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Donald Sterling Allegedly Caught in Racist Rant; Rethinking Search for Flight 370; President Obama Travels to Malaysia; Grandfather's Fight to End Gun Violence

Aired April 27, 2014 - 18:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we're going to start with a story that has really gripped the nation today. An NBA owner's reported remarks about race have ignited controversy around this country. Recorded comments are being attributed to Donald Sterling, the billionaire owner of the L.A. Clippers. His apparent girlfriend, a woman identified as V Stiviano, supposedly made the recording later obtained by TMZ Sports. It features a man making racist remarks and telling Stiviano to stop posting images online showing her with black athletes.

This photo, this is the one, this is what TMZ sports says sparked the exchange. A photo showing Stiviano with L.A. basketball legend Magic Johnson. The voice reported to be Sterling criticized Magic and says he doesn't want to see him at Clippers games.

So, we're going to play the recordings for you tonight. A clip, here's one, where the voice reported to be Sterling, says he wants photos removed from social media. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

GIRLFRIEND: Do you know that I'm that mixed?

DONALD STERLING: No, I don't know that.

GIRLFRIEND: You know that I'm mixed.

STERLING: You told me you were going to remove those. You said, yes, I understand you. I mean, you change from day to day. Wow. You're painful. Wow.

GIRLFRIEND: People call you and tell you that I have black people on my Instagram. And it bothers you.

STERLING: Yes, it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you're associated with black people. Do you have to?

GIRLFRIEND: You associate with black people.

STERLING: I'm not you, and you're not me. You're supposed to be a delicate white or a delicate Latina girl. GIRLFRIEND: I'm a mixed girl.

STERLING: OK.

GIRLFRIEND: And you're in love with me. And I'm black and Mexican, whether you like it or not, whether the world accepts it or not. And you're asking me to remove something that's part of me and in my bloodstream because the world thinks different of me and you're afraid of what they are going to think because of your upbringing? You want me to have hate for the black people?

STERLING: I don't want you to have hate. That's what people do, they turn things around. I want you to love them, privately. In your whole life, every day you can be with them. Every single day of your life.

GIRLFRIEND: But not in public?

STERLING: But why publicize it on Instagram and why bring it to my games?

GIRLFRIEND: Why bring the black people to the games -- I --

STERLING: I don't think we need to discuss anymore. It's over. I don't want to talk about it.

GIRLFRIEND: I'm sorry that you feel that way.

STERLING: I feel that way so strongly, and it may cause our relationship to break apart. And if it does, it does. It's better to break apart now, that to break apart later.

GIRLFRIEND: I'm sorry that you still have people around you that are full of racism and hate in their heart. I'm sorry that you're still racist in your heart. I'm sorry that you still live in a world that's still --

STERLING: How about your whole life every day, you could do whatever you want. You can sleep with them, you can bring them in, you can do whatever you want. The little I ask you is not to promote it on that and not bring them to my games.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Every time I hear it is like the first time. A lot to work through here.

So let's bring in my panel to talk about it, CNN contributor L.Z. Granderson, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Dr. Gail Saltz, and Brian Claypool, a criminal defense attorney who also happens to be a Clippers' season ticketholder.

Interesting. Good to see all of you.

BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Hi, Don.

LEMON: Hi.

Dr. Gail, what is going on here? Does this guy have dementia? I mean, he's 80 years old. I hate to ask, but he's not making any sense here.

DR. GAIL SALTZ, AUTHOR, "ANATOMY OF SECRET LIFE": You know, I think, first of all, if this is indeed him, let's say, racism doesn't make a whole lot of sense, right? So it's hard to say, let's break it down to see how it's logical or not. Does he have dementia? Without doing a neurological exam, I can't say that, but it's not unusual for a man of 80 to have some dementia.

And there does seem to be an irrationality in the -- you know, I love you but I don't love this, but you can do whatever you want --

LEMON: You're supposed to be the delicate flower white, clearly she's not white. And that's why, I mean, listen, I don't know what this guy is, I don't want to cast aspersions, it just seems like something wasn't adding up, something is not firing up. And the way she's speaking to him, sweetie, baby, it's almost like a child. The way we would talk to a grandmother before she --

SALTZ: You know, already it is unusual to have such an age disparity in a relationship that, you know, you're of a different generation, you're -- you know, already there is something that, let's face it, many people would wonder, what is the nature of this relationship? Because they share wonderful, intellectual material with each other? Probably not so much.

