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Will Donald Sterling Fight NBA?; California Wildfires; General Motors Fined

Aired May 16, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And here we go, hour two. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We have to begin with Southern California. Firefighters there are finally making some headway on just monster brushfires. At least three of nearly a dozen wildfires raging in San Diego County are under control at this hour, but look at this for yourself.

The smoke here continues to blanket neighborhoods. It's just unreal for so many thousands of people who live in this part of the country. And the damage is equally ominous, estimated to be in the $200 million neighborhood thus far.

Dozens of homes have been destroyed, more than 20,000 acres scorched. And when you talk to people who are around the flames, who are hearing this firsthand, they describe it to us as almost like a series of bombs going off.

As of today, at least one person has died. The cause of all these fires is still under investigation.

But you see this young man? Nineteen-year-old Isaiah Silva, he is one of two teens arrested yesterday in connection with two new brushfires. As of now, they have not been linked to other larger fires.

Let's take you live to San Marcos to CNN's Ted Rowlands.

And, Ted, it was this time yesterday that we were -- tossed out our show and just stayed with the fire there in San Marcos. And here you stand on what remains.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

And the sad part of it is this side here, where you have the devastation, some homes lost, only a handful. Firefighters did an amazing job, Brooke, when you take a look at that video from yesterday and then you look at how many homes were lost, just a few. It is really remarkable.

Today, it's a different story, a lot of airdrops. You see a helicopter behind me right now in the air. They have been able to, because of the weather conditions, at this fire.

Seneca Smith is with the United States Forest Service.

What a good day so far, but we are seeing some hot spots.

SENECA SMITH, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Correct. And that's exactly what the operational objective is right now is to identify the hot spots and get mop-up and water drops to the areas.

ROWLANDS: What a difference, boy, from yesterday at this time to today.

SMITH: Large difference.

ROWLANDS: It was amazing, the intensity, the fire, the smoke, and the devastation.

SMITH: Yes. We can actually thank the weather for that, slightly lower temperatures and slightly R.H.es, relative humidity.

ROWLANDS: Looking forward, do you have your hands around this now?

SMITH: We're working on it. As you know, it has become somewhat of a unified command. Several agencies have come together to come up with a new game plan. There's damage assessment in place right now to get a count of structures. We don't have that right now. But we are working on that.

And we're working on containment and identifying the hot spots and making sure this thing doesn't spread any more than it has.

ROWLANDS: All right, good news is Mother Nature is coming to their aid. And then you mentioned the other part of the equation, the investigation. How did these fires start? Arson, obviously, Brooke, is on the table.

BALDWIN: That's right. Ted Rowlands, thank you so much.

Talking to the fire chief of San Marcos last hour, he said to me they have their hands around at least 10 percent of it, 10 percent the San Marcos fire contained.

But now to some pictures you have to see. These two colleagues, two co-workers drove past these flames and even in parts it looks like they drove through it. This is long before police and firefighters even arrived on the scene. Two friends in a car took a look at the Carlsbad wildfires. Orange flames just covered the sky and quickly they realized this wildfire was precisely that. It was wild. It was out of control.

So, they raced back to their office, told everyone to get out right away, time, they said, to flee for you life, figure it out later.

So, here is their video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow, there it is right there. There it is right there (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Oh, my God. Oh, my God. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God, dude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) door to the back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You heard their voices. Let's see their faces here.

Jeb Durgin drove the car and Byron Baumann shot the video.

Guys, I'm glad both of you are OK. Welcome. And I don't know whose voice it was who we could hear saying my God, my God.

But I have to begin just asking why you were out there and so close to the fires.

JEB DURGIN, EYEWITNESS: Go ahead, Byron.

BYRON BAUMANN, EYEWITNESS: We were out there because I noticed a small plume of smoke and I could see it from our shop.

And Jeb here decided we should just take a truck up there and investigate it. We thought was a small brushfire. Within five to seven minutes of getting up there and seeing what was going on, it was a fully involved brushfire. And a lot of homes were in danger and it was just kind of uncontrolled chaos, really.

