Transcripts For CNNW Wolf 20140429 : vimarsana.com

Hello, im wolf blitzer reporting from washington. We start with the countdown to what could be an explosive News Conference from the nba commissioner, adam silver. In an hour from now, silver will talk about the scandal involving the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Offensive racist comments on tape are being attributed to sterling. Hes been quiet about it to this point. But there have been so many calls for the commissioner to kick sterling out of the league. At the top of the hour, we expect to hear what silver has decided to do. Joining us now is rachel nickels, the host of cnns unguarded. So, what can he do, how far, rachel, can he actually go . Can he force sterling, for example, to sell the team . That would be extremely difficult. Adam silver has broad powers, as he said in his press conference the other day, but he doesnt have unlimited powers. Right now, the commissioner does not have the power to unilaterally just kick an owner out of the league and force him to sell his team. Theres a couple provision, in the nba constitution which, by the way, is a secret document. But enough has leaked out that we know theres provisions to remove an owner from his team if he cant pay his bills, for example, or he puts the team in certain positions, but foot ono that have been met in this case. He would need silver to separate sterling from his team completely. The backing of three quarters to more than the other owners. Were not sure he even has that. He has the power to fine Donald Sterling. For a guy who has a 1. 9 billion net worth, a 1 million fine is not going to mean much. He has the power to suspend sterling. This is where it could hurt. He could suspend Donald Sterling indefinitely, remove him from day to day operations of the team, forbid him from being in the building. Basically take away an all of the caachet, other than the money, of being the owner of l. A. Clippers. What baseball was able to do with former reds owner marge shot, that she lost interest in being owner of the team. The hope that they would eventually convince sterling to sell. As you know, that would be a difficult battle. Hes aly the li lily th lily th holds on to everything. Mark cuban, owner of the mavericks, told espn these words. He said, theres no excuse for what sterling said. Theres no excuse for anybody to support racism. Theres no place in it in our league. But theres a very, very, very slippery slope. What do you think he means by that, slippery slope . Yeah, mark cuban was talking in the locker room before the game last night. This is sort of what i was getting to, that he would need backing of ownership that i personally dont think silver has. Would need three quarters of the other owners to help him completely remove sterling from his team. It seems not that many other owners want to give adam silver that power. Because then he could turn around and remove any one of them from their teams. Cuban is actually one of the more progressive owners. You have to figure, if hes concerned about that, some of the more conservative owners are definitely going to be concerned about that. Orlando magic owner rich dovas has made comments on the record that a lot of people have been taking issue with. Comments that are seen as homophobic. Saying that gays are, quote, asking for special favors, wanting to get married in this country. What if people turn on him . So i think that owners are going to be reluctant to give adam silver that power, that slippery slope that mark cuban is referring to. But it will be interesting to hear how much adam silver uses this as an opportunity, wolf. Because we saw a couple of years ago the commissioner of the nfl, roger goodell, take the public outrage that was happening over all of the player arrests and bad behavior that was cropping up all around the country, he basically used that as a power grab. He made a whole bunch of new rules. He was able to put himself as judge, jury and appeals hearing. And adam silver could use the public outrage were seeing now to grab some power for the owners. That would be very, very interesting this early in his tenure, dont you think . It certainly would be. He just took over from to be the commissioner on february 1st so this is a huge, huge issue. Huge crisis for the nba for the new commissioner right now. Rachel, stand by. Were going to talk to you again later this hour. Much more on this story coming up. Dont forget, 2 00 p. M. Eastern, youll see live, right here on cnn, the News Conference, the nba commissioner adam silver will announce what hes planning on doing to Donald Sterling, the owner of the l. A. Clippers. Lets move on to the search for malaysian flight 370. Investigators are now refuting claims by an Exploration Company that a possible plane wreckage found in the bay of bengal is from the flight. The bay of bengal is thousands of miles away from the current search area. The ceo of the company spoke on cnns new day and says hes not claiming flight 370 has been discovered but he bleaelieves pe wreckage is there and he went public because he thinks it needs to be investigated. We would like the malaysians to organize perhaps, you know, the indians or perhaps the Bangladeshy Navy to send a boat out and have a look at the exact coordinates weve given them because its not guesswork. Weve actually given them a precise coordinate. And have a look down there with sonar. Earlier today, cnn safety analyst david soucie suggested this companys claims shouldnt be dismissed too quickly. As far as this company and their credibility, its very