Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Sterlings Plead their Case to the Public; Search for Flight 370; Texas Fire Destroys 100 Homes; "Blind Descent"

Aired May 12, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHELLY STERLING, WIFE OF CLIPPERS OWNER DONALD STERLING: It was horrible when I heard it. I mean, it was just degrading and it made me sick to hear it. But as far as a racist, I don't really think he is a racist.

BARBARA WALTERS, ABC HOST: Have you discussed these remarks at all with your husband?

S. STERLING: He saw the tape. And he said I don't remember saying that. I don't remember ever saying those things.

WALTERS: What did you think then?

S. Sterling: That's when I thought he has dementia.

WALTERS: Really?

S. SHELLY: Yes. I don't love him. I pity him. And I feel sorry for him.

WALTERS: What is your relationship today with your husband?

S. SHELLY: We're estranged. We've been estranged for about a year.

WALTERS: Why not divorce your husband?

S. SHELLY: I've been thinking about it. I filed these divorce papers. I signed them. I was already to file. My attorney and my financial advisor said now is not the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: So let's talk about this. CNN commentator and host of "Huff Post Live" Marc Lamont Hill is here, and Leigh Steinberg he's sports agent who inspired the film "Jerry McGuire" he's also a sports attorney. Welcome to both of you.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN COMMENTATOR: It's good to be here.

COSTELLO: Leigh I want to start with you.

LEIGH STEINBERG, SPORTS AGENT WHO INSPIRED "JERRY MCQUIRE": Good morning Carol. COSTELLO: Good morning. You represented Leigh many pro athletes. As they listen to Mrs. Sterling, do you think it pulled at their heartstrings in any way?

STEINBERG: Had he made those remarks after the Saturday when the tape was released, I think he might have gotten a much more sympathetic hearing because you hear him pouring his heart out. The problem is he touched a third rail of race and this became the biggest issue and he became more villainized than any sports figure I've seen in years and it penetrated all of the way down to the man in the street and the President himself.

So probably too little, too late -- the players won't accept this situation. Curiously, public opinion has started to show a sizable amount of people who don't want him to lose the team not because of anything to do with race but their perception that you ought to have the right to privacy to speak in your own house and express even a stupid opinion and people who don't like the way that the tape was released.

But here's the point. They don't understand the NBA constitution. Once the owners vote to terminate or revoke his franchise, gone are Shelly's rights, gone are Donald's rights. That franchise immediately shifts to the stewardship of the NBA. This is not a private business like buying a drugstore. This is something he bought with all of these rules and restrictions because it's a public entertainment. It's a very different set of rules. This is not like someone taking your local business.

COSTELLO: Well but that's not what Shelly Sterling's attorney thinks at all. She says that the NBA --

STEINBERG: You can find an attorney --

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

STEINBERG: -- yes I understand you can find an attorney to argue any position in the world. I went to law school. And that doesn't mean that it has any merit to it. The law here is clear. It's NBA law. Owners buy franchises knowing that there are a set of rules and restrictions. She doesn't have a case. What happens is they vote and terminate Donald's peripheral interests don't matter and league is running the franchise and they already put Richard Parsons, the CEO of Time Warner, former CEO, in place and it was a very popular move.

COSTELLO: Very popular move. OK. Marc, let's go back to Donald Sterling's interview. Because I asked Anderson Cooper why do you think he sat down to talk with you and what could he say? And Anderson told me that Donald Sterling wanted to -- he wanted to apologize. He -- he seemed sincere but he keeps bringing up Magic Johnson and it's really strange.

HILL: Yes it's a bizarre thing here. Because on one hand he does seemed sincere and I suspect that if you were to hook him to a polygraph machine and ask him if he was racist, it would turn out he's not lying. He actually does not believe that he's racist. He actually sees himself as an ordinary person who is just operating within the confines as he put of the culture.

The problem is his behavior betrays his words. We can go all the way back to the 80s we can into the 90s and we can look into the 2000s and every decade there's been a major race based case or crisis around Donald Sterling's life personally and his career. That's a big issue here.

Donald Sterling sees a disconnect between what he says and what he does. I don't think the court of public opinion agrees with him and I think every day people also don't agree with that sentiment.

