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L.A. Clippers Owner Under Fire For His Allegedly Racist Comments; Authorities Plan To Widen MH-370 Search Area

Aired April 27, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. These are the stories topping out news this hour.

Controversy surrounds racist remarks allegedly made by a long-time NBA team owner. Now Donald Sterling is the focus of an NBA investigation. So what punishment could he face? That and the latest reaction from the sports world coming up.

And a serious storm is bearing down on the central part of the U.S. it has a strong potential for tornadoes and millions are living right in its path. More on that in just a few minutes.

We begin this hour with stunning comments rattling the NBA. The long- time owner of the L.A. Clippers Donald Sterling is under fire for making racist remarks about African-Americans. TMZ released a recording that it claims Sterling arguing with his girlfriend seen here sitting with him. He allegedly says he doesn't want her associating with African-Americans at Clippers' games and he takes issue with her taking a picture with Magic Johnson. This is the picture from TMZ sports. Listen to the conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I saw someone I admire. I admire Magic Johnson.

DONALD STERLING, OWNER, LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: OK. Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. He's made a lot of change for the community, for the world, for the people, for the minorities. He's helped a lot of people.

STERLING: I'm finished talking to you. I have nothing more to say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I took a picture with someone I admire.

STERLING: Good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he happens to be black and I'm sorry.

STERLING: I think it's nice that you admire him. I know him well and he should be admired. And I'm just saying that it's too bad that you can't admire privately and during your entire (bleep) life, your whole life admired him, bring him here, feed him, I don't care. You can do anything. But don't put it on Instagram for the whole world to see it and then they have to call me and don't bring him to my games. OK?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Again, this is the photograph at issue with the girlfriend seen in this photograph with Magic Johnson on her Instagram page and apparently this is, according to this voice that is believed to be that of Donald Sterling that is upsetting him, starting this argument between him. So today sports blog dead spin, also got access to an extended recording. Listen to what was in that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STERLING: Well, if you don't feel it, don't come to my games. Don't bring black people and just don't come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you know that you have a whole team that is black, that plays for you?

STERLING: You just, do I know? I support them and given them food, and clothes, and cars and houses. Who gives it to them? Does someone else give it to them? Do I know that I have -- who makes the game? Do I make the game or do they make the game? Is there 30 owners that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. We can't confirm the authenticity of the recording. And then there is other twist in the story. Sterling's wife filed a lawsuit against his girlfriend last month. This controversy has spread around the world very quickly. Even President Obama was asked about it while traveling in Malaysia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't really have to do anything. You just let them talk and that's what happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Called for the NBA to take action are pouring in from fans, players, and former players.

I'm joined by host of CNN's "UNGUARDED," Rachel Nichols live for us right now in New York.

So Rachel, Magic Johnson was personally named in that audio. He first tweeted yesterday, commented and then today at pre-Clippers game sports show. Let's listen to what he thinks should happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAGIC JOHNSON, FORMER NBA PLAYER: It's now Adam Silver and the owners of the league. I'm going to say what I've been saying all along. He's got to give up the team.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: All right, Rachel, that's being echoed by many. I just spoke with Kareem Abdul Jabbar and he is echoing a very similar sentiments.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, look, it's not surprising to hear that kind of talk from Donald Sterling. For those of your viewers not familiar with him, before this incident, let me give you a little background.

Sterling made some of his money in real estate development and two times he was sued by the U.S. justice department for discriminating on what kind of tenants he had in his buildings for not wanting to rent a black, not wanting to rent a Hispanics. Both times, instead of fighting a lawsuit, there was enough evidence against him that Sterling settled for huge amounts. And that, one time it was a record amount.

Then in 2011, he was sued by Elgin Baylor. Now, Baylor was one of the greatest who ever play in the NBA. He is an 11-time all-star who then worked for Sterling in the management of the Clippers. Baylor filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against Sterling. And one of the quotes entered into the record in that suit was Sterling allegedly saying that the reason he discriminated back in his apartment buildings was that, quote, "black tenants smell and attract varmint."

Now, of course, all of this has been public knowledge before this audio recording came out. And the NBA has been criticized in the past for not doing anything about Sterling. But now this recording, it really does seem to be the tipping point, Fred, and a lot of people are demanding that they take action.

WHITFIELD: And so what kind of action is it that the NBA would be able to take?

