NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addresses Ray Rice scandal on CBS

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell emphasized in his first TV interview since suspending former Baltimore Raven running back Ray Rice in a domestic violence incident that he never saw a video of Rice knocking his then-fiance Janey Palmer unconscious in an Atlantic City casino elevator, an incident that has clouded his leadership of the NFL.

Goodell was questioned by “CBS This Morning” co-host Norah O’Donnell about the video, which was posted Monday by TMZ. Excerpts of the interview were scheduled to be aired Tuesday night on the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley,” while the whole interview will be shown Wednesday on “CBS This Morning.”

An earlier video had shown Rice dragging an unconscious Palmer out of the elevator.

O’Donnell in the interview asked Goodell: “To be clear, did you know that a second tape existed?”

“Well, we had not seen any videotape of what occurred in the elevator,” Goodell responded. “We assumed that there was a video. We asked for a video. We asked for anything that’s pertinent. But we were never granted that opportunity.”

Goodell had previously suspended Rice only two games after the initial video was released, a move that provoked outrage.

After the release of the video, Rice was fired by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL.

Twitter: @GeBraxton