This Is Why NFL Star Greg Hardy Was Arrested For Assaulting His Ex-Girlfriend
UPDATE: Sunday. The gofundme is up to $19,000 now. Included was this message.
Thanks so much from Josh, Tank and I, and of course from the people at Genesis Women"s Shelter. The response from Eagles fans (and even some Cowboys fans) has been unreal, and we"ve raised almost $13,000 so far.
We"ll keep this open until the start of the show on Monday, 2pm.
Please continue to share and donate, as we turn the negative of the Hardy situation into a positive for a lot of people.
We"re so proud of everyone who has helped. Thank you!
ORIGINAL STORY
Josh Innes, one of the hosts of WIP Philly radio, has raised more than $10,000 for a Dallas women"s shelter on the Website gofundme.com in the first seven hours.
The gofundme page description reads:
We"re the Josh Innes Show on SportsRadio 94WIP in Philadelphia.We"d like to raise money for the Genesis Women"s Shelter in Dallas, Texas.Instead of just complaining about Greg Hardy, we want to do something to help the cause.All money will go directly to the shelter.Let"s show everyone what Philadelphia fans are made of.http://genesisshelter.orgFind out more at genesisshelter.org.
The station"s program director --Brett "Spike" Eskin -- created the page on Friday.
Innes tweeted about the page:
Should the Dallas Cowboys release Greg Hardy?Latest on Greg Hardy and image reveal
Report reveals graphic images, interview details from recently expunged assault case against Cowboys" Greg Hardy
Tumultuous timeline of Greg Hardy
Reaction
Gosselin: Greg Hardy"s ex-girlfriend revelation makes me shudder, but Cowboys will do nothing
Hardy is a bad dude, but how many other women are cowering from domestic abusers tonight?
Latest evidence: Dallas Cowboys are Americas Team of free passes to troubled players
Philly radio host: "Screw Greg Hardy;" station helps raise over $10,000 for Dallas women"s shelter
Reaction from former NFL players: Has Cowboys" Greg Hardy played his last game?
Ex-NFL punter posts Cowboys public relations number, blasts NFL for Greg Hardy
Media reaction: Sickening, disgusting and vile; Greg Hardy should never play another down
Hardy"s in-game outburst
Moore: Amid this drama, why would Jerry Jones talk about an extension for Hardy? Here"s why
George: The truth behind the shoving match, Greg Hardy-Dez Bryant spat on Cowboys" sideline
Cowlishaw: Greg Hardy? Expect reeling Cowboys to permit anything, everything
Theismann blasts Cowboys execs for Greg Hardy; ex-NFL GM: It"s like Dez and Haley
Jets receiver gets emotional about Greg Hardy: "I don"t think that he learned his lesson"
Hardy responds and talks hot wives
The 10 most interesting things Greg Hardy said, including basing his Pro Bowl picks on hot wives
Reign of Troy Radio returns with a new USC football podcast to look back at the Trojans win over Cal and their play this season to date.
RELATED:50 Greatest Trojans of the Last 50 Years
This two hourepisode is hosted by Michael Castillo and features Reign of Troy editor Alicia de Artola, along with Josh Webb of USCFootball.com and Athlon Sports.
Having trouble? Listen on Soundcloud.
Heres whats on tap in our USCFootball Podcast:
This weeks RoT Radio looks back a Saturdays game between the Trojans and the Golden Bears. We talk Ronald Jones IIs involvement, Tre Maddens big play at the end and Adoree Jacksons pick six.
USC finished the game against Cal, but it was close to slipping away. We dive into the problems USC has in that regard.
The team answers listener questions and calls on the Reign of Troy Rant Line, including concerns about JuJu Smith-Schusters broken hand and the odd phenomenon of playing up for an interim head coach.
The podcast concludes with a game of This or That and a discussion of the embarrassing things we love.
Stay tuned to Reign of Troy Radio, as well be back to recapthe Trojans game against the Arizona Wildcats, along with the latest in USC football news and analysis.
As always, be sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest on the Trojans and be sure to give us a call on the Reign of Troy Rant Line at 213-373-1872.
The Hawkeyes move to number 8 in the AP College Football rankings after defeating Indiana, 35-27.
The 2015Hawkeyes are now the second team inIowa"s history to begin a season with a 9-0 record. The first was back in "09 and that team won the Orange Bowl.