(CROSSTALK)

DURGIN: We thought if...

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Jeb.

DURGIN: Go ahead.

Oh, I was just thinking -- I was going to say we thought we had seen an incident. So, we thought maybe we could investigate it, see if we could help out at all. So, that was mainly the reason we drove up there, to check it out, see if we could help.

BALDWIN: What -- just looking at the video, you could almost hear the crackle of the fire out your window. What did it -- could you feel the heat with -- I don't know if your window was down or not, but could you hear, feel the heat from that distance?

DURGIN: Absolutely.

Byron was actually on the side that could feel the heat the closest. He was on the side that obviously was filming. I was on the driver's side. And it was hot. Man, there is nothing hotter than -- I would say the only thing hotter than the fires in San Diego right now is the real estate market in San Diego right now. It was just blazing hot. You could not feel it any warmer.

What's your opinion?

BAUMANN: Yes, the -- it was definitely intense.

I kind of said this morning if you liken it to standing next to a campfire and seeing how hot that is, and times that by 100. The heat is just extremely intense. And the noise of the fire was extremely loud. I kind of liken it to the roar of a lion. The fire definitely is letting you know that it is there and you need to run.

BALDWIN: We know you guys did go turn around, told your co-workers to get out. And you all left as well.

And I know that this is Carlsbad. We have talked a lot about Carlsbad this week, because a lot of homes are gone. And did I hear one of you listening to the video? Did I hear one of you say, my house is right there? How are your homes?

BAUMANN: We both live close to the coast, so our homes were not in danger.

BALDWIN: Good.

BAUMANN: And obviously we feel kind of bad saying that, because there were people that lost a lot and it has been devastating for some, for sure.

But, yes, we're OK. We were far enough away. We just -- we were evacuated from our work building because it was, you know, within less than a quarter of a mile of the blaze and they wanted everybody in that area out of there. So, that is why we got out of there.

DURGIN: Yes, the biggest thing really is when you look at these homes, you think about if -- the homes could be replaced, the sticks and bricks could be replaced. The things you start worrying about is all the sentimental things, the children that have the small gift that was given to them from grandpa and sentimental things, that is really what you start thinking about when you see these homes going up, is I hope they get out OK.

Everything else could be replaced. Please get the things that are of value out.

BALDWIN: I know.

We were looking at someone going through a home yesterday just seeing sort of charred remains of a very old photo album.

DURGIN: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: But, as you pointed out, really, it's your lives.

Jeb Durgin and Byron Baumann, thank you so much. Glad you two and your families hopefully are OK.

DURGIN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next: Magic Johnson, Magic Johnson suggests that Donald Sterling go quietly into the night, but Sterling is not listening to that, because we are now hearing that the L.A. Clippers owner will sue the NBA. Huh. So, what changed since Anderson Cooper's exclusive interview and exactly how will Sterling fight?

Plus, General Motor's mistake is tied to the deaths of more than a dozen people, but breaking today the company revealed it is paying a fine. And the amount is raising eyebrows.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: As the sports pundits predicted, and he himself hinted, Donald Sterling has let loose his lawyer and will fight to keep his L.A. Clippers.

"Sports Illustrated": reports antitrust litigator Maxwell Blecher has sent a letter to the NBA saying Sterling is not only threatening to sue the league, but he says he is not going to pay that max penalty, that $2.5 million fine that the league is demanding from him for his racist rant.

A source tells "Sports Illustrated" that letter says Sterling has not done anything wrong. But if that's the case, why did Sterling apologize when he sat down with our own Anderson Cooper? Because you can count how many times Sterling says he messed up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD STERLING, OWNER, LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS: I made a terrible, terrible mistake. Am I entitled to one mistake in my -- after 35 years? I made a mistake. I hope it's in their heart to forgive me for that mistake. I'm a good member who made a mistake, and I'm apologizing and I'm asking for forgiveness. It's a terrible mistake. And I will never do it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's bring in sports agent Drew Rosenhaus and David Aldridge, contributor of NBA TV and NBA.com and has covered the NBA for 27 years.