high and they do have information that something is there shortly after the accident that wasnt there before, including metals. They sense metals. Thats what theyre there for. Theyre sensing titanium, al alumin aluminum, these metals that were not in that particular spot before the accident. So faras far as that, it does h credibility. Malaysian officials also briefed family members today and released never before heard audio from the cockpit. Those are the final words heard, good night malaysian 370. The air search for the plane has now officially been called off. Most of the International Crews are now being sent home. Lets bring in richard quest. Hes just back from kuala lum r lumpur. You heard david soucie say he thinks this company does have credibility. Other authorities seem to be dismissing these claims outright. What do you think of the technology they use to find these signatures of a possible plane wreckage from some sort of plane in the bay of bengal . The company, georesonance, describes their technology as proven and says they have found in that particular area where the top of the block, number four, you can see on the screen, tie tie yum, steel alloys, jet fuel and several other substances that make up a bow 777. And the pictures they put out as well, the satellite pictures as well showing the resonance of what they found also do show pictures very similar to an airline. Now, of course, this is in direct and i mean direct, contradiction to the direction of the inmarsat pings and the refinement of that data which would suggest into the south indian ocean. Follow the plane on the screen. What youre talking about here is just about, this point out in, the plane would have continued northward when inmarsat believes the plane continued south down into the indian ocean of perth. So does this have to be investigated . Absolutely. Theyve got to see, you cannot ignore something of this magnitude from a Reputable Company that says theyve discovered something of worth. We just heard the air Traffic Control recording. What do you make of actually hearing the audio . It is chilling, particularly when you bear in mind one of the parties is, you know, did not survive. But it backs up what weve been told, there is no sign of any distress. And it doesnt really obviously for the families, it gives an element of piece they wanted to. The investigators gave them serial numbers, they gave them details theyve been seeking. So the families got a lot more detail, but im not sure the investigation went any further as a result. Richard quest reporting from new york. Richard, thanks for the terrific work in kuala lumpur last week as well. Well have more coverage in the new twist in the search for the missing plane coming up. Dangerous storms moving through the country, from the great lakes to the gulf coast. Some 75 Million People potentially are at risk. Thats about a third of the country. The violent weather has left 29 people dead in six states. Mississippi bore the brunt on monday when several tornadoes touched down in that state. At least eight people were killed there. In tupelo, the winds were so powerful, they picked up this suv and stacked it on top of a car. About 100 miles south in louisville, mississippi, another tornado was caught on camera. Watch this. Stay here. Oh, my god. No, no, no. No, no, no. Stop. Everyone, listen. Everyone listen. Check in with our Severe Weather expert chad myers in a few moments. Hes on the ground, hes watching all of this unfold. Stand by for that. Once again were only minutes away from a press conference from the nba commissioner. He will address the racist comments alley ma s allegedly m clippers owner Donald Sterling. What punishment might be in store . We will find out at the top of the hour. Could the wreckage be thousands of miles away from where they are searching . Our panel of the experts will discuss the new claims. Sea captain theres a narratorstorm cominhe storm narrator that whipped through the turbine which poured. Surplus energy into the plant which generously lowered its price and tipped off the house which used all that energy to stay warm through the storm. Chipmunk theres a bad storm comin narrator the internet of everything is changing how energy works. Is your Network Ready . [ chainsaw buzzing ] humans. Sometimes, life trips us up. Sometimes, we trip ourselves up. And although the mistakes may seem to just keep coming at you, so do the solutions. Like multipolicy discounts from Liberty Mutual insurance. Save up to 10 just for combining your auto and home insurance. Call Liberty Mutual insurance at. To speak with an Insurance Expert and ask about all the personalized savings available for when you get married, move into a new house, or add a car to your policy. Personalized coverage and savings all the things humans need to make our world a little less imperfect. Call. And ask about all the ways you could save. Liberty Mutual Insurance responsibility. Whats your policy . Quickly get back to that new development in the search for flight 370. Investigators are refusing claims by an Exploration Company that possible plane wreckage found in the bay of bengal is from flight 370. The bay of bengal is thousands of miles away from the current search area. The ceo of the company says hes not claiming flight 370 has been discovered but he does believe plane wreckage is there and he also says he went public because he thinks it needs to be investigated. Lets bring in our plane panel. Peter goelz, our cnn aviation analy analyst, former ntsb managing director. And our Law Enforcement analyst, tom fuentes, former fbi