wii. >> always doubles. police, protect and serve. anyway, hope you have a great weekend. to all the mothers out there, you deserve it. every day, not just this weekend. let's get you to the "newsroom" with carol costello. to all the mothers in your life, carol, we hug them. >> absolutely. happy mother's day everyone, but especially my mom. have a great day. have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning. i'm carol costello. just when you thought it could not get any stranger, it does. donald sterling's racist talk came from a jealous man who wanted to have sex with v. stiviano. new audio released by radaronline e plains it all, or rather donald sterling does.

i'm talking to a girl, i'm trying to have sex with her, i'm trying to play with her. you know, if you're trying to have sex with a girl and you're talking to her privately, you don't any anybody is there, you may say anything in the world. what difference does it make? if the girl tapes it and releases it, my god, it's awful. >> we're going to have a huge discussion on this in just a few minutes. cnn also spoke to the attorney for shelly sterling, the co-owner of the los angeles clippers. yes, she wants to take ownership of the team. we'll have more for you in 15 minutes. first a story cnn has been on top of from the very beginning. disturbing treatment of veterans in va hospitals, in some cases waiting up to 21 months to see a doctor. the first case we reported on was from a hospital in phoenix. now cnn has learned there is another hospital under fire, a whistle-blower at a veterans hospital in san antonio tells

cnn that schedules were, quote, cooking the books on their bosses orders, transcribing to hide massive wait times before some veterans could get treatment. this comes as va chief aaron shinseki is being subpoenaed, being forced to answer questions about veterans who may have died while on that secret wait list which was first reported by cnn. nou shinseki has ordered a face-to-face audit of all veterans hospitals around the country trying to determine if policies have been broken. investigative correspondent drew griffin is tracking the story from texas this morning. good morning, drew. >> reporter: carol, this nationwide review, review of medical access at every single va vilt and clinic across the country is no small undertaking. i would imagine members of congress would say it's long overdue. in the meantime there are new allegations which is why we're

reporting from texas. san antonio, texas, is the latest location where investigators from the office of the inspector general are on the ground, trying to determine if managers at this sprawling va hospital were trying to hide the fact veterans had been waiting months to get care and if any veterans died as a result. the allegations come from this clerk who works in the hospital's medical administrative services and is speaking publicly for the first time. brian turner says his job is to help veterans secure appointments. he says he was told the fudge the numbers. he was to meet the va's own national timeline goal for setting appointments. that goal, no more than 14 days from when a veteran wants an appointment called the desired date. the problem he says, the appointment deadlines cannot be met. so he says he was instructed to simply schedule the appointment months and months in advance while making a note that this is

the veteran's desired date. >> we're instructed -- they're not saying fudge, no secret wait list. what they've done is just come out and say zero out that date. a report the following day if someone has a wait period that's longer than 14 days. the standard is the one to 14 days within the timeline of a desired date. >> reporter: irregardless of when the appointment took place. >> doesn't matter when. >> reporter: it could be three months and look like 14 days. >> it could be three months and look like no days. >> reporter: so fudging the books is my -- >> i would call it that. you can call it that. the va doesn't call it that. they call it zeroing out. >> zeroing out. >> in a statement to cnn, the va's public affairs office says turner's allegations were investigated and based on our internal fact-finding conducted

april 25th through 28th, we found the claims by this employee were not substance eighted, but turner questions just how much fact-finding went on. he said no one asked him about his allegations. in fact, he says when he began e-mailing his concerns to other staff members, he was told to stop it. >> they sent me up the very next day, i was called into an office and told not to e-mail another person. >> reporter: turner, an army veteran himself, has asked for whistle-blower protection and became a witness in an investigation now being conducted by the va's office of inspector general. the investigation focusing on delayed care, alleged falsification of records and possible medical harm to veterans at the san antonio, texas, va hospital. and while this investigation continues in texas, it looks like the secretary, shinseki,

will go before congress but before the senate veterans affairs committee, not the house. carol? >> drew griffin reporting. daryn selnik is with me, a va adviser for concerned veterans of america. welcome, daryn. your group has traveled the country talking to veterans' families about the issue. what did they tell you? >> i have talked to -- being a former va employee, i've talked to former employees and current employees. i've got to tell you, phoenix and ft. collins and austin, texas and whatnot, is not surprising because unfortunately i'm hearing this around the country, the same thing. what i'm hearing from employees is they're told not to talk to the ig, not to cooperate. we've got a disaster on our hands and it's widespread. >> we collectively celebrate our

veterans. we say we care about them and then this controversy surfaces. what does this sap about how america really cares for our troops? >> i think america really does care for the troops which is why we see so much outrage around the country. the problem is not americans. the problem is a certain number of employees and incompetent management at the va. the culture has just gone radically downhill the last four years. instead of being able to meet their numbers and fix things, they're covering up and hiding things. it's against the culture of the va. it's against what we're supposed to do for veterans. it's disgusting, and we need shinseki to be a leader on this and not just call it a training issue all the time. >> you expressed cautious optimism in the face of this audit of all the va medical centers. just explain more about why you're holding on to some reservation? >> my skepticism on this audit is what are they doing with this

audit? i've seen reports that it's talking to the schedulers about recordkeeping and policy. that's not what this audit should be. 1700 facilities is a huge undertaking. we need to make sure this is not a smoke and mary rors or whitewash, this is a true audit. the audit needs to be who is doing the stuff illegally, who is ordering the stuff and where is this happening, not some smoke and mirrors recordkeeping policy with schedulers who already know what to do. the problem is not with the schedulers, it's with management ordering the schedulers door foing the wrong thing. >> daryn sell nick, thanks for being with me. we appreciate it. >> any time. on cap hole hill, house democrats are searching for a strategy this morning after lawmakers voted largely along party lines to create a special select committee to investigate the benghazi consulate attack. this comes after 13 hearings, 50 briefings and more than 25,000 pages of documents and several

reports. joining me dana bash and gloria borger. dana, you have your sources. what do you suppose democrats will do? will they participate? >> they don't know yet. in fact, i just came from sitting outside a house democratic leadership meeting inside nancy pelosi's office where they're trying to answer that very question. what i'm told by several democratic sources is they're still waiting to hear back from john boehner, the house speaker and his staff about some suggestions that democrats made -- actually demands democrats are making in order to get their participation. i know this sounds a little possessy, it's important from the perspective of democrats because it has something to do with fairness and the belief that they'll have a say in this meeting. we're talking about a promise that democrats will have access to the witnesses and also be consulted and even have a part in the decisions about what

subpoena also go out. because they feel that in the ts other hearings and other investigations that you just talked about that have been going on in the regular committees, that democrats have been iced out and haven't heard about the results of witness interviews and so forth until they read about it in the media. they feel that is the only true way this will be bipartisan and they won't just be a part of what they call a potential political witch hunt or political show among democrats -- among republicans rather. >> just to be clear, the select committee will consist of 12 lawmakers, seven republicans, five democrats. why not make it even and call it a day? >> what's interesting, carol, is democrats aren't so upset about the fact that the ratio isn't even. they're much more focused on what i just mentioned, more of the process and being a part of the decision making and how the investigation goes on. they know that in past select committees, even watergate, for example, it wasn't an even ratio. it's more about having a seat at the table and being able to be

