hello, everyone. don lemon here. i want you to sit back and listen to this. we're going to talk about a recording of racist remarks, casting a long shadow over the nba playoffs, and igniting a new discuss about race that goes far beyond the sports world.

the l.a. clippers owner donald sterling is at the center of the storm. he's reportedly the voice heard making racist comments in a sometimes heated conversation with his girlfriend. new audio has surfaced in the past few hours, and this hour, we're going to play long, extended excerpts for you. so sit back and listen. as this controversy swirls, the clippers lost today's game. during warmups, they wore their jerseys inside out so the team logo was obscured. sterling did not attend. his wife did. some are saying that was in bad taste. the controversy ast catching attention at the highest levels. even president barack obama is weighing in. we'll play those comments for you, as well. then there is this -- the los angeles naacp has called off plans to honor donald sterling

next month with another lifetime achievement award. they gave him one before, one in 2008 and one in 2009. tmz sports obtained these tape recordings, we don't know how. here's an extended excerpt of the voice, purported to be sterling and his girlfriend, talking about race, respect, culture and photos she posted on social media.

>> plenty of voices, plenty of experts to bring in on this. paul kalen is our legal analyst. we'll have more of that coming up. terrence moore is a cnn sports columnist and brian claypool is an attorney and clippers season ticketholder. brian, this is your team, you give them a lot of money.

what do you think when you hear that recording? >> don, i will tell you, my heart has been palpitating all day today. i'm outraged by these comments. and two things stand out in those recordings that you just played. did i hear donald sterling say, i feel like i'm talking to the enemy? that, that reveals the patent depth of his alleged racism. you tell me what he's talking about. he's living in a world over here where he is embarrassed if he's associated with black people. he doesn't want his mistress to show a picture of a black person, yet he wants to live in this hypocrisy and become a billionaire by hiring a black coach, hiring chris paul. let me tell you real quick about chris paul so your viewers can appreciate what these players go through. i have the privilege of sitting in the same row as chris paul's family. two seats to the left of me are

his parents and his wife sits on the end. they are the most adorable, humble people you will ever meet. his parents still live in north carolina. they come out from time to time to the games. chris paul came from nothing. his grandfather was murdered in a gas station that he ran for years and years. i talked to his dad about this. now, you tell me that the owner of the clippers has even spent a minute to get to know his players to understand that they are human beings and deserve respect and dignity. >> one part of the conversation, which we will play later, he says, you know, i give them money and cars, i give them houses, all as if he owns them, brian. and so what you're saying is that maybe he should get to know them personally, you don't feel that he has, especially talking about chris paul and the kind of person that he is. >> don, you hit the nail on the

head. these african-american players for donald sterling are simply commodities. he rarely ever goes into the locker room and talks to these players. and in the last hour, you made a great comment, you said something to the effect of, i would like to hear from donald sterling on this. remember that? i will tell you, you're never going to hear from donald sterling, because he lives in an insulated world. he will have his posse come out and make the comments for him. he will not man up and come on your show and tell you what he meant. you tell me if he meant anything other than what was said in those tapes. i don't see anything he can try to explain can contradict what his intentions were in those tapes. >> well, i want to tell you that we are inviting donald sterling to come on. so far no response from donald sterling. we also invited the nba commissioner to come on cnn today. he was not available. so donald sterling, you want to say your piece?

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we're bringing you extended excerpts this hour from the recordst purported to be nbc team opener donald sterling. the voice on the recording makes racist comments. here's an extended clip of the voice purported for sterling and his girlfriend. they're talking about skin color, race, and photos of her with african-americans.