assistant director. Possibly, they dont know for sure, this wreckage that appears to have been spotted in the bay of bengal may be wreckage from flight 370. Well, we had a very similar situation after the crash of twa flight 800 off of long island in 1996. Absent any really solid information, you have to check everything out. And in this case, you know, twas case, we looked at missiles, we looked at space junk, we looked at electromagnetic interference. None of them proved out. We saw the accident after a long investigation. But in this case, you have nothing, so you have to look at it. This is a Reputable Firm from australia. You agree, you have to take a look . I think you have to. Even if youre pretty sure it doesnt add up, it cant be, its probably not true, you cant just ignore it. In a case like this, if they had found one shred of debris in the indian ocean that said, okay, heres from the plane, heres where it crashed in the water, well look for it now, then maybe you could dispute Something Like this. When you absent that, theyre kind of stuck. Theyve ignored it for four weeks or so. This firm to the authorities four weeks ago and said, look this is what we spotted, check it out. They went back two weeks later. Only now are they going public because nothing was done about it. For all practical purposes, the malaysians, the australians, everybody seems to have ignored this information. I know the investigators feel strongly their analysis of the inmarsat pings and the track theyve laid out, they feel strongly thats correct. But, as tom said, without a single shred of physical evidence, you have to check everything out. They clearly have to check it out now. Quickly, on the audiotape, we had a transcript earlier, but now we heard the voices. What did you make of that . I think it helps the malaysians arguments they hold everything close to the vest. By not releasing this weeks ago like they should have and could have, they created these conspiracy theories, theyre hiding something, theres something in that audio thats going to be sinister, and now they release it and its totally innocuous. It just shows thats their policy. It gives them increased credibility, that all of the things theyre Holding Close to the vest are just because thats their policy, thats the way they work, and not that theyre trying to hide things from the public. Did you hear anything different, unusual . I heard nothing. It was standard. Late night flight. Little sloppy. But late night flights tend to be. Peter and tom, thanks very much. Were waiting for the nba commissioner adam silver to hold a News Conference. Hell do it right at the top of the hour. Hes getting ready to announce the results of the leagues investigation into l. A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Well speak with a panel of experts including an exnba honer about what is at stake right now. He returns to some bad political news for him and his party. [paintball noises] the annual company retreat. Planned, as usual, by this guy. Nature lover. People person. And you put up with it all. Because he also booked you a room. At this place. Planet earths number one accomodation site booking. Com booking. Yeah hey kevin. Still eating chalk for hearburn . Yea. Try alka seltzer fruit chews. They work fast on heart burn and taste awesome. These are good. Told ya im feeling better already. Alkaseltzer fruit chews. Enjoy the relief its called truecar. And truecar users. Save time and money. So when youre. Ready to buy a car, make sure you. Never overpay. Visit truecar. Com today. To prepare our kids to compete main todays economy . Way woman a wellrounded education that focuses on science, math, and Career Training for students who dont choose college. 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Suspected tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses. The president s declaration makes federal aid available for the impacted areas. As president obama flies home from asia, hell soon be returning to some new poll numbers. According to a New Washington post abc news poll, the president s Approval Rating has hit a new low, 41 . Our chief political analyst Gloria Borger is joining us now. Take a closer look at these poll numbers. His overall numbers 41 , not very good, only 42 approve of his handling of the economy. 37 approve of his handling of the implementation of the Affordable Care act. 42 approve of his handling of the situation in ukraine. How worried should democrats be . I can tell you theyre very worried about these numbers. They think theyre very on muss. Theres another number contained in the same poll that worries them more. By 4 points, by 14 points, the poll shows voters want republicans to control the congress after this next election. What that tells you is they see the Republican Party as a check on what they consider to be an unpopular president. 