NICHOLS: Well, Adam Silver is the new commissioner of the NBA. He just took over a little less than three months ago and he has an enormous task ravel it. So, there are not a lot of clear guidelines in the NBA bylaws for these kinds of situation.

First of all, he has to investigate the authenticity of the recording which is promised to do quote "extremely quickly" in a matter of days. Then he has to marshal consensus among the other NBA owners to see how far he can go in punishing Sterling. It's going to be tough for him to force Sterling out. It's not impossible but it would be extremely difficult and Sterling is known to be a very litigious guy. So even if they try to go that way, this could spend years in court.

Ultimately, what he could do is suspend him from having any interaction or decision making with the team. Possibly even for life, he could fine him. We are going to have to see. But what is clear is that if it's Sterling's voice on that tape, there does seem to be at least a number of other NBA owners who would support a strong action.

We've already seen the Miami heat owner come out against the recording. We have seen Michael Jordan who now owns the Charlotte Bobcats. He came out against the recording and that all circles back to something that President Obama said this morning.

Obama made the point that we do still live in a time where these kinds of sentiments exist. However, he said, there's been a cultural shift where Americans are not as accepting of these sentiments in any kind of form and maybe that's what we're seeing with Donald Sterling, right? That it was accepted within NBA circle, maybe even ten years ago with all these lawsuits and all of the evidence that was in the public record finally this time thankfully it's not going to be acceptable now. We'll have to see.

WHITFIELD: All right, and maybe in large part, too, because people have cell phones, they have recording devices unlike we've ever seen before. And so, when people reveal themselves, it could end up on tape and that may be the difference, too.

All right, Rachel Nichols, thank you so much.

So reaction to the Sterling controversy has been fast and furious from NBA players, even from the president as you heard Rachel underscore who weighed in today from Malaysia. We will have more on what he said in a moment.

But first, let's turn to Stephanie Elam in Oakland, California. That's where the Clippers are hoping bring their A-game in today's playoff match up, maybe to not be distracted by what is going on. It's going to be hard to say. They are playing against the Golden State Warriors in less than an hour.

So Stephanie, we understand that Sterling is not expected to be at tonight's game but what are people saying there about this controversy?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. We are here outside of the Oracle coliseum here Oakland. Games start in less than half an hour, actually. A lot of people coming in, mainly Warriors fans. A few Clippers are coming in with their colors on. But overall, people are taking a look at this and somewhat befuddled by this whole controversy.

Yes, that is true. We understand that Donald Sterling will not be here because it is already a distraction enough. His presence here would probably be more distracting. And then you add on the fact that the Clippers are trying to make their way into the playoffs. So this is the last distraction that they needed. Take a listen to what head coach Doc Rivers had to say. He said he has heard the comment, but right now they are focusing on the playoffs. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOC RIVERS, CLIPPERS HEAD COACH: This is a situation where we're trying to go after something very important for us, something that we've all dreamed about all of our childhoods and, you know, Donald or anyone else had nothing to do with that dream and we're not going to let anything get in the way of those dreams.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ELAM: And on top of this, we heard that previously the NAACP was going to honor Donald Sterling. We are now hearing today that that is no longer going to happen. He's no longer going to be honored for a lifetime achievement award, which obviously have also a bit confusing to people, Fred.

But overall, people are looking dissent and really confused at how you can be an owner of a team that employs a whole bunch of black people, the head coach, many of the players and the girlfriend that heard in the recording who is half black and half Mexican, how this relationship can go on and once had. And then also have these relationships with these people, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And given the reported track record, too, we just heard underscored by Rachel and other, about track record of discrimination involving his apartment complex, because that too, is hard to understand why he was going to be getting a lifetime achievement award at the L.A. chapter of NAACP.

But again, you say they rescinded. It's not going to happen. But there is so much more to talk about. And we'll try to tackle all of it.

For now, Stephanie Elam, thank you so much. We will check back with you game time now, just as I should said about 30 minutes away.

So the firestorm swirling around NBA owner Donald Sterling is igniting reaction from some of the game's biggest names. We'll hear more from Magic Johnson, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: NBA team owner Donald Sterling finds himself in a heated discussion about race and the league. He's allegedly heard on a phone recording saying things that have raised serious questions about his views on race. Although Sterling insists that he's not racist, the comments have triggered an NBA investigation and he takes issue in a recorded conversation with a picture that his girlfriend, Sterling's girlfriend took with NBA hall of famer Magic Johnson. Here is the picture according to TMZ sports. And already today, there has been more conversations about this involving Magic Johnson. Yesterday he tweeted about it. Today he was on ESPN and he said this isn't Sterling's first brush with the issue of race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plain and simple, when you heard those comments, Magic, what was your reaction?

