Tornado is reportedly on the ground and its heading to the northeast at about 45 miles per hour. And ill show you exactly what were looking at. On the radar, were looking at something called a debris field. A lot of times when you get very large tornadoes, the debris field will actually be picked up on radar. Thats how you know this is a very dangerous situation. This is what we saw yesterday in arkansas so if you are just to the northeast of tupelo, you need to be very careful. That is the highest level that and its a serious situation crossing into alabama. If youre in northwest alabama, you need to be on the lookout as well. They move quickly so you get the warning. They come and go and then they are off to the next town. A lot of times you have to stay ahead of it and thats what it is important with the fastmoving storms. Jennifer, this is the same storm that struck arkansas yesterday . Yep, were seeing these storms fire up there is sunshine during the afternoon and it only creates more instability. As we become more unstable throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the early evenings hours, you could see large tornadoes, long track tornadoes like we saw yesterday and this could last throughout the nighttime hours as well be very alert as well. Hopefully you have a noaa radio. You cant see these tornadoes coming and thats when it becomes dangerous. When people go to bed at night. This system could be, quote, potentially catastrophic. When people most are running away, fred adare chases it. He is joining us right now on the phone and hes near tupelo, mississippi. Describe the conditions there. Have you spotted anything . Im actually just south of that aerial highway 45. We watched a rotating area go up towards tupelo which produced that tornado that ran through the town and weve got a couple of friends that say a half mile wide tornado ran through the western and northern sections of tupelo. Youve been in these situations many, many times before, brett. What does your gut instinct tell you about where this storm is going and what is going to half this evening . Well, ill be honest with you, we were just ahead of the mayflower tornado and we think the conditions are much more ripe today for tornadoes than yesterday. Brett, what do you hear about the condition of tupelo where the storm where that tornado touched down. When a tornado hits a big town, the information is going to flow pretty quickly. Its obama about 20 minutes ago and what i do know is that it did go from the northern section of town and my colleagues say theres fairly significant damage. Other than that, we dont have a whole lot of information yet. Im sure it will come out very, very soon. Brett adair, stay safe. Well come back to you later in the show. The skies over mississippi growing very perilous. It includes 1. 4 Million People has mississippi right in the bullseye. Our own Martin Savidge is in the flight simulator. Martin joins us on the phone and hes just outside of jasper, alabama, on the way to tupelo. What are the conditions like where you are . Reporter youre right. We left atlanta this morning and it was a typical southern day, partly cloudy and warm. And were headed about 50 miles away to tupelo and its very dark. Have you heard anything from anybody on the ground in tupelo in terms of damage done, whether or not the tornado is expected back through the same storm system in the general area . No, we havent. They are warning people to shelter in place. Its described, as you heard, a tornado emergency. It doesnt get any worse than that. So right now it is getting people underground because thats the safest place to be. As far as analyzing any kind of damage that may have been done or how long the storm is going to stay on the ground or how wide it is, its still going to be a few minutes before we begin to hear that reading. We also heard about a debris field regarding this tornado. Explain what that is and the damage is poses. The threat it poses. The debris threat is the trail of where the tornado has hit. You can get debris that has flown great distances so its not necessarily the immediate path but you start to run sort of across the damage on the outside, damage in less severe forms and then as you make your way deeper and deeper until you find that groove thats the destructive path that the storm has actually done. You turn and follow that and youll be right on the tail of the twister. Martin, youre heading from alabama to tupelo, mississippi. Are you seeing people head the other way . Are people fleeing the area in droves or are they more likely to be taking cover . Reporter weather like this is fairly common. Fortunately this year in the south its been relatively mild. So people are aware of how these storms can suddenly fluster. Certainly in alabama they know that from a couple of years ago and from mississippi where they have deadly tornadoes. So they listen, they pay close attention to the Weather Radio and the Weather Report but there is no way to know where to go until that storm is positively spotted. If youre just joining us, we have reporting that a tornado has touched down in northwestern tupelo, mississippi. Obviously this whole area of arkansas, oklahoma, alabama, other parts of the country are in danger of this storm system. One tornado already hit and caused at least 16 deaths in arkansas last evening from the same storm system. Were joined right now on the phone by the mayor of tupelo, mississippi, Jason Shelton. Mr. May noor, thanks so much. How bad has this tornado been . Were on the front end right now of the weather. Its just sort of getting severe now in tupelo. Obviously urging all of our citizens to be weather aware, to be inside of their homes and in interior rooms and to make sure to keep themselves updated on the weather situation as it progresses. Mayor shelton, have you heard anything about how bad the damage has been . Theres conflicting reports in the city of tupelo itself. There is not any major damage that im aware of at the moment. There is, you know, some i hate to use the word life but there is some damage. We have not had an actual confirmed tornado in the