strip during next month's belmont stakes. the horse has worn that strip for the six straight victories. california chrome is trying to end the longest drought in triple crown history. 36 years. now to wolf blitzer. thank you, jake. happening now, breaking news. ready to evacuate. u.s. marines are standing by at a moment's notice to rescue americans from the u.s. embassy in libya, as fierce fighting rages on. sterling showdown. the nba taking the first legal step to terminate donald sterling's ownership of the l.a. clipper. how will he respond? and vanishing act. the public may see the raw satellite data in the mystery of flight 370 as we get a first look at the planned movie about the airliner.

i'm wolf blit zer. you're in "the situation room." let's begin with the situation in ukraine. it's getting very, very tense. is putin pulling back or pulling a fast one? the russian leader vowing to move russian troops back from the border but the united states is saying, show me. daniel behr is standing by. a top diplomat in the area. first, to jim chusciutto for th latest. >> their own the good news. but they're skeptical. they have heard similar promises before. they'll wait to see clear, hard evidence. they struck back at the description of russian troop movements as round teen, calling them, the u.s., menacing. all looking for the sign that this sunday's election can take place freely. lots of challenges on the ground. daily life in eastern ukraine.

interrupted yet again by explosions and gunfire. [ explosion ] these are the sounds of y ukrainian troops trying to retake towns overrun by separatists. today, news that putin has ordered his own troops to return to their bases. but nato and u.s. officials already disappointed with previously announced withdrawals said they had seen no evidence this one is different. >> no i think it's the third putin statement on withdrawal of russian troops. but so far, we haven't seen any withdrawn. >> we see no indication of any movement. which has been the case as you know several times before. i think it's fair to say that we would know and would be able to confirm for you if the russian military had, in fact, moved back, deployed away from the

border. >> reporter: it's been nearly two weeks since president putin first vowed to withdraw forces. but satellite photos have shown tanks, troops, and war planes not bunchi inbudging an inch op ukraine is now six days away from a vote for the government. the free and fair election is threatened. that may have been putin's objective all along. >> first, to avoid allowing ukraine to move any closer to nato. second, to avoid allowing ukraine to join the european union. and third, to demonstrate to his domestic populus, that he stands up for the rights of ethnic russians in eastern ukraine and elsewhere throughout eurasia. >> reporter: a report was

released today saying a credible election is possible in most of ukraine. i spoke with the two-time defense minister there. he said he's sure elections will happen. he acknowledged limitations and region controlled by separatists. he cited a poll saying 70% of those eligible to vote plan to vote. this is key, because the president set these elections coming off as a key test and if russia impeded them in any way, that would be a sign for painful sanctions. >> jim, thank you. let's go in-depth right now with daniel behr. the united states ambassador for security and cooperation in europe. he joins us from vienna. do you believe anything that the russian president says right now? >> well, it's pretty tough, wolf. given that we have been told the troops would be pulled back from

the board e, i count the third time. previous times, it hasn't been borne out. we would welcome such a move. as jim said, we haven't seen evidence of that so far. >> you have seen no evidence. the estimate, nato estimate is 30,000, 40,000, 50,000 troops along the border? what is the number as far as you know? >> that's right. it was tens of thousands, 40,000 was an estimate that we had made previously. tens of thousands massed on the border. they have announced air exercises. timed for the next five days starting may 21st. which also coin sicides with th elections. they both continue to be a menace aimed at intimidating. our focus is on these elections. sunday. a real opportunity for

ukrainians to come together, turn the page on the yankovich era. >> do you believe there can be free elections going on with the russian military right nearby? >> i do. i do. the technical preparations have been going on for months. the oscs had a number of observers on the ground. there will be 900 more joining this week. short-term observers. 1,000 on the ground. and a number of other organizations sending them. technical preparations for the elections are proceeding as planned. there are localized percents in the east where violence is disrupting. it's important to remember, we're talking about 2 out of 24. where russian actions are undermining the right to vote of some ukrainians. in the vast majority of the

