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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Remembering the Victims; Father of One Victim Speaking Out; Killer's Rampage, the Warning Signs; 7-Eleven Heroes: Risked Their Lives To Pull Shooting Victim To Safety; Source: Shelly Sterling "Moving Quickly" To Sell L.A. Clippers; Official: U.S. To Leave About 1,000 Troops In Afghanistan
Aired May 27, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, it's the end of the day of mourning at the University of California in Santa Barbara. Thousands coming together right now at the campus soccer stadium and at other UC campuses around the state. People who might not know or might not ever be able to truly fathom what happened on Friday, but who know that that's not so important tonight.
That honoring a lost friend's life matters more or supporting a wounded classmate. Comforting a neighbor, even a stranger, just showing up to prove as so many others have since this happened that there are far more good people in the world than gunmen, which is why our focus tonight as it is every night we report on stories like this will not be on the one who killed six people before killing himself on Friday, it will be on the lives taken. The lives saved, as well as the issue surrounding an incident that has sadly happened yet again.
None of that requires saying a killer's name or showing his face. So we begin tonight with the stories of six lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): The victims of Friday's deadly attack are remembered on the UC Santa Barbara campus, the community now mourning the six students who lost their lives.
Weihan Wang was one of the first victims, a roommate of the attacker. He was the only child of immigrants from China. The engineering major was making plans for a summer trip with his family as soon as he was done with the semester. His distraught parents called him the joy of their family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel heartbroken.
COOPER: Weihan was 20 years old.
Good friends, Cheng Yuan Hong and George Chen were killed alongside their friend and roommate Weihan. Cheng Yuan was a computer science major who grew up in Taipei. He was a volunteer at a Chinese school near San Jose and worked as a teaching assistant for a Chinese language course. He was 19 years old.
George Chen is remembered as gentle, kind and respectful. The neighbors saying he would always pick up the newspaper for her elderly father. George was also 20 years old.
Veronika Weiss and Katherine Cooper were the next victims, they were sorority sisters. Veronika joined the sorority because her mother and her grandmother were both members. She's described by her family as wise beyond her years, a math wizard and an athlete with a big heart.
BOB WEISS, VERONIKA WEISS' FATHER: She was kind, she was the person who would reach out to the kids who weren't the popular kids, some of the nerdy kids.
COOPER: Veronika was 19 years old.
Katherine Cooper started art history and archaeology at UCSB. Known as Katie, her friends say she was a bundle of energy, an excellent student, an athlete and a dancer. Katherine was 22 years old.
Christopher Martinez was the last victim, killed while making a trip to the deli. Chris was an only son and aspired to become a lawyer like his parents. He's preparing to spend a year abroad studying in London. His father says he was an avid reader from a young age and says he was articulate, determined and in general just a terrific kid. Christopher Martinez was 20 years old.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: In a moment we'll talk to Christopher's dad. Despite and during the worst loss a parent can, he's taking every possible opportunity to speak out because he said he cannot bear to lose one single chance to tell the world about his son or help prevent the next parent from experiencing what he has. But first I just want to go back to the beginning and bring the story from there up to the minute.
Joining me now right now is Kyung Lah -- Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very important to know, Anderson, that this entire rampage, when the bullets began to fly it was only 10 minutes. And that is what is stunning. That so much devastation could take place in that short of a time. That killer, winding his way up and down very busy streets, 9:30 on a Friday evening, unloading his weapon, re-loading and then taking aim at people he simply did not know.
He went to a sorority, he went to a deli, he went outside a 7-Eleven. He tried to hit as many people as possible and so many people, Anderson, have been affected. You see the stadium behind me. There is a vigil happening right now. It is packed with people.
We're trying, as we are, on this program, trying to remember the good in people. Trying to remember the victims and looking forward to trying to pick up the pieces as a community -- Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, Kyung, the memorial that's happening now, I mean, we've seen really thousands of people attending this. Any idea of the total number and exactly what -- I know Christopher's father spoke at the memorial just a short time ago. LAH: He did speak at the memorial and a lot of people here came to see him. And when we look at the faces of the people who came into the stadium it's like the entire town came here. Many of them young because we're talking about young victims, a community of students. Two -- two schools affected. A city college and the University of California Santa Barbara. And there are mainly students, but there are also all sorts of ages because this is a college town filled with professors, students, residents, they are here.
