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Billionaires, Celebrities Interested in Buying the Clippers; Malaysia Releases First Report on Flight 370; Zuckerberg Reveals Older, Wiser Facebook; Sterling Girlfriend's Head Gear Turns Heads
Aired May 01, 2014 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN HOST, "UNGUARDED": And this is expected to happen quickly. There is a schedule laid out in the bylaws in the Constitution. And of course, because it's all expected to happen quickly, there's new ownership lining up. It seems like everybody wants to buy the Clippers. I don't know if you're interested in buying the Clippers.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Heck, yes. Why not Christine Romans and I were just talking about that. We make a bid, right?
NICHOLS: But if you guys do, you have stiff competitions because among the group of Magic Johnson and Floyd Mayweather and all the other people, you have what is looking like a super group of David Geffen, Larry Ellison and Oprah. These are three of the richest people in America. I think they could, like, sift through the loose change in their pocket right to make up this bid.
And you expect them to be, you know, certainly serious if this comes to pass.
COSTELLO: Yes, I want to talk about all this more so stick around and I want to bring in Alexis McCombs, she's a sports journalist she joins us now too. Hi, Alexis.
ALEXIS MCCOMBS, SPORTS JOURNALIST: Hi, good morning.
COSTELLO: So -- so there's more than just Oprah and Ellison and who's the other big guy, David Geffen. There are more people, Alexis, right? There's Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya.
MCCOMBS: Yes. Yes, Oscar De La Hoya. Go ahead. Sorry.
COSTELLO: No, go ahead. I keep interrupting you. I'm sorry.
MCCOMBS: Oscar De La Hoya, yes, he's definitely thrown his hat in the ring and expressed interest in purchasing the team. He's got a proven track record of being successful in sports business. He was a part of one of the largest boxing promoting teams in the U.S. So he would definitely be able to bring that business expertise to the Clippers and helping to grow their franchise.
COSTELLO: So Christine Romans, I'll pose this question to you. The Milwaukee Bucks sold for $550 million. And Rachel, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Bucks aren't --
NICHOLS: They are not the L.A. Clippers.
COSTELLO: They're not the L.A. Clippers. So this team could sell for an awful lot of money.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It could. $575 million is what "Forbes" values the value of the team right now, and that's of course part of the $1.9 billion net worth of Sterling. But the irony here is that all of the controversy surrounding the team and all of the now interest from these big hedge fund managers, from very rich people, from sports icons means it could drive up the value of the team. One sports investment banker we talked to yesterday said $850 million is probably the real value of this team.
But there are others who say look, Donald Sterling's not going to answer your phone call for less than $1 billion. So what does that mean, I mean, that's a lot of money.
NICHOLS: He is not the one answering the phone. That's one of the key points here.
ROMANS: Right.
NICHOLS: He is basically if they take this away from him by this vote, the NBA then takes over the sale, which is a key difference.
ROMANS: Interesting.
NICHOLS: That certainly makes a difference on who's going to be accepting these bids. But then the other factor is how and if he is going to fight this.
ROMANS: Right.
NICHOLS: There is an arbitration process. He's not going to win that. And if he sues in court, he's likely not going to be able to win that because there's this arbitration process.
ROMANS: He's had a long history of suing, too.
NICHOLS: Right there's a long history of suing and he can tie them up in court for a long time even if he's not going to win. And think about the depositions he could file. He's known some of these other owners for 20, 30 years.
ROMANS: Yes.
NICHOLS: There's a lot of dirty laundry there in all of their proceedings that he can threaten to bring out and trot out to show hey, this is a double standard. Look what you guys did this bad thing. I do this bad thing.
ROMANS: He's the only person who could make this sale go smoothly and easily. Donald Sterling is the only -- I mean he could really -- COSTELLO: He just doesn't strike me as this kind of person. And the irony here, Alexis, is his team is now valued -- it's valued at a higher cost, right? $875 million, maybe.
ROMANS: It was valued at that. That doesn't mean that's what somebody is going to pay for it.
COSTELLO: So strangely and oddly Alexis, being a bigot can be a profitable thing. It's just very strange.
MCCOMBS: Yes, he actually paid about $12 million for the team in 1981. So whatever it nets out, he's definitely going to get a good return on his investment.
COSTELLO: So in your mind, Alexis, who would be -- who would be the best new owner of the L.A. Clippers? Would it be the Oprah group, or would it just have to be someone who's not racist?