JOHNSON: Well, I was really upset. You know, you can't understand how hurt I was and also I was hurt for all African-Americans and all minorities because when a man who owns a team in the NBA and Donald Sterling has had issued in the past so this is not the first time and I've known Donald, one of the first men I met when I came to L.A., (INAUDIBLE) took me to his annual Malibu beach party, actually, my first week in L.A., then I met with Donald two or three times. He wanted to discuss the issues with his Clipper team. So I had a friendship with him.

So for him to then make these comments or alleged comments about myself as well as other African-Americans or minorities, there's no place in our society for it. There's no place in our league because we all get along. We all play with different races of people when you are in sports. That's what makes sports so beautiful. And then he's put his own team in a tough situation.

So I believe that once commissioner Silver -- sorry. I said Stern. Silver, you know, does all of his due diligence, gets all of the information gathered, gather the information, we've got to -- he's got to come down hard. He shouldn't own a team anymore and he should stand up and say, I don't want to own a team anymore, especially when you have African-Americans renting his apartments, coming to the games, and playing for him and coaching for him.

This is bad for everybody. It's bad for America. And so I'm really upset about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Magic, from an ownership capacity to then a hall of fame player, to now your role with the Dodgers, you mentioned not going to any Clipper games again as long as he's affiliated with the team. That's a strong statement because if you're not welcome, obviously everybody below you, so to speak, isn't welcome. So can you talk about that statement, about not attending?

JOHNSON: Well, he said don't bring me to the game. Don't bring Magic on the tape. So, no problem, I have no problem with that. And so, I won't be going and then he said other African-Americans, they are not welcome either. And so this is -- this is not good. This is not good. And it's not good for not just the league but just for America.

You know, this is not good. And then I think about the fact that we have made him money but we're not welcome at the game. And so that's, you know, you can't get over that. And that's why everybody is upset. Black, White, Latino, everybody is upset at Donald Sterling right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So those alleged comments from the owner Sterling certainly resonating everywhere, even overseas. President Obama is actually still on his Asia tour and this problem of race in the U.S. being highlighted by these reported comments, well, the president was asked about it and he responded and he doesn't hold back. We'll talk about that with Candy Crowley in Washington, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Obama heads to the Philippines tonight before wrapping up his Asia tour this week. While overseas, he's tackling Russia's advances in Ukraine and also addressing the long-standing problem of racism here in the U.S. The latest firestorm was ignited by racist remarks allegedly made by an NBA team owner.

Let's talk about how the president is managing these crises while on the road. Candy Crowley is anchor of CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" and our chief political correspondent.

Candy, good to see you, in Washington.

So Ukraine first, the Ukrainian prime minister says Russia is trying to start World War III. European Union leaders are meeting tomorrow to talk more about sanctions but what more can President Obama and the U.S. government really do to stop Russia?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have said all along there are more sanctions that we can put in place against the elite and the description of that is the rich folks in Russia who are close to Putin. We can make life really uncomfortable for them, the theory being of course, if they are close to Putin and can affect his behavior.

I had one of the president's national security advisers on the show today and he said, look, Europe has agreed to do some sanctions and I said, can you do something specifically to Putin? Does he have a bank account somewhere? Does he have something that would affect him because while the U.S. says, well, the Russian economy, we've already made a dent in it with our current sanctions, Putin is still in the same place.

So the question is, what can they do to move Putin? I couldn't get any specifics from him but they do -- they have moved very close to Putin and want to put more sanctions on it and claim that this week they will announce them and they will have the allies in step.

WHITFIELD: President Obama now also addressing while overseas, not just Ukraine but other matters here at home, addressing the L.A. Clippers' owner Donald Sterling's reported racist remarks. He took a graceful yet direct swipe while overseas. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: When ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you don't have to really do anything. You just let them talk. And that's what happened here.

The United States continues to wrestle with the legacy of race and slavery and segregation, that's still there, the vestiges of discrimination. We've made enormous strides but you're going to continue to see this percolate up every so often and I just think that we have to be clear and steady in denouncing it, teaching our children differently.