TheHawkeyes entered the weekend at number 9 in the polls but have now moved up a spot, to number 8.
Four teams will qualify for the end of the year championship playoff.
Greg Hardy, Dez Bryant engage in heated sideline confrontation
Things got worse Friday when 47 photos, 44 of them showing bruises on Hardy"s former girlfriend from an alleged assault last year, were published by Deadspin.
The photos were taken by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after an incident involving Hardy and Nicole Holder in May 2014, Deadspin reported. Hardy was playing for the Carolina Panthers at the time.
Deadspin on Friday posted the photos, along with documents from the case. CNN has not independently verified the photographs, which show a woman with bruises on her chin, neck, back, arms, hands, legs and feet. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police referred CNN to one of the detectives in the case who did not immediately respond to a request for the photos.
CNN requested comment from Holder"s attorneys about the photographs but didn"t hear back. Hardy did not speak to the media after the Cowboys returned to the locker room after practice. CNN reached out to an attorney for Hardy but didn"t get a response.
The Cowboys, who signed Hardy in the offseason as a free agent, said they did their due diligence before offering him a contract. On Friday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said team officials were seeing the photos for the first time.
"While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence," Jones said. "We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career."
A North Carolina judge this year ruled only a few parties involved in the league"s investigation could see the photographs. That would not include teams.
The photos, much like a video posted by TMZ that showed former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his now-wife unconscious in a casino elevator, have refocused a negative light on the NFL and how it handles domestic abuse.
Legal proceedings
Hardy was tried and found guilty of misdemeanor assault and communicating threats by a Mecklenburg County judge in July 2014, but appealed for a jury trial.
During that time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell placed Hardy, who was with the Carolina Panthers at the time, on the exempt list. Hardy collected his $13 million salary though he played just one game last season.
Hardy"s case was dismissed before trial in February. Sources close to the situation told Bleacher Report earlier this year that authorities in North Carolina wanted to subpoena Holder but couldn"t find her.
This week, an attorney for the NFL star told CNN affiliate WBTV that the charges had been expunged from Hardy"s record.
Hardy changes teams
The Cowboys signed Hardy to a one-year contract in March. A month later, after Hardy had been suspended, team Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones told reporters the team "was very aware of the things that went on (in the incident)."
Coach Jason Garrett said the team went through an exhaustive process investigating Hardy, who made the All-Pro team after the 2013 season.
Hardy was originally suspended without pay by the NFL for 10 games, but an independent arbitrator reduced the penalty to the first four games of the 2015 season.
When the NFL originally announced Hardy"s suspension, it said the league"s investigation concluded that Hardy violated the Personal Conduct Policy by using physical force against the woman in at least four instances: First, he caused her to land in a bathtub. Second, he caused her to land on a futon that was covered with at least four semiautomatic rifles. Third, he placed his hands around her neck and applied enough pressure to leave marks. And fourth, he shoved her against a wall in his apartment"s entry hallway.
The NFL sued the state of North Carolina in Superior Court to get seven photographs from the 2014 trial. In the court"s order granting the NFL"s request, access to the photos was limited to the league, the players" union, Hardy, attorneys and independent experts who might be asked to review the photos in helping the league decide its punishment.
More trouble this season
Hardy has played in three games this season, recording three sacks and one interception. But he"s been making headlines for his actions off the field.
In the locker room just before his return to games, calling his time away "the most awesome period of my life."
"I hope I come out guns blazing," the man who was once accused of throwing a woman onto a couch full of assault rifles and bragging that they were loaded said in October. "I"m full of excitement and full of juice. I"m ready to go."
Hardy also cracked jokes and talked about Patriots quarterback Tom Brady"s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, according to The Dallas Morning News.
"I love seeing Tom Brady, he"s cool as c**p," Hardy said. "Have you seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game, all her friends come to the game. One of my favorite games of the year, guys."
Then during an October 25 loss to the New York Giants, Hardy got into a heated discussion with injured receiver Dez Bryant and Cowboys Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia. Hardy swiped at Bisaccia"s clipboard before he was pulled away from a huddle.
After the game, Bryant and other Cowboys downplayed the incidents.
CNN"s Jason Durand and Quand Thomas contributed to this report.