inside the room and be able to counter, but also again be a part of the investigation to make sure that they believe it is equitable and bipartisan. >> okay. so the democrats are deciding whether they're going to boycott the select committee. gloria, you wrote in a new cnn.com/opinion column, if the democrats decide to boycott the committee, it's at their own risk. they will lose out on the conversation. no matter how silly they think it is, they will be uninformed about witnesses, strategies, subpoenas, end quote. gloria, what is at stake for democrats here? >> there's a lot at stake for democrats here, you've got a midterm election coming up. they know the issue of benghazi is an issue that brings out partisan republican voters. that's what midterm elections are about. of the 40% of voters who participate, hardly any of them are up for grabs, unlike president elections where you look at the persuadable voters. midterm elections are about partisan. they understand that this could

hurt them potentially in the midterm elections if the republicans don't over play their hands. they also understand there's a potential for hillary clinton, democratic presidential candidate to be called, susan rice to be called. i believe they need to be in on the conversation. as dana points out, they want to have an impact on the conversation. if you just boycott it, it's one-sided. republicans are going to go on with the conversation and democrats can complain all they want it's a political circus, it's a witch hunt, that they don't want to make it legitimate. but the public will be watching a one-sided conversation which democrats cannot afford to have right now. i think better off to play than not play. >> republicans have to be careful with this committee, too, right, gloria? >> sure. absolute absolutely. there's always a potential for overreach. go back to 1998 and bill clinton and impeachment. the republicans suffered as a result of overreach.

i think this puts a lot of pressure on the republicans on the committee not to overdo it. >> carol, real quick, on that point. you and i talk about this a couple days ago, looking at this from a purely political perspective, that's the argument that some of the arguments have been making behind closed doors i'm told, democratic leadership members, saying maybe we shouldn't participate because that is maybe a lesson from 1998, that the public is just -- just doesn't want to hear about it. they get fed up. better for democrats to say, that's their problem, we're not part of this mess. i can tell you just on gloria's great column, which everybody should read on cnn.com. >> thank you, dana. >> you're welcome. it seems to me that is the way that things have moved, meaning a couple of days ago it seemed as though democrats were more likely to boycott this. now that this has become more of a reality, they seem more likely to want to be in the room and not just be yelling from outside. >> we'll see.

dana bash, gloria borger. you read gloria's column, cnn.com/opinion. still to come, explosive donald sterling audio released just minutes ago. >> but i'm talking to a girl i'm trying to have sex with her. i'm trying to play with her. >> the l.a. clippers co-owners says he was just trying to come on to v. stiviano and he was jealous she was seeing black men. more after a break. stick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now.

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we want to go back now to the explosive new audio released by radaronline.com from donald

sterling. in it sterling gives a bizarre explanation for his racist rant. he says he was only try to get into bed with v. stiviano. here is sterling in his own words. >> but i'm talking to a girl i'm trying to have sex with her, i'm trying to play with her. what -- can you -- you know, if you were trying to have sex with a girl and you're talking to her privately, you don't think anybody is there, you may say anything in the world, what difference does it make. then if the girl tapes it and releases it, my god, it's awful. who thinks anybody is going to tape anything? what the hell? i'm talking to a girl. the girl is black. i like her. i'm jealous she's with other black guys. i want her. so what the hell can i in

private tell her i don't want you to be with anybody? am i a person, do i have any freedom of speech? i wish magic johnson was talking to a girl, and you're trying to play with her. i would have said i could fly over high-rise buildings if i have to. you're talking to her. then you go away. the next thing, three months later, what you said when you were hot trying to get her is released. i have a girl here who has black kids and is partly black i think myself, i love the girl. she's telling me i'm wrong. i know i'm wrong, what i said was wrong. i never thought the private conversation would go anywhere, out to the public. i didn't want her to bring anybody to my games because i was jealous. i mean, i'm being honest.

it doesn't matter. no one is going to hear it but you and me. >> who are these people he's talking to and why do they keep releasing audio recordings of him. 's mind-boggling. l.c., i'm going to start with you. when i think of flirting talk, it's not of the racist nature. i'm just dieing to know what you make of this. >> there's a couple of things. one, i'm very uncomfortable him saying i want to play with her. that makes me uncomfortable over and over again. i go back to one of my professors taught me when i was a cub reporter. that is, when you get ahold of an exclusive interview or material, always ask yourself why? what's in it for the person

giving you that information? he's working really hard to explain his position to the unknown person on the phone. i'm asking myself, who will benefit from a donald sterling tape explaining himself about why he did what he did? i would think donald sterling. so i'm wondering is this tape we're listening to is actually won that was leaked by an outside source or was it donald sterling's attempt to try to get the public opinion behind him? >> that's a good point. mr. sterling did say v. stiviano was not his archivist. he seemed shock that a girl would release taped conversations. so darren, he diz seem to be -- they're investigating her criminally for fraud, extortion, blackmail and all the rest. >> before you even get to her, carol, when you listen to the last statement on the tape, that no one is going to hear this but you and me, it makes you really

wonder. california is a two-party recording state, meaning that if you have an expectation of privacy, everybody involved in the conversation has to consent to it being recorded. now it seems like every time you turn around, there's another secret recording with donald sterling. it's almost like the guy can't go out and order lunch without the waiter saying, hey, talk into my sleeve so i can record this conversation. it's getting a little bit crazy. when you get to the substance of what he's saying, this is actually the first thing he's saying that to me as a man actually makes a little bit of sense and almost makes me feel sorry for him. i don't think we get to roll the breaking news banner that men will say stupid, ridiculous things when it comes to matters of the heart, carol. >> hold up, hold up, hold up. >> stephanie elam, i will admit that at moments in listening to that conversation, i was thinking to myself what a

pathetic old man. that's what i thought. >> i'm sorry. i hear you, darren. i'm sorry, any man who thinks the way to get a woman is to basically talk awful things about half of who she is to twisted. that's the twisted part of this tape to me. when you listen to what he's saying, he's trying to explain, i'm saying anything possible to get her because, you know, that's going to work, but defiling who she is, by saying who she is awful, it doesn't make sense to me. also when you listen to the recordings, he does say that no one is going to hear it. he might say this tape-recording thing worked out for me before, let's see if it works again. it got out there faster than anything else i can say. let me do it again and see if people listen to it. the fact that in his mind, somewhere deep in there, maybe not deep, he thinks it's okay to say negative, hateful things just in general, not just in general, about a woman he says hees trying to have sex with, is so twisted and disgusting. >> l.c., he said more than that. he said he loved her.