WHITFIELD: All right, Candy, this was a powerful moment for the president to do this. It was candid, it was heartfelt, and it helped underscore America has a very deep problem. How are his comments helping to direct the issue or perhaps even discussions from this point on?

CROWLEY: I think it's a coolant at this point and it seems to me that he's not just talking about the Clippers' owner. He was also talking about the rancher that has absorbed so much time on the airwaves this week and his racist remarks. The President -- those remarks make me think back to this president as a candidate. For the most part, he has always sought to cool the rhetoric when it comes to race issues. Now, there were times in his administration when he was saying before moving into Trayvon Martin case and saying too much or with the Harvard professor versus the Boston cop.

But mostly, this is a president who seeks to calm down the rhetoric and it just reminded me that people would say, do you think that people won't vote for you because you're black? And he would say, yes. I also think there are people who are going to vote for me because I'm black. He sort of took that temperate way of moving on rather than adding kindling.

WHITFIELD: All right, Candy Crowley, thank you so much in Washington. Appreciate that. Good to see you.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, calls out foul play are being heard around the country today and the fall out surrounding the racial comments allegedly made by L.A. Clippers' owner Donald Sterling. Next, the latest from the site of today's playoff game.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The continued fallout over the recorded alleged comments of the L.A. Clippers' owner don Sterling. So what does happen next? If indeed Sterling said these offensive things, should he stay? Should he apologize or leave the league al together and how is this controversy potentially affecting the team which is right now in the playoffs.

Let's talk more about this with mlb.com columnist and CNN.com sports contributor Terrance Moore.

So Terrance, do you believe this is just a tip of the iceberg in this case?

TERRANCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I mean, it really was.

And let me say this. I've been a professional sports columnist and commentator for nearly 40 years. And you hear these types of stuff all the time behind the scenes. He's not the only guy. He is the only guy that that's been caught doing this. But now that he's been caught, this is going to just unravel a bunch of the things. And here's something that needs to be said. Elgin Baylor, his former general manager, sued him a few years ago for aids discrimination. I believe he was 76 at the time. And he got fired after something like 22 years.

WHITFIELD: Was there ever an allegation of racial discrimination as well?

MOORE: Well, that was interesting. He called it harassment at the time. Now that this has come out, watch for more of that story to come even further. Perhaps he may get more specific about what that harassment involved and it may have involved race.

WHITFIELD: Because that's what you wonder because this doesn't just come out of the blue or does it not? There have been people along the way who have said --

MOORE: There has been.

WHITFIELD: Yes. They have heard things, they have seen things, et cetera. But maybe this is the most profound example, of something just very insulting bad terrible because it was, you know, alleged reporting of his voice.

But you have to wonder now, even though, it may not legally be admissible in court, we just heard that from Mark O'Mara earlier, it may not be admissible in court if this recording is indeed that of his voice, but if there's an established pattern, you wonder if other discrimination complaints might get new fuel.

MOORE: sure. No question about that.

WHITFIELD: To go forward.

MOORE: Well, you know, and I tell you something. People ask about what is going to happen next. There's a precedent for this and a very large one. Mark shot, the legendary -- and I say that somewhat facetiously, owner of the Cincinnati Reds back in the mid 1980s and late 1990s, she had a rather loose tongue, you know, and among the things that she said that was inflammatory, once she said that her star players were her million dollar ns and she said that bragged about having a (INAUDIBLE) in her home and also said that Adolph Hitler was good in the beginning but went too far.

Now, major league baseball back then in 1993 suspended here for the entire year, fined her $250,000, which is a large amount of money now but that was really large back then. A couple years ago later, she was at it again with her mouth. They suspended her again for another three years. She would have been suspended a third time, but she left the game, sold her team with a little push, of course. So they've got something right here, the NBA, the precedent is something that they could use in regard to Donald Sterling.

WHITFIELD: So you said something a moment that this really might be a microcosm.

MOORE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: This maybe a bigger, more pervasive problem within the NBA. The difference is this one was, you know, possibly caught on tape. So if that is indeed the case, does this -- does this kind of reveal really kind of a slave mentality, a master slave mentality when you hear these recorded words saying something like, you know, I feed them, I help them make money, I give them cars, I give them food, or the other comments that, you know, I don't mind you associated with them to a certain degree but not publicly. I don't want them coming to my games. I don't want you taking pictures, et cetera.