city of tupelo as of right now. We just heard you tell your citizens to seek shelter. Obviously thats a message that youve been warning them about for days. How do you warn them . Did you have alarms going off before the tornado approached . Whats the way that you warned the citizens of tupelo . Yes, sir. Obviously we have tornado sirens all over the city of tupelo. We have encouraged people all day, you know, several days to keep themselves updated on the news, the local media, national immediate, of course, is instrumental in getting the word out to the citizens. As a city, we went through an Emergency Management drill this morning. Weve got everybody in place. And, you know, just ready to respond when needed and as needed. Where are you right now, sir . In city hall. Is there a storm shelter there for you or are you in your office . Im actually in my office. The employees are in the interior hall and sort of the different rooms and interior hall. Are there different individuals with emergency services, police, firefighters, out patrolling or is everybody shelter in place . Police and fire are out working. Finally, if any of your citizens are just tuning in, may juror Jason Shelton of tupelo, what is the message for the citizens of tupelo and basically for anyone else who may be in the storms path . The citizens of tupelo, lee county, northeast mississippi, not to take a chance. This is not the time to, you know, take a risk, to go somewhere unnecessarily. Its the time to be in your home and in a safe room in your home and keep yourself and your family as safe as possible. Our thanks to you, mr. Mayor. Well keep monitoring this and thoughts and prayers for the city of tupelo. Coming up next, our guest is kareem abdul jabbar. He once worked for the team owner who is now being accused of being a racist. Did mr. Abdul jabbar notice that side of him . And the search for flight 370 is entering a whole new phase. [ female announcer ] working together means working efficiently. And a lennox home comfort system may just be the perfect example. Its air conditioner works together with the furnace, and that works together with the air purifier, and that works with you by saving you up to half off your heating and cooling bill. Call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. Offer ends june 13th. Plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energysavings calculator. If your Current System is 10 years or older, start planning now and take advantage of special financing. So call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. Offer ends june 13th. And download our free lennox mobile app. Lennox. Innovation never felt so good. Welcome back to the lead. The sports lead now. We may soon learn in Donald Sterling will be able to add first ousted owner of an nba team. The man on a tape is heard making racist remarks and chastising his girlfriend for posting a photograph of herself with former nba player Magic Johnson on instagram and also asks her not to bring black men to the game. People call you and say i have black people on my instagram and it bothers you. Yeah, it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that youre associating with black people. Do you have to . You associate with black people. Im not you and youre not me. Youre supposed to be a delicate wife or a delicate lat tina girl. Im a mixed girl and youre in love with me and im black and mexican whether you like it or not. The outrage over the phone call and the sentiments expressed have been swift and widespread. There is a protest at the playoff game dropping the warmup suits with the teams logo in the middle wearing their practice shirts inside out. Its not entirely clear if League Owners have the power to force him out. Tomorrow the nba will comment on the investigation. Were not sure if the league will announce any possible p punishments. Joining me is a kareem abdul jabbar. Mr. Abdul jabbar, its an honor to introduce you and meet you via satellite. Sterling has not reacted personally but you know him well. Is that him on the tape, do you think . It sounds like him to me, as far as i can tell. I have no electronic expertise but it sounds like him. Are you surprised by the sentiments that he expressed by minorities . Did you ever hear him say anything similar in your presence . He never said anything like that in my presence but i read transcripts from some of his trials. Some of the things that he said about black people, that black tenants are they smell and have vermin cause vermin to come into some of his rental properties. He didnt want to rent to black and mexican families that tried to rent some of his properties. Hes been very forthright. And just his lack of compassion for people. One of his coaches came down with cancer and needed surgery and mr. Sterling would not allow that coach to be covered by his the team policy. Its ridiculous. Three of the players ended up playing for the coachs cancer surgery. As an africanamerican who works for him, how did it make you feel . Did it outrage you . I know youve been out spoken for decades was it just another example of what you see in America Today . I think its outrageous. I mean, we are supposed to be a society that has stepped past that and we see evidence everywhere we look that the bad old days really are not over. People are subtle about expressing their bigoted views and their bigoted feelings and its really disconcerting. It makes me wonder at times about how much progress weve actually made. Sterling, as youve noted, has been accused of discrimination in the past. Elgin baylor accused him of having a plantation mentality and saying he wanted a white southern coach coaching four black players. Why didnt society why didnt the nba take those charges as seriously as were taking these, do you think . Wealthy people have the ability to defend their positions a lot with a lot more force and can get you a lot of slack in dealing with the public and putting propaganda out there, putting your point of view across. Actions speak louder than words. Mr. Sterlings actions have been persistent. He doesnt respect black people. Its okay if they make him money. Apparently