>> there's nuances in the way we look at racism today. so many times when people think about racism, they think about the kkk or using slurs. but attitudes that have been handed down by institutionalized racism plays out in many different ways. this is yet another example. i'll tell you something else i'm talking about. there was a 2011 pew poll that talked about your comfort level with interracial relationships. people who are identified as not being racist had problems when family members married people outside of their race. so what donald sterling is talking about on this tape, is not something very unusual for his generation, but even in my generation, three out of four people would not have a problem which means one out of four did. that's disturbing to me. those are some of the nuance ways in which racism plays out. donald sterling saying he loved her doesn't seem that ridiculous. you can be attracted to someone of a different race and still

have very ill feelings about that race. we've seen it with the slave masters raping black women and hating black people. i plays out today in very odd and nuanced ways. >> hold your thoughts. i want to keep you around. stephanie elam, l.c. grammar son, shelly sterling is now distancing herself from her husband, but not from the l.a. clippers. >> mrs. sterling has denounced in the strongest terms possible her husband's racist comments. >> mrs. sterling's attorney reveals her next step in remaining ownership of the clippers. we'll talk about that next. you, my friend are a master of diversification.

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i know you saw this coming, shelly sterling wants to keep the clippers, as mrs. sterling's attorney told us, quote, the sins of the husband cannot be imputed to the wife or children. the co-owner shelly sterling will meet soon with top nba officials. her attorney says she wants to retain 50% of the clippers while bringing in a major investment group. pierce o'donnell talked with cnn's stephanie elam. >> how is mrs. sterling doing since this entire scandal broke about her husband? >> well, she's remarkably resilient. she's very committed to the team winning the nba championship. while she is distressed about some of the urban myths about what's going on and allegations against her, she's got great

fortitude, and she will weather this greatly. mrs. sterling has denounced in the strongest terms possible her husband's racist comments, totally disassociated with him. commissioner silver was very clear that she's not accused of anything here, she didn't do anything wrong. it's donald. number two, they've been estranged and not living together for over a year. and while they share business, business properties, he's out of the team, has nothing to do with it and she's the owner in charge. >> this is the question that everyone wants to know. does shelly sterling want to be the sole owner of the team or does she want the family trust without donald to own the team after he's gone? >> first of all, she wants an nba championship to come to los angeles. on the business front, her desire is to retain her 50% ownership of the team and whatever happens to donald's interest happens. she's been an owner for 33

years, an avid fan. she helped build the family fortune and wants to retain her ownership in her lifetime. >> one wrinkle in that is that we've heard some of the players say that they don't want to see -- i should say the nba, not necessarily from the clippers, but they don't want to see any sterling owning the team. how does she plan on fighting that? >> first of all, they never told me that. i have a very cordial relationship with commissioner silver, the general council, rick buchanan. i was on the phone with rick buchanan 20 minutes ago. they never said that to us. we'll be meeting with them soon to see if we can come up with a mutually beneficial resolution of the differences that exist. they've never banned her from games. she'll be at the game on friday night. she's been at other games. we're hopeful we can resolve this for the good of the city t good of the team, the fans, the players, doc rivers and the coaches and for her.

>> this is a team that is valued at a lot more than what the purchase price was in 1981. if there was a bidding war, the sterlgs stand to make a great amount of money. everyone has a price. has mrs. sterling identified hers? >> no. mrs. sterling wants to retain her ownership interest in the team. she has enough money in her life and for her children and grandchildren. she's passionate about her ownership of this team. she loves the team. players love her. doc rivers has been very supportive of her. and she's supportive of him. mrs. sterling wants to retain her 50% ownership interest in her lifetime. >> i asked coach rivers about whether or not he had heard from mrs. sterling. he said she had. she asked if she could come to one of the games. has mrs. sterling reached out to the players to talk to the players or has she left that alone? >> she hasn't reached out to them. some have come over to her,

given her a hug. mrs. sterling is a wonderful woman. she's very caring and decent. the players know she cares about them. they're trying to guide her actions accordingly. i think westbrook and durant were the bigger distractions for us unfortunately last game. she's trying to perform the important role of being a co-owner, the owner in charge. but let the team be managed by the great coach, doc rivers. >> one thing i want to clarify, too. you have these old depositions we've seen from 2009. in them there were claims made by people, that she called someone under her breath a black mf, negative term. is mrs. sterling a racist and does she deny those statements? >> first, she denies the statements categorically. those are depositions, they're one-sided. nobody has asked for her position. i will state it categorically. she has never, ever engaged in

discrimination based on race, sex, orientation, anything like that, number one. number two, mrs. sterling and her husband were sued. they've never been found by a court to have engaged in discriminatory housing practices. some cases were settled by the insurance companies. mrs. sterling is a wonderful woman and doesn't have any racial ominous. >> is this going to be a quick resolution or is this going to be a long process with the nba? >> we hope it is a speedy resolution. this is a very complicated issue. there's a lot of moving parts and we will be meeting with the nba soon to see if we can't begin a process of heeling and a process by which mrs. sterling and the league both achieve their objectives. >> okay. so according to shelly sterling's attorney, the clippers love shelly sterling and doc rivers has supported her. you would think rivers would also support her staying on as

co-owner. here is what he says? >> i think it would be a very hard situation, i'll say that much. i think it would be very difficult. i guarantee every person wouldn't be on board with that. >> with the ownership picture far from settled, the clippers themselves have a play-off battle on their hands. the team hosts the oklahoma city thunder tonight. the series is tied at a game each. yes, mrs. sterling will be back at the game. let's bring back our panel, l.c. granter son, darren kavinoky and stephanie elam. welcome to all. darren, i'll start with you. you heard what the attorney says, we abhor guilt by association. the sins of the husband can't be imputed to the wife and children. he says shelly sterling is not racist. does he have a point, darren? >> you know who does a great job

speaking on behalf of shelly sterling? her lawyers and publicists. you know who does allows see job advocating for shelly sterling? shelly sterling. on the very day she came out with this very strong and public statement against her husband and against racism, she's caught coming out of a restaurant saying, donald, he's not a racist and backing him up. yes, those court cases alleging discrimination in the housing dealings were settled. that was just one side of the story. but a big fat check will make those issues go away. i don't think the nba is going to be satisfied as long as there's anybody with the sterling name that's attached to it. it's just like a cloud hanging over the entirety of the transaction. it raises the specter that donald sterling will be behind her pulling the strings and manipulating the thing. they don't need it. they need a flesh start. i cannot imagine a world where

the nba would go along with that. >> before we go on, i want to go back to the tape. she was with mr. sterling on his birthday and said he was not a racist. two questions for you, stephanie, how does the attorney explain what mrs. sterling said that night? two, they've been apart for a year? why was she with him on his 80th birthday if they're estranged? >> these were exactly the questions i asked. her attorney says she misunderstood the question to be about her, so that's what she was answering, even though we hear it on the tape very clearly saying is he a racist. she thought the question was directed to her. that's what her attorney says. that's the answer to that one. i also asked, they were together -- if they've been estranged, living apart for a year, why are they together on his 80th birthday. his answers was, well, they do have children and grandkids and they do have these businesses. sometimes separated people do come together. it still seems it wasn't a