I mean, you know, how do you classify this? What do you -- I guess how do you digest this kind of reported behavior or sentiment?

MOORE: Well, I mean, Fred, to me, one of the worst kept secrets in the history of sports, this is going to case always, OK? And that's not just in the NBA or the NFL, all sports. Let's say in college football, for instance, the college football, the SCC was segregated for decades. Then in the late 1960s, legendary coach Blair Bryant was playing something called (ph) to get obliterated Alabama does by this Sam Cunningham, African-American running that's when he went to the powers at be at the state of Alabama, not just the university, and said we've got to get players like that, meaning black players, OK?

So right now, the southeastern conference is perhaps like 90 percent black players out there. The best conference in college football, you go out into the stands, it's 95 percent white and the white players and white fans, you know, they support their players but when you look at the tailgate parties, I've covered a lot of SCC here in Atlanta. The talking points of very much segregated. You still have that separate but equal attitude. But as long as they could play they it by first and produce, as you say, it's very much of an entertainment- type thing.

WHITFIELD: Well, Terence, let's take a pause for a second. Let's actually go to Oakland right now. One of our producers Michael Flasch is actually in the arena for today's NBA game.

And so, I'm wondering, Michael, what are you hearing, seeing, feeling inside that arena? We heard that some folks were, you know, planning on wearing all black. This was their way of making a statement. There were others who said I'm not going, you know. Are the stands full? What can you see? What are you seeing maybe as a response to what reportedly was on tape?

MICHAEL FLASCH, CNN PRODUCER (via phone): Well, the fans are here, obviously, because this is a Golden State home game. So nobody is going to boycott, you know, their own home team. The fans are dressed in the yellow t-shirts that they gave out pregame. I saw no visible signage or anything like that. But once the Clippers came on the court to warm up, they were wearing their warm up jerseys inside out, their shooting shirts. So there was actually no visible Clipper signage on them when they were warming up.

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry. So what you said, the Clippers came out, they warmed up and there was no, I guess, visible response --

FLASCH: No logos. They wore their shooting shirts inside out so they were just red shirts instead of anything that said Clippers or Los Angeles on it.

WHITFIELD: OK. What are fans saying, I mean, of those that you have spoken to there, what are people saying?

FLASCH: Well, most people here are here to watch their home team, the Golden State team, so they don't really have an opinion. I can tell that you pregame the coach attended a press conference, and Doc Rivers, you know, usually just mundane, injury update, and a little bit of strategy. But today, Doc Rivers, the Clippers' head coach, his press conference was heavily attended and it went on forever and the entire subject matter was the Donald Sterling issue.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, Michael, thanks so much inside the arena.

So Terence, you know, what do you suppose these players are feeling, like the Clippers' players, the coach. You know, they are in the middle of the playoff. They are doing so well after, you know, abysmal season, you know, consecutively and now here, this opportunity and this giant distraction.

MOORE: Well, let me put it this way. This is going to be very, very tough because what we have seen so far, these are headed towards being the most competitive NBA playoffs off all time. A lot of host games, a lot of overtime, and the dirty little secret is you have a Lebron James, you have a Kevin Durant, but overall the majority of NBA players are within 10 degrees of these other talent-wise which means you have to be very focused and it's going to be difficult for these Clipper players to be totally focused when they know that their owner would make Archie Bunker Cringe (ph).

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, we are talking about elite athletes. They know folks that how they got to this point. That this is just something of -- I can't imagine any player not replaying in their mind the interaction they may have had with Sterling where there has been, you know, very various conversation or whether it may have been an adversarial, you know, just rethinking it all what happened is indeed this recording.

FLASCH: I will say this, though. To put this in perspective, again, this happens more than people think. This is just something we see on the outside.

WHITFIELD: So you think this permeates within the NBA?

MOORE: Not just the NBA but professional sports. I mean, let's not forget, the Washington redskins, Preston -- or I guess his name was George Preston Marshal, he was the owner of the Washington Redskins from the 1930s to late 1960s. He was a confirmed racist. Didn't have his first black player until 1962 which mean that for seven or eight years under his reign, he had black players playing for him and he was well known that he was a racist player.