So, David, let me begin with you.

My first question is, do you think Donald Sterling sat down with Anderson and did this interview the other night assuming he would mea culpa, mea culpa, and he would ultimately be forgiven, therefore, court of public opinion, hey, keep the Clippers? Or do you think he always had this notion, I'm going to fight?

DAVID ALDRIDGE, TNT SPORTS: Oh, I think he always was going to fight, Brooke.

I don't -- I don't -- this is not a guy that is shy about being in court. Even with former employees -- several of the Clippers coaches have had to take him to court to try to get money that they felt they were owed after they were fired that he didn't pay for whatever reason.

So, he -- you talk about the housing discrimination lawsuits he's had over the years. He is a lawyer. He doesn't mind being in court. I don't think anybody in the league or outside of the league was surprised at all that he has decided to try this in court and see what happens.

BALDWIN: Because it seemed initially from some of the sound bites we were playing, people were saying maybe he wouldn't fight. But I think I'm with you on that.

Drew, to you. From a sports perspective, working as an agent, listen, you work with, I imagine, some stubborn athletes and folks in the sports world. How do you, if you were advising Sterling or you advising one of your clients, how do you talk someone out of a fight you know they can't win?

DREW ROSENHAUS, SPORTS AGENT: I'm glad he's not my client. But if he was, I would absolutely disagree with his approach.

I think at this stage, the best thing for him is to sell his team, take his billions of dollars, and move away from sports in general, spend his time trying to make good by giving to charities and getting involved and helping minorities and people that are not as fortunate as he is.

This is a farce for him to fight this and make it a big story and refuse to comply. He knows he's not going to win. The NFL obviously has enough documentation to enforce this. He's just going to waste a lot of people's money. I guess he's got money to burn. I guess he's a billionaire.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I think he's got a little bit of cash in reserve, it sounds like.

But, David, let's just play the hypothetical, to your point, that because of his litigiousness, he fights this thing. Come fall, everyone is playing ball again and he still owns the Clippers. What do you think Doc Rivers and the players should do? Should they -- what's the bigger message, say, see you later, we're out, or we're not going to play, or stay put?

ALDRIDGE: Well, look, Brooke, everybody has got to make their own individual decision about that.

Nobody has had to deal with this ever in the history of the NBA or any sport, for that matter. And so it would be -- I would never want to assume what other people should do.

BALDWIN: Sure.

ALDRIDGE: It would be hard for me to work for an organization where Donald Sterling is the owner. It would be difficult for me, given what he has said in the last few weeks.

And I think that what will be interesting is this summer, the Clippers, now that they have been eliminated and they're are out of the playoffs, they have a number of players who are free agents that will have the option to stay there or to leave and sign somewhere else.

BALDWIN: Right.

ALDRIDGE: And other free agents will have the option to go to the Clippers or sign somewhere else.

It will be very curious -- I will be very curious to see what players do this summer, because the players will set the tone. If you see an exodus of free agents from the Clippers, people not signing there, people who don't want to be there, then I think you will have a critical mass that could lead to something down the road. But if it was business as usual...

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Drew. Go ahead.

ROSENHAUS: As an agent, David, I was going to jump in and say, as an agent, I know that my clients that I have talked to would not be interested in playing for an owner like Donald Sterling. I do think there is going to be an exodus.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: But other players I have talked to say it's a job and when you're offered a job with all of those zeros, you play.

ROSENHAUS: Well, if it's optional, and you can go play for another team, and you can play for other owners and you can go someplace else, that's going to be your last resort.

(CROSSTALK)

ROSENHAUS: Of course, these guys have to provide for their family, but the L.A. Clippers are going to be the last place anyone wants to play as long as Donald Sterling owns that team.

As an agent, as a player, you're going to shy away from he and that organization as long as he's the owner.

BALDWIN: OK.

ROSENHAUS: I'm getting fired up here. I'm losing my IFB.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: I feel you. So, I'm going to wrap this up. I wish we had more time, but something tells me we will be talking again in the coming months.