MCCOMBS: Well, hopefully if you can find a combination of the two that would be great. But I think I'm actually rooting for Oprah. She's known as the great healer. I think that her brand and everything that she represents will bring that African-American community back to the Clipper forefront. She also is -- it's ironic that Sterling, based on his comments, would unwittingly be contributing to history being made. If she is a majority owner, she would become the first African-American woman to own an NBA franchise. And that in itself is leveling the playing field in helping to break glass ceilings.
COSTELLO: See that sounded good to us.
ROMANS: You get a basketball and you get a basketball and you get a basketball. Everybody gets a basketball.
NICHOLS: Right exactly.
ROMANS: There's even a crowd -- there's even a crowd funding campaign. There are regular Joe kicking in $5 bucks apiece.
COSTELLO: No it could be like the Green Bay Packers, right? We could all own the team.
NICHOLS: I do want to point out something Donald Sterling has done before. Donald Sterling bought this team. He bought the team in San Diego. The NBA bylaws state you can't just pick up and move your team, right? You've got to get permission from the league if you want to relocate. It's a huge deal. Guess what? He just picked up and relocated the team expressly against the NBA's wishes from San Diego to Los Angeles.
They levied a $25 million fine on him which was huge at the time. And guess what he did? He took them to court. Even though the NBA bylaws clearly stated what he was doing was wrong. And it became so litigious and such a long, drawn-out process and they didn't want the franchise to be in that state, but they ended up settling with him. He counter-sued them for $100 million, and they settled with him for $6 million, and he got what he wanted. He got to relocate the team.
COSTELLO: That's why he's worth $1.9 million, right?
NICHOLS: Just be aware, that he may go quietly into the night, but boy he may not.
COSTELLO: I know Rachel Nichols, Christine Romans, Alexis McCombs thank you so much, all of you for being with me. I appreciate it.
You can catch "UNGUARDED" with Rachel Nichols by the way Friday night 10:30 p.m. right here on CNN.
Still to come -- still to come in the NEWSROOM the search for Flight 370 -- this morning we learn more about the critical moments lost and the opportunities squandered.
We'll take you live to Kuala Lumpur and to Washington next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: This morning finally Malaysia's government made public its first report on that missing plane's final known moments. Also a new version of audio from the final moments in the cockpit.
CNN's Will Ripley joins us now from Kuala Lumpur. And CNN's Rene Marsh is live in Washington with more. Rene, first of all, tell us about this audio. Let us hear it.
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we're 55 days in and we now have new clean versions of the air traffic control tapes which were first played for the families on Monday. But the tapes were officially released to everyone today. So you're about to hear the final communication between controllers and Flight 370. Now, when you hear them say "Flight Level 350," they're referring to an altitude of 35,000 feet which was their assigned altitude.
So let's take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flight 370, we are ready request flight level three five zero.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mas 370 is cleared to Beijing via PIBOS a departure six thousand feet squawk to one five seven.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beijing PIBOS. A 6,000 feet squawk 2157, 370. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: MAS 370, welcome over to --
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MARSH: All right so again this is the clearest that we've had of this audio so far. So let's take advantage of that and let's just play now what has become very well known, those final words again for you, the two final words, "Good Night Malaysian 370."
We're going to play that for you two more times. Keep in mind, investigators are interested in two things. One, who is speaking? Was it the captain or the first officer? And are there any signs of stress in the person's voice?
So they will be listening to the tapes just like we are. So let's hear those final words one more time.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysian 370, contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9, good night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night Malaysian 370.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysian 370, contact Ho Chi Minh 120 decimal 9, good night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good night Malaysian 370.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MARSH: All right so you heard it there. I mean when you listen to it, you listen to it back to back there, Carol, and everything sounded normal at this point. You didn't hear any stress in the voice. Of course, this is what investigators are going to be doing. Replaying it, listening for any anomalies. Did they hear anything that piques their interest? But when you just heard that there, you didn't hear anything that really jumps out at you as if something was going wrong -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It's just quite eerie to hear, Rene Marsh reporting live in Washington.
Let's head to Kuala Lumpur now. Shortly after the pilot said "Good night Malaysia Flight 370," the plane disappeared from radar for what, 17 minutes and then four hours later they finally started looking for the plane? I know Will Ripley you've been looking into this preliminary report that was released by Malaysian authorities and there is a time line included. Tell us about it.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Carol you know you heard the cockpit voice recording at 1:19. And we know by 1:21 a.m., the plane's transponder had been switched off. That's the device that allows the plane to communicate with the civilian air traffic control. It allows civilian computers to monitor this plane. So that switched off. The plane disappeared at 1:21. That's when it just dropped off the radar.