Another guy I think of is Calvin Griffin who used to own the Minnesota Twins for decades. He came out in the mid-1980s, and said that the reason I moved to franchise from Washington to Minnesota is because of the good hardworking white people in the state of Minnesota and that blacks where he prefer to go to wrestling matches, OK? So the black first back then have to endure that. So this has happened before.

WHITFIELD: It's part of American history.

MOORE: It's a part of American history.

WHITFIELD: And it is a part of the current days.

MOORE: And you know what is interesting, of what we just heard there, the fans don't care. They just want to see their team win, OK? If the Clippers win, if you're a Clipper fan, they don't care about --

WHITFIELD: Except I think this really does hit at the heart of everyone, whether you're a fan, you are a player.

MOORE: If the -- I'm telling you something, if the Clippers win the world championship, the L.A. Clipper fans, this is going to be just a little small blip on the screen.

WHITFIELD: You think so?

MOORE: In the grand scheme of things.

WHITFIELD: All right, live pictures right now of the Oracle arena there where the Clippers are playing. And as we heard from our producer Michael Flasch, he says hey, you know what, they are there. The fans are there in full force. Of course, you know, the Oakland team -- you know, most of the fans have come out for, but L.A. Clippers, they are in their warm up. They are doing their thing. And let's see what is the outcome of this game, if there's any way of reading, whether this is at all a distraction. However, the owner is not there in the arena to watch the game.

MOORE: It will be a distraction in Oakland if the Golden State Warriors lose. If the game is getting out of hand, then perhaps they might start directing some, you know, some comments towards the Clippers' derogatory Donald Sterling.

WHITFIELD: And then it will go from bad to worse.

MOORE: Yes. Well, you are right. But I mean. But then again, fans are fans. Fans, they just want to see the bottom line. They want to see their team do well, period.

WHITFIELD: All right, Terrance. Well, we are going to talk more. We got more to talk about this. This is just, you know, lighting a firestorm under everybody and who has got an opinion. Everyone feels even if they are not an NBA fan, it has impacted them here in this report.

MOORE: Well, the president of the United States made a comment. What that does tell you?

WHITFIELD: Talking overseas. It tells you a lot.

All right, Terrance, thank you so much. Well, see you a bit later.

All right and more coming up, an interview with NBA hall of famer Magic Johnson, who also found himself at the center of the firestorm. And now today, took to the airwaves and commented. We've got those comments right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. More now on some of the response from those alleged racist comments from L.A. Clippers' owner Don Sterling.

NBA hall of famer Magic Johnson did not hold back. Here was his blunt assessment of what should happen next to the Clippers' owner Don Sterling in a phone recording we allegedly hear Sterling urging his girlfriend not to be seen in public with black people and criticizing her for a picture, this picture that she took with Magic Johnson, this picture being provided by TMZ sports.

So all of this could threaten Sterling's future as an owner and in a conversation that Magic Johnson had on ESPN today during a pre- Clippers' game show, Johnson said Sterling must go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNSON: Now, what we have to understand is all these young men need their jobs, though, right? And they need to take care of themselves and their families. So we can't blame Doc Rivers or the players. They have to do their job to take care of their families and play the game that they love. And then, Bill, I'm really upset that we're sitting here talking about Donald Sterling and this tape when the spotlight should be on the playoff. These playoffs have been tremendous. Ever, ever, since I've been in basketball, the best first round I've ever seen in over 35 years being associated with this league.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Magic, from that standpoint, the Clippers have to play today.

JOHNSON: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you're friends with Doc and you are friends with Chris Paul. Take me into now the role of Chris Paul as the leader of that team and Doc Rivers, the coach. What is their role right now?

JOHNSON: I talked to Doc Rivers yesterday and I wanted him to understand this. This is not his fight or the Clippers' players fight. This is our fight. We will fight the battle for them. Their focus should be on the game. They've got a tough series with Golden State. Focus in on how do we win game four today and then what's really crazy, Doug, is I've been in a similar situation when I was a rookie, we played the 76ers and I'm glad he was hurt because Doug can shoot the lights out. (INAUDIBLE), our sixth man got suspended in game one. We kicked him off the team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

JOHNSON: We had to deal with that and still find a way to beat your 76ers. And then Kareem gets hurt in game five and we have to find a way to win again. So, we understood that our sanctuary is that basketball court. The Clippers understand.

