized sonar to help. but the depths of the swift-moving snake have yet to surrender rachael's body. is she gone forever? >> i know we're not going to give up. >> hopefully, we might still find her remains. >> reporter: for the justice system it's case closed, but for those rachael left behind -- >> you know, there's no true justice. it doesn't bring her back. >> reporter: is there a new chapter opening up for you? >> it's just begun.
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because when i found out my mom was missing, i fought tooth and nail. so did ashley. that's what we did. and so at this point it feels like the fight is over. the grieving process for me has just begun. because there's nothing left to fight for. that's all for now. i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. ♪ ly doesn't tell me much. >> should the nfl permanently be taking care of your health care? do you think -- >> i think they should. you told me about everything else, but you didn't tell me about the risk associated with traumatic brain injury. >> do you think they knew then? >> they had to know something. >> you do? >> chuck, they had to know something. >> i think it is bull. >> not all players agree. >> i think when you sign up this is a violent sport that's
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what we sign up for. you think of a boxer going in the ring saying he doesn't expect to have a problem after boxing. you're getting punched in the head. >> while fans love watching the game, they're beginning to wonder whether it is safe for their kids to play. nearly 4 in 10 americans say they would encourage their child to play another sport because of concerns about concussions. we found some of those parents in pine crest, florida, suburb of miami, on the soccer field. >> the reports are kind of scary, but i still want to play. >> i think that it serves a great purpose for a lot of kids. just not my kid. >> participation in youth football has been declining. and this week, researchers from boston university published a study that found former nfl players who started playing football before age 12 had a higher risk of developing cognitive problems than those who began playing later. and even some former players are wary of letting their kids play football. >> i would be real leery of him
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playing. and that sounds -- in some respects i'm almost glad i don't have a son. >> do you believe football can be safe enough to play in the future? >> i think -- i think it can. but i think it is going to take an overwhelming and alarming thing to happen for there to be change. >> i'm joined now from outside of the university of phoenix stadium, site of the super bowl, by demaurice smith executive director of the nfl players association. welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you for having me chuck. >> you just heard in that piece, mostly leonard marshall some other former players brett favre, being concerned about the safety of the game. you represent nearly 2,000 players on any given day as executive director of the nfl players association. do you believe this game is as safe as it can be on the field? >> i don't think we will ever be content that the game is as safe
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as it can be. chuck when i took this job in 2009, it sounds a little bit like the punchline of a bad joke, but when i took this job in 2009, the head of the nfl concussion committee was a rheumatologist. so over the last five years, we have done things to revolutionize not only the way in which fans enjoy football, but trying to make the game safer. there are sideline concussion experts for first time. there is limits on the amount of contact for the first time. we have eliminated two a day practices for the first time. and all of those changes didn't come about because the national football league suddenly got an issue of a conscience. all of those things came about because organized labor and our union made decisions that we were going to make the game safer. >> have you done -- do you feel like you've done everything you can? i heard from a lot of players that don't like thursday night football, this don't like those short weeks, that don't like the idea of having an 18-game season and yet you have sort of --
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you've agreed to for instance thursday night football being year round. was that a mistake? >> no. and i don't believe that the evidence right now indicates that was any sort of mistake. you know, you remember, chuck, we went through this it was a national football league that wanted us to play 18 games. we said, no. the changes that we made in this game i think are always going to evolve. >> let me move on to the personal conduct policy that the nfl has unveiled and i know where you stand on it as far as how it was unveiled. let me go through it and tick through it here. the new personal conduct policy would include league investigations, paid leave if formally charged with a violent crime for any player the nfl's special counsel hands out the initial discipline, a player can appeal that initial discipline but the commissioner would have final say on that discipline. what issue do you have with that
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proposal? >> well, chuck, it's the process by which the proposal was implemented unilaterally by the national football league. one thing you didn't mention all the way through the litany of the issues there is we have a commissioner who has been overturned twice on personal conduct policy, first time he was overturned by the former commissioner, the second time he was overturned by a neutral arbitrator. one thing that is not in that proposal is a neutral arbitrator to hear these appeals. so we have issues with a number of the individual issues, but i honestly believe that we should be working together to make an overall policy fair for both players and owners. >> before i let you go you're a big fan of the washington redskins. where are you on the name change? >> no no. hey, let's -- let's keep it straight pal. i grew up a redskins fan, but i'm a fan of the players now.