This entire place is packed. The police here are telling us there are 20,000 people who have filled this stadium. The capacity is technically 17,000. People are filling the entire area and around this stadium -- Anderson.
COOPER: Kyung Lah, appreciate the upgrade.
As she mentioned, Richard Martinez who's speaking tonight has been facing cameras almost nonstop. He has been telling his son Christopher's story and taking politicians to task for not doing enough, he believes, to stop the random killing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD MARTINEZ, SON KILLED IN RAMPAGE: I can't tell you how angry I am. It's just awful. And no parent should have to go through this. No parent. To have a kid die because -- in this kind of a situation? What has changed? Have we learned nothing?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was on Sunday, Richard Martinez has gone through more in the last several days than most people can imagine. I spoke to him just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Mr. Martinez, thank you very much for being with us. I -- to say I'm sorry for your loss just sounds so hallow and small, but I do want to thank you for talking with us tonight.
First of all, what do you want the world to know about Chris?
MARTINEZ: Excuse me, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes.
MARTINEZ: I'm sorry to interrupt you already. But I wanted to thank you for inviting me on your show. And I have a special reason for saying that to you. And that is because I respect the position that you've taken on the coverage of these events.
COOPER: Well, as you know, I don't believe in saying the person's name or showing the person's picture, who committed these things. I think history should not remember that person's name but should remember the name of your son and all the others who lost their lives and have had their lives forever changed. MARTINEZ: When the media puts the shooter's name out there, they put his picture out there, they put his videos out there, they're give the shooter exactly what they wanted.
COOPER: I agree.
MARTINEZ: They're completing the shooter's plan. The second thing about this is not only is it wrong for that reason, it's wrong for even a more important reason. And that is out there right now today, this minute, there is another shooter. Just like this kid. Absolutely just like this kid and he is listening to the message that this media at this time is sending to him and he is seeing that this shooter was rewarded by his horror and accomplishing his purpose.
And all that does is -- that is what makes it possible -- it actually creates the environment for the next shooting. So it is wrong in that respect.
COOPER: Yes, I agree. What do you want people to know about Chris? What kind of a young man was he?
MARTINEZ: Well, he loved basketball, and when he had a chance to play basketball, he took every chance that he had to play basketball. And he used to play very frequently with his elderly 30-year-old cousin who he was very close to. They were like brothers. And in one of the interviews that we did, his cousin was asked to describe -- as a matter of fact I think it was your interview, was asked to describe Chris. He said he was smart, kind and gentle. Until you got on the basketball court and he was neither kind or gentle.
Showed no respect for age or the family relationship. He was a fierce competitor. Anyone who knew him, if you talked to anybody in our hometown of San Luis Obispo if you talked to kids that played sports with Chris they will tell you that it was a very unusual combination of gentleness, kindness and fierce competitiveness. When he did something, he was determined and fearless.
COOPER: What do you hope, what do you believe can come of this? Because I can't tell you how many people I have interviewed in your situation. And it is just -- it's just -- it's horrific.
MARTINEZ: My feeling is that I want to do as much as I can while people are still interested in talking to me. And I don't want to lose the opportunity for me to express who Chris was. And what a tremendous loss my child is to everyone. And I don't want it to happen to anybody else's kid. And if I don't take advantage of the time now, the time when people are interested in talking to me, then people don't understand.
COOPER: I know you've had people reach out to you, people from Capitol Hill. What is your message to them? What is your message about what needs to change?
MARTINEZ: Don't -- my message is this. Don't -- I've had Congress people call me and express their condolences and sympathy. And when that happened -- when that's happened I've told them don't call me and tell me you're sorry about my son's death. I don't want to hear it from you. I don't want to hear that you're sorry about my son's death. I don't care if you're sorry about my son's death. You go back to Congress and you do something and you come back to me and tell me you have done something.
Then I would be interested in talking to you. But until then, don't call me again. And I don't care whether it is the president of the United States or any other politician. Do not call me and tell me you're sorry about my son's death until you do something now.