Chris, get your guys ready to play game four. Look, when you hit that court, you don't worry about what is going on at home, what people have said about Donald Sterling. All you want to do is focus in on that game and as a matter of fact, it's going to be good for the Clippers' players to hit the floor today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Finally, Magic, as we have said since this all began really yesterday, it is not going away.

JOHNSON: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is not going away any time soon and new recordings are coming out as we speak. Therefore, since your name was brought in by the man believed to be Donald Sterling on those recordings, what do you plan to do -- how do you plan to handle this going forward?

JOHNSON: Well, it's really not me. It's now Adam Silver and the owners of the league. I'm going to say what I've been saying all along. He's got to give up the team. If he doesn't like African- Americans and you're in a league that's over 70 percent African- Americans --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ding, ding, ding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Magic, you know him. Do you honestly believe he will give up the team, as you suggest?

JOHNSON: When you've got the president of the United States saying that this is bad, you've got all the fans around the country, different races of people saying it's bad, it's time for him to exit. And so I don't know if he will because he's been -- Bill, you know this, he's been used to fighting every battle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was going to say --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And gotten away with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I agree with you. But you also that this is probably the most stubborn owner in any sport and somebody who loves going into courtrooms and fighting battles, he is fare -- he paid Mike Dunleavy, (INAUDIBLE). He fought to not pay those guys even though he had a contract with them. Don't you think, knowing him for the last 35 years of being in the city, that he will fight to the death to keep this team over giving it up?

JOHNSON: He probably will, you know. And that's who he has been. And so, -- but the fans will have a say so in the Clipper fan also have a say so if he does come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, more on this NBA controversy coming up.

Also, straight ahead, overseas, authorities may soon expand their search for the Malaysian airliners? So what is next? And does it involve more advanced technology?

We'll take a look coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Authorities looking for missing Malaysian airliner 307 may widen the search area. The underwater Bluefin has nearly completed its search of the area near where the pings were heard and it's found nothing.

I'm joined now by CNN safety analyst David Soucie and ocean search specialist Rob McCallum.

Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

So Rob, you first. It seems in previous weeks we've heard almost every step of what Australian authorities and other nations were going to be doing about their air and underwater search. We've heard nothing. Does that worry you that we don't know what the next step is?

ROB MCCALLUM, CNN ANALYST: No, it doesn't worry me in the sense that I think it is logical what will happen next. You know these other pinger locations need to be explored so if you lighten us a more moderate term plan is to review the other locations and then the longer term plan has to be to cover a much broader area, perhaps following the flight path of the area of the aircraft from the south back up to are the north. And that's going to be a long plan that is going to take at least two or three months.

WHITFIELD: And David, in your view, are we at this juncture where authorities have to listen again to perhaps those recorded pings, try to discern more about the intensity or the frequency of them and redirect their search based on that?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: I think so. They ruled out this first one, which I believe to be highest in amplitudes, which would indicate that it's the closest to the pinger, but obviously that wasn't the case. So while I'm saddened that the families will have to wait longer and I'm really anxiously awaiting the results of this next area where they'll search to the north because that's why we had the two-hour length ping receptions.

So that to me in my mind would be a really good place to look and I think that's going to present some challenges as Rob could probably tell us about, but it's a little bit deeper than before.

WHITFIELD: What are some of the challenges in your view, Rob?

MCCALLUM: Well, the challenges are depth, as David says. As you know, we're going to a deeper part of the pathemetry (ph). But also that the pings that we heard, you know, were scattered and not consistent with a ping of broadcasting and continuously from a single location. And you know, we've all learned that acoustics, underwater acoustics can play a great deal of tricks to the human ear. It's anyone's guess as what to Bluefin is going to find over the next few days.

WHITFIELD: And David, do you think it's premature to abandon any further underwater searches?

SOUCIE: Yes. It's definitely too premature to do that. One of the things that Mary Schiavo had brought up early on within the last week or so is perhaps we should drop another pinger locater for another pinger and test that and see if it's reflective of what they determined before.

But even before they do that, I think again, going up to the northern area, even bringing in some other tools, some deeper tools perhaps the Remus 6,000, a few other tools might be, I would think would be the next logical step before expanding the search to the entire arc but I think those things are definitely in the year future.

WHITFIELD: All right, David Soucie, Rob McCallum, thanks so much.

MCCALLUM: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Coming up next, the erupting controversy surrounding the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and racist comments he allegedly made. We'll check in live at the playoff game and we are hearing from NBA legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)