I think he's pained right now. I think he's embarrassed. I think he's ashamed. I think -- but he also -- I also think it's difficult for him to separate that feeling he has right now from the broader set of feelings he has about black people and brown people and other people.

COSTELLO: Leigh, Shelly Sterling says that her husband is suffering from early onset dementia. Is she saying that because she truly believes it do you think or she's saying that as a way to hold onto the team?

STEINBERG: I think the latter. How kind of a wife to characterize her long-term husband as suffering from dementia. This gets curiouser and curiouser like they said in "Alice in Wonderland". It almost takes the place of prime time or daytime soap and drama.

I truly believe him when he says he doesn't remember making those statements. It's a one -- one discussion out of many, many discussions and I agree with our other panelists that he doesn't think he's a racist. He's reflecting some of the racial norms he's 80 years old. A long, long time ago. The whole society has changed. What we accept is different and race is a very toxic concept.

But the point is that the league granted Donald Sterling the right to own the team. Not Shelly Sterling. And if she were to apply for -- to be the owner, she would have to undergo the same background checks and owners would have to vote for her. So it's Donald Sterling's team. The California of marital assets doesn't have anything to do with it.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

STEINBERG: He gets paid when they sell the team. She'll get paid her share.

COSTELLO: Marc Lamont Hill and Leigh Steinberg, thank you so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

HILL: Pleasure.

COSTELLO: Be sure to watch Anderson's full interview with Donald Sterling tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some 66 days after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, search teams now raising questions about those once promising pings. Were they really from those black boxes?

We'll talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Some two months after Flight 370 disappeared, the company that had the last known contact with the plane well via satellite is now offering to track global airlines for free. INMARSAT says the offer applies to some 11,000 commercial passengers planes all of which are equipped with the firm's satellite technology. INMARSAT made the proposal to the International Civil Aviation Organization before the group's conference on aircraft tracking this week.

The focus on tracking flights comes as "The Wall Street Journal" reports that searchers increasingly believe those pings detected on April 8th in the South Indian Ocean did not come from the missing plane's black boxes. Those pings helped focus mission for search teams while giving hope to families that wreckage from the plane would be found.

Also today the Ocean Shield and the Bluefin-21 submersible will return to the area to resume their work deep below the ocean surface. The Australian official in charge of the search talked with CNN about the next steps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that something could be found within the next month?

ANGUS HOUSTON, HEAD, JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CENTER: I guess what we're doing is pursuing the lead that we have at the moment and we need to pursue that lead to its conclusion. If we find something I'll be overjoyed. If we don't, we'll go on to the next phase of the search.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Joining me now to talk about this: Jeff Wise, CNN aviation analyst, science writer and author of "Extreme Fear"; and David Soucie CNN safety analyst, former FAA inspector and author of "Why Planes Crash?" Welcome, gentlemen.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Hi.

JEFF WISE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Hello.

COSTELLO: Hi OK David we have to talk about what "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting this morning. So the pings detected on April 8th, "Wall Street Journal" says their sources say those pings may not be related at all to the missing flight, to those black boxes. The pings on April 5th might be. Can you kind of parse that out for us?

SOUCIE: Well it's interesting this information that came out today about the fact that the second set of pings on April 8th were only 27 kilohertz. We were already questioning and Jeff Wise has been questioning all along that 33 megahertz frequencies that we got or kilohertz frequencies that we got on the pings number one and two.

So this puts into question a couple of different things in my mind. One is why did this information not come out before and two, is again are they questioning or they actually doing these searches because they think this is from the airplane? From what we are hearing, they don't. There are other things that might be creating these sounds and it's very disturbing to me the fact that they are going back out with Bluefin doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

COSTELLO: Well Jeff, let's talk a little bit more about this. Because what I got from this article, the pings they picked up on April 8th were short in nature and didn't sound quite right as David said. The pings they picked up on April 5th though were sustained for more than two hours.

WISE: Yes. I mean, that itself can be problematic. I'm sorry are you asking me?

COSTELLO: Yes, I am.

WISE: OK.

