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L.A. Reacts to Sterling Apology; Searchers Increasingly Doubtful About Validity of Some Pings in Flight 370 Search; Hillary Clinton Talks About Mother in New Memoir; Michael Sam Becomes First Openly Gay NFL Player; Brooke Baldwin Commencement Speech

Aired May 12, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Donald Sterling wants America to know he's not a racist. He said so during his first TV interview since his racist comments he made in private went public.

So, in this exclusive one-on-one with our own Anderson Cooper, Sterling also tried to apologize for disparaging remarks he made about NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and African-Americans.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD STERLING, L.A. CLIPPERS OWNER: I'm not a racist.

I made a terrible, terrible mistake. And I'm here with you today to apologize and to ask for forgiveness for all the people that I have hurt. And I have hurt so many people, so many innocent people.

And I have hurt myself. You know, I spoke to a girl that I was fond of. When I listen to that tape, I don't even know how I could say words like that. And I'm so sorry. And I'm so apologetic.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, "AC 360": What are you sorry about?

STERLING: Well, I'm sorry that so many people are hurt. I never dreamt that this could happen. It's a terrible, terrible nightmare.

My players, they didn't need this. They didn't need this cloud over their head. And they're good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Make sure you tune in tonight, 8:00, for the entire interview.

And you see this guy on your screen? Magic Johnson. So when this whole story unfolded, Magic said he would never go to a Clippers game as long as Sterling was the owner.

But here he was, just yesterday, Game Four, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. What could this be about?

Johnson is rumored to be one of the parties interested perhaps, perhaps in buying the Clippers.

Let's bring in CNN's Stephanie Elam who's outside the Staples Center, where very shortly Dick Parsons is set to hold his first press conference since being named interim CEO of the Clippers.

Stephanie, let me get to that in a minute. You're in L.A. You're talking to folks. What is your reaction to this apology?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have heard two things. One, that why did it take a couple of two weeks before Donald Sterling made any kind of apology, so why did it take so long?

I've also heard people saying that he does seem sincere with what he's saying, that he does seem to be apologetic.

And the other thing that they're wondering is just how much of this is involved in his desire to hold onto the team. And so that's what a lot of people are wondering, how that's going to play out, Brooke.

BALDWIN: To the Dick Parsons -- this is the first-ever press conference since he's been named. Do we have any idea what he might be saying?

ELAM: We do know that the head coach for the Clippers, Doc Rivers said that he has spoken to Dick Parsons and said that Mr. Parsons said he was going to focus on the basketball -- I mean, on the business and that Doc Rivers said he was going to focus on the basketball, and that they were going to divvy it up that way.

What will be interesting to hear is how plans on attacking this problem that has become pervasive for the Clippers franchise, and how to separate what's going on with Sterling from actually getting the business of basketball handled, day in, day out.

So that's what we're looking to hear from Mr. Parsons when he speaks here today.

BALDWIN: We'll be watching for it on CNN. We'll be watching for you, as well.

Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles, thank you so much.

And as I mentioned a moment ago, we've just been playing snippets of this interview. You have to tune in, 8:00 tonight, "AC 360," for the entire, exclusive one-on-one with Donald Sterling.

Just ahead, though, Michael Sam, becoming the first openly gay football player drafted into the NFL, it was an emotional moment, followed by a kiss with his boyfriend. Here you go.

But just wait until you hear how some of his colleagues reacted to that. Also ahead, Hillary Clinton, candid, in what's expected to be a revealing new memoir, we have a snippet on the one person she says inspires her to keep pushing, each and every day.

Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we are now, nine weeks since Malaysia Air Flight 370 vanished and some new reports show there may be a break in the confidence that searchers have been looking in the right place.

This just in, as well, here, a source now tells CNN that U.S. experts are being called in to take a second look at the ping data.

Remember there had been those four instances in which teams picked up these alleged pings, beacon noises, from what everyone had hoped was coming from the plane's black box.

So the news today from "The Wall Street Journal" that a senior Australian navy officer says searchers are, quote, "increasingly suspect that some of those pings weren't from the black boxes at all."

CNN aviation correspondent Rene Marsh is here to explain this to us. And now, Rene, with the news that the U.S. is being called in to listen to the pings.

I don't know if that that's a solid lead that tells us whether these are actually from the black boxes or not.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Right. We just learned this from a U.S. Navy source, Brooke, that the U.S. Navy has shared this pinger data with a couple of U.S. agencies, as well as consultants, for reanalysis.