contemptuous sort of setting, not that there was a lot you could see of them interacting, but this is the reason they were together. it's interesting to hear how he explains it. one thing i also thought was interesting from the interview is he said mrs. sterling wants to own the team, her stake of the team which is 50% by the way, for her lifetime. he said for her lifetime several times. i think that's also very telling. >> okay. so my question to you, l.c., mrs. sterling also says she has no interest in actively managing the team. she wants to own it apparently for the rest of her life. so would that be so bad if she owned the team but stayed out of d day-to-day operations, et cetera, et cetera? >> yes, actually. >> in a word. >> i have a very difficult time seeing how commissioner silver, how the players association and other officers, how the public

will go, okay, since she's not in the office, then i guess it's okay. to process the fact that she'll be making monies from these players and coach rivers. the thing that i thought was telling, you could tell the clipper family has gotten together and gotten their public speech right. the attorney ended up saying something exactly what coach rivers said, which is, you know, we have a distraction. that's the same thing rivers said. i'm sitting here going, are you kidding me? do you not know we have tape? do you know not know we're able to piece these things together. you tried to shift the focus back to basketball and that's great. there are some things in life bigger than an nba championship even if you've been working towards this goal your whole life, and that is dignity. the dignity that you know that our ancestors in this country has worked so hard on race relations, to put that all away and say, we, we've got to focus

on westbrook and durant. you know what? no. you need to handle this now. the nba has been letting this man stick around for 30 years. they've known since 1982, was the first time his racist remarks were recorded and they tried to address it. since '82 until this year they've been letting this happen. there comes a point in which you've got to put basketball aside and deal with issues that are a little larnler than that. >> i got to end it here, guys. thank you so much. l.z, darren and stephanie. if you ask me about shingles, i'd say, did you ever have chickenpox? 1 in 3 people will get shingles in their lifetime.

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right now a new british team is in nigeria. an american group hits the ground today to help them search for nearly 300 kidnapped school girls now missing for 3 1/2 weeks. this new sent in american team won't include combat troops but will help with intelligence, investigation and hostage negotiations. isha sesay is live in nigeria to tell us more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carol. yes, this team has arrived from the united states and from the uk and is here to provide critical expertise in intelligence and surveillance, in hostage negotiations and reconnaissance, that kind of thing, which is believed to be absolutely essential and could be some of the gaps that exist in terms of nigerian capability for search and rescue mission to

bring these girls home. so much time has gone by. these girls have been missing for over three weeks now. the hope is that now there is this international assistance, that could prove to be the turning point because this is very difficult terrain we're talking about that these teams will be guiding the nigerians through. this is terrain in the northeastern part of the country, it's remote, heavily forested. broke co-haram has made this area a stronghold for many, many years. this is a big undertaking. i have to tell you, the feeling in this country is one of growing pain, growing anxiety as people hope and play it will be international assistance that brings the result we all want, that these girls are brought back home. carol? >> isha sesay reporting live this morning. thanks so much. if you would like to help girls worldwide try to overcome barriers to education, go to our website, cnn.com/impact.

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checking some top stories at 48 minutes past the hour. a man on oklahoma's death row is getting a six-month stay. charles warner's execution was scheduled for next week but the state is continuing an investigation into the death of clayton lockett. he was give an three-drug cocktail and died of an apparent heart attack. 27 million people are in the path of a severe weather system sweeping the eastern half of the united states. storms from texas to indiana are set to bring in high winds, hail and possible tornadoes. this as some communities are still recovering from yesterday's extreme weather. storms dumped more than 5 inches of rain in dallas where high winds shattered windows and scared residents. >> i shut my front door, locked the door and the next thing you know, i ran in the bathroom and

then i just heard my house going clank, clank, clank and just shaking. >> we're glad she's okay. >> in minnesota, you can see the dramatic video of a tornado touching down south of minneapolis. one of many twisters reported in the midwest. want to get you a quick check of the markets about 15 minutes after the open. the dow trading slightly lower. just about 32 points down. i'll be right back. it starts with little things. tiny changes in the brain.

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the california senate has passed a bill requiring smartphones sold in the state of california to have kill switches that make them inoperable if they're stolen. the bill is meant to deter phone theft skyrocketing in california. replacing mobile devices is a $30 million business for tech companies. i congratulate california lawmakers for passing this legislation. >> right. it's a good thing. it's the golden state where we get all of our technology so it makes sense they lead the united

states in legislation about our technology. these little guys are worth a lot of money. they're worth a lot of money to us when we go out and buy them. they cost us a lot of money. they can also be very dangerous as you mentioned. theft of these devices is on the rise and because of that we have now legislation like this with these kill switches. what's interesting about it is when i talked to a handful of the handset makers, a lot of them don't want a kill switch. they want something more software like what apple has where your phone locks up and you can find your phone but it's password protected and no one can do anything with it unless they have user name and password. >> is that as effective as a kill switch? >> personally i think the kill switch is the way to go. i think that's the best way to deter it. i think if going to steal something means you're going to have just a device that does absolutely nothing, you're going to be less inclined to want to steal it. i think anything that is

software based is also hackable. we're not talking about, you know, white collar crime. we're talking about criminals who are going -- someone who will yank this out of your hand when you're trying to talk on it doesn't care if it has a software kill switch. they may want the screen or parts inside. they may want the battery. they don't care. they're not going to go wait it has password protection take it back. >> you know this happened to me, right? they pulled out a chunk of my hair. i was not happy. but i thought this was a nationwide effort. did that nationwide effort die and is it just the state of california trying to do this now? >> yeah. the nationwide effort, the ctia, the company that handles all of the lobbying for the wireless industry, they're not really behind this right now. the cell phone carriers also aren't really pushing a lot of this legislation. so california tends to lead the pack on things that the rest of the country is, like, hold on a second. let's figure out a better way to

do this. i mean, you're right. i have a friend who is in full traction and had to his mouth wired shut because his phone was stolen. ripped out of his hand and they hit him pretty hard and he had his mouth wired shut. in new york they call it apple picking. it's a very serious crime. i hope that the kill switch works. i hope by california leading the pack we see some decrease in crime. and i hope that's the solution. but there's got to be -- we all need to come together here and find better solutions to keeping these things in the hands of their owners and not getting ripped out by thieves. >> amen, brett larson. thanks so much. i appreciate it. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" after a break. we're moving our company to new york state.