country, the technical preparations are on track. there should be a free and fair vote this weekend. i think in addition to the technical preparations, it's important not to forget the emotional preparation. cnn did a poll last week. there's been a lot of focus on the divisions between moscow and europe reflected in the poll. 82% of the unicrakrainians are feeling optistic for the future. they're ready to come together. >> there will be hundreds if not a few thousand international observers coming in to monitor the elections, including a lot of americans who will be part of the osce delegation and other groups going over there. how safe are they in some of the more disputed areas of ukraine? some pretty high-profile americans are going over there.

>> well, obviously, security remains a concern. of all the folks from the international community who are registered, i think i saw something today close to 3,000 international on sevbservers ha signed up to come and monitor. they'll be looking to make sure people are staying safe. as they conduct this very, very important work. as you mentioned, there are a number of high-profile folks, former am basbassadorambassador. some members of congress. and, you know, what people are going to see is -- to see how these are carried out. the technical process. the vote counting and tallying. and to witness the ukrainian people exercising their right to vote this sunday. >> what about you? as the u.s. ambassador to the osce. will you be there for the elections? >> unfortunately, i would love to be there.

i'm sending ca ining a couple o from my team. i'm staying here. i'll be cheering them on. it is a momentous occasion. it reminds us that this was, though it's been painting as something of a contest in geopolitics, this is first and foremost about the ukrainian people. they're sick and tired of corrupt governments. of not being able to trust their government. of not having a firm economic footing. this is their moment to start making a new ukraine together. i'll be cheering them on every step of the way. >> let's hope the russians will not interfere. we'll see. daniel baer, the u.s. ambassador to the osce. thanks for joining us. breaking news out of libya. less than two years after the deadly assault on the u.s. consulate, u.s. marines and aircraft are now ready for a

possible evacuation of americans from the u.s. embassy in libya's capital of tripoli. let's go to barbara starr. what are you learning? >> an evacuation, if it does come to that, u.s. officials increasingly worried by the hour that libya is on the brink of civil war. one general dating back to gadhafi's time gathering support against the islamist militias, as he calls them. all of this leading to violence in benghazi and across tripoli. what is the pentagon goidoing? this time, just across the mediterranean in italy, troops and fire power assembled, ready to go if the order comes. about 250 marines. eight have-22 aircraft standing by.

they are on a two-how long string. what does that mean? if the order comes from the state department to evacuate item bass si, they'll be in the air on the way to libya within two hours. they'll go to tripoli and evacuate some 200 americans still there working at the embassy. an additional military contingent that is station there had. different from what we saw in benghazi when there was no available military force nearby close enough to do anything. the administration will not have a second round of that. these marines will be ready to go if and when the order comes. >> why not just bring them out, the 200 americans, right now? why wait? you know the situation is only going to get worse. >> officials say this is a question of, again, the diplomatic presence of the united states. they don't want to take any chances with people's security.

that's for sure. but this violence for the last couple of days has been ebbing and flowing. if they can ride it out. the preference of the state department is to keep embassies around the world open. as many as possible. to have a u.s. diplomatic presence on the ground. once you pack up and go in a tough security situation, it's very hard to go back in and reopen an embassy. they'll try to stick it up if they can. no chances are being taken. that's why they have the marines nearby if it looks like it will get too dangerous for americans to stay, wolf. >> all right, barbara, thank you very much. barbara starr reporting the breaking news. more breaking news we're following here, including the nba now namaking a direct move against donald sterling. the first legal step to end his ownership of the l.a. clippers. how will sterling respond to the

new charges leveled against him? our panel is standing by. and a first look at a planned movie about the disappearance of flight 370 b, even as the public may get a firsthand look at the raw satellite data for the airliner final flight. when it comes to good nutrition...i'm no expert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost.