Of course the question has been raised, were those pinger sounds really from the black boxes?

Well, this afternoon, we know that U.S. agencies and consultants listening to the sounds, they are reanalyzing the data. These are a fresh set of eyes and ears.

Meantime, we are learning that "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting doubt is coming from, of all places, the people searching for the missing plane.

Now according to the paper, an Australian naval official says that after further analysis of the second set of pings detected on April 8th that has led authorities to doubt were they actually from something that was manmade, meaning they're not quite sure that it was from the black boxes.

They said based on refined acoustic analysis there is increased doubt that the pings were from a manmade device.

And that pretty much gels with what a U.S. Navy source has been telling CNN for weeks. They always said that they have had greater confidence in pings one and two than they did in pings three and four, yet they will still go back and search that entire area, Brooke.

BALDWIN: So is it then just a few of the pings that they're casing doubt on, or all of the possible pings?

MARSH: Right, well, it sounds like, based on this U.S. Navy source we know on our end, that ping one and two that was detected, they were both detected on April 5th. That's the very first set of pings. There's a higher degree of confidence of those pings.

Then you remember, three days later, April 8th, there were pings three and four. They're not as confident about those pings, Brooke.

BALDWIN: One more question, because we know our correspondent with CNN, Anna Coren, she just sat down and interviewed the leader of the search effort, Angus Houston.

How did he comment about the possible doubts over the ping?

MARSH: Well, you know, I saw Anna's interview, and she asked him what the next steps were going to be.

We should say that he was not reacting directly to this report about doubts in whether these pings are actually from the black boxes.

That being said, you do sense that he plans on seeing this through. Take a listen to what he said about the search and how it will move forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you think that something could be found within the next month?

ANGUS HOUSTON, HEAD, JOINT AGENCY COORDINATION CENTER: We are 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 will go on to the next phase of the search.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right, so there you hear it. They are going to keep on searching, and I guess with the lack of any other evidence they have no other choice.

But we do know that our crews there on the ground there in Australia, we are awaiting an update to get a response regarding these doubts revealed from an Australian naval officer.

So we'll get a response to that in this report, we believe, anywhere between this evening and tomorrow.

But, again, you know, fresh doubt is never good, because a lot of resources and manpower have been poured into searching for those black boxes.

BALDWIN: A lot of money.

MARSH: They thought those pings were from the black boxes.

BALDWIN: Rene Marsh, thank you.

Now we have it, the very first snippet to leak from Hillary Clinton's upcoming memoir involves the former first lady's mother.

In a passage possibly signaling another run for the White House, Hillary Clinton writes that her mother, were she alive today, would tell her, quote, "never quit" and, quote, "never stop working to make the world a better place."

And she revealed how her mother helped her through some of her toughest times.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE (voice-over): Having her so close became a source of great comfort to me, especially in the difficult period after the end of the 2008 campaign.

I'd come home from a long day at the Senate or the State Department, slide in next to her at the small table in our breakfast nook and let everything just pour out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Dorothy Rodham died in 2011 at the age of 92, and according to Hillary Clinton, was her greatest influence.

So Jake Tapper joins me now from Washington. He's up next with "THE LEAD," and, Jake Tapper, Dorothy Rodham, I think a lot of people don't really know this, but Hillary Clinton's mother actually did not grow up really comfortable, really easy, did she?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": No. She had what sounds like from Secretary Clinton's description in this excerpt a horrific life with her parents splitting and neither one of them wanting to take care of her or her sister.

She was sent to California where she had another really difficult life, ended up cleaning the homes, being basically a live-in maid for another family.

That woman insisted that she go to high school. Otherwise, she would not have had even a high school education.

What this all reminds us is, even though people have their impressions of Secretary Clinton, people think they know here, there's still a lot about her life that she doesn't feel like people know that will be part of her narrative as she tries to shape it in this post-Secretary of State ear, perhaps pre-presidential campaign era.

BALDWIN: Jake Tapper, quickly, what else you have coming up, my friend?

TAPPER: We're going to have a whip-around. You got those horrible fires in Texas, this new SARS outbreak -- or incident, I should say, in Florida.

We're going to have more on what's going on in Ukraine, that election. We have more on Nigeria. We'll be talking to one of the people at the State Department in charge of African policy.