It is ridiculous, it's contemptible, the fact that this situation has gone on so long is just utterly ridiculous. I mean, I refuse to believe that the situation is hopeless. I refuse to believe that there aren't solutions here. I realized that it's a complex issue. I realized that this is an issue that combines gun violence. I realized it's an issue that combines mental health. I realized that it's an issue that involves hatred of women, I understand that.
And that's an important thing. I don't want to lose sight in all this discussion that this whole tragedy was motivated in part by a young man's twisted idea of what women owed him.
COOPER: You want to reach out to this young man's family?
MARTINEZ: Well, look, Anderson, I find it unacceptable and intolerable that this situation continue. And for the rest of my life and the honor of my son I will do anything I can. I'll go anywhere. I'll talk to anybody. To change this.
COOPER: Mr. Martinez, I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. And I just -- I wish you strength in the days ahead.
MARTINEZ: Thank you, Anderson, I appreciate you inviting me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, in a moment we'll look at how -- we'll walk through how this all came to be, moment by moment, warning sign by warning sign. We'll ask a pair of expert what kind of signals were out there and why, even though some were acted on, the system wasn't enough to prevent what happened Friday. The victims remembered by thousands tonight on the UCSB campus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIERRA SWARTZ, WITNESS: I just ran in the house, I was like I just got shot at. I just got shot at. Please, just let me hang out here for a second.
RYAN GERARD, WITNESS: She was crying saying he has a gun, he has a gun, and ran right into our house.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, by the time Sierra Swartz ran into Ryan Gerard's house the gunman had already taken six lives. This rampage, thankfully, nearly over.
In a moment, two experts in how this might have been averted or at least what we should be focusing on now. But first, I just want to give you a timeline from the beginning, here again is Kyung Lah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): 9:17 p.m., the killer's mother opens his e-mailed 137-page manifesto. His rampage begins inside his own home. His three roommates, all stabbed. George Chen, Cheng Yuan Hong and Weihan Weng. All three men died.
SHERIFF BILL BROWN, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: The three male victims were apparently stabbed repeatedly with sharp objects. And it was a -- it was a pretty horrific crime scene.
LAH: From there, the killer gets in his BMW in search of his next victims. This time he uses a gun.
(On camera): Four blocks from his apartment, the Alpha Phi Sorority. They heard loud knocking coming from the front door, they did not open it. So the gunman turned to three women who were standing over here, shot and killed, Veronika Weiss and Katherine Cooper. Another woman was seriously injured.
(Voice-over): 9:30 p.m. the gunman heads to this deli and opens fire. Surveillance cameras capture the moment, customers ducking, a glass door shattering. While people run, one woman tried to reach out to a victim and calls 911 as bullets fly overhead. And the worst of it is too gruesome to show. Chris Martinez is running inside as he's hit by two bullets. He bleeds to death on the floor as his friends try to keep him alive using CPR. The sixth murder of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Multiple gunshot victims in front of the I.V. Deli.
LAH (on camera): At this point the pace is picking up. Witnesses here say he's driving his BMW into people on the street. One person is shot outside of these apartments, gunfire smashing windows. It is everywhere.
(Voice-over): It's mayhem inside this restaurant on the same block as gunfire rages outside. Thankfully, no one here was hurt. But the killer is not yet finished. A few blocks away he shoots at a deputy and misses. With officers now in pursuit he strikes a bicyclist. A couple of blocks away three more people are shot, then at 9:33, a gun battle with deputies.
(On camera): It's four deputies who ran across this park and fire into the suspect's car. They believe they hit him in the hip, but he continues to drive.
(Voice-over): He's able to drive a few more blocks, slamming into another bicyclist. That bicyclist was hit so hard the windshield of the killer's BMW cave in, causing him to crash the car.
BROWN: Responding deputies immediately removed the suspect from the car and handcuffed him. He was obviously dead with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
LAH: Less than 10 minutes after bullets started to fly it's over. The six people killed and 13 injured. What authorities are calling premeditated mass murder.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: That was Kyung Lah reporting, though as I said, we're neither mentioning the killer's name or showing his face, the fact that the young man had serious issues is worth talking about. So is the fact that his parents were aware of them as well mental health professionals, as well as law enforcement. A family friend says he'd been seeing therapists on and off since he was 8 years old.
