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New Day

Beyonce's Sister Allegedly Attacks Jay-Z; Flight 370 Pings; Donald Sterling Speaks Out

Aired May 13, 2014 - 08:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That's my favorite Beyonce song, by the way.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Somebody was looking crazy, that's for sure.

LEMON: Yes.

CUOMO: Welcome back.

So, here's the story. Jay-Z and Beyonce were seen courtside at last night's Brooklyn Nets game. That was one kind of blowout. Maybe they were doing a little bit of damage control because there may have been a different kind of blowout. Take a look at this. TMZ posted a wild video. Reportedly what we see is this, Beyonce's sister Solange attacking Jay-Z in an elevator. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of the video but it is bringing unwanted scrutiny on the otherwise pitch- perfect couple. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is joining us with the story.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And what's incredible is, when you're looking at that piece of video, the person you don't see who's sort of pressed up against the wall is actually Beyonce. She was in that elevator along with her sister while this was going on. All we know is that whatever happened to Solange, she had to be restrained from beating up other brother-in-law.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little chat with Jay-Z and Beyonce.

FEYERICK (voice-over): Beyonce and Jay-Z all smiles at the Nets game Monday night, hours after TMZ posted this security video recorded after the Met Gala, which paints a different picture. The shocking video purportedly captures Beyonce's younger sister Solange attacking Jay-Z while inside the Standard Hotel elevator, even kicking him multiple times. Jay-Z, at one point, holding her foot, but never retaliating. Beyonce staying out of the fray. Solange leaving the New York City venue tight-lipped. Jay-Z opting for a separate vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were actually getting along great at the Met ball where they were before this and Beyonce and Solange were dancing together. FEYERICK: The video, a huge departure from the superstar couple's carefully protected, some would say untouchable image. From the secretive yet glamorous birth of their daughter Blue Ivy, to their frequent visits with the president and first lady. With their extensive business and sports interests, they've remained above the normal tabloid fray. She's considered so untouchable, "SNL" poked fun at her with this sketch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not a huge fan of that one drunken love song, though.

FEYERICK: If anyone speaks ill of Beyonce, they get hunted down.

HOWARD BRAGMAN, VICE CHAIRMAN, REPUTATION.COM: Jay-Z and Beyonce truly control their image and they control it well. And their private moments are just that. They put up a very large, powerful wall between public and private and that wall was broken down.

FEYERICK: Last week, Beyonce posted this message on Instagram, now attracting renewed attention. She asks God, quote, "help me to choose my friends wisely so I won't be led astray. Give me discernment and strength to separate myself from anyone who's not a good influence."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: And the body language of everybody in that elevator certainly speaks volumes. They were seen leaving the elevator together. Beyonce showed no apparent emotion, betrayed (ph) nothing what had gone on inside that elevator. The Standard Hotel is a very chic hotel. They are investigating. Clearly they cater to a lot of celebrities. Their reputation now on the line. They're going to launch a criminal investigation to see - or an investigation to file criminal charges.

As for all those involved, well right now nobody is making any sort of a comment as to what happened, why Solange did what she did. And a lot of people, though, on the Twitterverse saying, Jay-Z, very restrained, didn't fight back.

LEMON: (INAUDIBLE).

FEYERICK: Just sort of, he was very defensive and in terms of his actions, but it was a sort of frantic moment in that elevator.

LEMON: Beyonce was - I mean, listen, I'm just - I'm no expert here, but reading the body language it's like, OK, this has happened before or maybe there she goes again. That's what - because she's just standing there.

FEYERICK: Just standing.

LEMON: But for - but, you know, as a guy who grew up in a family with all women and sisters, usually someone reacts that way when they're defending someone and Beyonce didn't move and Jay-Z sort of - you know, she moved at the end like - she came in and goes, OK, now, Solange, that's enough. KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, a lot of people are going to analyze and analyze and analyze.

FEYERICK: Right.

BOLDUAN: At the bottom -- at the end of the day it's -- this is likely family business that is unfortunately now public (ph).

CUOMO: Oh, who knows.

LEMON: Yes, but usually it's obvious -

CUOMO: A lot of people think Don Lemon, you don't know what she's saying or what she's doing.

LEMON: It's the obvious. I'm thinking, you know, we always go, oh, we don't know. I think it's the obvious. You look at the body language. And people -- listen, we all have families. We all have family members. We know that people act up sometimes. Usually the people being in the public eye who act up and don't understand the pressures of the public and how things can go viral are people who are not - and family members who are not in the public eye. Solange is in the public eye and she should have known better.

FEYERICK: She should have known better.

LEMON: She did it in the elevator, but still she --

FEYERICK: But it was in an elevator. It wasn't a private - it wasn't a private place.