LEMON: We are not silly, we know what's going on here. But the question is, is he threatened by these black people and these black men in the picture with his girlfriend? And he's an 80-year-old guy --

SALTZ: One would certainly wonder about that, but one would also wonder, why -- what is it about what is shown? Is that it's all about what is visible to others and therefore the roles they play, even though he doesn't seem to be aware of her racial background. And that's -- that also -- there's lots of elements in odd denial in this.

And everybody -- let's say it this way, everybody has -- many people have terrible thoughts that they would never voice and should never be voiced. And what's sad is that I think we have to realize that we think we're living in a day and age where tolerance exists and racism is ending.

And I think it's wrong. There is still racism and there's still a lot of work to be done in this area.

LEMON: OK. L.Z., I'm going to get to you because you opened up a can of worms yesterday, but first I'm going to Brian because I know that you have a lot to say. I want to get Brian.

Brian, you are a season ticketholder. You're an attorney. What's going to happen, because there are many people who are saying, you know, boycott, do all things, that would certainly hurt the players, what's going on out there? As a season ticketholder, as a fan, what are you hearing?

CLAYPOOL: Well, Don, I will tell you, first of all, I'm not buying into the fact that he's got dementia. There's been a pattern and practice out here in Los Angeles, a lot of folks know about it. Mr. Sterling has been sued previously for having, not renting an apartment building, he owns a lot of apartment buildings, and sued for not renting to blacks and Hispanics. He said openly he doesn't like blacks and Hispanics.

So, this is bigger than the L.A. Clippers. This is about human decency and human dignity, mutual respect for others. And I will tell you that as a season ticketholder, I am stunned, shocked, and very disappointed.

And I will tell you that in the last few weeks, Don, I have taken African-American friends to the games. Now, can I -- can I look in my heart and say I'm going to another game knowing that this man despises blacks?

And here's another thing to think about -- if Donald Sterling is not removed as the Clippers owner and I'm repping all the clippers players, next year you look for the Clippers to try to get out of their contracts based on fraud, because they didn't know this when they signed up for it.

LEMON: Yes, and will they have a legal leg to stand on? They probably will, right?

CLAYPOOL: Absolutely. Are you kidding me? When you go -- Don, you go into an employer and the employer says I'm a great guy, I have high morals, I uphold ethical standards in the business, and I love all races. And I'll treat you fairly, right?

And then you find out years later -- look at Chris Paul's reaction, that speaks volumes. He is shocked by this. Then they find out that this man doesn't want blacks at the games? And that possibly he's treating blacks different than other races? That means you signed up for something based on false and fraudulent information. I think they have a very good chance of getting out of their contracts. And what are we left with? The city of Los Angeles won't even have a team left in a year unless he's removed as the owner.

LEMON: Well, they've got the Lakers, right?

CLAYPOOL: Well, like I said, we won't have a team. We won't have a team for Los Angeles.

LEMON: As a Clippers' fan, you would think that.

So, L.Z. Granderson, let's talk to you about boycotting and the tug of war, the emotional tug of war -- the psychological tug of war the players are going through. You saw them out warming up with their jerseys on backwards. Do you think that some of them will say, you know what? I don't want to play for this team anymore, what do you think is going to happen and what are they dealing with now? L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's very difficult to understand what is going on in a player's head without having talked to them. And I have not had the opportunity to do that reporting yet.

But with that being said, as I've been saying the past two days, none of this is brand new. This is not breaking news. We have known about Donald Sterling for decades, right? Well documented for decades. And he's been in the court system for decades, and so this is not breaking news.

So I go back to wondering whether or not they already knew what they were getting into but decided for whatever reasons that they could deal with it. And that this is just another level of embarrassment more so than a new discovery. You know, they were down early in the first quarter, as my understanding, they had cut the lead down to 10, so it looks like they have gotten over whatever the initial distraction from this controversy has brought them to begin this game with and that they are now focused in on trying to win a game and winning a championship.