He was socially withdrawn, they say, and angry because at 22 years old he was a virgin. Last year he discovered a Web site where he shared his hatred for women and some men. Clearly there were at least a number and perhaps many points of intervention, places where the right action might have diffused the killer's rage or deprived him of the tools to act on it.
Joining us now is former Los Angeles Police Department psychologist Kris Mohandie and Dave Cullen, author of "Columbine," which is really probably the -- in my opinion the definitive book on the Columbine killing and has completely changed the way I report on these kind of incidents to think about them.
Dave, first of all, so much after Columbine that was reported on that turned out not to be true. So with that in mind, what do you think is important to focus on now and what are you looking at when you look at this incident?
DAVE CULLEN, AUTHOR, "COLUMBINE": Well, keeping in perspective that we see lots of things that are interesting and that may jump out to us as clues. And it's sort of understanding that our mind is telling us that that's the story that may or may not be the story. And that's bits and pieces.
I'll give you one example of what we saw. And this is actually years later. But here are some journal, drawings, not the best one, lots of hearts and I love you. Page after page of this. This is the journal of Dylan Klebold, who went on to kill 13 other people and injure 20 more.
COOPER: So somebody looking at that would not have known from their journal.
CULLEN: Not at all. Would have made the completely wrong --
COOPER: Diagnosis.
CULLEN: Diagnosis. Now here's the rest of his journal, about something like 80 pages. If you read the entire thing cover to cover you get a pretty good picture of him. It's still not complete. It's still one side. And again, you get a lot of bad information because he's saying how badly he sort of -- how badly people think of him. He has no friends. He has no social life. Then if you look at his daytimer it's completely filled up with -- it's completely filled up. He is doing things all the time.
COOPER: So his perception of it was not the reality.
CULLEN: Exactly. So as you put all the pieces together you get a really complete picture. You talk to friends and this big picture all makes sense. You take little pieces, isolated bits.
COOPER: Right.
CULLEN: Which is where we're at right now, we're getting little drips and drabs, which are maybe accurate information, but if you take those and try to extrapolate to a picture, most of it is probably going to be wrong. So it doesn't mean stop and turn your brain off and not think about it, or I watch that video, I have ideas about what might be going on, but I temper them with the fact that, like, I'm drawing very incomplete conclusions based on pieces of information, and probably 90 percent of what my brain is telling me is going to turn out to be wrong.
COOPER: Kris, the -- you know, as Dave has referenced, the shooter had uploaded videos that were disturbing, obviously disturbing enough for his own mother to call the police asked him to check on him to where the police have said he appeared normal to them when they spoke. They didn't search his room. They said they were unable to do anything.
At this point, I mean, is there more that could have been done?
KRIS MOHANDIE, FORMER LAPD PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, there's a lot of questions, and I would agree with Mr. Cullen about the need to reserve judgment until the final investigation are through. The questions I have, though, are here you have a situation where important information was noticed and reported by a family member. What we don't know is how much did she actually share about what was in that disturbing material? If the officers had a chance to take a look at it did they seek out additional information? Did they run him for weapons?
And how did he present himself? And did they have anything to compare that to, to determine the veracity of it? So there's a lot of questions about what information they had, what information they should have been sought, and what information should have been shared that may or may not have been. And we need to keep an open mind about that, but those are the difficult questions that will need to be answered because the signs were reported to them or some.
Did they get enough? Did they seek enough? And what was done with it? Was it enough? These are all questions.
COOPER: Kris, as a psychologist, I mean, apparently this young man was seeing -- had been seeing a therapist of some sort since a very young age. If somebody says to a therapist, things which that therapist takes as threatening to other people that therapist is able to then alert authorities and in fact has a duty to, correct?
MOHANDIE: That's correct. In fact, the law in the state of California changed from you had to get it directly from the patient to now you can get it from reliable third parties especially family members that that would create a duty to warn the intended victim and the police. So yes, there are -- there is some misinformation at times about what can and should be shared. But there is definitely an obligation that mental health professionals have to warn intended victims and the police.
And there are still the ability, if they don't have a specific threat, if they think the person is generally, possibly dangerous to breach confidentiality, and do what is necessary to take steps to try to render the situation safe. So there are disclosures that are mandated and there are disclosures that are allowed in the eyes of the law.
