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Fleet Week in NYC; NFL Lawsuit; NBA: Relevant Evidence was Destroyed; Fleet Week Ships Pass World Trade Center Site

Aired May 21, 2014 - 09:30   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy Harlow reporting for us this morning.

An annual tradition filled with great pageantry returns to New York this hour with the parade of ships arriving for Fleet Week. It always looks so beautiful. Hundreds of sailors and marines and coast guardsmen will receive a cannon salute as they pass by Fort Hamilton on Staten Island. CNN's Miguel Marquez drew the lucky straw. He's on board one of the ships.

Are you onboard that ship yet? It doesn't look like it. Oh, you are. Awesome.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, there is no better way to come into New York than on one of these ships. We're on the Coast Guard cutter Campbell right now, and you can see the Coast Guard personnel here. They are all on attention because they are about to render salute to Fort Hamilton that is coming up here in just a moment. There will be an 11-gun salute from there.

This is an exciting time for both the Coast Guard and the Navy because it's the first time -- last year they weren't able to do this because of budget cuts. They're all at attention now because they are about to render salute to Fort Hamilton. These ships will also then pay special salute to the World Trade Center as well.

There's three Navy ships, two Coast Guard ships. That's the Oak Hill right behind us, which is the transport ship. And right behind that is the USS McCall, which is a guided missile destroyer. Leading the parade here is the USS Cole. An incredibly exciting time for folks. The one thing I can tell you, though, before I leave - before I leave you, is that the big thing this weekend and this week during Fleet Week is to get a selfie with a sailor. So everybody in New York, time to get your selfie with a sailor. Very, very exciting.

Carol.

COSTELLO: I'll be expecting one in my inbox with you, Miguel, and some fine looking sailor. Thank you, Miguel Marquez. We'll get back to you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a group of ex-NFL players say the league put profits before their health. Now they're filing a huge lawsuit. Ed Lavandera is following the case.

Good morning, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, that lawsuit involves some of the biggest names in the history of the NFL and the lengths they went to, to stay on the football field are still staggering to read about. I'll have that story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right, this just in to CNN. As we told you earlier, President Obama is meeting with V.A. Secretary Eric Shinseki right now about that controversy swirling at V.A. hospitals across the country with those long wait lists leading to some patients' deaths. We were wondering if the president would come out later and talk about this. Well, we just found out he will indeed do that. 10:45 Eastern Time, President Obama will make a public statement on the controversy at the V.A. hospitals across the country. Of course, we'll carry that live.

In other news this morning, eight former players are now suing the National Football League claiming the league put profit over their health. The players say they were given huge amounts of pain killers during their career just so they could continue playing. One even played on a broken leg for an entire season and didn't even know about it because he was drugged. These players say they were never told about the side effects or the risks associated with these pills. And a lot of these players spent time in rehab for addiction after their football careers were over.

Ed Lavandera joins us now from Dallas, along with J.D. Hill. He's one of the former players named in the lawsuit. He's on the phone this morning.

So, good morning to both of you.

Ed, first of all, tell us more about this lawsuit.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the lawsuit involves eight named players, some of them from the high profile 1985 Chicago Bears team which included the flashing (ph) quarterback Jim McMahon and Richard Dent, but as well as some -- more than 500 other retired players. And, Carol, you know, if you followed football for any length of time, you know the length to which players and teams will go to, to get players onto the field.

But, still, when you read some of these stories, it's simply staggering. The stories of, as you mentioned, Keith Van Horn, who played on that Chicago Bears team, played with that broken leg. Richard Dent said that he played one game in 1983, a preseason game, so doped up on pain meds that he barely remembers playing.

COSTELLO: Oh.

LAVANDERA: He also talked about open jars of amphetamines in the locker rooms that any and all players could pick from. Trainers that would walk down the airplane aisle on the flight home from a game with briefcases full of pain meds, handing them out to players in the aisles. So, essentially the players are saying in this lawsuit that the NFL and its teams negligently and recklessly and in some cases illegally with the doses of these intense pain meds dulled them out to keep, in the words of this lawsuit, to keep the tsunami of dollars flowing for the NFL.

And, Carol, there's two real big themes here that go throughout the lawsuit and that is, the trainers and the doctors who work for the teams, the players calling into question that ethical relationship. Do they represent the teams, work for the teams, or do they have the players' best health interests in store for them? So that's one of the questions that they're looking at here.

And then the other thing is, is that a lot of these players say just because they retired doesn't mean that after years and years of taking these pain meds that they didn't keep needing them. In many cases, some of them became addicted to the pain meds and that didn't stop once they retired from the game.

COSTELLO: Right. And, J.D. Hill is one of those players.