41 is a career low for president obama in this particular poll. Any time you see the public say, you know, we want the republicans in charge of the congress, democrats worry there could be kind of a wave election against them. And of course this is a sixth year of his presidency. Historically in the sixth year, when a president has low poll numbers, thats not good for his own party. Several democrats have said to me in recent days as low as those numbers are nationally, 41 job approval number, if you go to some of those states where democrats are potentially vulnerable, whether north carolina, arkansas, alaska, some of these other states, his job approval number probably is lower in those battleground states. They have to decide whether they stand next to him or they just say, you know what, president obama, you cab raise some money for me, but how about not coming to my state because youre not going to help me. Louisiana for example. Exactly. Who do you trust to do a better job, on issues important to women. Democrats get 55 . Republicans only 25 . Republicans have a lot of work to do in that area. Well, thats right. Thats why thats one of the reasons of course you hear democrats talking a lot about issues like pay exwquity becau they want to bring out women voters who are more democratic. Theyre also talking about issues that are important to the middle class. Minimum wage. Thats another womans issue. Because most of minimum wage earners are women. Immigration reform. Because they understand what theyve got is a motivation problem. This kind of a midterm election, republicans are out there, they dont like this president , they want a republican congress. Theyre going to be more motivate to go to the polls. Even the president himself, wolf, has come out and say, i got to get my voters out there in order to combat these motivated republican voters. And thats the challenge right now for democrats. Is to get democratic voters to understand that they have a big stake in this election. And thats hard when you dont have a president ial candidate at the top of the ticket. Another political potential issue is the secretary of state now apologizing in effect for using the word apartheid in describing what happens if israel doesnt work out a peace deal with the palestinians. Hes come under a lot of criticism for that, from jewish group, from republicans in the senate. He apologized for it. He said, wolf, that word is best left out of the debate here at home. He did make note, however, that some israeli leaders have used the word apartheid themselves to use describe the situation this israel, but he said he shouldnt have said it. This came at a very sensitive time. The peace talks have broken down. Theyre trying to get them jump started. Hes been working on it for more than nine months. Having this kind of a controversy in the middle of it doesnt do anything to help the administration at all. It wasnt just republicans who were critical, it was democrats who were very critical of kerry as well. Thanks very much, gloria, for that. Up next, well have special coverage of the Donald Sterling scandal. The nba News Conference getting ready to start. Were going through every angle of the story in advance. The president of the National Urban league will join us. Also, former nba star earl bailey and our own Rachel Nichols, theyre all here. Stand by. [ banker ] sydney needed some Financial Guidance so she could take her dream to the next level. So we talked about her options. Her valuable assets were staying. And selling her car wouldnt fly. We helped sydney manage her debt and prioritize her goals, so she could really turn up the volume on her dreams today. And tomorrow. So lets see what we can do about that. Remodel. Motorcycle. [ female announcer ] some questions take more than a bank. They take a banker. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. Because when people talk, great things happen. Make a my financial priorities appointment today. And i felt this horrible pain on one side of my back. I saw this red, blistery, rash i had 16 magic shows to do. I didnt know how i was going to be able to do these shows with this kind of pain that i was in. I told my wife what i had. She went on the internet and said i think you have shingles. I could feel the shock in my back and it was like wow its got to get better than this or im in big trouble. Welcome back. Im wolf blitzer reporting from washington. Were less than 30 minutes away from the nba News Conference scheduled for the top of the hour. The nba commissioner adam silver expected to update the investigation into the racist comments allegedly made by clippers owner Donald Sterling. Also possible he could announce additional items. Well have live coverage. Joining us to talk about the sterling scandal and what the nba may be doing about it, once again, Rachel Nichols is joining us. Shes the host of cnns unguarded. And thurel bailey, currently a newscaster for the nbas utah jazz. What would be an appropriate punishment for Donald Sterling . You know, im not sure i know the definition of appropriate. I think we all have our personal opinions. I think he obviously should be disassociated with the clippers. With the nba itself. But there is a process. There is an order. Obviously, were going to hear from adam silver here pretty soon. But, you know, i think as far as Public Opinion goes, a fines not really going to do anything. But a heavy suspension or banishment from the nba and this ownership, whether thats legal or not, is probably in the right direction. What sort of surprises me, rachel, is what he hasnt done since the scandal erupted over the past few days. You would think if, in fact, those were his words on that audiotape, he would have gone public, he would have apologized, he would have said this was obviously a bad, evil, awkward, terrible whatever words he wanted to use, he says hes going to try to fix it, hes going to spend the rest of his life working to improve race releases. Hes got a lot of money. Hes going to make money available for very appropriate causes. I didnt hear anything along those lines. Are you surprised we didnt hear that kind of attempt at damage control . No, im not, trunkly, because i dont think sterling feels that way. Anyone who woke up this past weekend and said, oh, my gosh, weve just learned that