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>> but i'm talking to a girl.

i'm trying to have sex with her. i'm trying to play with her. >> happening now in the "newsroom," another day and another brand new recording of donald sterling. this time he gives a reason for his racist rant. he was flirting. you'll hear more in a minute. investigating the showdown at the ranch. the fbi is reportedly scrutinizing the people who rallied at bundy's side and demanding answers. the families of missing passengers on flight 370 right an open letter demanding the raw data so they can hire new teams to find their loved ones. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. we begin in washington where a high stakes meeting is now under way on the agenda how democrats will respond to that special select committee established to investigate the benghazi consulate attack. chief congressional

correspondent dana bash is on capitol hill. dana, the democrats are still meeting? >> reporter: they took a little break to vote but they are supposed to come back. the problem that many democratic lawmakers came out and told us that they have is they don't know how to decide because get this? they are waiting for a phone call. it happens here at the highest levels of power. phone calls don't always get returned as fast as some would like and that's certainly the case if you're nancy pelosi right now. she told her members behind closed doors that she is waiting to hear back from house speaker john boehner about some very important issues that democrats have in order to agree to participate. those being a decision by republicans to allow democrats to be involved in witness interviews in this select committee and deciding on subpoenas. those are some key issues democrats say they have. they're not sure whether they're going to get agreement on that and that's why they haven't decided whether to participate. >> so they have not decided whether they're going to boycott the select committee voted into

existence by house republicans in large part. dana bash, many thanks to you. we'll dig deeper into this topic at the bottom of the hour. do democrats and republicans both face a risk with surrounding the special benghazi committee. what about bringing the people responsible for the attack to justice? what about that part of the equation. we'll have that conversation coming up at 10:30 eastern time. there are new developments in the search for missing malaysia air flight 370. some family members of passengers have written a letter to officials demanding raw flight data be released so independent analysis can be done. this news comes as some families are receiving insurance payouts after their loved ones are presumed dead. >> reporter: this is a little bit out of the ordinary in that you usually need a death certificate to start getting

those life insurance payouts but flight 370 families don't have the death certificates or even concrete information about what happened to their loved ones but despite that, millions of dollars have already been doled out to these families and for some of them accepting the money is actually accepting the harsh reality that their loved ones are no longer alive. even with no sign of the plane or proof of the passengers fate, malaysian life insurance companies are starting to pay out. >> i think the presumption of death under these circumstances is appropriate and allows some of these families to at least financially move forward. >> reporter: citing extraordinary circumstances, the company shelled out $4 million to u.s. families from personal life insurance policies separate from airline compensation. >> the airline really should be sprinkling out and paying up the maximum amount. >> reporter: payouts aren't enough. in a new open letter, families demanded the raw data that led search teams to the south indian

ocean and input on what happens next. australia, china and malaysia are reanalyzing the data and planning the next search phase. >> the most important thing they can do is stop and think. before you engage a dozen companies with their ships and vehicles to go out there and start mapping. >> reporter: the families called for a company to lead the search. david gallo was part of their team which found air france 447. that search also far from perfect highlighting why the current reanalysis is critical. >> the modeler said we're not 95% sure that the plane is in that box. and they were 100% wrong. >> reporter: in the case of malaysia airlines, investigators say all of the data they have points to this area. it's where the ocean shield and bluefin-21 will continue searching soon and where pings

believed to be from black boxes and final satellite connection from a plane were detected. even before any wreckage is found, some governments already taking action. india just issued new rules requiring realtime tracking of passenger planes and a new proposal for a europe air safety agency would require black box pingers last longer and cockpit voice recorders capture 20 hours instead of two. carol, the life insurance payouts is just the beginning for the families. under international agreements, the airlines must pay the families a certain amount of money and beyond that these families can sue the airline for even more money. now looking forward to monday, we know that the united nation's committee will meet to consider ways to track airplanes so we don't see this sort of thing happen again, carol. >> that's good news.

let's talk about this some more. i want to bring in former inspector general for the department of transportation and also cnn aviation analyst and former ntsb managing director. welcome to you both. >> good morning. >> mary, i want to start with you. you represented victims of airline disasters. do you think that enough is being done for these families? >> no. i think that issue is really going to heat up over the weekend. not only have the families sent this open letter but there's a very interesting article in "atlantic monthly" recalculating the data saying that it would show the plane was moving while still sitting on the ground and it raises a lot of interesting questions. i think this whole issue about opening up to the public this data so that independent eyes can look at and families can search on their own will take on

real momentum in part because of the families but also in part because of this interesting article just released. >> what do you mean the plane was moving on the ground? what do you mean by that? >> well, some folks have recalculated the data and according to how they look at the data, the data would show that the plane moving along this arc would have been moving along this arc while it was still at the airport before it even took off so maybe it would make one think the data isn't right and that's concern of the families for calling of the opening up of the data. if that part of the data is wrong, isn't it suspect to the end point? >> peter, do you agree? this will be awful if this were true. >> well, i think this underscores the fundamental lack of trust that the families and frankly others have with the conduct of the investigation.

because the malaysians were not transparent from the beginning, because the factual reports that they put out in early stages ended up being not factual, there is simply a fundamental mistrust, and i think mary is right. the families are right. the data has to be put on the table. we don't know whether the authors of the article in "the atlantic" have full data but certainly the questions they raised are compelling because if the data has been miscalculated or is wrong, we're in the wrong location. >> the searchers and investigators in australia are sitting down and hopefully they're reviewing everything, right? they may come up with the same conclusion. >> and they are reviewing it. it needs to be a more open process. they need to publish their data. this is so unusual that we have an accident with nothing found.

they need to break the rules and become completely transparent. >> mary, peter, thanks as always. >> thank you. >> still to come in the "newsroom," beats by apple? it could make rapper dr. dre an even richer man. details next. what can i do on a $7 a month android plan from tracfone? check the weather. borrow ted's wheelbarrow. post big tomato pics. buy a birdhouse for sparrows. download gardening apps. answer my wife's texts. search how to sculpt hedges into a t-rex. i can do all that with my android from tracfone for as low as $7 a month. [ male announcer ] unbeatable nationwide coverage, no contract. for a limited time, save $50 on the zte valet. now just 49.99.

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could dr. dre become the world's first billionaire rapper?

new reports say the headphone company he founded could be purchased by apple in a deal that could top $3 billion. christine romans is here with more on this story. good morning. >> not bad for some headphones, right? that's a lot of money. i tell you that beats and apple are not confirming this deal. if you look at a video, just look at this celebration. it looks like they are confirming a very big deal. so interesting. that sound has now played on some 70 different blogs and websites. it's pretty amazing to hear them talking about becoming a billionaire, going back and redoing the "forbes" list. this is what reports are saying this morning in "financial times." beats last year was valued at $1 billion. makes those headphones and has a music subscription service. here is where it makes sense for

apple. apple has had all of this success with music downloads but a lot of action and growth is in subscription services like pandora and beats. beats has a music subscription service that's 10 bucks a month. also, carol, really important to note here. very different and unusual acquisition for apple. biggest one ever. second, apple usually doesn't buy other brands. you never heard of another brand by apple. apple is apple. they acquire small companies for talent and new technology. this is really out of step with what apple usually does. >> approximate paid so much money. >> $3.2 billion. the company was valued at a little more than 1 billion. good talent there. jimmy is a big music industry and guru with close ties to apple. maybe he could have a role many people are saying over at apple. the big winners here, the big

winners are the private equity firm carlyle that invested last year in this company and made a lot of money in seven months. a lot of money in seven months if this goes through. apple is notoriously discrete about what it does. if you look online today, there's a lot of indiscretion among some of dr. dre's cohorts about potential this deal gets done. it's pretty interesting. no official word yet from these companies. >> christine romans, many thanks. still to come in the "newsroom," plans canceled for an upcoming show because of controversial comments one of the hosts made about gay people. that host and his brother spoke to cnn just hours ago about the controversy. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar.

