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Preliminary Report on Flight 370, Audio of Communications; NBA Moves to Force Sterling to Sell Clippers; Opinion Piece Questions If Racism Will End When the Old Guys Die Off; Ford CEO Mulally to Retire July 1st; Malaysia Closes Flight 370 Family Centers; White House E- mails Show They Pushed to Spin Benghazi Toward Anti-Muslim Movie

Aired May 01, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour now. I'm Poppy Harlow, in today for Brooke Baldwin.

Malaysia today releasing its long-awaited preliminary report on the disappearance of Flight 370. We learned that no one noticed that the plane was missing from radar for 17 minutes, and that it was four hours before a search was launched.

In addition to the report, the Malaysian government also released a couple of other things, the full passenger list, also the assigned seats where everyone was, also the plane's cargo manifest.

In addition, it released the audio recordings of conversations between the cockpit of Flight 370 and air traffic control in Kuala Lumpur.

Here's the final moment of that conversation between the tower and the cockpit.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lumpur, Malaysian 370.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysian 370, Lumpur radar. Good morning. Climb flight level two five zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Morning. Level two five zero, Malaysian 370.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysian 370, climb flight level three five zero.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Flight level three five zero, Malaysian 370.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Malaysian 370 maintaining level three five zero.

JOINED IN PROGRESS

PLANE: Morning, level two-five-zero Malaysian 370.

TOWER: Malaysian 370, climb flight level three-five-zero.

PLANE: Flight level three-five-zero, Malaysian 370.

Malaysian 370, maintaining level three-five-zero.

TOWER: Malaysian 370.

PLANE: Malaysian 370, maintaining level three-five-zero.

TOWER: Malaysian 370, contact Ho Chi Minh 120-decimal 9. Good night.

PLANE: Good night, Malaysian 370.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so what experts will tell you is that there is really nothing abnormal about that recording. that last recording.

But I want to go to Jim Clancy, our CNN international correspondent who is in Atlanta, but frankly, who was in Kuala Lumpur for a month or more after this happened and has a very inside knowledge of all of this.

Jim, I want to talk to you most about the 17 minute gap before anyone realized that the plane was no longer on their radar, had not checked in and that four-hour gap trying to figure out where it was before officially launching a search.

What do you make of that?

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The 17 minutes was crucial. That was a period in time in which, if they wanted to take action, they could have taken action and alerted everyone for the plane.

But we have to be realistic. Who would do that? There was no distress coming from the plane. There was no signal that there was something wrong on board.

No one noticed that it had suddenly disappeared, though. It came right at that exact moment when the plane was transferring over. You heard it, Good night, with Kuala Lumpur's tower, and getting ready to go to Vietnam, but never checked in with Vietnam.

Vietnam then, 17 minutes later, is calling up Kuala Lumpur, saying, we don't have your plane. And then you go to the four-hour gap. Now there's where nobody seemed to want to admit they had lost this plane.

They talked to one another. Vietnam talked to Kuala Lumpur. They talked with Cambodia. They talked to China.

But nobody raised their hand and said we've got a plane's that gone done. We've got a plane that is missing right now.

They literally waited until it was supposed to pull up at the gate in Beijing.

Poppy?

HARLOW: Jim, looking at this from the perspective of the families, the close friends, the loved ones, waiting for answers, here they get some answers, not a lot. This is a five-page report, mind you. The report that came out after Air France 447 crashed was 128-pages long.

Looking at what these family members have been asking for, do you think they're getting any answers here?

CLANCY: It's a glimpse into the frustration of the families. Five pages tells the full story. It's really nothing. They really know nothing.

They only know that the plane took off normally and then it vanished into thin air. It took an incredible course, and they published the flight path that it took.

HARLOW: Right.

CLANCY: All of these things very interesting. I think the kick in the gut has been the announcement that Malaysian Airlines is going to close those family centers where at least the families felt they were coming together with other family members, and they had strength of their voice in numbers. And now they feel, perhaps, that they're being splintered and sent home.

Poppy?

HARLOW: At the end of this report as I read through it, of course we all noticed the recommendation, and CNN had reported this. We had this information last week.

But they are recommending tracking planes in real time. I think to a lot of us non-experts on this, we think, oh, that wasn't -- that's happening now? How feasible is that?

CLANCY: It's feasible. We have the technology to do it. It would cost about a hundred-thousand dollars per plane or more to retrofit them all.