Donald Sterling has racial thoughts or tendencies hasnt been paying attention. He faced two separate federal lawsuits from the u. S. Justice department over housing discriminati discrimination. He was discriminating against blacks and hispanics and instead of fighting those lawsuits, he settled for what was, then, record amounts of money. He was sued by elgin bay look one of the greatest players toer play in the nba who later worked for him in management, baylor sued him for Racial Discrimination. There have been terrible dwoets allege to sterling. Including in one of his in relation to one of his housing lawsuits. A quote attributed to him was that he said, quote, black people smell and attract vermin. This is the guy were dealing with. This is a guy who has been an owner in the nba for a long time. Im not surprised at all to hear these comments. Im not surprised at all he didnt issue some sort of mea culpa. We havent heard that from him all along the way. Obviously, should have been doing that. Clearly, youre right, he has stayed away from doing that. Thats maybe the nature of sterling. What also worried me, you know, im a great nba fan. I love my washington wizards. I love the nba. How is this impacting on the current roster of players in the nba, especially from the clippers . Take us inside. What do you think . Well, its certainly devastating for them. Let me ask thurel. Nobody wants to work for a bigot, nobody wants to work for a racist. Its not unlike corporate america. I think the difference is, you have a group of guys, you have a team of guys who are obviously in solidarity on the protests and theyre waiting to see what the commissioner does. But if im a player, theres no way i would want to work in those conditions for that man. And the problem is that youre doing something you have a passion for, something you love to do. You are in a position to win an nba championship and now this comes about which takes a lot of wind out of your sails, takes a lot of faith in what youve worked so hard for. You know, as a player, you want to play. You want to play. But you dont want to be under those conditions. Yeah, all right, guys, i want you to stand by. Were building up towards this News Conference. Were anxious to hear what adam silver is about to announce. Well have much more on this developing story. Once again, the News Conference scheduled to be at the top of the hour. And just coming up here, more on what started the scandal. Closer look at Donald Sterlings controversial past. Cut [bell rings] this. Is jane. Her long day on set starts with shoulder pain. And a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for. All day relief. Hmm. 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Jason carroll takes a closer look at Donald Sterling, the man at the center of the scandal. And his very checkered past. Because i dont see your views. I was not raised the way you were raised. Dont come to my games. Dont bring black people. Dont come. Do you know you have a whole team thats black that plays for you. Do i know . I support them and give them food. And clothes. And cars and houses. Would gives it to them . Reporter thats allegedly Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling telling his then mistress to remove black people from her instagram account, including magic johnson. During your entire [ bleep ] life, your whole life, admire him, bring him here, feed him, [ bleep ] him, i dont care, you can do anything, but dont put him on instagram so the world has to see so they have to call me. Dont bring him to my games, okay. Reporter steriles wife told tmz her husband is not a racist, saying its not true. Also saying the tape recordings were, quote, old. Hes long been thought to be somewhat of a bigot. But the issue now is the fact that everybody around the country knows. Reporter sterling, the son of jewish immigrants, started his career in the early 60s as an attorney before transitioning to real estate, developing a track record of legal problems involving discrimination. In 2009, clippers former general manager elgin baylor filed a wrongful termination suit against sterling for what he called sterlings pervasive and ongoing racist attitude. Alleging sterling wanted the clippers to be poor black boys from the south and a white head coach. Sterling denied the allegations and baylor dropped the Racial Discrimination suit. Also in 2009, sterling paid what was, at the time, the largest housing discrimination settlement in u. S. History. The Justice Department sued sterling for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to africanamericans and latinos. Again, sterling denied the allegations, settling by paying nearly 3 million. In 2009, the los angeles chapter of the naacp actually awarded sterling with a Lifetime Achievement award. They were about to do the same thing this year, but rescinded it once those recordings surfaced. The naacp did not say how much money they received from sterling, only that it will be returned. The decision to honor him made it the local level. We have to urge our branches to make much more considered decisions. Reporter no word from sterling, would may not be able to stay quiet for much longer. Jason carroll, cnn, new york. Donald sterling has owned the clippers for 33 years. Hes always been a regular at the top of the worst owners list. Once again, joining us, Rachel Nichols, the host of cnns unguarded, and thurel bailey, utah jazz. Did you ever meet sterling in your career in the nba . No, i did not, did not have any personal contact with him. What kind of reputation did he have amongst you and your