COOPER: You know, Dave, you and I have talked about this before about not naming the name of the killer, not showing the video, not showing even the picture. Part of it for me is I believe that the focus should be on the victims, not on the person, and their names shouldn't be remembered by history. It should be the names of the victims which too often aren't.
But one of the things I really got from your book is that -- I mean, there's sort of almost a glorification, and other people are watching. There was just -- there was just a -- somebody who was trying to do what the two shooters and bombers at Columbine had done, and he was apprehended. I can't even remember what state it was, it was just a few weeks ago.
And I was thinking, I mean, he was -- he watched what those two did and tried to do it. And I have no doubt there are people watching that kid's video which is so messed up and thinking wow, this guy is getting all this attention. This video has been played around the world.
CULLEN: Exactly, and that kid was I think 2 years old when Columbine happened so he's been sort of watching over the years and he's been watching 15 years of this go on and on and see how this happens each time. And we sort of like -- we wring our hands a little bit, and say, like, maybe we shouldn't do this, but really, other than your show, I don't know anybody else who's even taking the first step of to me this is sort of the no-brainer step of like stopping with the name.
Because I can understand there is a really good debate about whether to show, for instance, that video.
COOPER: Right.
CULLEN: His video. To me, it's a perfect example because there is useful information to be drawn. I can draw and start to, you know, learn about those kids but that's possibly a tough call, although I would still say not use it but there's a battle there. With the name we get nothing.
COOPER: That's right.
CULLEN: This is sort of an arbitrary thing we're born with. And yet journalists, I don't know, we sort of cling to this idea, you know, we have to tell all the facts as if we don't make judgments on every story we do and, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: There's also a window for saying -- you know, showing that video, maybe there should be a 12-hour window, where OK, you show it, it's germane to understanding some of the motivation. But after that, this is what? Day three or four? There is no reason to show it again.
CULLEN: There isn't. And I also think with the Web now, even if people who are live broadcasting they can like there is a video.
COOPER: Right.
CULLEN: Describe it and say it's available on our Web site.
COOPER: Right.
CULLEN: But we're not going to give them sort of the status of the TV thing. It is sort of relegated to the Web. You know, we're sort of actively dissing him as -- you know, as a medium, and I think potential killers out there see that, and like, he's sort of getting relegated, you know, not getting the stage.
COOPER: No one will remember him.
David, it's good to have you. Again the book "Columbine" is really a must-red. It's just an extraordinary work.
And Kris Mohandie, it's great to have you on as well.
MOHANDIE: Thank you.
COOPER: Up next, new details about the survivors including a student who was hit by the shooter's car. Plus, a 7-Eleven heroes that risked their lives to pull one of the wounded to safety. Gary Tuchman has their story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Well, the killer who cut short six young lives in Santa Barbara also wounded 13 others during the rampage. Tonight, three survivors remain hospitalized, two are said to be in good condition, one listed as fair. One young man was skate boarding with friends when he was mowed down by the shooter's car. Both of his legs were broken.
A female survivor was shot outside Alpha Phi sorority house where Veronica Weiss and Katherine Cooper were killed. We do not know the details of her injuries. A third survivor was hit by one of the shooter's bullets outside a 7-11. She was on her bike.
Tonight, we're learning more about the Good Samaritans who risked their lives to pull her to safety as the gunman was still firing. Gary Tuchman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sounds of chaos. One of the shots you just heard fired by the gunman hit a female student riding her bicycle on this corner. Ellen Cotten is the student who caught it on video.
ELLEN COTTEN, WITNESS: Heard three gunshots getting closer and then heard eight to ten, maybe 12 gunshots very loud, right below our balcony.
TUCHMAN: Also below the balcony, a 7-Eleven and pizza shop where students started running into stores to seek shelter from the gunfire. The owner of the 7-Eleven and one of his employees were worried somebody might have been shot outside. So amid the continuing gunfire ventured out and found the cyclist.
JORGE ANAYA, 7-ELEVEN STORE EMPLOYEE: She was like did I really just get shot right now, am I bleeding? And I tried not to scare her, I tried to say, well, you know, let's go inside the store.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So you went inside the store, let's go back in here, and then you -- what did you do?
ANAYA: So we got a stool and put her down right here and sat her down. You could see she had two gunshots right here and you could signed of see the bullets.