You've got to think, though, after this game and certainly after the season, that I agree with you on the guest, that some of the players may decide if for no other reason just being associated with the Clippers is no longer viable for their personal brand. You know, if you have any aspirations of getting any sort of, you know, contracts with a shoe company or with a sports drink or anything like that. You may decide that because of your association with this franchise and this owner, that that's not good for your brand. You may try to force the hand that way.

I know from covering sports that many players get traded for teams they don't want to play for and they just don't show up until another resolve. In fact, they had one player standing with Philadelphia and he department show up until he was traded. So, players have a lot more power than I think we give them credit for and they certainly have a lot more awareness than we give them credit for. Any player not informed about Don Sterling's past should be looking to their agent before they look at Donald Sterling.

LEMON: Yes, they're losing right now, by the way, L.Z. Granderson.

Listen, we're going to talk more a little bit later on this hour and throughout the evening, especially about what options the NBA commissioner might have in all of this. Thank you, Gail Saltz. Thank you, Brian Claypool and L.Z. Granderson. We're going to talk more with you just a little bit later on in the show.

So, we talk about awkward, right? Los Angeles NAACP was set to give Donald Sterling a lifetime achievement award in a few weeks, another one by the way. The NAACP yanked the award today. Why did the group want to honor Sterling in the first place? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Everybody is talking about this, the L.A. Clippers' owner Donald Sterling making racial remarks during a conversation with his girlfriend.

Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP was going to give Sterling a lifetime achievement award next month. Now, they are rescinding that offer. And earlier, I asked the interim president of the NAACP why Sterling, a man with racial history tendencies, was slated to receive the award in the first place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORRAINE C. MILLER, NAACP INTERIM PRESIDENT/CEO: That was a local decision, and it was based on what our local folks felt, how helpful he had been to the people we try to serve in Los Angeles. And that was it.

Do we need a better vetting system? Absolutely. And I'm sure this incident will make people look a little more closely, a little more strenuous, at the recipients of a lifetime achievement award. That's a big deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's get some more reaction to this and also someone who knows better than anyone, because she's a former owner of the WNBA team, the Los Angeles Sparks. Paula Madison joins us now.

Paula, thank you for joining us. How are you doing?

PAULA MADISON, FORMER LOS ANGELES SPARKS OWNER: I'm great. Thanks, Don, for inviting me.

LEMON: Listen, thank you for coming. You know Donald Sterling, right? So, what's your reaction to all of this?

MADISON: Well, I don't know him, I've met him, but not enough for him to recognize me. I was a member of the WNBA board of governors. And as you know, the WNBA is a division of the NBA. And my reaction is one where the overwhelming majority of the players and the WNBA and the NBA are African-American. They are people of color. The majority of the owners are not.

Having said that, what I would say is that the NBA has made a concerted effort to get more black owners in the league. There are fewer of them that have been say, ten years ago. But even so, when you have owners who are willing to say such statements, and ironically they are saying these statements against African-Americans and Latinos.

If the genealogy of the young lady who was, I guess, his girlfriend, if that's accurate, she's actually Mexican and African-American. So you would think that means that Donald Sterling appreciates black men who can bounce a basketball and run up and down the court and score and make him money. And he appreciates the exoticism of a woman who is half black and half Latina, but he doesn't want them in his space as far as his personal space is concerned. And he's embarrassed and irate about it. The hypocrisy of this and racism of this is something I find reprehensible. And in this era people talk about as being post- racial. I don't know what post-racial means. And more importantly, what I would say is that we all should be proud of whatever race we are. There's no reason to make excuses or there's no reason to denigrate anyone for being of another race. This is what this world is comprised of, and I'm proud to be African-American and Chinese and Jamaican and part everything else because that's what this world is, we are a polyglot.

LEMON: Right.

MADISON: And to diminish people because of what? As I said, if these remarks turn out to be Donald Sterling's remarks, and if he is intolerant and racist towards African-Americans and Latinos and people of color, then there's an easy way to address it. And a number of people have spoken out about how to address it.

LEMON: And I want to get in there and make people -- I want to make sure people know who you are. You are a former board member of the board of governors, right? You're a former owner of the L.A. Sparks.

Correct me if I'm wrong, you bought the L.A. Sparks during the time, it was right after the comments from Imus, correct? And you owned them until recently selling them to Magic Johnson recently.