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l.a. clippers. our national correspondent, suzanne malveaux has the d details. what have we learned? >> today, the league initiated a charge to terminate donnell sterling's ownership of the l.a. clippers. if the nba board of governors gets three fourths or 75% of the vote, all ownership interests, this is important. this means his estranged wife, shelly, too, will be terminated. the team would be sold to new owners. the charge aserts that sterling engaged if conduct that danged and continues to damage the league. directing a female acquaintance not the associate with african-americans or to bring african-americans to clippers games and criticizing african-americans for not supporting their communities. the charge concludes that the

aks and positions of sterling significantly undermined the nba's efforts to provide diversity and inclusion. harms nba owners, player, and clipper team personnel and imparis the nak's relationship with marketing partners. this is grounds for being thrown out. sterling has the opportunity to respond to this charge, that is by may 27th. he also has the right to appear and make a presentation at a special meeting of the board of governors. that, wolf, is now planned for june 3rd. >> i want you to stick around. i want to discuss what is going on. i want to bring in jeffrey toobin as well as our senior -- as well as our anchor, don lemon. jeffr jeffrey, you're the legal expert. i see this as an indictment.

they've released the charges. based the arguments, their legal arguments. what do you make of this? thnch >> this is exactly what adam silver promised last month at the news conference. what is interesting about the charges, two of the core charges against sterling relate to the tape that came out with v. stiviano. the third relates to sterling's interview with anderson cooper. his effort at damage control seems to have backfired considerably. so it's another count against him. this is exactly as adam silver promised. and we'll see if sterling responds under the nba constitution or he simply goes to court to try to stop the proce process altogether. >> silver promised to act quickly. they are. they'll give him another week to

ten days to come before the panel. if it doesn't work, he's anxious to get this over with. >> he is. but it seems sterling is not. as you know, we were talking about the letter that this litigator sent to the nba saying, hey, listen, you know, his rights were -- what did they say, due process. he was denied due process. he should not be fined. should not be punished. he won't pay the fine. i think adam silver wants it over quickly. i don't think donald sterling does. now, there's movement. the nba hadn't charged him. now they've released the charges. the first two things, that's from the conversations. then he dug himself a deeper hole because the last one is from his interview where he didn't help, but he really hurt his case. >> jeffrey, as you saw what they did in the formal indictment. the charge, the release they put

out today, is that they accuse him of being in violation of the nba constitution. which was made public in recent weeks. separate agreements that he signed over the years with the nba that would suggest a violation of the consistent t cf the nba. >> that's the wild card in all of this. as you say, the constitution has been public for some time. so we know that sterling is accused of violating the constitution. there are references to other agreements that he had signed. wolf you have learned about this from our own reporting about whether there are general good behavior covenants that these owners sign. and apparently, sterling is being charged with violating those, as well. that is something that presumably we'll learn more about as the process goes forward. as far as i know, the other agreements have not been made public yet. >> i assume they will be.

i assume if sterling is going to fight this, he's hired a high-powered litigator, i watched the long interview he did with anderson cooper. he was going back and forth. he's not 40, 50. he's over 80 years old. i'm not personally 100% convinced he's going to go to the wall and battle it. maybe he'll take the $1 billion and run. i know you think he'll fight, don. >> i do. i don't think he has anything to lose. he's gtot a lot of money. his girlfriend is gone, his wife is divorcing him. he has this team. he likes to feel the ownership over the team. it makes him feel like the big guy, right. the big man on campus. i think he's going to fight tooth and nail. i don't see him going away. listen, if he was younger, i might see him saying i have the rest of my life. i can do a didn't career. what can you do at 80, 81 years