But it wasn't until 1:38, a full 17 minutes later that air traffic control in Vietnam asked about the status of Flight 370. So if Vietnam hadn't asked about the status, perhaps it could have gone on even longer. The disappearance of radar could have been unnoticed even longer than 17 minutes.
And then 29 minutes after the plane disappeared from radar, then Kuala Lumpur air traffic control asked Vietnam about contact, asked if they had contact with Flight 370. At 1:50, Vietnam told them no, we still haven't. We've now seen 29 minutes pass. And all that's happened essentially is that they noticed that the plane dropped off the radar. They waited another 12 minutes or so, then asked, have you heard now? No answer. And then for four hours, there was so much confusion, it wasn't until 5:30 in the morning that search and rescue was activated by Kuala Lumpur.
So what was happening during those four hours, Carol? Well, what we're learning from this report and from the supplemental documents is that there was a lot of back and forth. Kuala Lumpur was saying all right, we think the plane might be in Cambodia when it wasn't. They really didn't have any evidence it was in Cambodia. But by saying that, it caused Cambodia air traffic control to be confused.
And then there was this more back and forth, more questions. They go a half an hour, then they check in again, still nothing. So you know what this -- what this points out is that there was clearly time wasted and that while this plane, with 239 people on board was flying somewhere radically off course and it was being tracked for a while on military radar, there was no one up in the air looking for it, Carol.
And you look at the passenger list and you see these people, these names that were sitting in these seats on this plane. We don't know what condition they were in. We don't know who is flying the plane. We don't even really know where the plane was going or where it ended because we haven't found a single piece of evidence. But what we now know as a result of all of this, these reports is that no one was looking for four hours.
COSTELLO: It's just -- it's almost too much to bear especially if you had loved ones on board that plane. Will Ripley reporting live from Kuala Lumpur this morning.
Still to come on the NEWSROOM, Facebook growing up and recognizing what its users do not want. A look at the social network's more mature CEO next and this privacy for you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: All right. We have a bit of breaking news to pass along from Escambia County, Florida. That's near Pensacola. We've been telling you about that natural gas explosion at the county jail there.
We understand that three inmates are missing. We don't know if they escaped or if they were injured, if they just can't find them, but we know that three inmates are missing. The other information that we have already passed along to you, two people died in that explosion. And 100 others were hurt. And of course, a lot of these inmates were taken to local hospitals because there was 100 hurt. But, again, we just don't know the whereabouts of three inmates.
We'll keep you posted. All right. Let's talk some business news and talk about Facebook because Facebook is showing its age. The world's largest social networking site turned 10 earlier this year. And at the company's developers' conference yesterday, the CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, revealed a deeper understanding of what his users want.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, FACEBOOK: We all want identity across platforms and sharing across platforms and push notifications across platforms and (inaudible) and even monetization. People want more control over how they share information especially with apps. We know some people are scared of pressing this blue button.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Yes, that hesitation over how much Facebook knows about you and knows about me is something Zuckerberg touched on during an exclusive interview with "Wired" magazine.
I'm joined by Steven Levy, senior writer for "Wired" magazine. When talking about the growing company, Zuckerberg said this. I'm going to read a bit of your article. "In order to become more ubiquitous, Facebook needs to be trusted even more. We're a bigger company and people have more questions. We need to give people more control over their information so that everyone feels comfortable using these products." Combined with Facebook's new anonymous login, that's quite a change for the site, right?
STEVEN LEVY, WIRED MAGAZINE: That's right. It was really interesting. Yesterday was Facebook calls this big conference for developers. And one thing Facebook wants to do is it wants everyone who writes all those apps, the things that appear on your phone, to run using Facebook's tools and using Facebook infrastructure like monetization and other things. But while he tried to be nice to developers and give them tools, he also warned them, he said don't abuse our users because we might have a trust issue.
When people log in with their Facebook logo, he wants them to be sure that the information that they're already worried about, the Facebook has about them, isn't going to go to these other developers.
COSTELLO: It's always a surprise to me that people like Mark Zuckerberg worry about what information is going out there because Facebook has every bit of information about me there ever was and uses it, right?
LEVY: Well, they have that information. But they want to establish a trust between you and them. But, you know, now they want everyone to use Facebook's tools in all the apps you use on your phone. And you might realize, you just install a new app, you want it to know everything that Facebook knows about you from the get-go? No.
There's another thing little he did. He said well, you don't have to start out that way. You could start out even anonymously and just use the Facebook login just to establish who you are. But then if you're comfortable, then you could bring the information over.