SOUCIE: Go ahead, Jeff.

WISE: You know, that itself is problematic. Because these -- these pingers only have a limited power output which means that they can only be detected from a certain distance away depending on who you ask anywhere from half mile to one mile maybe two miles. And so if the ship is moving along for two hours that would imply perhaps that the pinger also is moving. It's very strange.

There are different ways to parse this. But just to reinforce what David was saying, I agree absolutely with him. It's absolutely baffling that they are now coming out with this information that would really cast doubt on why they brought up and thought that the pings were from the black box in the first place if the frequency was so different. Why are we hearing about this now?

COSTELLO: It's a good question. So David is it a waste of time for them to send the Bluefin back down?

SOUCIE: You know, at this point they're doing this as Angus Houston said in that interview previous to this, he said we're going after that lead. I think what his meaning is that's the only lead they have. There is no other lead. If that isn't from the boxes, I think at this point they committed to it and they do have to go back and keep searching especially where that long ping was up top because they really have no other choice other than to start searching the entire southern arc and possibly the northern arc because INMARSAT data itself hasn't been released and we haven't had a second set of eyes verify that either.

COSTELLO: So Jeff why not bring in new technology now?

WISE: Well, you know, as David is saying, it's not so much the question of using new technology to search the ocean bottom better. The question is it even on this patch of ocean bottom or indeed on any ocean bottom?

You know, we really have to go back to first principles and I -- listen the INMARSAT people are no doubt very smart people working with highly-sophisticated equipment but, you know, until we really understand what they're doing, it's hard to really vouch for efficacy of their approach.

COSTELLO: Jeff Wise, David Soucie -- thanks for your insight as usual.

Still to come, a massive wildfire in Texas has already destroyed close to 100 homes. Even more homes now in danger. Indra Petersons is following it for us. Good morning.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning Carol. We're going to talk about the dangerous conditions attributed to that fire yesterday. All the details are going to be coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Take a look at that. Parts of the central U.S. could see more tornadoes spawning storms today. Storm chasers caught this tornado as it marched across southeastern Nebraska yesterday. The powerful storm ripped off roofs and toppled trees and power lines. In Missouri, residents are cleaning up from their own round of severe weather. The state's governor declared a state of emergency after a tornado tore through Saturday. Residents are being told to stay alert and listen to weather warnings.

Right now firefighters in the Texas panhandle are working to control a massive blaze north of Amarillo; close to 100 homes have been destroyed. Hundreds of residents have now been evacuated. Officials say the blaze is about 75 percent contained but warn more evacuations might be necessary.

Let's check in with Indra Petersons. That's terrible.

PETERSONS: I mean just take a look -- Carol. Actually yesterday afternoon you could actually see that very strong frontal system did make its way through the region. The winds were shifting right around the time the fire started and that wasn't even the worst.

Let's talk about conditions they saw yesterday during this time period. Temperatures were into the upper 90s. We're talking about humidity down to single digits -- only 5 percent at the time. In addition to that, we're talking about winds gusting as high 41 miles per hour. So really every condition possible that favorable for fire development was out there.

Today the humidity will rebound slightly. That's the good news -- temperature wise you're going to see a nice drop. But the winds are still expected to kick up especially as you go through the afternoon again today. That's going to be the biggest concern out there for firefighters in addition to just the dry fuel that is out there. You take a look right around Amarillo -- they're actually in an exceptional drought, the highest category in the region. That only fuels those fires and those flames that are already out there. The biggest news that we have that's on the upside here is the temperature difference. Remember yesterday you saw those temperatures into the upper 90s.

Today at least a 30-degree temperature drop and it should stay that way for the next several days. Of course, you still have dry brush out there and even some strong winds they're going to have to combat as well. But at least the temperatures are down -- Carol.

COSTELLO: At least. Indra Petersons, many thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a short-lived celebration at the top of the world. What happened to this climber after reaching the top of Mount Everest? The amazing story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: To set foot on Mt. Everest is to risk death but nothing could have prepared one American climber when he made it to the top of the world's tallest mountain. In his new book, "Blind Descent", Brian Dickinson describes what happened after he lost his vision on the dangerous summit while all by himself and running out of oxygen he was forced with the option to die or somehow find a way down.