paul, terrence, brian, and joining us now as well is sports agent david sugarman. it's hard to listen to. it's just unfathomable that that could come out of somebody else's mouth, terrence. several former nba stars are calling for his head on a platter, shaquille o'neal, magic johnson, charles barkley. is that going to happen? what difference is this going to make in the league? >> yeah, he's gone. you look at adam silver, the new nba commissioner. he wants to make his mark. this is his first big test, and he's going to do it. i want to tell you something else, don, that nobody else is talking about that is very much -- should be of concern to all clipper fans. i've known doc rivers for over 30 years, and doc rivers says what he means and he means what he says. and doc is very upset. before the game today, he talked

about how all of this would affect his team in this game, which it did. they lost by 21 points. he said after the game, that usually when you go home, it's a safe haven. he said that's not the case right now. here's the biggest thing that doc rivers said, he's saying now that he doesn't even know whether or not he's going to be back next year with the clippers. he's thinking about making this one and done with them, and just taking off. so that tells you right off the bat how serious this is, when you have somebody like doc rivers talking about getting out of the situation, because he doesn't like the things that he's hearing from his owner. >> yeah. david sugarman, you're nodding your head in agreement. appare apparently know doc rivers. >> i know of his character. you feel bad about doc rivers, i feed bad for the squad.

it's a black eye for the nba and the entire country, the entire world. it's pretty disgusting what we all just heard. >> is it surprising to you as you represent nba players, correct? >> correct. >> is this surprising to you coming from an owner? be honest. >> racism is all over the world. i'm surprised, i'm surprised to hear it to this degree. i've never heard anything like this. >> but you have shock that some people can be so insulated, where they live in some a world where this guy is a walking controversy, contradiction. >> it's not his first time. magic spoke about this, and there's another player that he's been involved with a lawsuit. he's racist. >> do players have an option? why would they want to play -- obviously they make a lot of

money, but if you know about this guy's character, then what is that for you as a agent? do you say listen, you should know this before you go there? >> now it's definitely going to be part of it. if there are kids that are coming out of college, we have a draft here in new york june 26. there are kids that are going to do workouts for the los angeles clippers, that their entire life has been basketball and their one shot to go into the nba. it's not their decision. if they get drafted to go to the clippers and he's still owner, what are the kids going to do? >> paul, let's get to the legal angle of this. california is a two party state, you're supposed to notify somebody when recording them. was he set up? >> he certainly was set up. if she recorded it in california, she's violated criminal law and could face charges herself. however, we've seep this happen in the past. it won't stop the evidence from being used in a lawsuit or by

the nba investigation if they're going to suspend or fine the owner of the clippers. >> talk more about the legal angle with the rest of our panel. our conversation continues right after this quick break. four-wheg is why i get up in the morning. [ matt ] the only thing better than the smell of fresh-cut grass is the smell of perfectly level, fresh-cut grass. that yellow seat's my favorite chair. [ kathleen ] you want to find a john deere dealer? just set your gps to tractor expert. [ jim ] when my grandson grows up, it's his. but it's all mine now. [ male announcer ] that's how we run, and nothing runs like a deere. now get $400 off all john deere four-wheel-steer lawn tractors at a dealer near you.

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when ignorant folks want to advertise their ignorance, you

don't have to do anything, you just let them talk. that's what happened here. >> so we are talking extensively about the controversy surrounding donald sterling. a conversation surfaced allegedly of sterling and his girlfriend which the man's voice makes racist remarks. here's a portion of the recording. >> i want to bring in now my

panel. brian, you hear the voice of supposedly donald sterling talking about living within a culture. what do you think he means by that, american society, the nba, los angeles culture, what is he talking about? >> he's worried about one thing, his image. that's all he's worried about. donald sterling, over and above the opener of the clippers, is a big time business guys. he owns a ton of properties in los angeles. he makes a lot of money that way, too. so he's only worried about his image. that's what he was talking about earlier with these instagrams and people are calling him up, why is your mistress with magic johnson? he's more worried about that than getting to know his players. i realized why i'm so angry about this. i've been a die hard clipper fan and season ticketholder for a decade. i've known in the background, don, that this has happened. that some of this has been going on through the lawsuits he's

ought, even the lawsuit with elgin baylor, who was a african-american general manager for years. he lost, but it made me wonder, am i paying somebody that is raci racist? now i am stick to my stomach because i'm financially supporting a man who is this reprehensible. >> it's infuriating to a lot of people, especially if you have a connection to the team. terrence, we heard president barack obama weighing in on the comments. does that speak to the gravity of these recordings and what it represents about the culture, about america? >> no question about that. but don, i want to point something out. the most unfortunate thing here is, this is sort of letting a lot of people off the hook, because people are acting as if, in general, that this is a highly unusual situation, and i tell you something, having been

a professional sports journalist for 40 years, i can tell you numerous times where i've talked through the years with owners, managers, coaches, who said things that were borderline racist. i've heard owners call black players colored to me. so if they're using the word colored to me, you can imagine what they're saying behind the scenes. >> david, you're nodding your head in agreement again. >> there are people that use the "n" word in the locker room. it goes around and these are kids that are throwing this word around that shouldn't be said period. but when you see people of that stature that should be leading by example, that are just flatout ignorant. >> paul, when i get to you, lit be in the next segment.