Shields and Brooks on Keystone pipeline politics, Ben Carson claims
JUDY WOODRUFF: But, first, a White House decision finally on the Keystone pipeline, a rough week for some Republican candidates, and wins for conservatives on Election Day.
First, we turn to the analysis of Shields and Brooks. Thats syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks.
Gentlemen, welcome.
MARK SHIELDS: Judy.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Its great to have you here.
So, that Keystone pipeline decision, David, the president finally seven years later, we now know hes against it.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes. Well, first of all, it could be mythical. With oil prices so low, they might never build it anyway. So, it really doesnt matter at some level.
But pretending it matters, I do think its an anti-environmental, anti-science move. His State Department and many other experts decided, if the oil is going to come out of the sands, its a lot cleaner to have it go through the pipeline than to put on trains or trucks and send it over to China through ships that way.
And, so, if the oil comes out of the sands, which its going to do if it makes economic sense, we might as well do it in the cleanest way possible. So, to me, this is just a political decision to placate some people who hes offended with some of his other decisions.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Political decision, Mark?
MARK SHIELDS: I dont think anyone could accuse the president of being impulsive. It was seven years, five exhaustive studies.
(LAUGHTER)
MARK SHIELDS: And I think it became a symbol for both sides, bigger than it was really.
I dont think it was going to be an environmental disaster. And I dont think, with gasoline $2 a gallon cheaper than it was the day that Barack Obama was nominated, the urgency had abated.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, lets quickly turn, because theres so much news to ask you both about.
Jobs reports, David, some really good numbers today. More jobs than what had been forecast. Unemployment rate is down, I guess, as low as its been in seven years, and not only but there is still this worry about the so-called participation rate. How do you read this?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, so far, obviously, its great.
And if this maintains, its great for Hillary Clinton or the Democratic nominee. The political effects are kind of simple and obvious. The labor force participation rate is the worrying one, because it didnt change. And so all these people are out of the job market. Are they people who could get back in if there were jobs out there, or are they people who have been so far out, that they really cant get back in?
And there was this troubling study that came out earlier in the week that middle-aged white life expectancy is dropping, which is astounding. And its dropping because of liver diseases, suicide. Its dropping because of social dysfunction. And those are presumably a lot of people who are out of the labor force.
And so, if it keeps going, we will be able to see if some of these people can get back in and have productive lives, have busy lives, have fulfilling lives. But if theyre permanently out no matter what the unemployment rate is, then we have got a gigantic problem.
JUDY WOODRUFF: That was a disturbing report.
MARK SHIELDS: Well, your discussion this week with Dante and the professor from Princeton really hit on the fact that so many of these people, its not just liver disease and smoking and drinking. Its jobs and lives that have been changed.
Its the cost of the deindustrialization of America. These people, the high school graduates who had great lives, good jobs and could raise a family and live comfortably, and all of a sudden thats gone. And behind it is a low-paying job, many times not even that.
The numbers today, just think of this, Judy. When Barack when Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney were nominated, the unemployment rate in the country was 8.2 percent. Thats just, what, three years ago. OK? And at that time, they pledged to get unemployment in their first term under 6 percent.
Today, its 5 percent. There were more private sector jobs created in the past month than there were in eight years of George W. Bush. So, its good news. Were still waiting for the wages to kick up, but it is good news.
I share with David the concern about the participation in the labor force, but this is good news, and its good news for the country.
JUDY WOODRUFF: I ask because people are just seem to have that never-ending debate, is the glass half-full or is the glass half-empty? And these numbers seem to raise that question again.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes.
And there were fears that if you look at the normal rhythm of a recovery, were so deep into this recovery time-wise that you could think, well, maybe its time for another recession. There was some fear of that. But we dont seem close to being in another recession. That is excellent news. The Fed is now likely to raise rates.
And so its good news. And its just plain old good news. We might as well lie back and enjoy it.
MARK SHIELDS: Accept it.
(LAUGHTER)
JUDY WOODRUFF: All right, several things to ask you about with regard to the campaigns.
Some interesting reporting this week, Mark, about the campaigns both of Marco Rubio and what hes said or not said about his own personal financial past, and then today and in the last few days a lot of reporting about around Ben Carson and what he said in a book, which I happen to have right here, that came out 25 years ago, where he made different claims about whether he was accepted at West Point, offered a scholarship, whether he applied and got a scholarship, and then another one about whether he knifed tried to knife a friend or a family member.
