he defended himself over accusations he bullied and harassed teammate jonathan martin saying no one had martin's back more than he did, and he even admitted they have exchanged text messages since the whole thing went down. nbc's kerry sanders is in tampa this morning with more on the nfl investigation and incognito's interview. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, chris. the nfl investigation into allegations of bullying and one physical attack against player jonathan martin will now get the full attention of the independent investigation, ted wells. this as suspended player, richie incognito, has now sat for his first in-depth interview. >> i'm not a racist. and to judge me by that one word is wrong. >> reporter: in an interview on fox nfl sports sunday, richie incognito presents himself as a misunderstood man. a sharp contrast to the man seen in this tmz sports video shouting and using the "n" word at a ft. lauderdale pool hall several months ago. in the fox sports interview, incognito admits he used the "n" word on a voice mail left for teammate yawn thjonathan mart

martin doesn't play again this season and he could be completely done with the team. martin left soon after he made the allegations and is expected to release a video statement sometime this week giving his side of the story. team owner steve ross says he will meet with martin to discuss the situation and he talked about the nature of the locker room and the need to change it. >> we all know that the football locker room is a different workplace than most of us are accustomed to. basically i don't want to make any excuses, i want to know that our workplace going forward will be the best workplace that you can find in the nfl. >> dave zirin, sports editor, omar kelly, beat columnist for the south florida sun-sentinel. good morning, guys. in your blog, dave, you wrote this. what makes a man? is it being a tough as nails, bar-fighting, woman-groping, n-bomb dropping gem like richie incognito or is it like jonathan martin who had the guts to break the locker room code of silence and after enduring a malicious attack on him by a teammate and having his sister threatened sa

obviously it went too far with jonathan martin. but i think it's dangerous when we drag these guys' names through the mud and paint this as an anomaly when the reality is that the locker room is a crude place. >> well, i've had other folks on about this and some of them say it depends on what locker room it is. and i'm curious about your take on that, bart, but also what you've said on espn radio this week, which was that other veterans in the dolphins bench should have stepped up and realized that this had gotten maybe out of control. >> the locker room is a self-governing environment. you know, you have to have strong veteran leadership. it's the only place of sanctuary for the players. whenever a coach came into there, we would always sound the alarm, scream, tell them to get out because it was the only place we had in which we can be ourself, let our hair down, venting out about the coaches, where we are in our situations. we gamble in there, we play, we have fun, we create games. we spend so much time with each other. i spend

. >>> checking the news feed, former miami dolphin jonathan martin is sitting down with the nfl's independent investigator here in new york right now. noted criminal attorney ted wells looking into allegations of workplace harassment inside the locker room. and now the playing accused of bullying, richie incognito, has filed a grievance challenging his suspension. >>> coming up, the stars behind this new series. >> and it gets better. she's setting up a super pac for me. >> shhh. >> oh, yes, we can't coordinate. >> it debuts tonight on amazon. the executive producer will join us, jonathan alter, along with one of its stars next. hey, i notice your car yeah. it's in the shop. it's going to cost me an arm and a leg. you shoulda taken it to midas. they tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. high-five! arg! brakes, tires, oil, everything. (whistling) i always wanted to design a bike that honored those who serve our country. and geico gave me that opportunity. now naturally, we wanted it to be powerful, innovative and we built this bike as a tribute to those who are serving, th

martin, including using racial epithets. he left voice mails threatening to kill martin. we won't read you the text but you can see the level of harassment. martin left the team after incognito and others taunted him repeatedly. the dolphins have asked the nfl to investigate and their coach is promising to take action. >> i will tell you that if the review shows that this is not a safe atmosphere, i will take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that it is. >> now, the players association just released this statement. quote, we expect that the nfl and its clubs create a safe and professional workplace for all players, that owners, executives, coaches and players should set the best standards and examples. it is the duty of this union to hold the clubs and teams accountable for safety and professionalism in the workplace. as the representative organization of all players, the nflpa will insist on a fair investigation for all involved. i'm joined now by leah lagos, a sports psychologist. thanks for coming in, good to see

martin was told by dolphins coaches to toughen up martin after he missed a voluntary practice last spring. incognito broke his silence on wsvn last night. >> we're just going to kind of weather this storm and that's it. >> the nfl is investigating the bullying allegations. >>> the washington, d.c. council is joining the chorus of those calling for the redskins to change their name. the vote was unanimous with lawmakers, calling the team name racist and derogatory. this is the second time the d.c. council has passed such a measure. redskins owner, daniel snyder, says he's not changing the team's name. >>> ryan lochte will have to spend some time out of the pool thanks to an overzealous fan who ran up to him, jumped into his arms and knocked him over. he actually tore a ligament in his knee. as "usa today" reminds us, lochte has been hurt in the past break dancing, falling out of a tree and on a scooter. if you read only one thing this morning, in sunnyvale, california, voters just passed four new gun control laws, so here's the question. what has killed more americans, domestic gunfire or

huge debate erupted after charges that guard richie incognito bullied teammate jonathan martin leaving him hate-filled phone messages that included the "n" word. many are defending incognito saying the two were friends. >>> was yasser arafat poisoned? they found the the palestinian leader's bone had 18 times the normal level of the radioactive poison polonium 210. they add that's something you don't accidentally or voluntarily absorb. palestinian leaders blame israel who deny any role in arafat's death. >>> we've all seen the video of an asteroid exploding over russia last winter. we should expect to see events like this more often. maybe every decade or two. expect a rash of further apocalyptic hollywood. blockbuster goes bust. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. let's start with twitter about to start trading on the new york stock exchange. what's the timeline here? >> it should be any minute now. we're obviously just waiting and i'm keeping an eye on the breaking news ticker right here. the twitter's opening price is indicating $45.50 to $46.50 right now. the i

. >>> and the dolphins bullying allegations just got a whole lot worse with jonathan martin. he suffered a malicious physical attack by an unnamed teammate. we'll talk with cam cleeland who was nearly blinded by a hazing incident 15 years ago. he calls richie incognito a, quote, locker room cancer. geico's emergency roadside assistance is there 24/7. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. no longer in uniform,. but still serving... on the job and in our communities... whose dedication and commitment to excellence continues... in every mission, whatever it may be... affecting our lives every day... for your continued service, we salute you. this message of appreciation to our nations' veterans is brought to you by paralyzed veterans of america and unitedhealth group. i started part-time, now i'm a mana