olds? if you look at the charges against the nba, they seem to be relying on the morality clause. the first two say he brought negativity to the team and the nba. the third one as well is that he brought negativity to the team and to the nba by disparaging people. they are relying on the morality clause. i think as a backup, jeffrey, correct me if i'm wrong, they'll rely on the other agreements he signed. this seems to me to be the morality clause. you have to act a certain way. you can't bring anything negative on to the team and the franchise. it seems he's done that at least three times. >> very quickly. >> the statement does say that it brought economic damage to the nba. so, they are very much relying on the constitution as well as these morally clauses. we haven't seen those. it's a little murky what they're relying on there. they do talk about money damages

to the nba. >> my own suspicion is the guy is over 80, reports that he's suffering from prostate cancer. let's see if he'll fight it or take the money and walk away. i know, don, you'll have much more coming up later tonight. don is going to be anchoring cnn tonight, 10:00 p.m. eastern only on cnn. coming up, the mystery of a malaysian flight 370. plus this, partisan questions about hillary clinton's health. can they hurt her came pain if she decides to run for president?

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renee marsh is joining us. what are you hearing about the raw data? >> it could eventually be a win for the families. it was only a matter of time. before we have concrete answers about what happened on board malaysia flight 370, there's talk of a film. it's rubbing families the wrong way. with no wreckage, no passengers, and few answers, fiction is filling the void. ♪ a filmmaker seeking investors to make a movie showed this trailer at the cannes film festival. featuring a gun, a panicked kiss. pitching a movie regarding missing malaysia airlines plane already? this desensitized money hungry world at its brazen best. >> we pretty much know nothing. except that the airplane is

gone. it is typical that when you don't have answers, speculation fills the void. >> reporter: and there's plenty of speculation. a former malaysian prime minister points the finger at the plane's manufacturer and the cia. saying clearly boeing and certain agencies have the capacity to take over commercial airliners. the plane is somewhere maybe without mass markings. the same prime minister is known for suggesting the u.s. government was behind september 113th meanwhile, the brother-in-law of flight 370's captain is saying he was not suicidal and had no life insurance. flight 370 families could soon get the raw data that led searchers to the indian ocean. >> i think the world has the right to have that data released. >> reporter: they asked

officials to discuss the release with the satellite company. that might not end all of the theory. >> i think the release of the data will first and foremost feed the speculation machine. i think all sorts of self-styled experts will analyze the data. they'll have all sorts of results. >> reporter: malaysian sources tell cnn they don't object to releasing the data but right now, only have 14 numbers from the satellite hand shakes. they need help presenting the volumes of data they expect. but inmarsat says those 14 numbers are all there is. and the search mission is still on pause as we speak. bluefin and the ocean field are at port in western australia for repairs. bluefin and the transponder on the ocean shield were damaged when the underwater vehicle smashed into the ship. in the meantime, a chinese ship

will be sent to the area to map the ocean floor. >> stand by, rene. i want to bring in the aviation analyst peter golds and richard quest. richard, this inmarsat data. sit really ready to release all of the data based on what you're hearing? >> oh, yes, they've been ready for ages to hand it over. they say when malaysia wants it to be released, fine, it will be released. the only debate there seems to be at the moment, now malaysia is saying, yep, release it. is just how much. if you have 500 pages of satellite logs. only three of them are specific the that flight for that day, do you release all 500? how much do you have to give about the satellite? and the way it's wobbling around? it sounds so deceptively easy to say release all the raw data. and the analysis.

but i understand now what the process is is putting that information into a format that will be available and usable by anybody that wishes to have a go at interpreting it. >> is there any harm in releasing the data? some have raised fears in. that maybe this will create all sorts of conspiracy theories? >> if it's not done correctly, it will do just that. lit raise more questions. they need not just to release it. n they need to release it with the experts there who, in a marathon session, answer every question, explain every detail. they need to be there for hour on end to make sure this data is understood and understood