CUOMO: We don't know -

LEMON: (INAUDIBLE) in public, at all.

CUOMO: We don't know that it's her. We don't know what was said.

LEMON: That is (INAUDIBLE). That it's Solange?

CUOMO: We don't know that it's Solange.

LEMON: Oh, come on. We keep saying - I know we have to say this for CNN, oh, it's -- there are going to be people in the Standard Hotel who are dressed exactly like Beyonce, Jay-Z and Solange coming out. Come on.

BOLDUAN: Even beyond that - all right, let's assume that it's -

CUOMO: We don't know that it's Solange. We don't know what state she was in.

BOLDUAN: No, no, no.

CUOMO: (INAUDIBLE) just came from the Met ball, right?

FEYERICK: Right. CUOMO: We don't know what was being said in the elevator.

LEMON: Oh, Chris.

CUOMO: But we do know this, people will sometimes make fun of guys like Jay-Z for having bodyguards.

LEMON: Yes. (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: If that bodyguard weren't there -

FEYERICK: Listen, can you imagine? Who knew you needed a bodyguard for your sister-in-law? Hello.

CUOMO: If he so much as put his hands on her, I don't care if she was coming at him with two machetes -

BOLDUAN: Oh (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: He'd probably be arrested right now.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

LEMON: Well, we know he's never going to press charges against this sister-in-law.

BOLDUAN: We -

LEMON: Nothing will ever come from this and they -- maybe one day they'll comment on it later.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

CUOMO: My I know families and women and what's happening. What are you talking about?

LEMON: Never. He's never going to press charges against her.

CUOMO: No. Yes, I agree with that, but that analysis.

BOLDUAN: And with that team (ph), we've analyzed this enough.

LEMON: Yes. I'm just saying.

CUOMO: Professor Blind Hallway (ph) here.

BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: Here's what happened.

LEMON: Listen -

CUOMO: It was the shoes.

FEYERICK: According to my vision, it was the candlestick.

CUOMO: What did you say about my shoes?

FEYERICK: In the Billiards room.

BOLDUAN: That's a -

FEYERICK: These are great shoes. Let me prove it to you.

BOLDUAN: I do like the shoes.

On that note -

LEMON: If someone's defending me, I'm not going to move. I'm not going to move against the person -

FEYERICK: You're going to protect yourself.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. If someone is defending me, I'm just going to stand there for a little bit and then go, OK --

CUOMO: Let's test it in the break. I'm going to attack you.

BOLDUAN: We're going to fight about it in the break because I think we've analyzed it enough and I'm moving on.

FEYERICK: Keep moving straight, you (ph), and I'll take snapshots.

BOLDUAN: Perfect.

Coming up next on NEW DAY, fresh doubts being raised about those pings from the Indian Ocean. If this -- big if -- if this is a dead end, what's next? Not much, but our experts are going to be weighing in.

CUOMO: Here's what happened with the pings.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone.

This morning, officials are exploring the future of plane safety, including real time flight tracking in response to the disappearance of Flight 370. And as crews prepare to resume the underwater search for the plane, there are new doubts about the electronic signals detected last month, believed to be from the plane's flight recorders.

Joining us now, Miles O'Brien, CNN aviation analyst and PBS science correspondent, David Soucie, CNN safety analyst and former FAA inspector who wrote the book "Why Planes Crash."

Good to see you this early in the morning. Usually we're on late at night.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Hi, Don.

LEMON: So here's what it said here, that they have no -- increasingly believe only the first two signals detected are relevant to the search. What gives here because there were supposedly, what, like eight pings, Miles?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, boiled down to four, really. And we had - you know, we had two. The one that's about a two hour in length. One that was shorter increment time, I want to say around 15 minutes. And then these other two which were captured on another day, which are at a much lower frequency. And so the report that came out in "The Wall Street Journal" is, maybe those other two are not as important. And they were certainly lower on the list of pings to check out, but the head of the search in Australia, the former --

LEMON: Angus Houston.

O'BRIEN: Angus Houston, the former head of the air force there, is saying, look, when you put the four together, this is all we've got. You know, what are we going to do? Are we going to move - what, are we going to shove off and move on? Where are they going to go to? So the search presses on.

LEMON: Yes, but, David, you know, he's saying it's the best we got, but we start with more pings and then we narrow it down to smaller and smaller and smaller. I mean are we going to get to the point where they're like, well, maybe those weren't the pings at all and we're looking in the wrong place?

SOUCIE: You know, I even have my doubts about those first two pings after getting some new information just within the last week. But let's say that there's no pings at all. Well, what are you going to do? Where are you going to start? As Miles was saying, you're just going to go home and wait until something else happens? No. You've got to start searching that region, that lower arc anyway, so let's do it there because that's the most likely place. By just looking at the Inmarsat data, it's the most likely place. Continue the search.