MADISON: Right. Yes. Well --

LEMON: What then do you think should happen? What options do you think the commissioner has? Does he have really any option except for get rid of this guy or to try to?

MADISON: I mean, there's a range of options, but I think that, you know, if it turns out that the NBA verifies that this is, in fact, Donald Sterling and those are his comments, then I don't think the NBA has many more options but to take his ownership away from him and award the franchise to someone else.

There's a very extensive and lengthy vetting process one has to go through to be an owner in the NBA and therefore in the WNBA. It has to do with finances, it has to do with moral character, it has to do with standing in community, and at this point, you just heard a while ago about the numbers of instances of allegations of racism, some of which have been proven against Donald Sterling here in the Los Angeles community.

If it turns out that these are a legacy, if these are indicative of a legacy of his behavior, then I don't think that the NBA has much more of an option than to look for another owner.

But the sanctions can range from a fine, a financial fine or suspension, there are a variety of things, but I think the really painful thing is for the Clippers, my husband and I were season ticketholders of the Clippers until a couple months ago for no other reason than our lives got really full and couldn't keep going to all the games, but we were huge supporters of the Clippers. I feel really badly for all the players and the team structure because from what I know of the Clippers and from what I have observed of them, that's not the character, that's not what the clippers stand for. And it's unfortunate that Donald Sterling in his capacity as, I guess the number one Clipper, would make statements denigrating all these people who he makes a lot of money from.

LEMON: Paula Madison, I really appreciate you coming on just as a know-here, the Clippers lost by 21, 2-2, even series now. But again, I appreciate you coming on. You have the knowledge of this that many people don't. Thank you, Paula.

MADISON: Thank you, Don. My pleasure.

LEMON: Up next, Donald Sterling's allegedly talked about the difference between black Jews and white Jews. OK. Another recording of the alleged rants from the L.A. Clippers owner. You'll hear it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We are devoting extensive coverage to the controversy surrounding L.A. Clippers basketball team owner Donald Sterling. A recorded conversation has surfaced of he and his girlfriend in which he -- the man's voice makes racist comments. We are playing clips from the conversation. You're going to hear as much as is out there about this.

OK, my panel is here with me, and I want the panel to listen in, because here's another one. It's a wide ranging conversation about race, OK? So try to follow along, but this one is about white Jews and black Jews. Have you heard that one?

SALTZ: Not yet.

LEMON: Not yet. You're about to. It was obtained by the sports Web site Deadspin.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

STERLING: It's the world. You go to Israel, the blacks are just treated like dogs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, do you have to treat them like that, too?

STERLING: The white Jews -- there are white Jews and black Jews, do you understand?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And are the black Jews less than the white Jews?

STERLING: A hundred percent, 50 --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that right?

STERLING: It isn't a question, we don't evaluate what's right and wrong, we live in a society. We live in a culture. We have to live within that culture.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SALTZ: Oy.

LEMON: Oy, again now, CNN commentator, L.Z. Granderson, we shouldn't be laughing about this, but it is just unbelievable. Psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz and defense attorney Brian Claypool.

I've got to your -- I've got to go to you first. Because let's be honest, you're Jewish. And it's hurtful, it's embarrassing, it's --

SALTZ: It's probably in the way that if this is what happened, that she felt, how can you be saying this to me? I am black. I listen to that and say, how -- you know, as a Jew, I feel very disturbed that anyone would think like that.

LEMON: Especially someone who should know discrimination and anti- Semitism --

SALTZ: It's disturbing. I mean, it's completely disturbing.

As I said, people have disturbing thoughts but that they would actually vocalize something like that is really horrifying.

LEMON: You know, L.Z., so far this is one side, some people with a legal agenda and interest to make Donald Sterling to look bad released this recording. But do we really need to hear from Sterling? Do you think we really to need hear from him?

I would like to hear from him to hear his side of the story.

GRANDERSON: Well, you know, it would certainly be helpful for his case, obviously, but I think the people who really need to hear from him most of all are the players, to begin with. I haven't had the opportunity to do any further reporting on this, but I don't know if he's contacted his team captains, if he's talked to his team privately yet to address what's going on out there to help navigate through this, I don't know if he's talked to Doc Rivers to give him feedback to the players.