Gentlemen, David Aldridge and Drew Rosenhaus, thank you, thank you, thank you for that.

Coming up, he is the controversial man who is about to lead more than one billion people, but he's not even allowed into the United States, at least not yet.

Plus, you will see the highlights of Barbara Walters' final day on "The View" and one of my own colleagues tells me what she's like when the cameras aren't rolling. Don't miss that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: General Motors is paying a big price for a late recall of those defective ignition switches. The Detroit automaker has agreed to pay a $35 million fine.

The company delayed its ignition switch recall for 10 years, before finally ordering one in February. And, again, I mean, that may sound like a lot of money here, but keep in mind we're talking about 2.6 million vehicles. Those ignition defects have been tied to at least 13 deaths.

Let's go to business correspondent Alison Kosik, who is live at the New York Stock Exchange.

And, Alison, to my point, like $35 million, it's a lot of money, but is that really a lot of money for GM?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. It's not a lot of money to GM.

Well, first of all, just so you know, this money is not going to the victims. It's actually going right to the U.S. Treasury. And here's why, because what this is, is, this is a settlement with the government. And it's not over the faulty switches, but for GM delaying ordering that recall, sitting on its hands for 10 years.

And, yes, that $35 million is really just a drop in the bucket. It's less than 1 percent of what GM made in the past year. But that $35 million is actually the maximum penalty that the law allows.

Now, the Department of Transportation wants to raise that maximum, but it's not going to happen for GM. So, that $35 million is going to stick. Now, earlier today, there was a press conference where the press secretary said these deaths didn't have to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FOXX, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Crashes happened and people died. Had GM acted differently, perhaps some of this tragedy might not -- might have been averted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: A little irony in this for you, Brooke.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration happens to be the very agency that is slapping this fine on GM, but this is the very agency that is being questioned for how it dragged its feet in saying something sooner.

Now, NHTSA representatives did appear before Congress in April. The agency was blamed for not ordering the recall sooner. So, clearly, there is a lot of finger-pointing going on. For its part, GM put out a statement actually from CEO Mary Barra saying: "We have learned a great deal from this recall. We will now focus on the goal of becoming an industry leader in safety."

So, what GM has begun to do is created a vice president of global safety. It has hired more safety investigators. It is even going back and checking any issues and ordering more recalls now. So, it's being extra careful to sort of dot its I's and cross its T's at this point.

BALDWIN: OK. Alison Kosik, thank you.

Coming up next, she has interviewed world leaders and celebrities and newsmakers for more than 50 years. And, today, Barbara Walters retired from "The View."

What was she like off camera? We will talk to one of my colleagues who knows exactly that answer.

Also ahead, do you know who this man is? You see, today, this man claims victory in India's election for prime minister, but right now he's not even allowed to enter the United States. We will explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Bottom of the hour. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

And it is looking as though Washington may have taken a bow to reality. Just a short time ago, the White House confirmed what CNN has been reporting, that the United States will essentially lift a ban that bars Narendra Modi from stepping on U.S. soil.

And now just within the past five minutes, we are told the president personally called him.

And I hear you. Who am I talking about? This man. Let's take a look at his picture together, Narendra Modi, as of today, prime minister- elect of India, the world's second most populous nation. He is pretty assertive as well, a force to be reckoned with potentially, but why, you ask, has he been banned from Washington?

Well, the answer is because he governed a state in India where anti- Muslim riots raged back in 2002 and he was suspected of allowing them to happen, more than 1,000 people killed, most of them Muslims.

CNN's Becky Anderson is live with me now from New Delhi.

And, Becky, let me just begin with the past troubles between Modi and Washington. What, if anything, does the U.S. have to fear from this man?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you wouldn't want to make an enemy of this man, let me tell you.

On the point that you raised about those riots back in 2002 and the reason that the U.S. revoked his visa, he has always denied those allegations and was cleared here in India by the Supreme Court, but you are absolutely right to point out that he has not today, to date, got a visa to enter the United States.