it was okay for him to be involved romantically with this young lady. Other than that and one of the players pointed that out in his tweet and it was so remarkable that he very suck sintly showed what this was all about. Im going to play another portion of the recording between sterling and his girlfriend and get your reaction. If you dont feel like it, dont come to my games. Dont bring black people and dont come. Do you know you have a whole team that is black that plays for you . Do you know . I support them and give them food and clothes and cars. Do i know that i have . Who makes the game . Do you make the game or do they make the game . Is there 30 owners that created the league . Its remarkable how he says he gives the cars and food to these superstars who are the reason why he has its a very paternalistic, racist, plantation type of mentality and there you heard it. Its in plain english. What else does he need to say . Now, i have to say, i dont hear people talk that way around me. Is this, do you think, a prevalent view among team owners . A lot of them have done great things to advance minorities in sports. I play for a team in milwaukee. They hired the very first black general manager, wayne embry. And sports has given americans a chance to make statements about race and about how we feel about it. Think about jesse owens in the 1936 olympics. I this i about Jackie Robinson integrating baseball. Weve used sports to make progress and to bring people together and this is going in exactly the opposite direction. I dont think mr. Sterling has a place in this landscape. Do you think, then, the nba should force him to sell this team . He owns the team and the Supreme Court really has made it very clear that ownership is ownership. We cant take the team from him. Probably. But i dont think he belongs in this environment given the way he feels about 80 of the players in the league. Kareem abdul jabbar, thank you so much. It was nice having you on the show. Appreciate it. Great to talk with you. Thank you. Sponsors are making a quick break away from the Clippers Team and Donald Sterling s there anything that we can do to bring them back. And more tornadoes could be hitting the ground at any moment. We will be there. Stay with us. Your education is built to help move your career forward. Heres how we work with leading employers to learn what you need to learn so classes impact your career. While helping ensure credits youve already earned pay off. And we have Career Planning tools to keep you on track every step of the way. Plus the freshman fifteen, isnt really a thing here. And graduation, its just the beginning. Because we build education around where you want to go. So, you know, you can get the job you want. Ready, lets get to work. Ndred and seventyseven thousand dollars per minute. Thats what big oil made last year. Now theyre spending it to rig the system against you. Pushing washington to cut americanmade biofuels. Bullying gas stations to use more of their oil. All so they get richer. And you pay more. Truth is, biofuels are cleaner, better for your engine and less expensive. Washington, dont let big oil rig the system any more. Protect the renewable fuel standard. I dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. I love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angies list for bringing us together. Find out why more than two million members count on angies list. Angies list reviews you can trust. Welcome back to the lead. Were still tracking those storms making their way through the south. Nothing new to report at this minute. Well check back in the next segment. Until then, lets turn now to the money lead. Racism has been called this nations original sin but because racial bigotry is something that is deemed un unacceptable, sometimes even those who harbor those ugly thoughts can hide them with political acts. Donald sterling had received not one but two awards from his local naacp. But then, this weekend came the tapes. Ugly. Racist. And you can bet theres going to be a price to pay. Literally a price to pay. State farm, tmobile, p. Diddy has all reportedly dropped sponsorships of the team. I want to bring in cnn. Com sports contributor. Terence, you tweeted, Donald Sterling is toast. Its over. He made paula deen look like rosa parks. That sounds like a Public Relations death sentence. Part of being a spin doctor, its over. All this guy can do is transition over the leadership or ownership of the team to somebody else and get out of the glare as quickly as possible. Thats his only option. Jake, i cant see anything else. And im a pretty creative guy. I cant see how you would back out of this one. Terence, Magic Johnson may be interested in purchasing the los angeles clippers. Do you think that could turn things around for the team with a snap of a finger . The commercial back in the 60s and 70s, nobody doesnt like Magic Johnson, however that goes. Magic johnson is beloved by everybody. Particularly in southern california. When it comes to business ventures, everything he touches turns to gold. Remember, right now hes a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and hes basically the face of the franchise. The only thing is, once you buy a franchise, you still have to be successful. I dont care how big you were as a player. Michael jordan is proving that with the charlotte franchise. This is the first year that they have been in the playoffs and they are about to be swept out as we speak. That being said, if magic took over, he still has chris paul and doc rivers as the coach, great things. Howard, you think that this scandal is tied directly and only to mr. Sterling. This has nothing to do with the clippers and that if he goes or at least announces some sort of transition, sponsors will come back. Is that how it works, do you think . Absolutely. L. A. Loves the clippers. They love that we have this winning Basketball Team that was never a winning Basketball Team. We love the players. We love everything. Its like cutting off a malignant body part. That would save the rest of it. Terence, do you think that the players can force anybodys hand or is