So I think the first conversation we need to have is within his own body of players and then to a larger public. Has at the end of the day, what Donald Sterling says doesn't directly impact our lives, but it does have a direct impact to his employees because they are thinking about (INAUDIBLE) with their name brand and what it means to them in terms of their own self-respect.

LEMON: L.Z., Dr. Gail wants to get in. Why you --

SALTZ: I disagree. I think, yes, the players are the most important, but I would say it does impact the public. In fact, it really impacts it impacts children. And I think we have to think about it, who is coming up as a young athlete as a young person to need to know that this is completely unacceptable. We are living in times that are unacceptable. I think that young people are very impressionable and need to see actions being taken.

I think that's critically important in a very impressionable time.

LEMON: Go ahead, L.Z.

GRANDERSON: I got a couple things. First of all, if you really want to get down and dirty about it, we have some owners in the NBA in addition to Donald Sterling that are directly involved with (INAUDIBLE) say is some very offensive things. We have the owner of a franchise that is very anti-gay, that says disparaging thing about gay people. We have owners who are very close in terms of the fracking industry and made their money fracking and how that impacts the environmentalists and families in those surrounding area where the frackings occurring and people are getting sick now.

So, we have owners in the NBA who are involved in a whole lot of things and we can get into a larger debate about whether or not we want this to be associated or not. My thing is, is that if we're going to focus in on Donald Sterling, and I think we should because this is an important issue, talk about the players, I agree with you this impacts children, but more importantly is all the other people, the industries, the sponsors, who were aware of Donald Sterling's feelings because it was well publicized and well documented in the "L.A. Times," everyone knew about it, continue to do business with this man.

So if you're concerned about the babies, don't just worry about what Donald Sterling is going to say if he's going to apologize or not, worry about --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: OK, L.Z. -- Brian is doing business with him.

CLAYPOOL: Yes. Hey, Don, I take real issue -- let me make a comment about what you just said.

LEMON: Go ahead, Brian.

CLAYPOOL: Here's the difference between these other owners that are allegedly racially prejudiced. I bet at least 90 percent of the players in the NBA are African-American. Doc Rivers was brought over to the Clippers, he's African-American. Alvin Gentry, the assistant coach for the Clippers, African-American.

How hypocrite for the owner of the Clippers to be out there hiring all these black men to lead their team to victory and the championship and make a ton of money, and to also bring in Chris Paul, another black man to play for the Clippers, to take the Clippers to the top, and behind the scenes he is telling -- talking to people about black Jews being treated like dogs and I don't want blacks at my game.

You have to be kidding me. That affects every single person in this country. That shows us how far we haven't come to allow a man like this to be running a team in the United States. The NBA needs to exercise -- I think they have a morality clause or civility clause in the franchising agreement with the Clippers. They need to exercise that on Tuesday and eliminate him as an owner.

LEMON: OK. I want to go to Sam Amick. I want to get to -- let's get to where the action is.

Sam Amick, NBA reporter for "USA Today Sports" at the game.

You're at the game, take us inside. What's going on there?

SAM AMICK, NBA NATIONAL REPORTER, USA TODAY: A wild scene. It's a little bit contradictory. You have Warriors fans who are so excited because their team won in the midst of a Clippers team, losing this game, when a lot of the folks on their side hoped that they would have something to feel good about after such a rough day.

I personally -- my takeaway as we just come out of the building, guys, Shelly Sterling, the wife of Donald Sterling, was in attendance. I thought that was completely inappropriate. And like your other guest just said, I -- we'll see in a few days what kind of sanctions come down.

LEMON: So you said it's odd because people are excited and they're cheering on their team, but are people talking about it at the game or are they just talking about winning and losing? Are people -- were there any outward protests? We saw the players before the game, the Clippers players, wearing their jerseys inside-out?

AMICK: You did. You saw the jerseys. You had some fans that were chanting, "Sterling sucks." That happened a number of times. During the game. But I think, in general, this group, as you can hear right behind me, they are excited for what is going on.

The players look devastated on the Clippers' side. I talked to Chris Paul's brother C.J. He said that today was tougher for his brother and yesterday than when his trade to the L.A. Lakers got nullified by the NBA a few -- a few years ago. Obviously, on a whole different level. And Chris and all these other guys are trying to get through this.