COSTELLO: I don't know if that makes it any better. It also seems like he's branching out and he's buying up all these apps. You know, total world domination and all that.
LEVY: Right, right. They've done an amazing buying binge there. A year ago it was Instagram. And people thought that was big -- a little over $1 billion. Then he spent $19 billion to buy WhatsApp when is a messaging app which is really popular overseas. A lot of people here don't know about it yet.
Facebook is scared that other places might come up and drain off a little of their audience, and they're willing to make big investments now to make sure that they are secure. They got 1.2 billion users now, and their goal is to have somewhere around 7 billion users.
COSTELLO: Wow.
LEVY: Like everyone.
COSTELLO: That's just incredible. Steven Levy, thank you so much for coming in. I really appreciate it.
LEVY: My pleasure.
COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Sterling's mistress, V. Stiviano, that's her doing her best Daft Punk impression with that choice of headgear. Will it become the next "it" fashion trend? Jeanne Moos takes a look next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Late-night comedians are having a field day with the Donald Sterling controversy. Even poking fun at the speculation on who might want to buy the team.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, TALK SHOW HOST: Clippers' owner Donald Sterling has been banned for life from the NBA. He's probably going to have to sell. Yes, people are now wondering who the new Clippers' owner will be. That's right. All the NBA has said so far is it's definitely not anyone from "Duck Dynasty".
JIMMY FALLON, TALK SHOW HOST: Oprah is interested in becoming a new owner of the Clippers. Yes. That could be cool. It could be a little annoying when the player introductions take like three hours. It's like "At guard, he's 6 feet tall. He went to Wake Forest. Chris Paul."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: That was fun.
OK, let's talk about V. Stiviano because we must. Some have compared to a welder's mask or the guys from Daft Punk. Some are even calling it paparazzi kryptonite. Whatever it is, Donald Sterling's girlfriend is getting all sorts of attention for her latest choice in headwear. Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been the elephant in the room. Make that the elephant on Donald Sterling's alleged girlfriend's face.
V. STIVIANO, DONALD STERLING'S GIRLFRIEND: I'm trying to walk my dog.
MOOS: In masks?
We can't see through it but we can certainly marvel at it. Stylish visor or eyesore?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That visor is the bee's knees and you know it. Am I the only one who loves this visor? It is the ultimate in privacy, are you kidding?
MOOS: One blog called it paparazzi kryptonite, able to block the shot of any photographer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, are we going to get to see the face tonight, V?
MOOS: Not tonight.
V. Stiviano's visor has been compared to a welder's mark, or what serial murderer Dexter wears to protect from blood spatter.
Folks are having a ball equating it to "Space Balls".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep firing (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
MOOS (on camera): You know what this thing really needs? Windshield wipers.
(voice-over): On a rainy day, not especially suited to something called a solar shield, New Yorkers did their best to pay me no mind. But there was the occasional double take -- the lingering stare.
It's believed the solar shield was first popularized by women in China, worried about sun-burning fair skin.
(on camera): Do you think it's a good look, or not a good look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it's not a good look. It looked weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a good look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a little strange.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think (INAUDIBLE). Daft Punk.
MOOS (voice-over): We were lucky enough to get our solar shield overnighted from Amazon for $29 plus shipping.
(on camera): One size fits most.
(voice-over): Even a CNN.com colleague was confused.
UNIDENTIFEID MALE: Yes, is that a spit guard?
MOOS: V. Stiviano joins other celebrities who chose to cover their heads from Shia LaBeouf in his "I'm not famous anymore" bag, to the unknown comic from the old Gong Show.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took my dog to a flea circus, he stole the show.
MOOS: That's Woody Harrelson hiding from the paparazzi. Lady Gaga is always covered in something. And Michael Jackson didn't just cover himself, he covered his kids.
As for V. Stiviano, we don't know if she is hiding or planning to drop her very own visor line, as this tweet suggested.
(on camera): Not recommended for driving.
(voice-over): Yet there she is in her Ferrari.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, you're bigger than Angelina Jolie.
MOOS: At least the headband can expand when she gets a swollen head. And when she gets bored with the visor? We recommend this.
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
STIVIANO: Trying to walk my dog.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: We live in an interesting country, don't we?
Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.
"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" starts now.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: The breaking news, Malaysia's official report on the disappearance of Flight 370 released at long last. So the jet had vanished for 17 minutes before ground control even noticed. And another four hours before a rescue operation was first launched. The big question this morning, why so slow to react?
MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: After a year of questionable behavior, drunken rants and admitted crack use, Toronto mayor Rob Ford finally taking a break and getting help.