TUCHMAM: They were not only Good Samaritans. They were heroic. The 7-Eleven employees kept her comfortable and told her she would survive. And they were right, but the gunshots continued.
RANJEEY THIARA, 7-ELEVEN STORE MANAGER: Before panicking. I said don't worry, everything is fine. Let's just get back here. I tried to think of a plan. I said look if anybody comes through the front door, here is an emergency exit. We'll go through the emergency exit. For now, sit tight --
TUCHMAN: Now that you look back at it, scary as hell, wasn't it?
THIARA: It was very terrifying, I wouldn't lie.
TUCHMAN: Just minutes earlier the gunman had fired at a sorority house hitting three women. Later, a Good Samaritan rushed to the scene.
KYLE SULLIVAN, WITNESS: So I waited and heard more gunshots and then after about like 30 seconds, I came around the corner right here.
TUCHMAN: Kyle saw that one of the women was already dead. He watched as the second female student passed away. He came up to and comforted the third victim.
SULLIVAN: She was kind of like laying down crouched. She was still conscious. She was talking. She immediately got on the phone with her mother and then was telling her mother about how much she loved her and she was not sure she was going to make it.
TUCHMAN: But she did make it. That young woman is one of the survivors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And Gary joins us now, what is the university doing to help the students cope?
TUCHMAN: Well, this memorial service that is just about to come to an end is a good step, being held to remember the victims. It is also a psychological tonic, where thousands of people can be together and know they remain together, they suffer together and can talk together and can deal with this.
In addition to that there is individual counseling going on. The university will continue classes until a week this Friday. All the students here, anybody who needs counseling can get it. One thing, Anderson, it is very obvious it is a tragic, sad situation. But the feeling I see over and over again is just disbelief. The people who think it is all unreal, that it didn't happen.
COOPER: Gary, appreciate the reporting. Thanks.
Just ahead tonight, President Obama's end game for Afghanistan, his plan to bring the troops home and why some are criticizing the time table.
Plus, breaking news in the story that's tarnished the Sterling name and rocked the NBA world. Word tonight that Shelly Sterling is moving quickly to sell the Clippers. We've got the latest on who is interested in buying the team?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: This breaking news tonight, story that sparked outrage in the NBA, sources are telling CNN that Shelly Sterling could be close to selling the Los Angeles Clippers as you know, the NBA is already banned her estrange husband, Donald Sterling, for life, fined him $2.5 million for racist remarks he made.
A week from today, the league will vote on whether to force him to sell the team. Now it looks like Mrs. Sterling could beat them to the punch. Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shelly Sterling will accept offers for the L.A. Clippers this week. A source tells CNN, quote, "Things are moving quickly." Over the weekend, Shelly Sterling met with former Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer at her home in Malibu. Balmer made an aggressive offer.
BILL STRICKLAND, MANAGING PARTNER, STEALTH SPORTS: It looks like it is going to happen on a time table that Adam Silver has pushed for and that the Sterlings may find acceptable.
TODD: Our source says NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is aware of Shelly Sterling's dealings with potential buyers and Silver is quote, "very much involved." But the NBA won't comment. Shelly Sterling's attorney has also stayed silent. The source tells CNN in addition to Balmer, Shelly Sterling is interested in potential offers from former Laker great, Magic Johnson and his Guggenheim partners.
A group led by former NBA all-star, Grant Hill, California moguls David Geffen and Larry Ellison, and billionaire businessman, Patrick (inaudible), Oprah Winfrey according to our source is out of the running. Magic Johnson recently was asked by Anderson Cooper if he was interested in the Clippers.
MAGIC JOHNSON, NBA HALL OF FAMER: If it comes out and it is for sale and our partners want to take a look at it, we'll look at it and of course make a run for it.
TODD: Any sale of the Clippers would have to be approved by the NBA's Board of Governors. But analysts say if the Sterlings don't sell the team by June 3rd, the NBA will be forced to vote to remove Donald Sterling as owner, a process which could be messy.
DOUGLAS ELDRIDGE, SPORTS AGENT: I think he has to have this, from a perception and straight PR standpoint it is much cleaner to have a sale. This is almost the same as you can either resign or we can fire you, but you can no longer work here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Brian Todd joins me now along with senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. So according to source, Brian, is there any scenario in which Sterlings could retain equity in the Clippers?