But like Miles has been saying all along, do they have the right resources? There needs to be some more resources out there. They need to be looking and remapping and doing a lot more work than they are than just what the Bluefin can do. And they know that. They're working on that. They have a lot of contractors, people that I've talked to as well, that said, look, they've been contacted. They want our equipment. We've got to get it out there. But it's going to take weeks to position the crews and the equipment in the right place.

LEMON: The Bluefin was touted so much. Oh, we get that Bluefin in the water and it's going to do this and give us great images. You doubt that the Bluefin is the right apparatus to have down there, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Well, I - you know, I think it's at the edge of its capability and maybe a little beyond. You know, remember, we don't know much about what's on that ocean floor there. We don't -- that's pretty much a mystery to us. We know a lot more about the moon. So the Bluefin is in uncharted territory. It's finding some areas that are perhaps deeper than it has the capability to properly map. So, again, you know, this one device searching for this plane, which the whole world is demanding answers for. I still think it is a search that needs more resources, now. LEMON: You know, I'm not sure, though, if it's that black and white, David. You know it's just - I was thinking about what you said, where else do we search? Do we just sit around and do nothing? But then also they're spending a lot of money. And if they're looking in the wrong place, many may look at it as a waste of resources.

SOUCIE: Yes. Well, again, it's about having the right tool for the right job. And, you know, a towed sonar right now would be much more useful and they know they're. Like I said, they're getting one out there. They're working on that. But the Bluefin-21 isn't really the best tool to be used, from what I understand from Dave Gallo and some of the other folks that we've spoken with. The best tool is to start with a map first. Even in Flight 447, they had a map of the floor before they started. And I think that's the first step is to map the entire area and then come back and do the more detailed search with the right equipment.

LEMON: The most amazing thing out of all of this, even "The Wall Street Journal" report, the most amazing thing and to spend all these weeks and still nothing. Zero sign of the Flight 370. Zero sign. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you joining us. Have a great day, OK.

O'BRIEN: All right. You're welcome.

SOUCIE: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Kate, Chris, back to you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, more from our exclusive sit down with Anderson Cooper - Anderson Cooper's exclusive sit down with Donald Sterling. So much criticism of Magic Johnson. Would the NBA owners really let him keep the team? Two-time NBA champion Malik Rose will share his thoughts on the interview.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back.

Have you heard the Donald Sterling exclusive interview on CNN? Well, you need to, because the L.A. Clippers owner says he's no racist, but his words seem to paint a very different picture. He's also, for some reason, slamming NBA legend Magic Johnson. Questioning whether he should be a role model in part because he has HIV.

Let's bring in Malik Rose, two-time NBA champ and game analyst for Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia and Mr. Jeffrey Kessler, sports attorney, partner and co-chair of the sports law practice group at Winston and Strawn, LLP. Thanks to both of you.

First take, Malik. Do you believe these are the words of someone who doesn't know what they're saying or someone who doesn't know how what they're saying will impact others?

MALIK ROSE, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I think it's clearly a case of someone not knowing how what he is saying is going to impact others. I thought Anderson Cooper last night did a really good job of pointing out, although he's not a medical doctor, that Mr. Sterling -- you know, he understood what was going in. He went back to questions that Anderson had asked previously, finished his point there and went on to other points. So that' right there kind of proved to him that it was safe for him to keep asking the questions that he's not questioning a guy with dementia.

CUOMO: His wife came out today in the media and said he has onset of dementia, I don't know this man. I don't know this thing. He can't even connect the dots. Do you agree with that assessment or you think she's giving herself some cover?

ROSE: Again, I mean I'm not a doctor, but I do have a grandmother that suffers in the early stages of dementia and she still teaches us. I mean she still does the grandmotherly things. She prays over us and teaches us to be good people and to do this, that and a third. But the dementia part comes as she forgets who we are at times. You know, she forgets where she is, but she doesn't forget who she is.

CUOMO: My father is 81. I'm lucky if I can beat him at anything let alone maybe a foot race. My mother only 35 though so she's got a long way to go.

ROSE: Lucky man.

CUOMO: Let me ask you something though, Counselor, in terms of what this means for the NBA's process, do you believe that Donald Sterling in this interview did the work for them, and now it is almost a forgone conclusion about his fate?

JEFFREY KESSLER, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Well, I think he's digging a hole deeper and deeper and deeper. I agree with Malik. He just reveals what his attitudes are, and those attitudes are not something that anybody else in the NBA wants to be associated with.