correctly. there are overcoming ten weeks of mistrust. they've lost the trust of the families. they've lost the trust of the public. this is their last chance. they've got to do it right. >> renee, what are you hearing? how long, a few days away? what are you hearing? >> well, how long will it take to release? if it's just 14 numbers, like inma inmarsat is saying, it won't take long. the debate is the issue. peter hit the nail on the head. it's not just about the raw data and putting out the number. also the analysis and the experts who made the analysis so that they can explain, how did they arrive here? what assumptions were made? what kind of equation did they set up to arrive at the south indian ocean? that is what is critical. not just the numbers on a piece of paper but the analysis behind

it. i think what is going to happen, if it's not done correctly, as peter points out, you'll have crowd sourcing, where you have every man and his brother having access to this data and doing their own analysis. it could potentially become one big distraction. one person saying search here. another person says, no, you should search over there. it could become a problem. >> certainly could. richard, you had one of the only exclusive interviews with the current malaysian prime minister. what do you make of the former prime minister basically accusing boeing and the cia of plotting the disappearance of this plane? >> not the first time he's lambasted the united states in some shape or form. he's done it several times on this particular case. he does believe it's a cia-boeing, americentric or u.s.

corporate plot. even in malaysia, no one is taking it seriously. >> thank you all very, very much. up next, a deadly virus spreading in the united states. we have detailed of the first person to person transmission in the u.s. and top members of china's military now accused of cyber r cyberwarfare against u.s. businesses.

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facing a series of preemptive strikes by republicans. some are wondering if the strikes are a smart political move or could they backfire? bre y >> hillary clinton is likely months away from her decision on plans for 2016. but an increase in attacks by high-profile republicans shows there's an effort to define her before she's even saying she's running. ready, set, go. >> health and age is fair game. >> reporter: republicans getting more aggressive in their attacks on hillary clinton. from benghazi. >> i would expect she will be held accountable during the course of the campaign. >> reporter: to whether she's physically up for a presidential run. >> she'll be 69. if she gets elected and serves two terms, she'll be 77. >> good morning. good morning. >> reporter: she's wading back into politics taking a campaign message for a test drive. >> the dream of upward mobility

that made this country a model for the world feels further and furtherer out of reach. many americans feel frustrated, even angry. >> reporter: at stake, the image of a politician on the public stage for year. one republican official tells cnn the gop is trying to define hillary clinton for younger voters, who don't remember the clinton white house years. some think the attacks will make her think twice about getting in the race. >> given the month she's just had, i should doubt if she'll run for president. >> reporter: yeah, right, say many democrats. >> karl rove engaming in cheap shots will not back off hillary clinton. >> reporter: but they worry wading into politics too soon will tarnish her standing with voters. >> i worry about the inevitability thing. i think it's off-putting to the average voter. >> and after a flurry of events

this month, hillary clinton will have a lower profile this week. no public events but wolf, don't expect this debate to sububside. s see. >> thank you. see you later on tonight. you're filling in for erin. let's bring in gloria borger. what do you think about the last point, deval patrick made, that this inevitability thing could be a problem? >> i think it could be a problem. the tables are kind of turned. republicans are the ones that normally nominate the inevitable candidate. john kerry. mitt romney. the democrats pick out somebody who is new blood, represents change. if time, if hillary clinton runs, she becomes the inevitable candidate. they don't do very well, wolf. so what you have to do is present yourself as a candidate

of change. last time she ran as a candidate of experience. this time, she's going to run as a woman and a candidate of change. >> i want to play a clip for you, gloria, and for our viewers, that former president bill clinton speaking of the recovery, the therapy, if you will, that hillary clinton had to go through during the long period following the blood clot in her brain. listen to this. >> i was sort of dumbfounded. they went to all this trouble to say that she had staged what was a terrible concussion that required six months of very serious work to get over. something she never lowballed with the american people. never tried to pretend didn't happen. >> i mean, what he said there, six months of what, very serious work. a terrible concussion. if you listen to that, he's sort of making the case that karl rove seemed to make that she had a serious problem.