You see, you're talking about creating an entire system, something that would check every second or every few seconds. That's a lot of data when you have got tens of thousands of planes in the air every single day.

It's a lot of data. It's a lot of system to handle it. But a lot of people are saying if you look at this right now and the inability to find this aircraft, it may be worth it.

Poppy?

HARLOW: Yeah, interesting, Jeff Wise, our aviation analyst, was telling me earlier that it's mandated that ships have this, so I think this certainly brings that to the forefront of this conversation. Appreciate the reporting, Jim. Thank you.

The NBA is doing all it can to force Donald Sterling to sell his team, the L.A. Clippers. Now tech titans, entertainers, athletes, even Oprah, possible buyers for this team.

But it's more than just money that the NBA is going to look at before proving a sale, especially this time. We're going to dig into it with a super agent, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The NBA, moving ahead this afternoon with the first, formal step to try to force Donald Sterling to sell the L.A. Clippers, but will he sell this team?

If he does, there is a very intriguing list of people that are reportedly interested in buying the L.A. Clippers.

You have Oscar de la Hoya and Floyd Mayweather; billionaire mall developer Rick Caruso; Diddy, who recently bought a cable network. Dr. Dre told TMZ he's think about it.

But the competition is steep and there are more heavy-hitters who reportedly want in, including Oracle's Larry Ellison. He's worth a whopping $50 billion. Also Oprah to work with media mogul David Griffin in sort of a super pack there, if you will, of people that might buy this team. Geffen is cofounder of DreamWorks Animation Studio.

Let's bring in someone who knows a whole lot about this, sports super agent, as many call him, Leigh Steinberg. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

LEIGH STEINBERG, SPORTS ATTORNEY: My pleasure.

HARLOW: One of the interesting things to look at here is not just who has enough money, because frankly, all those people I just mentioned probably have enough money, but what it's going to take to get approval to buy this team.

What does the league consider, especially now, if the L.A. Clippers are for sale?

STEINBERG: They don't publish that, but I will tell you that, first of all, you look at the financial vitality and ability of the ownership.

Then through any scandals, they will have investigators out there probably interviewing people that these kids -- the guys went to grade school with to see if they made any racist remarks. This is going to be remarkable due diligence.

They are looking for a group that can reunite Southern California, that can reach out and be reflective of the different elements here.

You will see an entertainment part of it and you also want to see astute ownership that has got the ability to do what's possible here, which is to take back part of Los Angeles from the Lakers.

But this is an opportunity. The Lakers are down and the Clippers have amazing superstars in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. And they're on a roll.

HARLOW: Yeah, Game Six, by the way, tonight, in the playoffs for the Clippers.

You know, in one of your op-eds this week, you wrote, "An NBA team is a business, but it also carries the imagery of representing a city."

When you look at the possibility of Larry Ellison, David Geffen, and Oprah Winfrey coming together, if this happened, she would make history, right, being the first African-American female owner of a team, how important is it to have an owner who can help this city heal in the wake of this?

STEINBERG: I think you undoubtedly will see African-American ownership, if not the lead, as part of the package. You will probably see a polyglot of racial mix. You certainly are going to see people from the entertainment business.

The decisive action of Commissioner Silver earlier in the week popped that massive balloon of anger, frustration and hurt, so healing has begun.

Now, if we're going to move very quickly here, three days to figure out if someone files charges, five days for Sterling to respond, in response to your earlier comment, he doesn't have a choice but to sell the team.

If they vote and put together three-quarters of the owners, the team automatically shifts to the commissioner's responsibility. He loses that ownership.

They have to pay him, but he loses it. And he agreed to a set of rules in which he said if there is a revocation, he won't file suit, and he won't try for arbitration.

HARLOW: You know, although --

STEINBERG: So healing's going to begin.

HARLOW: Although Rachel Nichols did a report earlier in this show that we have seen Sterling fight the NBA before, even when he has violated the constitution, on the issue of when you look at the ownership here and when you look at players and willingness to play for this owner, have you ever had clients who were hesitant or didn't play for the Clippers because of Sterling?

STEINBERG: I haven't. But then again we didn't have this kind of public statement.

Normally players look at who the coach is, who their teammates are going to be. The owner doesn't play that big a role in it.

This was so dramatic, such a tsunami of racism, that it forced this issue.