CUOMO: Before this, I had argued that there was a legitimate question about how we punish thought in society. Do you make someone surrender property? Obviously, it's a little more convenient here because it's a private organization. But do you believe that that issue did exist and now doesn't exist as much because of what he said?

KESSLER: Well, I don't think it was ever really an issue here, because to point out, the NBA ownership is a billionaire's club. And when he joined that club, he agreed to a set of rules, and one of those rules was, if you did things, and he did things. He said things that cast a bad light on the NBA, a light that nobody wants to be associated with, then you have to pay the price.

And by the way, the price here is for him to sell his team and make hundreds of millions of dollars. No one has to feel sorry for Mr. Sterling. They have to feel sorry for all those who have been forced to associate with him for even one more minute.

CUOMO: Litigation, on that topic. I wonder if there's any litigation, Magic Johnson probably wouldn't bring the cause of action, but for the things he says about Magic Johnson -- insulting him for having AIDS. That that doesn't make him a role model, and also, did you pick up this suggestion that somehow, in Donald Sterling's head, he thinks there's some connection between the woman in his life, Magic Johnson and some plot to take his team. Did you pick up on that?

ROSE: Absolutely. He started to insinuate -- Mr. Sterling started to insinuate that Magic was the one that possibly leaked the tapes and that he called him and said he would handle it all the while working back channels to get the team sold in two weeks. A major league sports franchise sold in two weeks.

Clearly, it just goes on to more -- it just, you know, lends credence to more of just how screwed up this guy is, and what's going on in his head, what's inside of his soul. And he has no -- no semblance of understanding the people he's hurting, the people he's insulting and the damage he's doing to the NBA brand.

CUOMO: When's the last time you heard, Counselor, somebody talk about the Jews versus the blacks in terms of how they treat their communities? I think I was in my teens the last time I heard that from somebody.

KESSLER: It is just so upsetting so difficult to watch him. When he speaks -- I thought, frankly, one of the most cringing moments is when he'd spoke about how he was sure all of his players loved him -- really?

CUOMO: Maybe he defines it differently.

ROSE: Absolutely. And that goes along with the disconnect.

KESSER: I think we -- I think we all know how he defines it.

CUOMO: Yes.

ROSE: Yes. The disconnect what this man is experiencing with the world around him and the world that he perceives in his mind.

CUOMO: At least it's out there. So the rest of us can say what's acceptable and what isn't and hopefully you get stronger moving forward. Jeffrey Kessler, thank you for the legal analysis. Mr. Malik Rose, always a pleasure.

Magic Johnson unfortunately caught up in the center of this through no fault of his own. What does he think about it? We're going to find out. He's sitting down with Anderson Cooper exclusively tonight at 8:00 p.m. on "AC360" only here on CNN -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up on NEW DAY dedicated volunteers find the perfect dog for the perfect owner, but what makes them so perfect for each other? We'll tell you, just ahead in "The Good Stuff".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: You know, Don, sometimes when we have something we want to discuss, like some of your incisive analysis about what's happening in an elevator, we get --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: Yes. Please, let's continue.

CUOMO: Is better suited to a different venue where you can more easily hit me without this stuff in front of me. Let's make it over to the couch.

BOLDUAN: I'm getting up. Getting away already.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: What if I don't want to go to the couch? What if I want to go to the --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: I'll explain later.

Time for a double dose of "The Good Stuff" today and it starts at the Central Nebraska Humane Society. This is a great story. Rosy the dog OK -- pit bull. But don't let that color change your perception. The volunteers couldn't figure why Rosy wasn't responding to them until they realized she was deaf. For months guess what they did, they taught Rosy sign language --

LEMON: No.

CUOMO: -- and slowly, yes, she came out of her shell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just amazing just to watch her just blossom into a dog. I don't think she knew how to be a dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Learn sign language.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

CUOMO: That's "The Good Stuff". Right? Listen to this. Rosy was doing well, but there was another challenge. When it was time to find her a home -- no takers. Who would adopt a deaf dog? Here's who.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to teach you my sign language. How deaf people communicate. She's a smart dog. She can pick up fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: How beautiful and perfect is that? That's Cindy Cooke. She looked for years for a deaf dog and couldn't find one. Rosy and her new owner are doing great. The shelter is overjoyed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's -- what I hoped would eventually happen, and she couldn't have gone to a nicer family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wow. More proof -- pit bulls are the best dogs ever. Who knew? Who knew?

CUOMO: Tough stuff going on in the news. Always good to end with "The Good Stuff".

LEMON: There you go.

BOLDUAN: We'll talk about the elevator Don.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pit bulls are great.

CUOMO: A lot of news this morning. Let's get you to Carol Costello, a dose of the good stuff herself -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much. Have a great day.