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and -- >> do you think the name should change? >> well i think that for all of the fans who love that team, they love that team because of the art monks and the darrell greens and the sonny jergensons and buddy gillmore. we need to sit down with the fans and talk about what we love about that team and if it is in best interests of everybody that we not offend anybody, let's make that change. >> demaurice smith, enjoy the super bowl. >> happy super bowl. >> you got it. in a few minutes, we'll talk to a representative of the nfl. but, first as you saw earlier i sat down with former new york giant leonard marshall, who despite rule changes to the game still doesn't believe professional football is safe enough today. take a listen. would you be comfortable playing under these rules? >> i want it to be safer. they have to do something to take the helmet out of the game, somehow. i don't know what that is. >> and now representing the
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league, i'm joined by jeff pash general counsel for the nfl. welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you, chuck. i appreciate you having me this morning. >> let me start with that basic question. do you feel as if the game is as safe as it can be for the players of today? >> i think the game is safer than it has ever been. and the progress that is being made means it is going to be safer in the future. and i think if you look at what has been done during commissioner goodell's tenure, whether it is in the context of prevebt preventing concussions better equipment and teaching safer tackling techniques, better medical care for the players with the use of independent neurotrauma consultants and negotiated return to play protocol with the nflpa and the research being done in conjunction with the nih, general electric, international sports federation i think there is a tremendous amount of progress being made and i would say to people the game has never been safer. the statistics show that.
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the fact is that helmet to helmet collisions, which have been the biggest cause of concussions in the past those helmet to helmet contact is down by more than 40%. so we're definitely making progress, but there is more work to be done and we want to work with the players and the coaches to continue that culture change and foster that culture of safety. >> some of this culture of safety may go all the way down to youth football. we saw the new york times story about this initial study, preliminary, a very small sample, do you think we should have an age, a floor for tackle football that maybe 12 is the floor. there is a lot of studies that say the brain isn't fully formed until at least 12 years old. >> i think the authors of that study themselves have highlighted some of the questions about it. and it is clear that more work needs to be done. we promoted safe play, whether in the context of tackle, or flag football. and it is, again chuck, let's look at action. through our efforts there are youth concussion laws passed in
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all 50 states. through work with professional athletic trainer associations we put athletic trainers on the playing fields for thousands of children across the country. that program is going to double for this year. not just football, but all sports. we have worked with the consumer product safety commission and its past two chair men to bring safer and newer equipment to youth programs across the country. >> could you envision a day where the nfl says, you know what, we support the idea of no tackle football until 12? >> i think you've got to have the facts and you've got to see what the alternatives are. i don't know if that's a practical solution or not. but we support kids getting out and playing, whether it is flag, tackle as safely as possible. that's our goal. >> let's go to the player -- this personal conduct policy that you released. i just talked to demaurice smith head of the nflpa. and he seems to have less issue with your proposal and more of an issue that it is not being done in a collective bargaining situation. you wouldn't impose drug testing
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without the nflpa negotiating it. so why are you imposing this without the nflpa in the room? >> we have numerous meetings with the players back as -- as far back as 2007 and over the course of the six or seven years. and the personal conduct policy that was implemented in december was implemented only after extensive discussions with the players. so i think there has been a lot of common ground and players want high standards. they want a personal conduct policy that holds them up as the men they are. >> it feels like the beginning of a dickens novel for the nfl, the best of times on the field financially, but it has been a pretty -- the worst of times offer the field this last year. how would you describe this last year for the nfl? a good year, a bad year or a learning experience? >> it was challenging. it was a learning experience. but i think like any strong organization, we have great leadership in our commissioner. we have great leadership from our ownership.