Does all this, at this point in the campaign, add up to something? What are we to make of all this?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, the choice of president, Judy, is the most personal vote that any American casts.
We get an information overload about these people. And it really is in the final analysis a choice on character and how comfortable we are with the person. So, the higher the office, the more important the candidate, and you fly at a higher visibility when youre running for president. You get more exposure.
Your credentials are scrutinized. Your record is scrutinized. And the failures of our presidents over the past half-century have not been failures of intellect or education. They have been failures of personality or character.
Now, Ben Carson presents a rather remarkable exception. Most candidates get in trouble by embellishing their record, that is, by saying they were a junior varsity, that they were actually all state in football, or that I was at the top of my class, when it took me five years to get through high school.
Ben Carson wants to present himself as a thug, a hoodlum, a really bad
JUDY WOODRUFF: When he was 14.
MARK SHIELDS: When he was 14. And but nobody else will support him.
They remember him and he talks about putting a knife and running into the belt. He would have inflicted great bodily harm. I just find that rather bizarre.
DAVID BROOKS: Has there ever been a Christian memoir where the Christian says, well, when I was a sinner, I was a really very serious sinner. And so they are all bragging about how bad they were and then they were redeemed.
So, its not atypical. Im wondering, will it hurt him? I play this little mental game with myself. Imagine a candidate I really admired. I heard he exaggerated his West Point possible admissions. Would I say, oh, I really admire that guy, but he told a fib about his early youth, I think I wont support him anymore? I dont think I would do that.
If there were six fibs, maybe.
MARK SHIELDS: Yes.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
DAVID BROOKS: But if its this one or this two, its hard for me to imagine an actual voter who really likes Ben Carson walking away because of this.
Memoirists, every memoir has some exaggerations and some melodrama, and were all sinners, so I dont think this rises to the level where its going to hurt him, at least so far.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, both Ben Carson and Marco Rubio are saying these are questions the press just is wasting their time asking, that theyre way off the point. Are these legitimate questions?
MARK SHIELDS: Well, yes, theyre legitimate questions, because the president is an enormously important office that touches the lives of everybody in this country.
And what kind of a person, the candor, the character, the constancy, the reliability Ben Carsons problem is, he wrote this about himself. This isnt what somebody else alleged about him. So, I think and we dont have a lot about Ben Carson we know. He hasnt been in office for 12, 14, 15 years, say, oh, well, this was just a little I think Marco Rubio is different.
Marco Rubio, this has been kicking around on Marco Rubio, the charge about using the charge card of the Florida state party when he was speaker of the House in Tallahassee, for five or six year years. He should be ready to take care of it. He should be ready to rebut it and he should do it forthrightly. Its kind of, Im going to come up with the information. Im going to find it.
Its a little bit like the way Jeb Bush handled the question of his brother going into Iraq without there being any weapons of mass destruction. Would you do it? It took him a week to do it. He changed his answers four or five times.
I just think this is one where Marco Rubio should be ready to step up because he knew it was coming.
DAVID BROOKS: Yes. Its obviously unconsciously very difficult for him.
I wonder if he could get away with just saying, I made a mistake, and I want to apologize. It was a mistake.
MARK SHIELDS: Yes.
DAVID BROOKS: It would be interesting to see if that would work.
The Rubio allegations come in two categories. The one is about the student loans and the buying the boat. And those, I think, are fine, because they just show hes a normal guy. He had some economic struggles. He had some young kids, so he cashed in their retirement account.
The credit card is the tougher one. And some partly, hes blamed a travel agent and stuff like that. But he should just come out, I would say, and say, listen, we have made mistakes in life. This was one of mine.
It would be a gutsy thing to do. But it would be candid. And we saw this Chris Christie video this week about addiction. We found it so moving. And I would encourage all the candidates, be more personal. Just be more personal. Dont be a machine. Dont let the consultants control everything.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Very quickly, you mentioned Jeb Bush this week.
Yesterday, I was able to we were able to air the interview I did with Jon Meacham, the author whos written a book, really comprehensive biography of President Bush 41, George H.W. Bush.
The news coming out of that, Mark, was the criticism that the first President Bush makes of his sons secretary of his vice president and his secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld and d**k Cheney.