Dickinson spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his amazing story. It's today's "American Journey".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You were climbing with sherpa who had to -- he got sick before you made the summit. What happened?

BRIAN DICKINSON, AUTHOR, "BLIND DESCENT": Yes. So at about 28,000 feet, we had a conversation. He was not feeling well. And we were the only two people above basically the death zone, at the 26,000 feet which is very rare on Everest these days.

COOPER: So you had a discussion with him. What did you decide?

DICKINSON: He said he wasn't feeling well. And at that moment, I had to make a decision. I'm going to solo Mt. Everest, solo the summit which is very rare.

COOPER: Yes. People don't do that.

DICKINSON: No.

COOPER: So how far did you have to go alone?

DICKINSON: The last thousand feet.

COOPER: Wow.

DICKINSON: Yes.

COOPER: And when you finally made it to the summit, was it everything you thought?

DICKINSON: I think you ask anyone who made the summit, they're probably going to give you a different response. I was completely alone so it was very surreal. I was trying to take it in. I made a radio call down. People below me were really excited. It was hard to process it, you know. It took, two months to get there and then I was there and I didn't have much time to really take it all in and then I had to start heading down.

COOPER: You had some problem with your equipment going up. You had broken your goggles -- is that right?

DICKINSON: Going up, I had actually dropped my goggles when I was taking my oxygen off to get a drink of water. And they cracked and I ended up having to rip an internal lens out which I didn't realize at the time, you know, cut them in half basically.

COOPER: And that -- I mean explain why you need goggles up there.

DICKINSON: Because there's only a third of the air and a third of the ozone. As soon as the sun comes out, it banks off the eyes and it will fry your corneas and you go snow blind.

COOPER: And that's actually what happened to you?

DICKINSON: Yes. So --

COOPER: When did you realize -- when did you realize you were starting to be blind?

DICKINSON: So with snow blindness when it happens, it happens. There's no turning back. You can be affected the day prior and then it just happens. So as soon as I got to the summit, I took some pictures. I was heading down and then a couple steps into it everything just went bright white.

COOPER: You couldn't see at all.

DICKINSON: Couldn't see at all.

COOPER: And your eyes were in pain as well?

DICKINSON: Yes. It feels like scratching the inside of your eyelids. It's very painful. Not like blind where everything is black. It's snow blind. Everything is bright white.

COOPER: You are all alone. Just been on the top of Mt. Everest, you're probably exhausted and suddenly you're blind. What do you -- how do you get through that?

DICKINSON: The first thing I did as soon as I realized I was snow blind, I'm at the summit, I drop down, grabbed the rope the I was attached to and just assessed the situation. Like I'm blind at the highest point in the world and I'm completely alone. No one is coming to get me.

And the whole time I was there I just -- I felt this presence. It would be like if you closed your eyes, you know, that there's a peaceful presence the whole time. I never really felt alone.

COOPER: Can you explain that more? What do you mean you didn't feel alone?

DICKINSON: I never felt alone. I felt like there was someone there with me the whole way up and down actually.

COOPER: How long did the snow blindness last for?

DICKINSON: I didn't fully get my eyesight back for about a month and a half.

COOPER: A month and a half -- wow. Has this changed you? This experience?

DICKINSON: Yes, I mean definitely. It definitely puts things in perspective.

COOPER: It's incredible. It's a great story. Brian -- thank you so much for being with us.

DICKINSON: Yes. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Glad he made it down. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"@THIS HOUR WITH BERMAN AND MICHAELA" starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Donald Sterling in his own words. Finally telling his side of the story and telling it exclusively to CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD STERLING, OWNER, L.A. CLIPPERS: I'm wrong. I caused the problem. I don't know how to correct it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: Then, the faces of some of those school girls kidnapped in Nigeria. This just released video comes with demands from the terrorists who captured more than 200 girls. What will it take for Boko Haram to set these girls free?

BERMAN: And coordinator leading the search for missing Flight 370 defends where searchers are looking despite a new report questioning two of the pings heard underwater last month.