TODD: Not really, Anderson, according to a source with knowledge of these negotiations, there is no scenario in which either Donald or Shelly Sterling can retain any equity in the Clippers. According to this source, people around the league feel that if Shelly Sterling is leading the effort to sell the Clippers that is OK, but no scenario in which either of them would have any equity in the team after this.
COOPER: Jeff, all along you've said there all out, all the Sterlings were out, what do you make of this?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: They're all out. This is the Sterlings facing reality. The only issue is when they're out. Either they leave now and sell the team or June 3rd, they are forced out and then sell the team. They're facing reality. They don't want a messy fight and it looks like they're going to make one big pile of money.
COOPER: Yes, there are some reports today saying the Clippers are starting at $1.8 billion, which is certainly not bad of an outcome, especially considering Mr. Sterling's initial investment of the team.
TOOBIN: Which was somewhere between $12 million and $13 million. It is hard to think of this as justice triumphing. He is being forced to sell the team. But you know his punishment will be taking over a billion dollars to the bank, which I think a lot of people would be happy to be punished that way.
COOPER: Certainly. Jeff, appreciate you being on. Brian Todd for the reporting as well, thanks.
Coming up, President Obama's plan for bringing U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. What the timeframe now looks like and why the president said it is harder to end a war than start one. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: President Obama today announced plans to bring America's longest war to what he called the responsible end with U.S. combat troops out of Afghanistan by 2016. His plan calls for 9,800 troops to stay in Afghanistan after this year ends and then about half of that by the end of 2015.
The end game for continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan after more than a decade of war. In September of 2009, our reporter from Afghanistan spoke with troops who were assisting the Afghan National Army, a slow and often frustrating experience for U.S. forces.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: So the Taliban is still around here?
FIRST LT. ZACHARY BENNETT, U.S. MARINE CORP.: No doubt about it. It is just a matter of you know, they come at night. They come in during the day when the Marines are not around. Yes, so the villagers for the most part are going to tell you I have never seen any Taliban, or the Taliban has been gone since you guys got here.
COOPER: They all say that?
BENNETT: Yes, that is the usual song and dance.
COOPER: They're on the fence about whether or not to fully support the government, because they don't know if you guys are going to stick around.
BENNETT: Yes, and they have been living here as long as they have been alive. They know which side to play. Go with the strongest tribe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It is not totally clear which side the Afghan population has chosen. Announcing his plan for troop withdrawal, the White House today, President Obama said it is harder to end a war than to start one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to recognize Afghanistan will not be a perfect place and it is not America's responsibility to make it one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: National security analyst, Peter Bergen, joins me now. Peter spent a lot of time in Afghanistan as well. What do you make of this decision, Peter, particularly the draw down in two years, just about a thousand troops left in that country by the end of 2016?
PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Anderson, I think -- when President Obama came into office as the president who was going to end the war in Iraq and wind down America's wars. He made it very clear in a speech he gave about a year ago that America's perpetual war footing is not something he wants to perpetuate. He wants to leave in place something for his successor that is not a perpetual war footing.
Now his successor, whoever that person is, can always change things. And the Afghan people and government is very enthusiastic about an American president. So one thing we didn't hear from the president today is we do have a strategic partnership with Afghanistan that goes on until 2024. What that exactly looks like remains to be seen. But it is not like we're going to be turning off the lights in Afghanistan from the American point of view on December 31st, 2016.
COOPER: And in terms of the stability of the central government in Kabul, how stable is it? Are they able to project power out into Helmand Province, into other areas without U.S. forces?
BERGEN: Well, where we both were together in 2009, in Helmand in 2009. I mean, the Taliban was dealt a pretty severe defeat. Of course, that was five years ago, smaller American presence, they will come back in some shape or form. The question is, you know, can they mount an offensive in Kabul? I don't think so, the Taliban is a relative small force, 30,000 to 40,000 Afghan national security force or 350,000. The U.S. forces, a small number of NATO advisers, I don't see it being a real threat.
The other thing of course is the election in Afghanistan, a 60 percent turnout. The last time there was a 60 percent turnout in the United States, the presidential election was in 1968. And people are voting across ethnic lines. If it goes well, Afghanistan is looking to be doing semi-OK.
