>> and how strictly we should be constructists, which is always the challenge for so many. thanks for joining us from washington. enjoy the argument. look forward to seeing you back here. jeffrey toobin joining us live. you know who else is going to join us live, wolf blitzer. he's going to take over. thanks for watching. right now, it's judgment day for the owner of the los angeles clippers. also right now, a major twist in the search for missing malaysia airlines flight 370. now a private company is saying it's found possible wreckage and it's nowhere near the area the search has been focusing on so far. right now, one-third of the united states bracing for more dangerous weather. it's coming from the same storm system that's already killed 29 people and ripped apart homes, trees, cars, all along the way.

hello, i'm 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. he's 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 cnn's 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 doesn't 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.

there's a couple provision, in the nba constitution which, by the way, is a secret document. but enough has leaked out that we know there's provisions to remove an owner from his team if he can't 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. we're 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. he's aly the li lily th lily th holds on to everything. >> mark cuban, owner of the mavericks, told espn these words. he said, there's no excuse for what sterling said. there's no excuse for anybody to support racism. there's no place in it in our league. but there's 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 don't 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 he's 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 we're seeing now to grab some power for the owners. that would be very, very interesting this early in his tenure, don't 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. we're going to talk to you again later this hour. much more on this story coming up. don't forget, 2:00 p.m. eastern, you'll see live, right here on cnn, the news conference, the nba commissioner adam silver will announce what he's planning on doing to donald sterling, the owner of the l.a. clippers. let's 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 cnn's "new day" and says he's 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 we've given them because it's not guesswork. we've actually given them a precise coordinate. and have a look down there with sonar. >> earlier today, cnn safety analyst david soucie suggested this company's claims shouldn't be dismissed too quickly. >> as far as this company and their credibility, it's very

high and they do have information that something is there shortly after the accident that wasn't there before, including metals. they sense metals. that's what they're there for. they're 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. let's bring in richard quest. he's 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 you're 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. they've got to see, you cannot ignore something of this magnitude from a reputable company that says they've 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 we've been told, there is no sign of any distress. and it doesn't really -- obviously for the families, it gives an element of piece they wanted to. the investigators gave them serial numbers, they gave them details they've been seeking.

so the families got a lot more detail, but i'm 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. we'll 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. that's 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. he's on the ground, he's watching all of this unfold. stand by for that. once again we're 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.

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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 he's 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. let's 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 don't 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, twa's 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 you're pretty sure it doesn't add up, it can't be, it's probably not true, you can't just ignore it. in a case like this, if they had found one shred of debris in the indian ocean that said, okay, here's from the plane, here's where it crashed in the water, we'll look for it now, then

maybe you could dispute something like this. when you absent that, they're kind of stuck. >> they've 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 they've laid out, they feel strongly that's 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, they're hiding something, there's something in that audio that's going to be sinister, and now they release it and it's totally innocuous. it just shows that's their policy. it gives them increased credibility, that all of the things they're holding close to the vest are just because that's their policy, that's the way they work, and not that they're 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. we're waiting for the nba commissioner adam silver to hold a news conference. he'll do it right at the top of the hour. he's getting ready to announce the results of the league's investigation into l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. we'll speak with a panel of experts including an ex-nba

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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 number's 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 they're very worried about these numbers. they think they're very on muss. there's 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, that's 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 you're 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, that's right. that's why -- that's one of the reasons of course you hear democrats talking a lot about issues like pay ex-wquity becau they want to bring out women voters who are more democratic. they're also talking about issues that are important to the middle class. minimum wage. that's another woman's issue. because most of minimum wage earners are women. immigration reform. because they understand what they've got is a motivation problem. this kind of a midterm election, republicans are out there, they don't like this president, they want a republican congress. they're 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 that's the challenge right now for democrats. is to get democratic voters to understand that they have a big stake in this election. and that's hard when you don't

have a presidential 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 doesn't work out a peace deal with the palestinians. >> he's 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 shouldn't have said it. this came at a very sensitive time. the peace talks have broken down. they're trying to get them jump started. he's been working on it for more than nine months. having this kind of a controversy in the middle of it doesn't do anything to help the

administration at all. >> it wasn't just republicans who were critical, it was democrats who were very critical of kerry as well. thanks very much, gloria, for that. up next, we'll have special coverage of the donald sterling scandal. the nba news conference getting ready to start. we're 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, they're 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 wouldn't 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 let's 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.

