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NBA & Donald Sterling; New Russian Sanctions; NBA Probes Owner Tied to Racist Rant; Three More Arrested on South Korea Sewol Ferry

Aired April 28, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": In that L.A. market. The Sparks were in some financial difficulties. Magic Johnson's group stepped in and bought them. So they already have a relationship with the NBA. They've already helped the NBA out, in a way. So they would certainly be well positioned.

But again, Donald Sterling would have to want to sell this team. It is hard to see a way that Adam Silver, the commissioner, is going to be able to force him to sell. We don't know exactly what's in that private charter, but there is not really a clear path laid out to force him to sell. And certainly Donald Sterling, if they did try to force him to sell and he didn't want to sell, he could sue the NBA, tie them up in court for years. You'd have an owner suing its own league. It would be a disaster. So it is going to be a big mess for them to untangle.

As I said, Major League Baseball was able to slowly, over the course of years and several suspensions convince Marge Schott, the former Reds owner, that it was in her best interest and in baseball's best interest for her to sell the team. Maybe they could go down that road with Donald Sterling. But it is a long road, so, obviously, a lot of emotion poured into this and we know that Donald Sterling has a terrible track record when it comes to race relations. Maybe this time the NBA can do something about it because it has been going on for way too long and been way too much of a problem, frankly, Carol.

COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Rachel Nichols, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama goes after Russia again over Ukraine with new sanction announced in the past hour. Phil Black is in Kiev with more on Ukraine's response.

Hi, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Yes, we've seen more evidence here why the Ukrainian government believes this sort of international pressure is so necessary. The first attempted political assassination of this crisis. I'll have the details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: President Obama and the European Union are hitting Russia even harder over Ukraine this morning. New sanctions, which include the freezing of assets and bans on entering the United States, are now set against more than 20 people and companies closely associated to Russian President Vladimir Putin. This comes hours after the latest signs of an impending civil war in Ukraine as the mayor of Ukraine's second largest city is shot in the back and is now fighting for his life.

Plus, an administration building in another Ukrainian city near the Russian border was taken over today by a dozen pro-Russian separatists. Also, another pro-Russian group continues to hold members of a military observation team captive in a different Ukrainian city. But there was one positive sign over the weekend, one member was released. Phil Black is in Kiev with more on all of this.

Hi, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Yes, now with these new sanctions, they are significant, they are important, particularly from the point of view of the Ukrainian government. They are grateful because they believe that these sort of international pressures is the only way to hold off Russia. Ukraine can't stand up to them economically. Certainly can't stand up to them militarily. So the only chance they have is for the strongest possible pressure to be applied by the United States, by Europe, and the more united that front, so much the better as well.

This shooting in the east of the country, in Kharkiv, is concerning because it is the country's second biggest city. And this is a mayor, a local politician, who has played a big role in holding off pro- Russian forces from gaining a foothold in that city. The concern now is that if he is driven from office, or worse, it could open up the opportunities for pro-Russians to move in to this very important city right near the Russian border and consolidate a much stronger hold there as well, which would be a big blow to the central government here in Kiev which continues to struggle to hold this country together, Carol.

COSTELLO: I must say, though, Phil, so far sanctions don't seem to be working. What makes officials in Kiev so sure that these new stronger sanctions with work?

BLACK: The officials in Kiev will take what they can get, Carol. Really they just want as much pressure as possible. You're right in a sense that a lot of the individuals that have been targeted so far by Russia by these sanctions have laughed them off. And they haven't had a broad impact in and of themselves on the Russian economy. But the Russian economy is still suffering because of Russia's actions. Its growth has slowed, its ruble, its stock market have tumbled. Capital is leaving the country in enormous amounts.

And this is an economy that was already a little bit delicate, was already beginning to struggle. So the belief is that the greater the pressure, even just prodding leading individuals can make a difference. And as President Obama has said, in the event that Russia escalates things further, then that's when really big sector-wide sanctions would come into play, hitting entire areas of the Russian economy. Carol.

COSTELLO: Phil Black reporting live from Ukraine this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, calls for the suspension or ouster of Donald Sterling, the NBA owner tied to those racist remarks. What should the NBA do, though? We'll talk about that after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The L.A. Clippers are contenders for an NBA title, but is it an off the court controversy that's making all the headlines? And I would say yes to that thanks to Donald Sterling. He's the long-time Clippers owner who's now accused of making racist remarks. Remarks that were caught on tape. The rant apparently touched off by this photo of Sterling's girlfriend and mistress with Magic Johnson, which she posted to her Instagram account.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