LEMON: Sam, do you remember the final score?

AMICK: I don't. The Warriors won running away I think by about 15 points. They went out big early. Stephen Curry, their good shooter just -- yes, go ahead. Sorry.

LEMON: I'm being told, Sam, 118-97. 118-97. Now it's --

AMICK: Yes.

LEMON: It is 2-2, it is even.

Sam Amick who's at the game. Thank you very much.

L.Z. Granderson, Gail Saltz and also Brian Claypool, thank you.

Lots more coverage. We'll get back to all of you guys. In the meantime, the president of the United States is weighing on Malaysia's efforts to find missing Flight 370. You're going to hear why the president is defending Malaysia's investigation. That is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The hunt for missing Malaysian Flight 370, well, may need to reboot. Right now the search zone is based on tricky math, calculations of satellite handshakes performed by the British satellite company Inmarsat. My next guest says fuzzy math could be a big problem here.

With me is aviation analyst Jeff Wise, a science journalist.

So, Jeff, I want you to read your recent slate.com article. Something -- a quote from there, it says, "Independent experts who have analyzed the report say that it is riddled with inconsistencies and that the data it presents to justify its conclusion appears to have been fudged."

So how do you think the data was fudged and how are calculations fuzzy math?

JEFF WISE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, this report was apparently generated by Inmarsat and given to the British authorities and then handed over to the Malaysian authorities who presented the report to the public and to the press. And in it, they said that the -- that, you know, the big question at the time was, did the plane go north, did the plane go south. They said that they developed this new kind of mathematical analysis that determined it must -- more likely have gone to the south.

They didn't say it had to have gone to the south but it matched better the data to the south. Then the Malaysians held this famous 10:00 p.m. press conference on March 25th, you remember, which the Malaysian prime minister said we regret to extend our condolences, it had to have been in the south, there's no place for it to land therefore it had to wind up in the ocean. And so the implication clearly was it's in the south, your relatives are dead, which is really a remarkable thing to say.

As he was saying this, this report was being issued and it had all these charts and tables and it seemed to really back up -- really seemed to justify this analysis. But when I presented it to a whole bunch of different experts, they looked at it and said it's very -- we can't really make sense of this. It doesn't really add up. The chart that supposedly shows the data matching the south better than the north doesn't really match what they're saying at all.

LEMON: All right. Well, then we're spending, I shouldn't say we are, everyone.

WISE: Yes.

LEMON: Including Americans because we are. WISE: Yes. Yes.

LEMON: Millions of dollars on this search.

WISE: Right.

LEMON: And has spend millions of dollars on this search effort.

WISE: Right.

LEMON: So, I mean, what's the best way to reboot here, even -- if you say with this fuzzy math, because according to you and the experts you presented this to, we may not even be searching in the right place.

WISE: Yes. Well, indeed. We spent all month looking for these pings that the Australian prime minister said he was very confident that these pings came from the black box, but we finally got down, the Bluefin-21 searched the whole area, there's no MH-370 there. So the pings did not come from the black box. This is a --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: You don't think it came from the black box? Because they're continuing to say that they believe that it came from the black box, I'll have an audio expert that I will ask later.

WISE: Right. Sure. Sure.

LEMON: But you don't think it came from the black box.

WISE: Well, they took the best ping, they looked at a six-mile radius, which is a very generous margin because the pings can only be detected for a mile, maybe two, some people say. It wasn't there. So something else must have created that best ping. What created the other pings? We don't know. Maybe it was the same thing that made this one, but this one was -- did not come from the black box.

After all this is a -- I think a very big development in the story. The plane is not there, the authorities' word that they gave us appears not to be worth much.

LEMON: Jeff Wise, thank you. Appreciate you, sir.

Straight ahead, a man loses his grandson to the senseless violence at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Then pours his life savings into making sure it never happens again.