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hgtv is scrapping plans for an upcoming show because of newly discovered anti-gay comments by one of the hosts. twin brothers david and jason were to host a show called "flip it forward" but show was canceled after a post on the website right wing watch captured david saying this in 2012. >> we don't realize that, okay, if 87% of americans are christians and yet we have abortion on demand, we have no-fault divorce, we have pornography and perversion and homosexuality and its agenda attacking the nation, we have all of the things.

we have allowed the ideologies to take our universities. we are so complacent and we are hypocritical in the church. judgment begins in the house of god. we asked god and our city to forgive us for allowing these things in the house of god. >> okay. so that did not make hgtv very happy. canceled the upcoming show. the brothers defended themselves on cnn's "new day." >> when the firestorm came in, we had an opportunity to speak with hg and all of the folks over there and explain to them who we were as people. we sell to all people of all kinds and that we would be glad to take a homosexual couple onto our show, but i did explain to them the firestorm will kick up as long as david and i are hosts on your network, it's only going to get worse because there is an

agenda that wants to silence the beliefs that we have. our hearts go out to hgtv. they sunk a lot of money into this. they're in business. we're in a free country. they can say, you know what, we don't want your show anymore and as a result i feel like they got bullied. there's an agenda that's out here. that's the real issue here is that there's an agenda that is out in america right now that demands silence especially from men and women who profess jesus christ and hold to his standards and those of us, we're not forcing that on culture. but now this agenda is forcing itself on us. and you even look even in the gay community, men like andrew sullivan and other thinkers, they are writing and saying this latest gay intolerance should be beat back forcefully. i fully understand why the gay community, some in the gay community, can feel that statement is against them personally when i'm speaking

against the agenda because the agenda is who they are some of them. there's bullying and fear tactics and they are demanding a silence from those that profess jesus and want to live to his standards and so what's happening is hgtv probably was not prepared for that battle. as many of faith and as the church, as christians inside the church, it's up to us to be the conscience of the nation as martin luther king, jr., said the church must be reminded it's neither master or servant of the state but it's the conscience of the state. >> love thy neighbor as thy self. the brothers insist they're not anti-gay and welcome all people. jealousy is what donald sterling says that's what drove him. >> i never thought the private conversation would go anywhere out to the public. i didn't want her to bring

anybody to my game because i was jealous. >> we'll hear more from the just released audiotape of the banned clippers owner and we'll talk about it next. for car insurance today? yeah. i heard about progressive's "name your price" tool? i guess you can tell them how much you want to pay and it gives you a range of options to choose from. huh? i'm looking at it right now. oh, yeah? yeah. what's the... guest room situation? the "name your price" tool, making the world a little more progressive. i'm d-a-v-e and i have copd. i'm k-a-t-e and i have copd, but i don't want my breathing problems to get in the way my volunteering. that's why i asked my doctor about b-r-e-o. once-daily breo ellipta helps increase airflow from the lungs

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a taste experience like no other. in cheesy, creamy, homestyle, or garden sauce. friskies. feed the senses. woman: this is not exactly what i expected. man: definitely more murdery than the reviews said. captain obvious: this is a creepy room. man: oh hey, captain obvious. captain obvious: you should have used hotels.com. their genuine guest reviews are written by guests who have genuinely stayed there. instead of people who lie on the internet. son: look, a finger. captain: that's unsettling. man: you think? captain: all the time. except when i sleep. which i would not do here. hotels.com would have mentioned the finger. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. new audiotape to share with you this morning.

donald sterling's racist talk came from a jealous man who wanted to have sex with v. stiviano. >> i'm talking to a girl. i'm trying to have sex with her. i'm trying to play with her. what can you -- you know -- if you were trying to have sex with a girl and you're talking to her privately, you don't think anybody is there, you may say anything in the world. what difference does it make? then if the girl tapes it and releases it, my god. it's awful. who thinks someone is going to tape something? what the hell? i'm talking to a girl. the girl is black. i like her. i'm jealous that she's with other black guys.

i want her. what the hell can i in private tell her? you know, i don't want you to be with anybody. am i a person? do i have freedom of speech? i wish magic johnson was talking to a girl. and you're trying to play with her. i would have said i could fly over a high rise building if i had to. and you're talking to her. you go away and next thing three months later what you said when you were trying to get at her is released. i have a girl here who has black kids. and is partly black, i think, myself. i love the girl. and so she's telling me you're wrong. i know i'm wrong. what i said was wrong. but i never thought the private conversation would go anywhere. out to the public. i didn't want her to bring anybody to my game because i was

jealous. i mean, i'm being honest. it doesn't matter. no one's going to hear but you and me so -- >> you have to wonder who keeps taping this man's comments and then releasing them to online blogs? i don't know. let's talk about this with hln legal unanimous list joey jackson and stephanie elam. radaronline gets ahold of these tapes. we don't know how. we don't know why he talking to this person. what do you make of this? >> he's the victim now, carol. isn't it amazing. he's the victim. what i make of it is this is spin control. you mean to tell me he doesn't know now that he's being recorded and so he's spinning and saying these things to provide a motivation. i'm not racist. i was just trying to sleep with the girl.

really? when you're a billionaire and there are multiple things that you could do that would be of a classy variety to set the stage for what you want to be an intimate encounter with her. >> she was partying with those wealthy black men he was jealous. >> if you're jealous, you say it would be my preference if you and i were together and you didn't associate with other people. it makes me really upset when you do because i love you so much i'm so passionate about you and i wish you wouldn't be with other people because it really offends me. did he say that, carol? i don't think so. in my business we assess credibility every day. that's what we do in courts of law. this doesn't pass the credibility test at all. it's a fail. >> stephanie, you had some interesting comments about mr. sterling's flirty way with v. stiviano. >> if any man were to try to come onto me and tell me who i was disgusting but, baby, i want you, it would be a problem for me. i'm just saying. maybe i'm the minority in that

one. just a little weird. other things we learned from these tapes is the man has an issue with magic johnson. i would like to point out that v. stiviano may be a great woman and all those things, maybe, maybe not, i don't think she'll be in a position to decide if she's going to invite magic johnson to an nba game. that doesn't make sense. that's not even logical. his issue is constantly with this man and whether or not she's taking hie ining pictures. look who i met. i took a picture with him. it's cool. she's building up her roster of cool people she's taken a picture with. it doesn't seem to be anymore of that. matt kemp was in a picture as well. he's also a mixed man as well. these are men that he had issues with and if anything, it shows the insecurity on donald sterling's part and the fact he thinks talking about this in the way he was in that previous tape makes her somehow want him more. i don't get it. >> i will say that there will be some people out there who just

think he's an old man and pathetic and wanted a relationship with this beautiful, young woman and in his mind somewhere in there he thought this was the way. >> where in his mind? >> i don't know. >> stephanie is on point with this. it goes further than that. people are jealous. men are jealous. women are jealous. society in general. there are relationship issues that abound. did he remotely sound as he's spinning now i just wanted to sleep with you and as a result of that i wanted to sleep with you and said horrific things about race. this is his way to establish a motive and perhaps to get people to have sympathy. how that's possible, i'll never know. >> just a couple things he did bring up in this taped conversation. he didn't know she was taping him, right. he didn't know she would have released these tapes. she's being investigated by authorities now for trying to