for example, i didn't know she had to go through six months of therapy after that blood clot. >> i don't think we got all the details of that. i think that the clinton folks were pretty closed-mouthed about it. she was quite aboet about it. i think we were learning new information from bill clinton. does this affect her and the campaign if she runs? and i think she will. and i think, you know, age and health are issues. she's going to have to disclose more about that. she'll be in ronald reagan territory if she were to win the presidency. i think the way karl rove raised all of this was graceless. but they kind of get in the ether. john kerry characterized early on as a elitist. and mitt romney didn't care about the poor. these kinds of things tend to stick. so the health questions will be

asked more and more. >> when some like alex suggest that the way karl rove said it will only aggravate the problem the republicans have that this negative perception that a loft people have of republicans to begin with. what say you? >> it came across as an attack, rather than a question. if you want to question someone's health, there's a way you do it. you don't say they suffered so called brain damage if you don't have proof. you can raise a question about it in a didn't way. a different kind of forum. but, i think the way this was raised was, you know, very sort of off-ahanded way without backing it up. it could hurt because she's a woman. the question is going to be, you could raise that differently. there have been men, like john mccain quhor, who had cancer, w for president of the united

states. >> there are questions about health. >> and about everything else. >> of course. all right, gloria. thank you. just ahead, a deadly virus. a troubling new development. is mers more contagious than anyone initially realized? and more on the breaking news. the nba's first legal moves against donald sterling. we're learning new detail of the effort to force him to sell his team.

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disturbing news about the deadly virus that causes middle east respiratory syndrome. health officials are reporting the first case of person to person transmission here in the united states. raising serious concerns the virus may be much more contagious than orange fally thought. cnn's brian todd is joining us with more. brian? >> wolf, health officials say this case indicates it's probably easier to transmit the mers virus than they previously thought and they're scrambling now to track everyone who this latest victim came in contact with. health investigators have expanded an intense medical forensics probe on the first case of mers transmitted on u.s. soil. officials say the latest victim, an illinois businessman, had extended face to face contact with the first patient confirmed with mers in the u.s. who had traveled from saudi arabia to indiana. the men had two meetings. one lasting 40 minutes. sat six feet apart and shook

hands both times. >> in general, we think it's easier to spread in the hospital environment when a person's very sick, but this individual with the antibodies may be telling us that less intensive contact before very severe symptoms are evident may be enough to spread the virus. >> reporter: the person in illinois never felt sick. when they found his body had already fought and killed the mers virus. now illinois health officials say the latest victim is not connotatico contagio contagious, but he could have been at some point. could this be the tip of the iceberg? could other people be carrying mers and not know it? >> it could be -- i don't think so. based on the experience over the last two years, it's not easily transmissible, does not appear to be like measles or chickenpox are smallpox which spreads easily. >> reporter: so far it appears close to 30% of mers cases are fatal, 20% have no symptoms or symptoms so mild they don't know

they have it, but it's unknown how many have been infected by mers so far. experts say investigators will have to track all the people the latest american victim came in contact with. they say they'll have to go about two weeks forward from the time he was believed to be infected in late april. how involved will that process be? >> tracking people takes a lot of shoe leather epidemiology. get a list of all those people, track them down. we're all very active. calls have to be made at night. so it's a vigorous process. >> experts say they believe that tracking system is working well inside the united states and there are other positive signs, wolf, not too many cases of this spreading from one person to more than one other person at one time. >> let's hope for the best, brian. thanks very much. up next. breaking fuse. nba charging donald sterling, trying to force him to sell the clippers.