J.D., tell us your story. While you were playing in the NFL, you know, you played part of your career for the Detroit Lions. Tell me about how many pills that you took.

J.D. HILL, FORMER NFL PLAYER (ph) (via telephone): Well, to give you an accurate account of that, it (ph) would be inaccurate at this time. But I -- the amount of pills that we were taking prior to the game, pills to go to sleep, pills to play, pills to play at half-time, pills after the game and, you know, no one ever told us about the effects of these drugs that we were getting. And, you know, some of the guys -- some of us drank beer and then after that they would give us these pills and then they would give us alcohol and that's stacking and they never told us about the long lasting effects of what it would do to us.

In fact, what ended up happening to me, after they put me out of the good old boy club and I was put out of the locker room, I'm on the streets, I'm with my family, I'm still in pain. They didn't say, hey, here's a list of doctors that you can go to, here's how you continue to take care of yourself. And so being in the pain, you know, my mindset was, I've got to get it somewhere. So I ended up going to street drugs, which ended up leading me to a full blown addiction for years. I was in and out of treatment facilities. And, you know, not only did I suffer, but my family suffered. And that's the other part that people don't realize is that the families of us athletes also go through this thing with us.

COSTELLO: And - that's just - because, you know, the pain doesn't leave once you leave the NFL. Your injuries are lingering. It's a tough game. And you say you became addicted. So why did you decide - why did you decide to --

HILL: I mean it's like -- it's like having a - it's like having a scar on your face, masking. You know you -- your profession is to be before the camera. And if you were to scar your face, you'd put makeup on and do your job. But then once your job, that particular segment is over, you wipe the makeup off, the scar is still there.

Same thing with athletes. The pain is still there. It was masking. All they were doing was putting us on the pill. We wanted to play. We had no idea what the repercussions would be. And so we were masking pain. But once the game was over, the pain was still there. So what happens? We're taking more pain killers, practice after practice, game after game.

COSTELLO: Why did you decide to sue now, J.D.?

HILL: Well, it became an opportunity that where we could have a voice, not only for myself -- this is not just about me. This is about the future. This is -- there are guys that have gone on that can't even tell their stories. And this is an opportunity that came forth. And you only have so many opportunities in life. And once you have an opportunity where you get a chance to make a difference, you take advantage of it. And I thank God that he gave me this opportunity to be part of this.

COSTELLO: Thank you for talking to us, J.D. Hill.

Ed Lavandera, one more question for you, how is the NFL responding to this lawsuit? Ed Lavandera's gone. OK. We're going to get the NFL statement in, I'm sure, in just a little bit.

Oh, Ed, what's the NFL saying about this?

LAVANDERA: Sorry about that, Carol. The NFL, we reached out to them yesterday. We have not heard. They said that they had not had a chance to see it, but that their lawyers would review the case. Remember, this is also another lawsuit and they're still dealing with the concussion lawsuit. There was the $765 million settlement in that case. That was rejected by the judge in that case. So, not only is this - this is added to on top of the lawsuit, the big lawsuit that they're dealing with in the concussion cases as well.

COSTELLO: All right, Ed Lavandera, thanks so much.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a new report reveals the NBA's case against Donald Sterling. The league alleges a cover-up attempt. Stephanie Elam is following that story for us.

Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Did Donald Sterling asking V. Stiviano to lie for him? Are Donald and Shelly as estranged as we have been told? We're going to take a look at these new allegations coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "Hey, lie for me." That's what Donald Sterling told V. Stiviano according to the NBA and reported by "The L.A. Times". Allegations of a cover up surrounding Sterling's racist comments surface as the league moves closer to a vote on forcing a sale of the Clippers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: My confidence level is high. We know we're doing the right thing. And I know I have the owners behind me. And the timing is laid out in the NBA constitution. We're following it to the letter in terms of numbers of days that Mr. Sterling has to respond and then when the hearing will be held. And as I said, I know we're doing the right thing here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN's Stephanie Elam live in Los Angeles to tell us more. Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. What we are hearing here is that the NBA, perhaps they knew they were in for a fight just as the Sterlings may have been setting up for a fight. But they are digging in their heels and they're sticking to their plans. They're saying that Donald Sterling has until Tuesday to respond with his side of the story. But all-in-all by June 3rd they are saying that they want this to be moved forward here with this process.

It's going to be a difficult one as we already know that Shelly Sterling for one has said that she wants to keep her 50 percent stake. And we now know that Donald Sterling is also saying he's going to fight.