amid all the controversy, the l.a. clippers took to the court today for a playoff game and lost by 21 points. adding to the distractions, doc rivers said before the game he's not sure if he will be back with the team next year. not what you want to hear when you're about to take the court. cnn's stephanie elam is standing by. i hear the clippers staged a silent protest before the game. >> reporter: right, don, it seemed very concerted, it seemed like it was a team effort on the side of the clippers, but they took the court, took their sweatshirts off and dropped them in the middle of the court. >> you're fine, that's just background from the tape. go ahead and continue. >> reporter: it was really loud. i took off all of their sweatshirts and they knocked them in the middle of the court, and they had on red t-shirts on underneath and they were inside

out backwards, putting out the message, we know things are wrong, but we have a game to play. and you would have to imagine it's a difficult predicament to be in. most of the players are black men, so to have to deal with this distraction coming from within your own camp is a big hurdle to get over. and they are not playing at home, they are playing here in oakland, and there were a lot of warriors fans making it known, cheering. it's a playoffs game, what you would expect. also dealing with the distraction coming from to put out statements. chris paul, the president of the players association, plays for the clippers. so he is dealing with this on multiple leveling. after the game, as fans were coming out of the coliseum, watching them come out here while we had our camera up, we saw people back there chanting, "we are not racist." so the warriors stand aware of the controversy and putting the message out there. and one other thing, we talked to one fan from l.a.

he said he's a fan of all l.a. sports. he said he wouldn't boycott, he was a black man, and he said this is something about the players, he's here to support them. if they don't boycott, he's not boycotting. he does think sterling needs to go, but he's here to support the players because they're in a hard place to be. >> yeah, it is tough. we have spoken about this, the internal conflict of being a black player and having to go out there, that you've worked for this all your life, but this guy says these idiotic, racist things, allegedly, so you have all that. thank you, stephanie. our panel isn't going anywhere. up next, more of that recording allegedly of clippers owner donald sterling. the sound you'll hear comparing white and black jews. [ man #1 ] we're now in the approach phase,

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so kevin johnson, the former nba player, current mayor of sacramento and adviser to the

nba's player union, commented on the comments of donald sterling a short time ago. >> there's absolutely no place in the nba family for ignorance, intolerance, reprehensible comments that are unacceptable and not fitting for what this league is all about. i will tell you, i've talked to a lot of owners. this is a very delicate situation. there is nobody, there's no one that believes that these actions and these comments, if found true, are acceptable and fitting of anything that this nba represents and stands for. >> kevin johnson made five command demands. one, players want to ensure sterling doesn't attend any other games for the playoffs. two, they want a full accounting of racism by sterling and why they were never punished by the

nabl. three, they want to know what kind of punishment he will face. four, they want to make sure the commissioner will work with the union during the investigation. and five, may want to make sure the commissioner carries out the process quickly so the focus can return to the playoffs. i want to play this now, this recording allegedly of donald sterling telling his girlfriend don't bring black people to clippers games. listen. >> but they make you very rich.