V. STIVIANO (voice-over): People call you and tell you that I have black people on my Instagram and it bothers you.

DONALD STERLING (voice-over): Yes, it bothers me a lot that you want to promo (ph) - broadcast that you're associating with black people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. Those comments and others sparking outrage in the sports world and beyond. Magic Johnson vowing to never, ever attend another Clippers game as long as Sterling is the owner. And for the current team, a silent protest during last night's game as the players dumped their warm-ups at midcourt and then turned their t-shirts inside out so the team logo was hidden. Some of the biggest names in pro basketball slamming Sterling. Michael Jordan declaiming he's outraged, while LeBron James says there's no place for Sterling in the NBA. Kobe Bryant taking to Twitter where he said simply, I couldn't play for him. For its part, the NBA has launched an investigation but has yet to announce what, if any, punishment will be given. Still calls are growing for the new commissioner to take decisive action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG ANTHONY, FORMER NBA PLAYER: If you're Adam Silver, this is a moment for him as the new commissioner of our league, to make a really strong statement about how we're not going to allow this type of behavior to be a part of our sport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I want to bring in Jason Johnson. He's an HLN contributor and political science professor at Hiram College, where he teaches a course on the politics of sports, and Mark O'Mara, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

Good morning to you both. MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

JASON JOHNSON, HLN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

Jason, I want to start with you. This story is ugly on so many levels. The NBA is investigating. ESPN reporting some kind of decision will be made before tomorrow's game. What should it be?

JOHNSON: The decision should be -- first off, they need to put some rules in the NBA constitution on how to police owners. So the problem is, the NBA commissioner is actually the most powerful of the NFL, MLB, any other major sports, and they have all sorts of authority to punish players if they do something that damages the league. They need to have rules in place for the owners. They need to suspend him. They need to have serious discussions as to whether or not his behavior harms the brand of the league. But, first off, they need to have the rules in place. So, so far they haven't had anything. Adam Silver's done a terrible job so far.

COSTELLO: Mark, what do you think? Is there anything that the NBA can possibly do?

O'MARA: The problem with it is that their charter, the actual contract between the NBA and the owners, first of all it's private, so we don't know a lot about it. And, secondly, as Jason said, there's not a lot within it that we can tell that really has a code of conduct for the owners. So, unfortunately, if the NBA can't do something and Silver and the owners may be sort of hamstrung by the fact that they don't have a lot of rules, then we should. Yo know, then Twitter and FaceBook and Instagram and the people, the fans should say to him, you are not going to be an owner as long as we're going to the games and cheering on your employees.

COSTELLO: Right. And a lot of people agree with that, Jason. The Los Angeles City Council has spoken out and they're, I don't know, demanding some sort of sanctions from the NBA. They want the local newspaper not to advertise anymore, anything about Mr. Sterling. But there are men who play basketball for this man and that's how they make their money. And if the fans boycott, it could hurt them.

JOHNSON: Well, this guy's got $1.9 billion. I'm pretty sure none of these protests are going to do anything to him. It's very clear, Donald Sterling has been a bad owner for years. He was known for being cheap, abusive, racist, sexually harassing people. Money is not going to hurt him. He owns this team out of ego. Owning an NBA franchise is a privilege, just like playing in the league is a privilege. And the real responsibility now is for these owners to stand up and say, look, you're harming the brand. We want you to go. You're damaging the league. If a player damages the league, there are consequences and responsibilities. If an owner does so, the other owners should stand up. I don't think this should just be left to the players and fans. It should be left to the rest of his club of 32 to say that this guy is no longer part of our team.

COSTELLO: So, Mark, if you're representing Mr. Sterling, and I'm sorry to put that on you -

O'MARA: That's OK.

COSTELLO: If you are, I mean, so the owners stand up and say, we want you out, big deal.

O'MARA: Well, we know he's very litigious. We know from the past 20 years, the way he litigates is sort of the scorched earth policy. So that's going to be very difficult. But if I was in a position of representing him and if that tape is accurate, it may be time to cut his losses. It truly may be. Because if he tries to defend himself in the court of public opinion or in front of his owners or to the NBA to say, that's me, but it wasn't really me, not going to cut it anywhere. So if there's anything that he can do to maybe cut his losses, maybe there's just another industry he needs to be in besides a public one like the NBA.

COSTELLO: Maybe so and it might get worse, Jason. Because according to TMZ, his mistress, this V. Stiviano has hours and hours of tape. And he's now talking to her saying how can we make this go away. So she may be the one to make him step down, to make him sell the team.

JOHNSON: Yes, yes I mean look, this is the thing, I'm not worried about the authentication of it because TMZ is a lot of things, but they're not stupid. They wouldn't have put this tape out if they didn't know it was already Donald Sterling.

I think the larger issue here though this goes beyond the NBA. Just last week the Supreme Court said we don't need affirmative action anymore. But then you have this and you see there are still men in power who have racist attitudes, they can affect who is hired, who is fired, who ends up on juries. All of these issues are at play here.