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welcome back. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from washington. we're 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. we'll 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. she's the host of cnn's unguarded. and thurel bailey, currently a newscaster for the nba's utah jazz. what would be an appropriate punishment for donald sterling? >> you know, i'm 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, we're going to hear from adam silver here pretty soon. but, you know, i think as far as public opinion goes, a fine's not really going to do anything. but a heavy suspension or banishment from the nba and this ownership, whether that's legal or not, is probably in the right direction. >> what sort of surprises me, rachel, is what he hasn't 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 he's going to try to fix it, he's going to spend the rest of his life working to improve race releases.

he's got a lot of money. he's going to make money available for very appropriate causes. i didn't hear anything along those lines. are you surprised we didn't hear that kind of attempt at damage control? >> no, i'm not, trunkly, because i don't think sterling feels that way. anyone who woke up this past weekend and said, oh, my gosh, we've just learned that donald sterling has racial thoughts or tendencies hasn't 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 we're dealing with. this is a guy who has been an owner in the nba for a long time. i'm not surprised at all to hear these comments. i'm not surprised at all he didn't issue some sort of mea culpa. we haven't heard that from him all along the way. >> obviously, should have been doing that. clearly, you're right, he has stayed away from doing that. that's maybe the nature of sterling. what also worried me, you know, i'm 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, it's certainly devastating for them. >> let me ask thurel. >> nobody wants to work for a bigot, nobody wants to work for a racist. it's 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 they're waiting to see what the commissioner does. but if i'm a player, there's no way i would want to work in those conditions for that man. and the problem is that you're 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 you've worked so hard for. you know, as a player, you want to play. you want to play. but you don't want to be under those conditions. >> yeah, all right, guys, i want you to stand by. we're building up towards this news conference. we're anxious to hear what adam silver is about to announce. we'll 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 sterling's controversial past.

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right at the top of the hour, we're standing by for an important news conference. the new commissioner of the nba getting ready to walk into that room, that's the new yooshew yon hotel, midtown, manhattan. he will make a statement and presumably answer reporter's questions. we'll have live coverage for ou ve our viewers in the united states and around the world. a huge interest around the world as far as the nba is concerned. jason carroll takes a closer look at donald sterling, the man at the center of the scandal. and his very checkered past. >> because i don't see your views. i was not raised the way you were raised. >> don't come to my games. don't bring black people. don't come. >> do you know you have a whole

team that's 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: that's 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 don't care, you can do anything, but don't put him on instagram so the world has to see so they have to call me. don't bring him to my games, okay. >> reporter: sterile's wife told tmz her husband is not a racist, saying it's not true. also saying the tape recordings were, quote, old. >> he's 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 sterling's 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 african-americans 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. he's always been a regular at the top of the worst owners list. once again, joining us, rachel nichols, the host of cnn's "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 didn't know him that well.

as a player, you know, you really are only familiar with the owner of your team. you don't have much association with other owners. i didn't 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 he's 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? >> there's immense pressure on adam silver. first, remember, he's less than three months into his term as commissioner. this is going to set the tone for what kind of commissioner he's 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. there's pressure on him from the owners. owners around the league realize they have to do something about donald sterling, something they didn't do other the past 10, 15, 20 years. however, mark cuban made an interesting comment yesterday. he talked about, quote, the slippery slope that he's 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 he's 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. >> you've got to give silver

credit. he's making a quick decision on this. we'll 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? what's going on in the country right now? i'm going to speak to the urban league president. we'll discuss watt nba needs to do with donald sterling. humans. we are beautifully imperfect creatures living in an imperfect world. that's 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.

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the nba news conference announcing the next step in the donald sterling scandal. that's basketball and business. but there's a lot more involved as well. let's bring back rachel. and let's 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 silver's 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 african-american participation has been essential to the league, for more than 50 years. it represents a place where you now have african-american coaches in front office personnel, not at the levels we would expect. adam silver's got to make a strong statement, but he's also got to take strong action. he's 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, we're a nation, we forgive people. if he came to you, and i'm sure he won't, but let's say he did, donald sterling, and said, mr. morial, what can i do to fix this? what would you tell him? >> well, there's always -- we should always accept forgiveness.

we should always accept the fact that a person would admit that they've been wrong. in donald sterling's 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 he's diminished the value of his own team. imagine if sponsors, imagine if players will not want to play for him. he's 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, he's going to fight this legally in court. and that could drag on and on and on. >> well, that's 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 wouldn't stand up in a court of law. you've 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 didn't you deal with this before. how come today at this press conference is the first time we're 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, we're 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. we've 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.

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we're standing by for the start of the nba commissioner adam silver's news conference minutes away from now. the commissioner expected to address the donald sterling scandal. he's 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 can't 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 aren't 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 it's 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 african-american, 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 at-bat. we're 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. he's someone who's not shy about getting involved in legal battles. and the nba has to worry about that. >> that's true. this is, remember, a very paradoxical legal setup. here you have the commissioner who doesn't have employees, the owners are effectively his bosses, so he has to discipline one of his bosses.

now, there's plenty of press department for that, and david stern, his predecessor, on occasion took action against owners. but it's an unusual situation, where he's not dealing with an employee, he's 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, they're all thinking, well, you know, i want to see adam silver dispense an appropriate punishment here, but i don't 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. we're only moments away from the news conference. the new nba commissioner, remember, he only became the commissioner around february 1st, so he's new to the job. he's about to make a major, major statement. we're told he will then answer questions. we're 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. let's 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. i'm brooke baldwin. we're live with the breaking news. i'm 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 league's 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,