What a cute kid. Look at that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Barack Obama right now visiting the country where Flight 370 originated. He appeared today at an American South town hall meeting in Kuala Lumpur in front of large American and Malaysian flags. And it was on a university campus. His reception was not 100 percent warm. CNN's Will Ripley is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia right now where it's about 6:45 in the morning,

Will, you were at that town hall meeting earlier, it's a format where the president is very comfortable but not everyone welcomed him with open arms. What happened?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, Don, the president started out the town hall saying this was his opportunity to have some fun, but in the middle of this pretty highly choreographed event where there were very pretty much softball questions being thrown from members of the audience, a group of students who came in, they had been vetted, they've been approved, but they came in, they snuck in signs, and they stood up right in the middle of the event and held up signs that are opposing this free trade deal that the president is lobbying so hard for here in Asia.

Take a look at this moment the president actually talked about it on the stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me explain the -- you know, what I think is most important is showing people respect who you disagree with, right? And so, for example, there's a note over there, I don't know what those young people are putting a note about, but --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: Yes, so, you know, the president used that opportunity, he was actually answering a question about his personal values and he said one of the values in the United States that are important to us is that we are respectful to people who we might disagree with, including the protesters in that audience, who seconds later the signs were taken away by security and they were asked to sit back down.

They didn't cause a big disturbance, but, Don, this is pretty significant for Malaysia. This is a country where a lot of people are hesitant to speak out openly against the government because of fear of retribution. This goes back years and years and years through the dominant political party here. So to have, you know, these people stand up while a sitting U.S. president, the first in nearly 50 years to visit this country, was a pretty big deal.

LEMON: And what's next for the president? What's on his agenda today?

RIPLEY: Basically he gets up, gets on Air Force One and flies down to the Philippines where he's going to be working on signing a 10-year deal to allow U.S. troops to have a little more freedom to mobilize in the Philippines.

This is interesting, he says it has absolutely nothing to do with some of the regional conflict involving China, but interesting timing, nonetheless -- Don. LEMON: Will Ripley, thank you very much, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

You know, nearly one million Catholic faithful and curious onlookers packed into St. Peter's Square today to witness history in the making in the sainthood of John Paul II, next.

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LEMON: When a 6-year-old grandson was killed in the Sandy Hook tragedy, a grandfather dumped his retirement into developing gun safety technology in honor of his lost grandson.

CNN's Laurie Segall sat down with the entrepreneur about his mission to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Sandy Hook massacre left 26 dead. One of the victims, first grader Ben Wheeler.

CARMEN LOBIS, GRANDFATHER OF SANDY HOOK VICTIM: He was full of life. I mean, he was -- he had energy that was just beyond belief.

SEGALL: Now Ben's grandfather, Carmen, is on a mission to build gun safety technology to honor his grandson.

LOBIS: It's really my attempt to, you know, memorialize his history.

SEGALL: After losing Ben, Carmen had a chance meeting with a man who shares the first name of his lost grandson.

LOBIS: I do believe in divine intervention and I thought my Benny introduced me to this Ben.

SEGALL: Ben Tomb had a family member who was killed in a gun accident. He's building technology to keep weapons out of the wrong hands.

BEN TOMB, BUSINESS PARTNER: In the U.S., there's 80 million households that own guns. The statistics say that 22 percent to 42 percent of those households have a loaded, unsecured firearm in them.

SEGALL: The technology, a biometric locking station for guns. It can only be unlocked by a fingerprint.

LOBIS: It's designed to deter. It's designed to prevent access instantaneously.

SEGALL: Ben and Carmen's mission for safe gun technology is also shared by Silicon Valley heavyweights.

RON CONWAY, PRESIDENT, SV ANGEL: I do think it's high time that the tech industry step in and use innovation to go solve yet another big problem that exists in society. SEGALL: Investor Ron Conway, along with entrepreneur Jim Pitkow, have launched the Smart Tech Challenges Foundation, encouraging entrepreneurs to build technology that makes guns safer.

CONWAY: What we want to come out with is an equivalent of a seatbelt safety device for authentication of guns.

SEGALL: The foundation will award $1 million in funding for ideas that could potentially save a life. Carmen and Ben have applied. It's an uphill battle. Carmen struggles with the loss of his grandson every day. But the entrepreneur is determined to match Ben's energy.

LOBIS: His energy was, like I said, full-on or off, there was nothing in between. I don't think he ever learned to walk. He just ran from one place to another.