And so the NBA doesn't just have a responsibility to do something about a bad owner, but they have a national responsibility to say, look, we can't allow this mindset to continue to harm employees. You have a right to be a bigot but you don't have a right to mistreat the people who work for you.

COSTELLO: What you think about that, Mark?

O'MARA: Absolutely right. He needs to be the poster child for somebody who we're not going to allowed to be an employer and to be as someone who has influence in society. We're trying to deal with the subtleties of ongoing racial concerns. This guy is a guy who has now put a face on it and he needs to walk away.

COSTELLO: Mark O'Mara and Jason Johnson, thanks for your insight this morning. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the United States says Russia is further escalating the crisis in Ukraine. And now the Obama administration is going after Russia again. We will break down the new round of sanctions just put into place this morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: The investigation into the deadly ferry disaster in South Korea is widening. Three members of the South Korean Shipping Association have been arrested. They're suspected of destroying evidence connected to that sinking ferry.

Also this morning, the Coast Guard has released new video of the ship sinking and the passengers being rescued. Just as prosecutors start to investigate whether the agency failed to adequately do its job.

Nic Robertson has more on the widening investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well the prosecutors here say they have arrested another three people. They worked they say for the Korean Shipping Association, an association that takes care of the interest of Korean shippers. They accuse these three people of destroying documents relating to the company that owns the Sewol Ferry. Not clear what those documents are.

Another indication of the broadening investigation, investigators say they are looking at and investigating the 911 service locally in this area to see how they handled the disaster when it began happening; also investigating the local Coast Guard to see how they responded.

Now we did hear from Coast Guard officials earlier in the day and they described how they rescued the captain. The Coast Guard also released video of that -- of that rescue of the captain. The captain was clambering out of the ship in his underwear. Something that's shocking South Koreans to see the captain coming out this way and the Coast Guard say they had no idea that this was the captain.

They say many of the crew were wearing life vests but they couldn't tell whether or not they were passengers or crew because the life vests were covering their uniform. But they say they had no idea that the man in the shorts that they were rescuing was the captain. They say they knew there were 400 to 500 passengers aboard the ship and assumed other people were helping get them off.

So the Coast Guard, the 911 service under scrutiny of investigators now as well.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Jindo, South Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The next hour of NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, deadly tornadoes storm through the Midwest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in it right now. We're in the tornado. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Arkansas hit hard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was by far the biggest one I've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: It's the deadliest outbreak so far this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Downtown area seems like it's completely leveled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

V. STIVIANO, GIRLFRIEND OF DONALD STERLING: People call you and say that I have black people on my Instagram and it bothers you.

DONALD STERLING, OWNER, L.A. CLIPPERS: Yes, it bothers me.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Unsterling comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STERLING: You can do anything but don't put it on Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Clippers owner Donald Sterling, a man supposed to receive the NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award allegedly caught on tape with his girlfriend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wearing their warm up shoots inside out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The players sending a powerful message on the court last night. The outrage growing.

MAGIC JOHNSON, FORMER NBA PLAYER: I think he should step down.

LEBRON JAMES, MIAMI HEAT: You can't have it from a player, we can't have it from an owner.

KEVIN JOHNSON, MAYOR OF SACRAMENTO: There is absolutely no place in the NBA family for ignorance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Hit again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It builds on the sanctions that were already in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed with more sanctions today but will they have any real affect? You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Complete devastation in the central U.S. this morning after a deadly string of tornadoes ripped through the region. Take a look at this incredible video caught on camera by a storm chaser in Kansas. At least 18 people are dead after storms tore through places like Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri; 16 people killed in Arkansas alone, the state hardest hit by these storms. More than 100 taken to hospitals. This is what it looks like just north of Little Rock. A massive twister more than half a mile wide flattened towns of Mayflower and Bologna devouring almost everything in their path.

The nightmare all too familiar to residents there. Almost three years ago to the day another storm wiped out some of the same neighborhoods.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID HOGUE: In Mayflower alone there were 60 homes that were either heavily damaged or destroyed. In Mayflower I think we have more than that. We obviously have more fatalities in Mayflower than that. And the really sad thing is that's there are a lot of homes that were hit this time and demolished that were the exact same homes that had just been rebuilt from the last tornado.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: This morning rescue teams are racing against the clock to try to find survivors. Another round of severe weather expected to hit some of the same regions in just a matter of hours.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers is in Arkansas, this morning. It looks awful, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Search and rescue continues, Carol. We got here about 35 minutes after the storm hit and people were still in their cars. People were still being rescued. The search was more active than it is now.

This was a business. You know, this tornado eventually as we get down to it will turn into a lot of statistics. Half-mile wide, 40 miles long, 200 miles per hour -- whatever the statistics are -- but this is what the tornado really means.