And this week, you had the younger Bush commenting, saying, I stand by what I did.
And it put it was interesting how it put Jeb Bush a little bit on the spot again about the Iraq War. Is this the kind of thing that is a problem for Jeb Bush? Does this go anywhere? What do you make of this?
MARK SHIELDS: Its a problem for Jeb Bush.
Jeb Bush is trying to get back on stride. Hes trying to get over a bad debate, trying to get the bad campaign back on, wants to show himself connecting with voters. And so what is the question? He sits down for the interviews and they ask, what do you think about your father criticizing your brothers secretary of defense, saying that very unflattering things about d**k Cheney and Don Rumsfeld?
It has always mystified everybody who knew the first President Bush why W. ever chose Don Rumsfeld, who had actually knifed Bush 41, his father
JUDY WOODRUFF: His father, yes.
MARK SHIELDS: and really was and then, of course, administered the coup in his rebuttal about the book by saying, well, hes obviously getting up in years and hes too old, something that Jon Meacham put to I thought to rest in his interview with you, that he was very much alert and involved and engaged.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thats exactly what he said.
Is this the kind of thing the matters today, David?
DAVID BROOKS: Well, it will hurt it will be a distraction for Bush. But Bush is at 4 percent. He has got bigger bigger problems.
But the things the elder Bush said, the younger Bush, W. Bush, believed by 2005. This was a conventional view. I think these interviews were done in 08 and 10.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thats right.
DAVID BROOKS: And so George W. Bush had come to these views about Cheney and Rumsfeld at the same time.
One of the there are many things that interest me about what Meacham has come up with. One is that the elder Bush didnt talk that much about the war to the younger to the president, very reticent, very withdrawn, second, that their Iraq policies were not that different, where we had always imagined the big differences between the two.
So, there is a lot of interesting stuff in there. Im struck by Bush family reticence. And we see it hurting Jeb these days.
MARK SHIELDS: I always thought that the piece signed in The Wall Street Journal by Jim Baker and
DAVID BROOKS: Scowcroft.
MARK SHIELDS: and Brent Scowcroft
JUDY WOODRUFF: Brent Scowcroft.
MARK SHIELDS: his national security adviser and his closest political adviser, warning against the invasion by the United States of Iraq, was the memo to Bush 41 to Bush 43, which he chose to ignore.
And when Bob Woodward asked him if he talked to his father, he said, I speak to my divine father.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Thats right, the higher father. He said higher father.
MARK SHIELDS: The higher father. Higher father.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Yes.
MARK SHIELDS: I mean, thus putting him in his place.
JUDY WOODRUFF: All right.
We didnt get around to those elections this week. We will talk about it next Friday.
ESPN First Take - Greg Hardy Goes Off On Dez Bryant
Things got worse Friday when 47 photos, 44 of them showing bruises on Hardy"s former girlfriend from an alleged assault last year, were published by Deadspin.
The photos were taken by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police after an incident involving Hardy and Nicole Holder in May 2014, Deadspin reported. Hardy was playing for the Carolina Panthers at the time.
Deadspin on Friday posted the photos, along with documents from the case. CNN has not independently verified the photographs, which show a woman with bruises on her chin, neck, back, arms, hands, legs and feet. Charlotte-Mecklenburg police referred CNN to one of the detectives in the case who did not immediately respond to a request for the photos.
CNN requested comment from Holder"s attorneys about the photographs but didn"t hear back. Hardy did not speak to the media after the Cowboys returned to the locker room after practice. CNN reached out to an attorney for Hardy but didn"t get a response.
The Cowboys, who signed Hardy in the offseason as a free agent, said they did their due diligence before offering him a contract. On Friday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said team officials were seeing the photos for the first time.
"While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence," Jones said. "We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career."
A North Carolina judge this year ruled only a few parties involved in the league"s investigation could see the photographs. That would not include teams.
The photos, much like a video posted by TMZ that showed former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice knocking his now-wife unconscious in a casino elevator, have refocused a negative light on the NFL and how it handles domestic abuse.
Legal proceedings
Hardy was tried and found guilty of misdemeanor assault and communicating threats by a Mecklenburg County judge in July 2014, but appealed for a jury trial.