colleag colleagues . Well, you know, i didnt know him that well. As a player, you know, you really are only familiar with the owner of your team. You dont have much association with other owners. I didnt hear, even as a board member of the nba retired players association, that conversation never really came up. But, you know, when you look at that clip and historically what hes done and what he said, it really brings to mind the question. What is the criteria for ownership in the nba . Is there enough Due Diligence going on because if you look back, you would question, say this man, even though he has the money, does he deserve an nba franchise . Theres immense pressure on adam silver. First, remember, hes less than three months into his term as commissioner. This is going to set the tone for what kind of commissioner hes going to be, both to the outside public and sponsors and fans of the nba and internally to the players and coaches and people within the ranks. Theres pressure on him from the owners. Owners around the league realize they have to do something about Donald Sterling, something they didnt do other the past 10, 15, 20 years. However, mark cuban made an interesting comment yesterday. He talked about, quote, the slippery slope that hes concerned about. He is concerned that if the owners give silver too much power, silver could turn around and maybe try to rescind one of their franchises. Cuban is one of the more progressive owners in the nba. You only have to imagine how some of the most conservative owners feel. Adam silver also, remember, is a lawyer, a very good lawyer, so hes aware of the legal ramifications. He knows that Donald Sterling is a lawyer and has spent much of his adult life in court. So many different factors going on here. A lot of pressure, most of it public, to get something significant done. Youve got to give silver credit. Hes making a quick decision on this. Well hear it right at the top of the hour. Guys, thanks very much. Up next, beyond the business of basketball, the clippers players are in a very tough spot. But what is their responsibility . Whats going on in the country right now . Im going to speak to the urban league president. Well discuss watt nba needs to do with Donald Sterling. Humans. We are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. Thats why Liberty Mutual insurance has your back, offering exclusive products like optional better car replacement, where if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. Call. And ask an Insurance Expert about all our benefits today, like our 24 7 support and service, because at Liberty Mutual insurance, we believe our customers do their best out there in the world, so we do everything we can to be there for them when they need us. Plus, you could save hundreds when you switch, up to 423. Call. Today. Liberty Mutual Insurance responsibility. Whats your policy . Their type 2 diabetes. With noninsulin victoza. 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But theres a lot more involved as well. Lets bring back rachel. And lets talk about the implications right now. Mark, what do you think, if you had your way, what would adam silver, the commissioner of the nba, announce in a few minutes . I think he would take a first step, and that first step would be to ban Donald Sterling from the National Basketball association. My hope is that it is a ban for life. Or if not for life, for a very long time. I also think that what commissioner silvers going to have to do is make a strong statement about what the National Basketball association stands for. This is important to its players, to its fans, to its sponsors, to the public at large, because the National Basketball association represents more than a sports league. It represents an Important Institution in american life. It represents a league where africanamerican participation has been essential to the league, for more than 50 years. It represents a place where you now have africanamerican coaches in front office personnel, not at the levels we would expect. Adam silvers got to make a strong statement, but hes also got to take strong action. Hes got to do it quickly and be decisive. I think what he says today, i expect it to be more of a first step, not all of the action that the nba will need to take to correct this injustice. As you know, mark, were a nation, we forgive people. If he came to you, and im sure he wont, but lets say he did, Donald Sterling, and said, mr. Morial, what can i do to fix this . What would you tell him . Well, theres always we should always accept forgiveness. We should always accept the fact that a person would admit that theyve been wrong. In Donald Sterlings case, i think the challenge is this seems to be a very long record. If this were an isolated incident, if this is the first time he was associated with these sorts of statements, people might see it a bit differently. I think because of the long record, people may be looking for, i think, a more stern level of discipline. But i would also say this. I would separate how i would accept his forgiveness from his role in the nba going forward. Already hes diminished the value of his own team. Imagine if sponsors, imagine if players will not want to play for him. Hes diminish the value of his own asset from strictly a business standpoint, and what the other owners have to be concerned about is that his actions are diminishing the value by diminishing the reputation of the league, which is why Decisive Action by the commissioner is important. And one thing, rachel, that the commissioner has to worry about, this is a guy who