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members of china's powerful military indicted. they're accused of hacking into american businesses, stealing trade secrets. we have new information on this unprecedented cyber war case. another major crackdown on hackers. targeting spy ware used to secretly take nude photos of miss teen usa. could you and your computer be exposed right now? and the nba takes its first legal step to force donald sterling to sell the l.a. clippers despite his threat to fight his punishment for making racist remarks. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following dramatic new moves by the united states government against very dangerous threats to national security and americans' privacy rights right now. we have new details on two major crackdowns on hackers. one taking direct aim at cyber

criminals who can effectively hijack your computer and use it to spy on you anywhere, even in your bedroom. the other, a first of its kind indictment against top chinese officials accused of stealing secrets from american companies. our reporters and analysts are covering all the new developments, what it means for america's cyber security. but first, our justice correspondent, pamela brown, she's got the very latest. pamela? >> well, wolf, this is the first time the u.s. has ever done this. filing criminal charges against employees of a foreign government. and in this case, five men who allegedly worked for a secret union of the chinese army. the department of justice says while americans were hard at work designing new technologies, the five chinese suspects were stealing their work to give chinese companies a leg up. wanted by the fbi. five chinese military officials who've allegedly spent years stealing trade secrets from some of the biggest companies in u.s. like westinghouse and alcoa, draining the u.s. economy of

billions of dollars and putting americans out of jobs according to u.s. officials. >> for the first time, we are exposing the faces and names behind the keyboards in shanghai used to steal from american businesses. >> reporter: from thousands of miles away, the u.s. tracked the men down to one city, one block, one building on a chinese army base near shanghai. according to this indictment, the five men hacked into the computer networks of six u.s. compani companies in the steel, nuclear power industries, raiding pricing and strategy information. >> i think the american public has to be concerned. the american public, u.s. companies have lost billions of dollars. hundreds of billions of dollars by many estimates. they've lost jobs. the u.s. has become less competitive. and chinese companies and other nations' companies as a matter of fact have gained on the backs of american consumers, american taxpayers, american investors. >> reporter: in one case, u.s.

officials allege the hackers stole trade secrets of a nuclear power plant while negotiations were under way between westinghouse and a chinese company. >> we hope to bring these indicted men to justice. >> reporter: the chances of that are slim to none. in stead the charges are meant to fire a warning shot across china's bow. >> the government is saying enough is enough. we've got enough evidence. we're coming forward. we're going to throw the gauntlet down and tell the chinese government you can't cross this red line. >> reporter: u.s. officials say economic espionage is a rampant problem that's been going on for years. president obama has even confronted chinese leaders about it. >> we're going to have to work very hard to build a system of defenses and protections both in the private sector and in the public sector. >> reporter: chinese officials now firing back. calling the allegations absurd and fictional. and portraying themselves as the real victims of cyber theft by the u.s. brought to life by the

edward snowden nsa leaks. and chinese officials are taking action suspending the u.s./china cyber work team. meantime, today u.s. justice officials say this is the new normal and expect similar economic espionage cases in the future. wolf if. >> a huge development today, pamela brown, thanks very much. let's dig deeper with chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. how pervasive is this problem? how long has it been going on? >> it's pervasive, expensive and been going on for years. u.s. companies have known about it. the government has known about it. the strategy in the past have been to do this quietly in private meetings with chinese officials. they tried that for years. it didn't work. last year at the summit between president xi xiping and barack obama, there was a lot of buildup to that because president obama was going to go face to face and say we had enough of this.

that's the same time edward snowden released documents on nsa surveillance and underlined the argument from u.s. perspective. you have a year later the u.s. doubling down in effect and doing something that really ges at the chinese. it's going to make theme angry to see five generals on a want the poster. u.s. businesses have lost billions of dollars and the u.s. government running out of patience here. >> you lived and worked at china. you know what's going on over there in beijing and elsewhere. two-heart question. will it likely have any real impact, and shouldn't the u.s. brace for reciprocity? i assume the chinese will accuse the u.s. of the same thing and file their own formal charges against high ranking u.s. officials. >> absolutely. that's a smart point, wolf, because that's a typical chinese strategy with things like this. yes, you can expect reciprocity. the big question has been strategy here, because the dispute you have, this is at the company level and at the government level, if you go public, it's going to make chinese officials, chinese governments angry.