During that time, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell placed Hardy, who was with the Carolina Panthers at the time, on the exempt list. Hardy collected his $13 million salary though he played just one game last season.
Hardy"s case was dismissed before trial in February. Sources close to the situation told Bleacher Report earlier this year that authorities in North Carolina wanted to subpoena Holder but couldn"t find her.
This week, an attorney for the NFL star told CNN affiliate WBTV that the charges had been expunged from Hardy"s record.
Hardy changes teams
The Cowboys signed Hardy to a one-year contract in March. A month later, after Hardy had been suspended, team Chief Operating Officer Stephen Jones told reporters the team "was very aware of the things that went on (in the incident)."
Coach Jason Garrett said the team went through an exhaustive process investigating Hardy, who made the All-Pro team after the 2013 season.
Hardy was originally suspended without pay by the NFL for 10 games, but an independent arbitrator reduced the penalty to the first four games of the 2015 season.
When the NFL originally announced Hardy"s suspension, it said the league"s investigation concluded that Hardy violated the Personal Conduct Policy by using physical force against the woman in at least four instances: First, he caused her to land in a bathtub. Second, he caused her to land on a futon that was covered with at least four semiautomatic rifles. Third, he placed his hands around her neck and applied enough pressure to leave marks. And fourth, he shoved her against a wall in his apartment"s entry hallway.
The NFL sued the state of North Carolina in Superior Court to get seven photographs from the 2014 trial. In the court"s order granting the NFL"s request, access to the photos was limited to the league, the players" union, Hardy, attorneys and independent experts who might be asked to review the photos in helping the league decide its punishment.
More trouble this season
Hardy has played in three games this season, recording three sacks and one interception. But he"s been making headlines for his actions off the field.
In the locker room just before his return to games, calling his time away "the most awesome period of my life."
"I hope I come out guns blazing," the man who was once accused of throwing a woman onto a couch full of assault rifles and bragging that they were loaded said in October. "I"m full of excitement and full of juice. I"m ready to go."
Hardy also cracked jokes and talked about Patriots quarterback Tom Brady"s wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, according to The Dallas Morning News.
"I love seeing Tom Brady, he"s cool as c**p," Hardy said. "Have you seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game, all her friends come to the game. One of my favorite games of the year, guys."
Then during an October 25 loss to the New York Giants, Hardy got into a heated discussion with injured receiver Dez Bryant and Cowboys Special Teams Coordinator Rich Bisaccia. Hardy swiped at Bisaccia"s clipboard before he was pulled away from a huddle.
After the game, Bryant and other Cowboys downplayed the incidents.
CNN"s Jason Durand and Quand Thomas contributed to this report.
President Obama rejects Keystone Pipeline THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. -
While U.S. Rep. Paul Cook (R-Apple Valley) called President Barack Obama"s decision to reject an application to build the Keystone XL pipeline a "slap in the face of Americans," U.S.Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Palm Springs) applauded the move.
"I voted against the pipeline," Rep. Ruiz told CBS Local 2"s Kris Long Friday evening during a live Newsmaker segment.
Cook represents the High Desert communities of Joshua Tree, Yucca Valley, and Twentynine Palms, as well as areas north including Yucaipa, Apple Valley and Barstow. Ruiz represents the Coachella Valley, south to the Salton Sea and east to Blythe.
Both congressman said jobs were a key component of the controversial project, which would have run from Canada to Texas.
Cook"s response virtually echoed that of the new Speaker of the House, Rep. Paul Ryan, who said, "By rejecting this pipeline, the president is rejecting tens of thousands of good-paying jobs."
"Until today, the president was the only obstacle standing in the way of building the Keystone XL pipeline and putting Americans back to work," said Cook. "Blocking the creation of this pipeline is a slap in the face to Americans looking for work. This is about jobs, jobs, and more jobs."
But Ruiz countered that "more jobs can be created building our water storage and transportation infrastructure."
The decision is a clear victory for environmental activists who strongly opposed the pipeline. But it also places the president and fellow Democrats in direct confrontation with Republicans and energy advocates heading into the 2016 presidential election.
"The sad truth is that today, hardworking people lost and wealthy environmental extremists won," said Cook.
However, Ruiz said "The Keystone pipeline was a giveaway to a big Canadian oil company allowing them to transport their oil for their profits on our land without any responsibility or enough accountability against an oil spill."