COOPER: And the Afghan National Army, there are police, obviously a lot of Taliban infiltration into the police force. We've seen a lot of them on the U.S. forces, and others, how is the army? How capable are they?
BERGEN: Better than expected. Anderson, the desertion rate is very high in the Afghan army. You reported on the green on blue attacks, they're taking heavy casualties. The Afghan army doesn't publicize the number of casualties, but we know anecdotally that they're taking heavy casualties. People are pleasantly surprised about their ability to hold territory.
COOPER: You have also made the point that Afghanistan is not Iraq, explain what you mean.
BERGEN: Well, if you go to Iraq today, the violence there is 2008 levels and you're about three or four times more likely to be killed in Iraq as a civilian than during the war there than you are to be killed as a civilian during the Afghan war. In Iraq, the violence is really going back to some very bad places.
And Afghanistan is remaining pretty stable. It is not perfect, but it is not like if you went to Kabul today, you couldn't go to a restaurant and basically have some semi-reasonable life there. Now, that wouldn't necessarily be true of many parts of Iraq right now.
COOPER: Peter Bergen, good to have you on. Peter, thank you very much. Let's get more stories we're following. Susan Hendricks is here with the 360 Bulletin -- Susan.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, the CIA's top intelligence official in Afghanistan was publicly identified in a White House e-mail accidentally sent to about 6,000 journalists. The official's name, of course we're not disclosing was on a list of people attending a military briefing for President Obama during his surprise visit to Bagram Air Field. The White House and CIA are not commenting.
At least 40 people died in a battle between pro-Russian separatists and government forces in Ukraine. The violent outbreak was at Donetsk airport in Eastern Ukraine and is the deadliest yet in that city.
Data logs from the communication between satellites and the missing Malaysia Airlines flight was released today in a 47-page document that experts say still leaves many unanswered questions. Some family members of the passengers are pushing for an independent analysis of that data.
And look at this tornado caught on video in North Dakota. Listen here. You see it there, two men outside capturing this incredible image of a tornado that ripped through an oil field camp, Anderson, and an RV camp. Luckily nobody was killed and just a few minor injuries we are hearing.
COOPER: Unbelievable, incredible, pictures getting so close. Susan, thanks very much. A programming note tonight, Randi Kaye reports on the mysterious death of John Bender in one of the world's most lush and beautiful rainforest. The question is, was it suicide or murder? It's a fascinating story. The CNN's "Special report, "Love and Death in Paradise" coming up next at 9:00 p.m. tonight.
We'll be back at 11:00 Eastern tonight with another edition of 360. When we come back in this hour though, we remember the victims and survivors of the Santa Barbara massacre. An emotional tribute coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COOPER: As we said at the top of the broadcast, it was a day of mourning at the University of California Santa Barbara after the shooting rampage that left six students dead, 13 other wounded. Classes were cancelled for the day although counsellors were available. Flag would be at halfstaff through Sunday, and a non- profit student group put up art wall of remembrance for anyone to post notes and artwork.
There was a formal memorial service, which we leave you with this hour as we remember those who died and wish there the families and friends strength and peace in the difficult days ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY T. YANG, CHANCELLOR OF UC SANTA BARBARA: As we remember the six extraordinary students who were taken from us, so suddenly and so terribly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That which unites us is so much stronger than whatever divides us. We must draw closer to one another than ever before. There is darkness in this world. What can we do to begin to dispel this darkness?
JANET NAPOLITANO, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: In this moment of loss there is a human desire to come together, to reach out to one another for love and for support.
ALI GUTHY, PRESIDENT OF ASSOCIATED STUDENTS: We don't have all the answers and we may never fully understand the tragedy that has happened here this past weekend. But answering these questions is not and should not be our focus. George Chen, Katherine Cooper, James Hong, Christopher Martinez, David Wang, Veronica Weiss.
RICHARD MARTINEZ, FATHER OF CHRISTOPHER MARTINEZ: How many more people are going to have to die in this situation before the problem gets solved? It has almost become a normal thing for us to accept this. It is not normal. Too many people have died. And it should be not one more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, that does it for us. We'll see you again at 11 p.m. Eastern for another edition of 360. The CNN special report, "LOVE AND DEATH IN PARADISE" starts now.