And then we'll of course be talking to Anderson Cooper about his big get with Donald Sterling.

BALDWIN: Yeah, we'll all be watching, 8:00 tonight, "AC 360."

Mr. Tapper, thank you so much. We're watching you, of course.

TAPPER: Thanks, Brooke. Welcome back.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Good to be back from vacation.

TAPPER: We missed you.

BALDWIN: Thank you. I missed you so much. Thanks, Tapper.

Coming up here, Michael Sam becomes the first openly gay player drafted to the NFL. He was there with his boyfriend when he got the news.

They kissed, they hugged. But just wait until you hear how some current and former players reacted to this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: For three days, a question hung over the NFL draft. Would a team make history by choosing Michael Sam making him the first openly gay NFL player ever?

So then, as people were watching, with just eight picks before the end of the draft, this happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the 249th pick in the 2014 NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams select Michael Sam, defensive end, Missouri.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Moments later, viewers watched this as Michael Sam received the call he had waited possibly his whole life for, the Rams calling him up, telling he was possibly going to become a St. Louis Ram. And then the kiss and the hug in front of cameras with his boyfriend.

And then Twitter exploded. Listen, there was a lot of love and a lot of congratulations and some hate, as well.

One Miami Dolphins player, Don Jones, tweeting "OMG" and "horrible." Drafting Sam was an historic moment and one that reflected mainstream America's growing acceptance of homosexuality along, certainly, with some mixed emotions.

So let's talk about this with my friend and colleague, Don Lemon, and "Newsday" columnist Ellis Henican, so, gentlemen, welcome to both of you.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome back.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much. Vacation did me well, but I'm glad to have you both on.

Don, I just want to ask you, first. I mean, this was basically the end of the draft, so I can imagine he was very relieved.

I'm wondering about the kiss. He knew cameras were there. Do you think he and his boyfriend had thought about it, had thought about how they would react? Or was this entirely authentic?

LEMON: So I've been told -- when I saw it -- let me give you the back story.

BALDWIN: OK.

LEMON: When I saw it, I was a little bit taken aback. It was on a big screen. We were in a restaurant. I was like, Wow. I had just never seen that before on television, not that I thought it was bad, but I thought it was groundbreaking.

And so I called someone who knows him, is very close to Michael Sam, and he said Michael had all but given up on being drafted. It was almost the end of the draft. He was upstairs. He was almost inconsolable. And so he had almost given up.

And when he finally got that call, he ran downstairs to the phone, and his boyfriend was down that. And he said it was just a natural reaction from both of them, because he thought that, his, you know, his prospects of being drafted were over.

So it was natural. They were happy. He kissed a guy.

BALDWIN: He has quite the back story, also, though, with his family. He doesn't really have much family or those that he speaks to.

Is the boyfriend, could we say, some of the only, you know, not family but people who he loves in his life, currently?

LEMON: Here's the thing. He is -- he does not have a close relationship with his family. His family, you know, they do not approve of his sexuality, and so he's not close to them.

And that's typical of a lot of gay men. They're not close to their families, so what they do is they build a core of people around them that essentially become their families if their families don't accept them. And Michael Sam has done that. He's done that with, obviously, his boyfriend. He's done that with his agents and his managers. And so they have become his family.

So he doesn't have the family all there at the draft or in the living room who can sit around him, a sister and a brother or a dad or a mom, and, you know, smoochie smoochie, big hugs.

That's his family, so he was simply reacting with his family, and it's not surprising to me that a gay man would kiss another gay man, so --

BALDWIN: Well, it may not be to you, but when you hopped on Twitter or the Google list the next morning, if you type in Michael Sam, it was like the first thing that popped up, "Michael Sam the kiss."

And I wasn't surprised that Twitter reaction, social media, was mixed with positive and negative.

But with the negative, here in 2014, were you surprised by that?

ELLIS HENICAN, "NEWSDAY" COLUMNIST: Well, listen, here's where we are on this issue, I think.

If you ask people, including NFL players and football fans, in the abstract, at this point, I think most people would say, Yeah, if he's good enough to play, he deserves a place on the team.

But then when people actually start seeing it, it's one thing to say, oh, yeah, it's fine to have him here, but like when you actually watch him making out and hugging --

BALDWIN: The public display of affection.

HENICAN: Exactly. Doing the stuff that everybody else does, but when it's right there in the face, it's still jarring to an awful lot of people.