blackmail or extort him. >> there's an issue on whether she was an archivist. she was keeping these tapes at his behest. how would he then go to establish that he had no idea and even if the event it's a private conversation, we live in a society right now assuming that's not true that whatever we do, we can do it in our rooms, we can be wherever, we have twitter. we have facebook. we're in a social medium. we do here and it's over the world in minutes. it's reflective of who he really is. no matter how much you spend and billions you have, this is hard to explain away and this tape doesn't do it. >> stephanie, i want to ask you about this before i have to go. mrs. sterling is trying to hold onto the team. she says she's 50% owner. she now suddenly says at least through her attorney and you talked to her attorney, they've been estranged for a year. she thinks donald did horrible things but she's not a racist. what do you make of all that in

light of this new audiotape and her attorney coming forward and saying these things? >> i think what we have heard from someone that officially represents shelly sterling. we haven't heard that. we know she wants to retain her interest. we know that the family trust owns the clippers and the family trust is made up of donald and shelly. she wants to become a passive owner of that 50%. they say they have been talking to the nba. all along as we watched this scandal unfurl, we've watched how it seemed that shelly sterling was setting herself up to retain her ownership and she saw the window when we heard commissioner silver say this ban pertained to donald sterling and donald sterling alone. that is what they are looking at and that's why she's been going to the games, why she's had a voice larger than we've heard

before. >> she'll be at the game tonight. we have to wrap it up. the drama continues. many thinks. still to come in the "newsroom," democrats in search of a strategy after republicans prevail and set up a select committee to investigate the benghazi consulate attack. dana bash is on capitol hill for us. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. democrats are meeting as we speak behind closed doors to try to figure out whether they're going to participate. there's a real split within the house democratic caucus on whether that's a yes or no. i'll tell you more about that after the break. quiet! mom has a headache! had a headache! but now, i& don't. excedrin is fast. in fact for some, relief starts in just 15 minutes. excedrin. headache. gone.

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that corporate trial by fire when every slacker gets his due. and yet, there's someone around the office who hasn't had a performance review in a while. someone whose poor performance is slowing down the entire organization. i'm looking at you phone company dsl. check your speed. see how fast your internet can be. switch now and add voice and tv for $34.90. comcast business built for business. benghazi back in focus on capitol hill. house democrats are meeting right now trying to decide whether to boycott that newly established committee to investigate the consulate attack that left four americans dead. lawmakers in the house of representatives voted to create that select committee yesterday.

we understand it will be made up of seven republicans and five democrats. but the blame game has already begun. >> instead of creating a select committee on job creation, we're voting to create a select committee on benghazi. shamefully playing politics with a terrible tragedy. >> my colleagues on the other side of the aisle want americans to believe that this investigation is motivated by politics. no. this investigation would not be necessary had the obama administration come clean. >> want to bring in chief congressional correspondent dana bash and a foreign affairs reporter and also gloria borger. welcome to all of you. >> thank you. >> dana, i want to start with you because you're in the middle of the action. you're outside the room where that meeting is happening right now. have you heard from democrats? >> reporter: we've heard from them going in and out and the

split and difference among them about whether it's right or wrong to participate both substantively and more importantly for them politically is really, really obvious. it's going on outside and inside the room on the participate side they say it's just crazy for us not to be in the room to be able to counterpoint and to protect hillary clinton who they think this is all about and don't participate side you have maybe the more politically attuned democrat saying why should we be part of what they believe is just a political show. listen to what steve israel, a democrat from new york, but also head of the committee trying to elect house democrats said about the debate. >> we're trying to find a way to make this work but the republicans have shown no inclination to make it work. if this is going to be a true bipartisan inquiry, we'll

participate. if it's eng meineered to be a republican campaign strategy, it's much harder for us to participate. we still wait for the speaker to tell us option a or option b. >> i just have to tell you one thing that comes from deirdre walsh doing excellent reporting. she heard there was a blowup inside this meeting going on now between nancy pelosi and one of her good friends and colleagues, henry waxman, from california, about whether they should participate or not. henry waxman thinks they should participate and pelosi said waxman is undermining her love ranch with john boehner by saying so publicly. that speaks to the tension and divide among democrats about whether to go forward and do this or whether to stay on the sidelines. >> gloria, i would like to make clear what this select committee is really about. is it about trying to find out who actually killed these four americans in benghazi or is it

just about the political spin the white house put on what they thought happened in benghazi? >> you know, carol, it depends on who you talk to. look, there are a lot of unanswered questions as everyone points out there's been numerous hearings and there's been a state department investigation. everybody seems to agree that this was botched at a certain point. four people died who did not have to die who should not have died. the democrats would say the questions have all been answered but last week there was an e-mail republicans didn't know about from a senior white house adviser that some folks believe shows that the white house was sort of transforming the real narrative about what really occurred. they were cherry picking intelligence. and so republicans say they just want to get to the bottom of it and democrats say we have told you everything we can possibly tell you about this. let's move on.

>> i want to move to you about the actual investigation. it's been nearly two years. there have been no arrests. cnn even interviewed a man officials said was a person of interest. so what's going on with the investigation and why is no one talking about that? >> well, carol, the u.s. actually believes that man cnn interviewed was one of the ring leaders and he and several others have been charged here in the u.s. u.s. officials say they are building a case against these suspects but it's hard for them to make arrests because they don't have jurisdiction in libya. the government there is incredibly weak. it doesn't have control over much of the country including benghazi. now, last year the u.s. was planning a raid to capture this guy but had to abort that because of backlash in the country over another raid against an al qaeda leader. it looks like the u.s. will have to find another opportunity to

capture these suspects. it's not easy to reign but the libyan government isn't up to the task any time soon and it's true that it looks like this special investigation, this special panel on the hill, we're not even talking about the investigation as to what happened and who did it. it's just about how the u.s. handled it. >> so gloria, if that is true, the republicans are running a risk by putting together the select committee and by making it overtly political because that's what americans want to know. why aren't we putting pressure on libya to help us capture the terrorists who killed these four americans? >> right. i think that there is no one that will deny this is political even republicans who say we need to get to the bottom of it. it will become a political issue. they know it. some of them want that to be the case. you want to get out your partisan voters in a midterm election and democrats say how can you use the death of these

four people to make partisan points. there is the danger, carol, as they are always in with these investigations of overreach. you saw that in 1998 with clinton and impeachment for example which backfired on republicans. again, republicans believe that this will help them get out their voters and democrats now as dana points out are in a kwauquandary quandary. do they pope participate? i argue they they should or do they boycott and say we don't want any part of it. >> i have to leave it there. thank you so much. gloria borger an excellent opinion piece cnn.com/opinion and you folks should read it because it's great. many thanks to both of you. still to come in the "newsroom," cliven bundy may have won an armed standoff with law enforcement that tried to take his cattle but his battle with the government is not over. now the fbi is involved.