SEGALL (on camera): When you describe him like that, one of the first things that comes to my mind is entrepreneur.

LOBIS: Well, I always said, and my daughter has mentioned it a couple of times, I said Ben is going to create great things. I just thought it would be while he was alive.

SEGALL (voice-over): A grandfather's mission for his grandson's legacy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Well, CNN Money tech correspondent Laurie Segall is here with me.

What are some of the challenges of launching some of these gun safety technology programs?

SEGALL: You know, a lot of folks are trying to build this kind of technology up but it's expensive. Investors are a little bit cautious about funding this. It's also controversial. Not everybody is on board. But I've got to tell you, Don, when you speak to Carmen, who's the grandfather there, he told me, he said, Ben's biggest issue leading up to the day of the Sandy Hook massacre was he was trying to figure out how to tie his shoe.

And you hear the emotion in his voice and you just get the idea that he's going to do whatever it takes to build up some kind of technology to make the world a little bit safer.

LEMON: He's also -- he's established an online funding campaign, correct?

SEGALL: He has. Because it's difficult to get funding for this, he has a crowd sourcing campaign online on Indiegogo. It's called "A Grandfather's Hope." He's hoping to raise $100,000 in 40 days. It won't be easy but he's really determine to do it so you can go online and check it out.

LEMON: All right, Laurie Segall, thank you very much. We appreciate that.

We have some developing news we want to get to our meteorologist Jennifer Gray in the CNN Severe Weather Center, keeping an eye on this severe weather.

And I understand you talked to us about a tornado, correct?

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have video actually of a tornado on the ground. In fact, we've been watching this video for the past little while. And this is near Baxter Springs. This is in southwest Missouri, southeast Kansas. A very, very powerful storm. Storm chasers are out there. They're getting video of this and they are out there as we speak. This video was rolled on about two or three minutes ago, Don, so this is very, very fresh.

If you are in the path of this storm and it's moving at about 40 miles per hour to the northeast, of course, places that do need to be on the lookout include Alva, Asbury, Baxter Springs, Brooklyn Heights, even Joplin, Missouri, under the threat of a possible tornado as we speak.

And we know that that has been one place that has been hit in the past, the past couple of years. So a lot of people are going to be on the lookout for these storms as we go through the next couple of hours, Don.

So these are very, very powerful. I want to zoom in on some of them so you can get a closer look. You see the town of Asbury. There's Carl Junction. There's Joplin right there, you can see, some very strong storms just to the south. These are all moving to the northeast at 40, so something that folks in Missouri definitely need to be on the lookout for in the next couple of hours.

But some powerful images there, Don, as we look at them again right there. Look at that. Tornado on the ground.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Are these live pictures?

GRAY: Yes --

LEMON: Yes. I'm being told these are live pictures that we're looking at now.

GRAY: Yes. These are live pictures.

LEMON: And so a tornado on the ground. Again, these are very hard to see, but it's coming from Tim -- what is that? Pearlington -- Pearlington who is a storm chaser. And again, we're following this for you live.

And Jennifer Gray has been warning of severe weather and the possibility of tornadoes and telling people in that area to stay safe and to hunker down and to at least get to safety. And what appears to be in the center of your screen, again appears to be -- that appears to be a tornado and a funnel cloud for what we can tell. Right, Jennifer?

GRAY: Yes.

LEMON: Pleasanton, Kansas?

GRAY: Yes. Exactly. We've been watching it for about five minutes now. And so, you know, at times it will lift up a little bit and then come back down. They tend to jump around, these tornadoes, and they can be very, very unpredictable inside these super cells. And so you've got to be very, very careful.

If you're anywhere in the vicinity of these towns that are under the tornado warning, get into a small interior room in the center of your home and stay safe until the threat is over -- Don.

LEMON: You're absolutely right, Jennifer Gray, our meteorologist following the severe weather. Again, there is a tornado on the ground. Pictures of it in the Pleasanton, Kansas, area. We're following the severe weather story.

If you're in that area, make sure you get to safety. Get to safety.

We'll follow this throughout the evening here on CNN so make sure you stay tuned.

And at the top of the hour, the billionaire boss of the L.A. Clippers accused of making all sorts of racist comments. We're going to play the audio recordings and the reaction next.

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