There are many owners with all sorts of skeletons in their closet, and it introduces the whole issue of what is it in private behavior that is going to influence the ability to own a franchise?

HARLOW: Yeah, because as you said, it not only represents the team but the city of that team.

Appreciate you coming on that team. Thanks so much, Leigh

STEINBERG: My pleasure.

HARLOW: All right, well, Donald Sterling's racist comments have put race relations front and center back in the spotlight.

CNN.com op-ed, in this op-ed it asks, Will racism and when the older generation is no longer around?

What do you think? We're discussing, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Donald Sterling is not the first to fall from racist ways. We have seen recently the decline of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and celebrity chef Paula Deen. So publicly they all proved you cannot say racist things.

But privately, will racist thinking, talking in private, is that going to stop?

I want you to check out the title of a new CNN.com opinion piece, "Will Racism End When the Old Guys Die Off? Doubt It."

In it recent Howard university grad Chuck Walton III writes, quote, "I also see others around me who on the surface may roll with a similar crowd, listen to the same music, say the right things, but who are slowly being infected with the American disease of racial bias."

Chuck Walton III joins me now, right along with CNN's Don Lemon. So good to have you both with us. I appreciate it.

Let's start with you, Chuck. This is very personal. You also write in it that you were called the N-word as a child.

CHARLES "CHUCK" WALTON III, ANNOUCER, HOWARD BISON BASKETBALL TEAM: Yes, I was. I was about 10- or 11-years-old, and we had just moved to a nice neighborhood in Chicago.

And a neighbor of mine who we had been playing basketball with, hanging out, one day we were getting kind rough on the court and he just kind of hurled the N-word at me, and the first thing that came to mind was to fight.

So an altercation took place, and it was really a big situation. Our parents ended up intervening. But as I said in the article, the craziest thing about it was our younger brothers were the same age, and we kind of really didn't see each other after that because there was so much tension between the families. And it kind of ruined their relationship.

HARLOW: You write in this article about the fact that you say we have got a black president, right? Isn't it all good?

You talk about the fact that you think your generation has to take a lot of accountability and action and unlearn what you talk about as learned behavior.

Do you think your generation is not stepping up?

WALTON: I don't think we're stepping up. I think that today we live kind of free, I think that mainly because of the music that we listen to, some of the athletes that we like.

You know, when you see a movie like "42" with Jackie Robinson where black people weren't allowed to really play baseball, let alone go to the games, and now you can go to a sporting event and sit next to a white and a black person, and then you just have that false consciousness in your mind that everything is OK until something happens, and then you start looking at the person next to you like, well, does he really think this about me but he doesn't say it?

HARLOW: Don, what --

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: There is also that there is no real coming together any more to -- I mean, not in a real sense.

Everything is 140 characters for this generation, so you vent your frustration. You voice it on social media, on Twitter, and then you feel like, OK, therefore I've got it out.

I'm generalizing here, but that kind of happens with the younger generation.

HARLOW: The two of you were joking about age. He called you "sir."

LEMON: He called me "sir," and then he said -- he studied broadcasting and he said I'm going to take your job when you retire.

I'm like, my god, I feel old now.

HARLOW: Don't feel old, my friend, but looking at this generationally, right, what do you think looking at your generation versus Chuck's?

LEMON: I think there is a lot of work. I loved your article, by the way, and I think that this generation, the generation of millennials, they have to figure out how they're going to galvanize and what's going to be important to them, so I do agree with you in that aspect.

But then we also to look at -- look at the split-screen that we have here. We have to remember that there is progress.

Listen, there are Donald Sterlings, and there are racist people, and they're going to be -- we're going to have these people forever.

But we have to look at -- and I sound like my parents here. There has been progress made, you know? I walked uphill 50 miles to school. But there has been progress made that you're able to sit next to someone in a movie theater.

So it's not perfect. I think this generation will have a big hand in changing those things.

And I don't think racism will necessarily die out when older people like Donald Sterling leave this Earth, as well.

HARLOW: I'm interested. This just went up on CNN.com within a matter of hours, but what has the response been so far that you've gotten on social media, people calling you, I know? What's the reaction been for you, Chuck?

WALTON: Oh, wow, the reaction is crazy. My mother and father and brother, they're all calling me. Everybody wants to talk about it, some of the things that I put in the article.