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and we have great partnership with the nflpa. we accomplished a tremendous amount together. and i'm confident that we'll take the learning we have from this year and we'll have a better game and when we get together to talk a year from now, you'll have seen a lot of positive change. >> jeff pash, happy super bowl. enjoy the game. >> thanks, chuck. you too. >> you got it. don't go anywhere. in less than a minute, the 36% of all teachers in the u.s. have been teaching for more than 20 years. what does that mean? do the math. we need more
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it has been a tough year for him. as a politician, i can see of him being forced to resign i can see shareholders having demanded his head back if he was dealing with shareholders. how did he survive this? >> he was great for tv deals. that's where the money is. he was a between the lines commissioner where you had to be outside the lines within a 16-game period. he was able to go outside the lines, which was major. i think when he lost espn, he realized he had changed. and he didn't bring in the best minds. i was listening to secretary gates. bringing in the best minds that's what he did. by the last game of the season i think he had it. people knew he was a go-to guy who had changed a lot of people in the nfl. successful season for him. >> it is funny, mark. i think you and i would look at the problems he faced almost like, how would a politician have handled this? and even the worst politician would have handled it better than he did. >> without a doubt. teams now understand they have a problem which is the first step in solving it. every problem they have from the off field behavior, outrageous
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behavior, to questions about cheating, drug use, concussions, every one can be solved without damaging their bottom line of the game. they have to recognize that they put some resources into it. put some pr into it, put some substance into it. and we can all love the nfl without concern? >> it is interesting to me that they have eventually do the right thing. look at what they're doing on doemestic abuse. if they did nothing, everybody would say why aren't you doing this? when they play catch up, they throw a lot of money at the problem. >> absolutely. i think they are doing the right thing both on domestic violence and concussions. it will become the clearinghouse for the latest progressive ideas toward helping to combat domestic and new scientific strategies on concussion. it is a win-win at this point. but they looked bad for a long time. >> you're a new mom. you have a daughter. but it is a conversation that my wife and i with our son -- just what is your reaction to the game?
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>> whether or not -- >> would you feel comfortable? >> i don't know. first of all, i do have a daughter and if she has any athletic skills of her parents, we won't worry too much about this. i think a lot of parents have the soul searching conversations with themselves and the question for the nfl is whether it can do things that preserve the integrity of the game, the fun of the game what people love about football, but also acknowledge that there is a real problem here. for the nfl, the concussion thing is potentially an existential crisis. they have to get out ahead of it. >> lighter note on football, with super bowl media day, i wish we had a political equivalent, right of politics media day. but nobody stole the show like marshawn lynch and it did get us thinking that he kind of reminded us of somebody else. here is a little marshawn on media day, which players are required to do as he made it very, very clear based on every single question that was asked of him. >> i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined. i'm here so i won't get fined.
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i'm just here so i won't get fined. >> he sort of reminded us of one of my favorite moments from the '90s, here is al gore having to deal with an interesting political problem he had, campaign finance issues, illegally raising money out of the office -- the official office of the vice president. here was al gore and this infamous press conference from 1997. >> according to my count there is no controlling legal authority -- there is no controlling legal authority that says this was any violation of law. no controlling legal authority -- no controlling legal authority. >> just so you know we're bipartisan here. here is republican congressman mike hoffman who was asked to clarify his comments about the president not being an american citizen. >> i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. i stand by my statement that i misspoke and i apologize. >> is there anything i can ask
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that you would answer differently? >> i stand by my statement and i misspoke and i apologize. >> who did it better? >> i'm a big fan of lynch. i love what he -- look, i think -- he doesn't want to speak to the media, don't make him, right? >> fair enough. a new definition of beast mode, right? >> there is going to be something on youtube very soon where they sync those words. >> what is it when you -- it can make it into a song, what is that auto tune? shouldn't we be auto tuning marshawn lynch. >> already done. do it with a wink and he did. >> that's all for today. stay tuned, of course, to nbc for -- there is a sporting event that takes place sometime this afternoon. there is a more important event right before it. savannah will be interviewing the president live. rare he does live interviews, five-minutes a lot more tomorrow on the "today" show. >> a live interview and sit down and do a longer interview. >> excellent. if it is the sunday after the
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super bowl, it will be "meet the press." we'll see you next week. first alert weather because of this overnight, snow turning into morning rain. it is creating a slippery slushy and messy situation on the roads right now. this is a live look at the poconos where snow is still falling as we look at camelback ski resort. cape may will only see rain this morning. a cold blast of air is coming that could make for an icy commute in the evening. we'll talk about that in a moment. a live look at first alert radar shows what is on top of us right now. that system moving through a lot more wet weather to come. good morning thrks is nbc 10 news on
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