Now there's been no comment from his lawyer. There's also these new allegations being reported by the "Los Angeles Times" that, in fact, Donald Sterling may have asked V. Stiviano to cover up the tapes and to say that it wasn't him actually on those recordings. They're also alleging that Shelly Sterling and Donald Sterling are not as estranged as they painted the picture to be, that they are still very much in contact and that they actually came together before that game in Oakland.

Now this was during the playoff series with the Golden State Warriors. That first games after these tapes came to light, that they were in San Francisco and that trying to figure out along with Andy Rozier, the CEO who's already been ousted from the Clippers to figure out how to handle this. And they put out a statement and making it sound like they weren't sure if it was in fact him when in fact they knew it was. This is the new allegations that are coming to light here.

And I have to tell you, Carol, I've heard from a lot of people that they did not believe that the Sterlings were as estranged as they've painted it to be and they have been telling us since this scandal came to light. So it's an interesting development here.

COSTELLO: It certainly is. Stephanie Elam reporting live from Los Angeles this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a spectacular New York show, a parade of ships marks the start of Fleet Week. Let's listen to the American bombshells. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: This morning in Nigeria there are still no claims of responsibility for the twin car explosions in a crowded marketplace. At least 118 people died but that death toll could rise as crews search through the wreckage. Nigeria's terrorism has been in the spotlight since last month's abduction of nearly 300 school girls.

Actually happening right now on Capitol Hill, the group behind those kidnappings, Boko Haram, goes under the microscope and their tales of brutality and horror get personal.

Just minutes ago we heard from a 15-year-old girl who was from that village where that boarding school was raided by those terrorists. She's the first female survivor of Boko Haram to visit Washington. And her nightmare is sure to resonate in a House Foreign Affairs hearing that's about to get under way.

CNN's Athena Jones is on Capitol Hill. Tell us more about his girl.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol. Well I just left the press conference that the chairman and ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee had with this young girl Deborah Peters. And you can tell it's going to be a very emotional day. They handed around a bit of her testimony that they are going to enter into the record because they don't want her to have her as this young girl having to appear in front of this large hearing.

But I wanted to play for you just a little bit more of what she said about the day three members of Boko Haram came into her house, killed her father and killed her brother. She spoke about what she wants to see people do to help find these kidnapped girls. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH PETERS, BOKO HARAM VICTIM: I want the government to know how much they are in our prayers and then I wanted to like maybe send someone to find the girls or maybe like help them for that people that lost their family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And so you might be able to tell that she was a little nervous there in front of a room of cameras and reporters. This is the second time she was telling her story today and so after this hearing that's getting under way, she's going to be meeting with a couple of congressmen and she's also going to meet I'm told with her therapist to talk about what she's gone through to help her to continue to get through this so that she can continue to talk to people and tell her story.

The purpose of the hearing, of course, is for the House Foreign Affairs Committee to get an update from the U.S. government about what's being done to try to help find these kidnapped girls and they also want to ask that the government do more. So that's the focus of this hearing today -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right we'll get back to you. Athena Jones reporting live this morning.

And here at CNN we're not giving up on these girls. We'll bring you the latest developments as this story unfolds. If you would like to help girls worldwide trying to overcome barriers to education, go to our Web site, the address CNN.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: The arrival of ships for Fleet Week is a time to celebrate in New York but the sailors, marines and coast guardsmen are also marking a somber moment as they pass the World Trade Center site before coming into port.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is onboard one of those ships, the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Campbell. Good morning, Miguel.

MARQUEZ: Yes I really drew a short straw there today there, Carol. So we are on the Campbell but there are three Navy ships and two Coast Guard ships taking part in Fleet Week this year. Very, very excited because they didn't do it last year because of the budget cuts. This is the first time they've been back. What better way to come into New York than to have Lady Liberty staring at you.

The city is right in front of us. We're about to go by the World Trade Center and when they do, they will render a salute there and there will be a very solemn moment where they will line the deck here and then they will bow their heads as they go by the World Trade Center. So that will be really interesting to watch.

This is Zachary Kean (ph) one of our hosts today, one of the many about 1,500 sailors, marines and Coast Guard members here. The big thing is #selfiewithasailor this year, is that right?

ZACHARY KEAN: Yes so we're very excited to be back in New York and very excited to be doing everything here being part of the greatest city in the world with the greatest Navy in the world. A great thing for everybody and everybody was taking pictures out this weekend, please use #fleetweekNYC and #selfiewithsailor and get our sailors out there.

MARQUEZ: Yes you'll know them because they're going to be wearing uniforms everywhere. And it's a great, great tradition. And they're happy to be back in New York. And it's going to be very cool. We are also -- the "USS Cole" is here. It may be the first time that it's been here. So we're going to get a closer look at that later on as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. We will get back to you. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.