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♪ ♪fame, makes a man take things over♪ ♪fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow♪ ♪fame, puts you there where things are hollow♪ the evolution of luxury continues. the next generation 2015 escalade. ♪fame nevada rancher cliven bundy who along with his supporte ere won an armed standoff with law enforce why. now the subject of an fbi probe. back in april the government tried to keep bundy from grazing his cattle on public land without paying a fee so they had an armed standoff.

they believed federal agents were infiltrating their militia groups. >> people up there have a certain look about them. these are military. my belief is federal agents. >> a certain look about them. bundy quickly became a hero among some conservative groups for his stance until audio of him surfaced suggesting african-americans may have been better off as slaves. let's talk about the issue at hand. the fbi and armed militia men. dan simon joins us now covering this story along with cnn law enforcement analyst and former fbi assistant. good morning. >> good morning. give us the latest. are the armed militia people still on the land protecting cliven bundy? >> they're still there. the mainstream media left after he gave those racist remarks. he lost his credibility with conservative commentators and

politicians that supported him. they are organizing another confrontation or protest in utah this weekend. the issue at hand occurred back in april on april 12th when you had all of these militia groups, these militia members come to bundy's defense. some of them reportedly pointed weapons at the federal agents who were seizing bundy's cattle and so what the fbi wants to do is to determine if any laws were broke. if those guns were pointed at officers, what was the conduct of those members. they may look at video they may look at photographs and they are interviewing sheriff officials and agents and they would like to talk to some of those militia members, carol. >> tom, you do have a certain kind of look. i can tell you're an fbi guy. >> do i look like a militia guy, carol? >> you look like an fbi guy. they know people like you are infiltrating their groups. >> that's right. i would do a poor job. >> would the fbi do that?

>> no. i think, you know, people with a certain look is ridiculous. most of these people out there know each other and know bundy and what they're up to. you have the bureau of land management polices federal lands. if it was a national park, it would be park rangers. in this case, they are out there and they run into this situation with cliven bundy and then bundy supporters come to the scene carrying assault rifles and all kinds of military grade equipment confronting the officers. now, the problem with that is that that is a federal violation if individuals assaulted federal officers. now, that's what they're investigating. the fbi does not want to have this exaggerated out of proportion and make this look like another giant confrontation like waco but they want to show they are investigating and

interviewing officers and will try to identify if an individual came to the scene did something to assault or threaten a federal officer. that would be the violation. >> dan, how long do these militia members plan to stay protecting this land that doesn't even belong to cliven bundy? >> that's really unclear, carol. i asked some of them how long they plan to stay. they just said we'll see how long things go. they are still -- it's not quite in the hundreds when it was back in april when you had hundreds of people there. now it's probably more like dozens. these people are very anti-government. they hold extreme views and they look at someone like cliven bundy as their hero. almost like a messiah. they're going to stick with him through and thin. >> tom and dan, many thanks to both of you. let's talk sports now. like a wallflower hoping for a dance partner, it was a long night at the nfl draft for

johnny manziel. the guy they called johnny football watched as another quarterback went number three in the draft and then manziel along with his camp waited and waited and waited. more than 2 1/2 hours after the draft started, the cleveland browns chose manziel with the 22nd pick in the draft. the browns fans didn't care about the wait. they're delighted. >> i would have been happy if he had been the fourth pick. that's what i was telling my buddies. i'm happy. >> you got your guy? >> we got a great quarterback. >> it's about time. we pick a winner for this organization. tired of not having a quarterback. tired of losing. a great day for cleveland. >> great pick. time for a change. go browns! >> and media driven speculation is rounding down with first round in the books. one big question remains, will a

team pick an openly gay player? joining us on the phone, former minnesota vikings punter. welcome to both of you. >> thank you for having me on. >> thanks for having me. >> hi, chris. so chris, i'll start with you. what do you think will happen to sam? do you think people are receptive? >> i think michael sam has a good chance of going in the third to fifth rounds which is where he was projected because even though there are going to be quite a few nfl teams who scratch him off because he aps to happens to be gay, there are several who won't. he can help their team. he's a project player. those guys traditionally have gone in third to fifth rounds which is where sam should go. >> any talk among players or team owners? >> the players all support him. what i've seen on social media and also through the media is all of the players do support him. it's not about his sexuality. it's about his performance. a poor performance during nfl

combine and other pro player days. the only thing he's undersized. first of all, he's a co-defensive s.e.c. player of the year. you're that good. he's definitely going to get signed by somebody. will he get drafted? who is to say. he'll get picked up as a free agent for sure. >> so those combines, pressure is on this kid like i can't even imagine that. >> and i think it's interesting that there's almost a double standard here because we hear about other players who have had bad pro dates who have had bad combines and people say, you know, look at his game film. that's all that's important. look at the game film. having a bad pro day can cause your draft status to slip a little but at the end of the day it's about how you play on the field. michael sam showed last year he can play on the field. >> i honestly think fans don't care one way or another whether michael sam is gay. >> especially in the world we live in now. nobody cares. it's about the performance on the field. if that's good, i want him on my

team. >> chris, have we come a long, long way or is michael sam going to test the waters even further and we'll find out maybe something bad? >> i mean, we definitely have made progress but there's still plenty to go. like i said, it won't be -- it won't be a nonissue. that's horrible english. it will no longer be an issue until michael sam is accepted by all 32 teams and not just five or six teams willing to take a chance on him now. >> good luck to michael sam. i would like to touch on the nfl draft in general now. it's an endless process. >> a spectacle for sure. >> it is. >> absolutely. yesterday i think it was the highest ratings in a very, very long time. the way they introduced players to come on the stage, everyone is dressed up to the nines to come to the nfl draft. it's something to watch for sure. over the next few days. >> chris, were you surprised that johnny manziel, johnny football, went in the 22nd round? >> no.

i think that's one of those things where probably teams l k looked at his college reports of him partying and going out and stuff. okay. we know he's a good quarterback and we know he can play. is he going to be totally committed when he gets to the nfl. i think there were just teams that they weren't willing to spend a higher pick because they felt they had guys that they need to contribute more but at the end of the day a team that wants a quarterback is definitely going to go get him because he's a good quarterback. >> and the cleveland browns, they have been yearning for a good quarterback. >> for decades there have been yearnings. >> i grew up a browns fan. sad times for bernie right now. i'm hopeful for the cleveland browns. chris, thank you so much for being with us. i sure appreciate it. and brian, thanks to you but you're here all the time so i don't need to thank you. >> thanks for having me on.

>> thank you for joining me today. "@ this hour" with berman and michaela starts now. jealousy is what may have fueled donald sterling's racist rant. new audio leaked once again posted on radar online said to be sterling explaining himself to an unknown man. >> i didn't want her to bring anybody to my game because i was jealous. >> controversial reality. a reality show canceled before it even airs. so what the network afraid of a backlash over host comments that some see as anti-gay? >> it's only going to get worse because there is an agenda that wants to silence the beliefs that we have. >> political games or a genuine search for the truth? democrats threaten to