And mainly, I think, the fact that I built the article around the fact that when the older generation -- when they die off, does racism just end? I think that got a lot of people talking.

And it makes people from the younger generation, some of the fellow students at Howard, it makes them look at themselves and their situation and go, what am I doing to better the world? What am I doing to prevent stuff like this from continuing to happen?

HARLOW: Yeah, you know, Chuck Walton, Don Lemon, thank you.

But, Chuck, you know, kudos to you. It's not easy to put yourself out there. Don, you also write op-eds. It's not an easy thing to do, and we appreciate you doing it and coming on and talking to us. Thank you.

WALTON: Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Good to have you both on.

LEMON: Thank you.

HARLOW: Of course watch Don Lemon, 10:30 Eastern tonight, "CNN SPECIAL REPORT." Do not miss that.

Also ahead, a major announcement from one of the country's big automakers. the man credited for turning Ford around, announcing he's going to retire later next year.

Next, Alan Mulally explains what led what to one of the most scrutinizing decisions of his career, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: An era is about to end at Ford Motor Company. Ford announced today the man who turned the company around, chief executive officer Alan Mulally, will retire on July 1st.

Ford was the only one of the Big Three automakers not to take a government bailout. Mulally will be succeeded by a Ford veteran who turned an important role in turning around that country, chief operating officer, mark fields.

CNN spoke with Alan Mulally about his decision not to take part in the bailout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN MULALLY, CEO, FORD MOTOR COMPANY: That was one of the most important decisions that we made, but in addition to that, as you well remember and reported, we decided to actually testify on behalf of our competitors that were bankrupt.

We did that, which is very strange in itself, but we did that because of the importance of the industry to the U.S. economy but also the U.S. economy and the world economy.

We knew that if they went into freefall we could have taken the United States into a depression.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Mulally says he's laser focused on a transition in that country. Is he going to go to Washington and run for office? We shall see.

Also, a new shock today for the 239 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 for the people that are waiting for them -- waiting for answers about them, they have been told to go home, to wait for the news about the missing plane and their loved ones.

CNN's David McKenzie is in Beijing with that.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the family members of those on board MH-370, it wasn't about the interim report.

It was about the news that they are going to be pushed out of this hotel and sent home and that the assistance from Malaysian airlines will no longer be here for them.

And the reaction to that was emotional, some people getting on the floor, wailing, saying what has happened to our loved ones?

This felt like a bookend to the story, the people just wanting some kind of clarity, some kind of closure that they haven't gotten all this time later.

While the report might give some more details, it certainly doesn't bring them any closer to finding out what happened to their loved ones.

Family members are worried that they might not have the leverage to get information if they go back home. They certainly want some kind of clarity, some kind of closure after these painful weeks of waiting, these weeks that have led to nothing concrete about their loved ones.

Poppy?

HARLOW: Of course they do. They want answers.

David McKenzie, thank you. We appreciate it.

Meantime, the U.S. could have done more to save Americans killed during the attack in Benghazi, that coming from one of the men in charge at the time, and Republicans are livid.

Four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stephens were killed in that 2012 attack.

You may remember Susan Rice who was U.N. ambassador at the time, got a lot of heat for blaming the attack on a protest over an anti-Muslim movie during her appearances on five Sunday morning talk shows.

Now e-mails sent to Rice from top White House aide Ben Rhodes reveal the White House made a hard push to her to relay that account which later proved to be untrue.

Today on The Hill, some fiery exchanges, some emotional exchanges between lawmakers and a former Obama administration official, including this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPRESENTATIVE JASON CHAFFETZ (R), UTAH: We didn't run to the sound of the guns. They were issuing press releases.

We had Americans dying. We had dead people. We had wounded people. And our military didn't try to engage in that fight.

Would you disagree with that?

BRIGADIER GENERAL ROBERT LOVELL, U.S. AIR FORCE (RETIRED): Four individuals died, sir. We obviously did not respond in time to get there.

CHAFFETZ: Could we have?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The gentleman's time is expired. Go ahead.

LOVELL: We may have been able to, but we'll never know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Now that from Washington earlier today, so how is the White House explaining why it did not release these e-mails?

Jay Carney saying these e-mails were not explicitly about that situation in Benghazi, rather the situation with the Muslim world at the time.

That will do it for me. Thanks for joining me. Appreciate it.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper, special edition from Crawford, Texas, begins right now.