BALDWIN: Well , it may be jarring, but not only you had the kiss, but ESPN, they stayed. The kept going back and forth with the live feed, right? So there was --

LEMON: Can you blame them?

HENICAN: No. No.

BALDWIN: There was a cake at one point, and they're putting cake in each other's mouth. I guess we're not surprised. It was a TV moment.

HENICAN: Here's what we know, though. Guys, listen. Listen, this is the way we are all a little goofy at moments like this, right?

I mean, you look at the Academy Awards, you look at someone when people win a game and they're pouring champagne over each other's head.

The point of it is to be a little goofy and, yeah, it was a little, you know, kissy-kissy, but hey --

LEMON: But you have to --

HENICAN: -- what do you want? This isn't a reasonable moment.

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Don.

LEMON: So I think, you know, most television networks would stay with it. I'm sure we probably would have.

BALDWIN: Stay with it. Stay with it.

LEMON: It was actually history in the making, and I thought it was groundbreaking.

Listen, and also you have to remember these are young people, right? They're young people. Perhaps someone who is a little bit more mature may not have reacted that way.

And that's not to -- I'm not saying that's anything bad about what he did, but these are young people. They are celebrating. He thought he was a great football player and thought that it would be his career.

Then all of a sudden he thinks his career is over and then, at the last possible moment, he gets his career back. I'm not sure how I would have reacted, and I'm much older than him. So, you know, cut him a little bit of slack for being kids.

BALDWIN: Don, just curious, final thought to you, 30 seconds, do you think this could be -- you mentioned history being made, but a seminal moment for young people who are not quite out, fearful of coming out, this is something they're saying, OK, this guy is drafted to play potentially for the St. Louis Rams and he's making out with his boyfriend? This is OK.

LEMON: I think anyone who lives their own truth sets a good example for the world, and especially if you're -- you know, if you're living your truth, and you're not being discriminatory against anyone, I think it's good.

And I think young people will look at this and say, you know, it's not big deal. We're in the post-sort of gay era now with "Will & Grace," and I think young people are much more used to this than older folks who may be a little bit more progressive or are used to the world being a different way.

So I think young people will probably have an easier time with it than older people.

Is it groundbreaking? Yes. Will it help young people who may be coming out or consider coming out? Yes, I think it will.

BALDWIN: OK. Ellis Henican, Don Lemon, thank you both. And we'll be watching you, Don, talk about this and other things, tonight in primetime, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, here on CNN. And coming up after the break, something that was a total pinch-me moment, a personal moment that I experienced yesterday, we're just going to share a snippet with you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I wanted to share with you something before I go. I got to cross off a bucket-list kind of event over the weekend.

I was honored to be invited to my alma mater to speak to the class of 2014, and specifically, the graduates of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill journalism school. Go 'heels.

I was sitting in those same seats 13 years ago in my own Carolina blue robe. This for me yesterday was a total pinch-me moment, and so I stood before these beautiful young people, and I shared three stories with hopefully a little advice to take away in their journalism careers.

This is just part of the speech. This is story number three.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Little did I know that I would be in Boston for three weeks covering the investigation and the manhunt and helplessness and the healing, and I made it my mission for the next year to tell the story of Boston.

And I met some amazing people along the way. I covered this Boston Strong concert. I have interviewed James Taylor, twice. He loves this place. He's a wonderful man.

And this guy, he was one of the firefighters who responded. When everyone is running away from the explosions, this firefighter would be on the force for 41 years. He helped put the blanket over the youngest victim on Boylston Street and granted me his first and so far only interview.

And I'm still humble to this day that he took the time to talk to me about what the experience was like. And it still -- whew. These stories affect you here and they affect you here.

And I want you to know that whatever it is that you're covering or you're writing about or you're taking pictures of, it is not about you. It's about them.

I'm going to say that again. It's not about you. It's about them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Such an honor to be there. Thank you, UNC, Class of 2014, for inviting me, because I am still floating after the whole thing.

And if you'd like to watch the whole speech, which I would love you to do, go to CNN.com/Brooke.

Here with the final seconds of the show, look at all of that green. The Dow is up 116 points, closing here right around 16,700.

Obviously you can check the latest numbers on Wall Street. Go to CNN.com/Money.

And that is it for me here at the World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for tuning in.

And now we go to Washington. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts now.