joining our panel to discuss now, paul ginsburg, who has analyzed sounds for the fbi, cia and homeland security. how can audio experts determine whether this is sterling's voice? >> we need a true exemplar, preferably one in which he's stating the same words or phrases, and really what i would want is something that's recorded in the same location, by the same kind of equipment. they both had reverberation. i would say that they were both at the same place. this was live exchange not a telephone conversation. >> listening to it as an expert, what do you think? >> it sounds continuous to me. however, in any investigation that i do in my lab, i always ask for the original, as well as the original machine. >> so is it like dna, is it 100%

whenauthenticated? >> close. >> paul, california is a two-party state, this is according to tmz sports. it is saying donald steriling is say ware he was being taped. it's saying that she would tell him he was being recorded, she would regularly play the tapes back to them because he would forget what he said. at the beginning of the said, it said -- sterling at the beginning of the conversation was being recorded. does this change? >> yeah, this changes things considerably. california is one of about 12 states where -- >> if it's true. >> both parties have to consent to the recording of a confidential conversation. if he's aware that the recording is being made, that's arguably the consent. so that would mean this would not be criminal conduct, and

frankly, for a lot of reasons, maybe a lot of people would be happy if it's not criminal conduct. because then the contents can be used for all purposes and proceedings. >> you saw the players wearing their jerseys inside out. you saw the black wrist bands on the left wrist. is this an out for them? can they renegotiate? >> it's a very interesting question. i've been doing research on it this afternoon. it's not clear that it is, and i'll tell you why. if you have an abusive boss or subjected to harassment in the workplace, as a general rule, your first line of defense is you go to the company and you say, i want an investigation done, i want something done about this. so the clippers' organization would say, we were unaware of this. the players never complained directly of it, and the fact that he's use thing sort of language in a private conversation with his alleged girlfriend doesn't really impact the players directly. that's the argument that would be used against them if they

tried to terminate their contracts. i think it would probably, in a court of law, be a pretty good argument. i don't think they'll be able to terminate contracts based on this taped conversation. >> i want to get everyone in here. if you could give me 20 seconds. terrence, he said he wants specific things to happen. he means business. >> yeah. marge schott, the poster child for racism when it comes to owner, she started owning the cincinnati reds in 1984. she was there until the late 1990s. she had two prominent black players, dave parker and barry larker, when she referred to his black players as million dollar ns. they still won the 1990 world series. >> brian, you heard what mr. johnson said. he said they mean business.

>> taking paul's comment one step further, he's right. this has been reported to the hr of the clippers. under california law, what hr has to do now is fire donald sterling. because if they don't fire donald sterling, all of these players are living in a hostile work environment within the l.a. clippers' organization. so you have two options to summit up, the nba needs to kick donald sterling out of the league. or number two, follow employment law in california, and they now have a legal obligation to remove him as the owner of the clippers. let's keep doc rivers in town, keep chris paul in town and let's not lose the clippers, please. >> david? >> sterling has to go, there's no question about it. there's no doubt in my mind. i'm representing these players. i know they're not happy about it, we're not happy about it. in order for that organization to be saved, he's got to go.

>> how long do you think it will take them to authenticate this, paul? he hasn't come out and said this is not me. >> no, he has not denied it, but i would say after a few days we should have an answer. >> all right. thank you, everyone. appreciate all of your expertise. up next, a major weather threat. millions facing the possibility of tornadoes right now. salesperson #1: the real deal is the passat tdi clean diesel gets up to 795 highway miles per tank. salesperson #2: actually, we're throwing in a $1,000 fuel reward card. we've never done that. that's why there's never been a better time to buy a passat tdi clean diesel. husband: so it's like two deals in one? salesperson #2: exactly. avo: during the first ever volkswagen tdi clean diesel event, get a great deal on a passat tdi, that gets up to 795 highway miles per tank. and get a $1,000 fuel reward card. it's like two deals in one. hurry in and get a $1,000 fuel reward card and 0.9% apr for 60 months on tdi models. grossemisconduct... ortho crime files. ...disturbing the pantry. a house, under siege.