likes to get involved in legal battles, lawsuits, if you will, and presumably if you know Donald Sterling, hes going to fight this legally in court. And that could drag on and on and on. Well, thats the danger of them going too far. They need to go right up to the point where they can basically quell the public outrage, the legitimate outrage, the players and everybody involved in this situation, but not go so far that it wouldnt stand up in a court of law. Youve seen adam silver thus far use careful language when addressing this situation. They wanted to authenticate the authenticity of the tape. We know that Donald Sterling has been an issue for a long time. The nba is definitely getting criticism now of why didnt you deal with this before. How come today at this press conference is the first time were seeing real justice meted out. You want to know how many other owners in other sports are going to be under the microscope now, and whether this will cause any more significant change. Guys, stand by. I want you to be with us, were only moments away from the top of the hour, the News Conference about to begin. What can the nba legally do to Donald Sterling. Our panelists are standing by. Weve get Legal Options from Jeffrey Toobin as well. Defiance is in our bones. Defiance never grows old. Citracal maximum. Calcium citrate plus d. Highly soluble, easily absorbed. But with medcare, i dont have to waiting to get my diabetic supplies is such a hassle. They deliver everything i need right to my door with Free Shipping plus, medcare takes private policies, medicaid, even my medicare now we have the time to do the things we love. Medcare. We deliver a better life. Were standing by for the start of the nba commissioner adam silvers News Conference minutes away from now. The commissioner expected to address the Donald Sterling scandal. Hes expected also to announce some disciplinary actions in the case. Rachel nichols is still with us. And also Jeffrey Toobin, our senior legal analyst. Quickly, jeffrey, what legally can the commissioner do . He can pretty much do anything he wants, short of making sterling sell the team. He can fine him, he can suspend him. Selling the team is something all the commissioners all the owners can do together. But adam silver cant do it by himself. But he has a lot of leeway to decide what to do today. How significant is this moment . Give me some perspective, nba history right now. Not just nba, but sports history in america. Well, if you go back in time, obviously, you know, you look at the history, and the trail blazing that a lot of our retired players have blazed that trail, some who arent with us anymore, but some who still tell those stories, you know that sports has come a long way. Obviously this takes us a step back. But awareness is always good. But i think historically, as you look at the game, and how global its become, and how diverse it is, with european players, players from a lot of Different Countries playing in the nba, it is really the epitome of diversity. And, you know, with the High Percentage of players being africanamerican, and to hear the statements from don sterling, obviously it sets us back a while. But this decision coming up in a few minutes is going to be historic. And i know that commissioner silver knows that. This is kind of his first atbat. Were all hoping that he hits it out of the park. And has a swift and hard punishment. He knows it as well. But jeffrey, legally speaking, this is the owner of the clippers. Hes someone whos not shy about getting involved in legal battles. And the nba has to worry about that. Thats true. This is, remember, a very paradoxical legal setup. Here you have the commissioner who doesnt have employees, the owners are effectively his bosses, so he has to discipline one of his bosses. Now, theres plenty of press department for that, and david stern, his predecessor, on occasion took action against owners. But its an unusual situation, where hes not dealing with an employee, hes dealing with someone who is, you know, who is one of the people who can hire and fire the commissioner. Now, there are bylaws that give him power. But all the owners are going to be watching this. And you can be sure, theyre all thinking, well, you know, i want to see adam silver dispense an appropriate punishment here, but i dont want the commissioner to be too powerful, especially if i might be in the dock some day. Jeffrey, i want you to stand by. Thurl bailey, please stand by as well. Were only moments away from the News Conference. The new nba commissioner, remember, he only became the commissioner around february 1st, so hes new to the job. Hes about to make a major, major statement. Were told he will then answer questions. Were going to have live coverage here on cnn. Viewers in the United States and around the world will be watching. We have our cnn reporters standing by, a panel of experts. Lets hand over our coverage right now to my colleague, and good friend, brooke baldwin. Brooke . Announcer this is cnn breaking news. Thank you so much. Great to be with all of you. Im brooke baldwin. Were live with the breaking news. Im sure this is a packed room, nba headquarters here in new york city. We are moments away from, as thurl bailey just put it, something incredibly historic. This story is now bigger than basketball. We are waiting for nba commissioner adam silver to step behind that podium, and discuss the leagues investigation into the racist comments allegedly made by the l. A. Clippers owner, Donald Sterling. So any minute now, we will see him take to the mic and break some news here,