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kansas. i want you to take a look at this. a twister hit the ground in pleasanton, kansas, 70 miles south of kansas city. this was taken by storm chaser tim perrington. jennifer, what do you have? >> these are fierce and they're not letting up any time soon. we have more tornado warnings to tell you about. a lot of them are firing up along that kansas-missouri state line, and they are definitely dangerous. i'm going to show you just a couple of these. you can see this one around center. they're moving to the northeast at about 40 miles per hour. they're going to continue to push through the northeast through all of these towns right in its past. center, about 20,000 people in the path of that one. as you go to the south, zoom in on that one, jasper county, lawrence county, this is in effect until 7:15 central time. we also have a couple of tornado warnings currently in effect in

mississippi. so these are just as dangerous, heading to the northeast at about 40 miles per hour. this one is in effect until 7:00 for tate and tunica, and we have another one, you can see a little rotation indicated by the doppler. this one is in effect until 7:30, as well. so don, very dangerous situation going on across the country. we still have that high risk of tornado development extending from missouri points north. >> jennifer, thank you. a new plan in the search for malaysian flight 370, the place where everyone is looking may be changing. at university of phoenix your education is built to help move your career forward. here's how: we work with leading employers to learn what you need to learn so classes impact your career. while helping ensure credits you've already earned pay off. and we have career planning tools to keep you on track every step of the way. plus the freshman fifteen, isn't really a thing here. and graduation, it's just the beginning. because we build education around where you want to go.

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and get two wifi networks included. comcast business built for business. the hunt for malaysia flight 370 entering a new phase. the bluefin underwater drone is on a different mission outside the search zone. just a short time ago it finished scanning the search zone, the yellow area you see right there in the center of your screen. no clues were found, nothing. australian officials say the bluefin is now scouring areas adjacent to the search zone. it may head north where a different ping was heard weeks ago, plus a new aerial search will begin after bad weather scrapped earlier plans. up to nine military aircraft, 12 ships are set to help in monday's search. so with me now is ocean explorer, fabian cousteau and so

why don't we have better technology for deep water ocean searches? >> it's very simple. there hasn't been the funding for it. unfortunately, the technology that we have is very sparse. >> that's it, just a simple answer as that. >> the technology exists. we don't have the money for it. >> because of this, you think that will help? >> if there's more funding? >> yeah. you think it will help more funding now that people are aware -- >> i hate to spin it that way but unfortunately, you may be right. >> paul, if you were leading the search, what is the best equipment? do you think the bluefin is the best equipment and what is the best audio equipment that we should be using in this search? in the underwater search? >> well, there are a few different parts here. first is to locate the pingers. 100% certainty. and the second then of course is to use sonar to eliminate any doubt as to where we are looking for the aircraft, for the black boxes. we have the equipment.

we have to make sure that we use it properly. my professor said 90% planning, 10% work. it's true. you have to know, you have to have an idea of what you're looking for, what frequency is it going to come in on through that amount of water and to see that you have that proper signature. >> fabian, the mission failed inside that search zone, now they are looking nearby. is this the smartest move or do you think they need to stop, rethink the bluefin's limits? >> very complex question. i think the bluefin didn't fail, it did what it had to do but it didn't find anything. i think the information is disparate, it's all over the place, and unless we know exactly where to look, the bluefin will continue to do what it's doing. >> if the flight 370, if they completely reboot, right, what audio evidence do you think they should focus on first? >> well, we have no more pingers. that's exhausted. so we have to go back and see

what exactly is definite factual information, what is subjective or conjecture based upon faulty data. wish i had been there on the ship gathering the data in front of that laptop. >> it has been said that they should go and put in pingers that are similar to flight 370. mary schiavo said that a lot. the question is, have they done that. you've said all along -- >> they need a handbook of references. in other words, put pingers in the water in different areas, different depths, and make a catalog, a handbook, of what is received. does the frequency shift, does it waiver, what are the amplitude variations, the period frequency. they need that as a reference. >> paul has said they need to sit down in a room and find out what they have and don't have and regroup. do you agree with that? >> i absolutely do. the information's coming from different sources.

it's not necessarily meshing well together. and people have different parts of that information, and therefore, there is chaos. >> what do you think is going to happen next week with this report, quickly? >> i think it's going to be vague. i think it's just going to be a statement of what they have done, but i don't think we are going to find too many results. >> thank you both. appreciate it. i'm don lemon. stay with cnn and cnn.com for the very latest on everything that we have reported here tonight. up next, anthony bourdain, parts unknown, las vegas. at the premiere, it's parts unknown, lyon, france. thanks for watching. see you next week. good night. humans. even when we cross our t's and dot our i's, we still run into problems. namely, other humans. which is why at liberty mutual insurance, auto policies come with new car replacement

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