you know, do you lose more than you gain by going public with these things, with these kinds of charges? what they found by experience over these years is by trying to deal with it privately, it hasn't changed the behavior. i mean, the number of company who have dealt with this over there, wolf, is incredible. see it as a cost of doing business. they lose their major technologies. one of the companies listed today, westinghouse. we're talking about nuclear power. some of the most sensitive u.s. technology that is being stolen over there. so that strategy failed doing it quietly. now they're trying a more aggressive strategy. it remains to be seen. as you mentioned, the reaction from chinese government today was very angry. they canceled a u.s./china cyber working group. we might be expecting some more pushback. you know, we'll see if it -- all we know is the previous strategy didn't work. we'll only know over time whether this strategy more public, aggressive, more forceful, whether that makes a difference. >> major move by the u.s. today.

jim sciutto, thank you. another crackdown happening, targeting the kind of software that can be used to take control of someone's computer, spy on them in their most private moments. more than half a million people have been victimized including miss teen usa. our justice reporter, evan perez, brought this story to our viewers on cnn. this is a shocking development. >> this is the first time the fbi allowed cameras into their cyber command room. we were there watching as they were trying to this takedown working with police in the netherlands, germany, and france. we were watching as hackers went on these forum to complain and to warn each other about the fact that they were getting door knocks and people seizing their computers. you know, all over europe and canada and the united states, wolf. >> how did the fbi coordinate all of this? >> well, you know, this was a big deal because, you know, if you go after a group of hackers here, they can warn their friends in other places. these guys don't respect

borders. the big deal was for the fbi to coordinate this with is t19s countries. there are up to 700,000 computers that might be infected with this virus, with this software. it's widespread all over the world. >> how big of a problem is this right now? >> this costs as little as $40 to install. very sophisticated. off the shelf software. the fact it's very widespread tells you it's a very big problem. not only here, but around the world. >> a huge problem right now. thanks very much, appreciate it. let's talk a little bit more about this with kevin mandy, he's a security, cyber security analyst, ceo mandy. kevin, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> it sounds awful for $40 as evan reported you can install malicious software and spy on people in their homes. can home security systems, videocameras at home, are they vulnerable to this kind of stuff as well?

>> i think the consumer is vulnerable. we have to find a way to catch the malware in action. right now the safeguards that most people deploy at home can be easily circumvented so it's great to see law enforcement taking such an active role because right now if we can go from electronic evidence to actually grabbing people that are behind it, that's the strongest deterrent we've got. >> so how worried should all of us be that if we have a home security system with video, you know, you're on vacation some place, you can check to see if your garage door is open, stuff like that. how concerned should we be that these hackers can go in there and start watching us under these kinds of circumstances? >> well, i think that's how cyber space has changed. over the last few years, we've seen the need for consumers to get smarter about how to secure their home. so they do need to take some safeguards. we're two years removed from most people facebook and blogging, hey, i'm leaving for two weeks or doing something for the next two weeks and telling criminals, hey, i'm leaving my

house. now relies are able to find out firsthand. i think in general, the average consumer now needs to raise their awareness about security when it comes to cyber space. >> let's talk about china right now, these formal charges filed by the u.s. government. right now your company, mandy inc, you've been reporting about this for a while. let's be honest. china's not the only country that does this kind of malicious cyber warfare, if you will, trying to steal trade secrets. >> that's true, but i can tell you they're the most pervasive. they're the ones that are hacking -- when you read the indictment, all 60 pages of it, the indictment is about taking intellectual property, so it's the theft of trade secrets, it's economic espionage. most other governments that i've responded to where there have been breaches, it's about security and about defense. not about economic gains. so there are rules of engagement in cyber space and china doesn't seem to follow the same rules. >> how unprecedented is it that

the u.s., today, filed these formal criminal charges against these high ranking chinese military officials? >> i've been doing this for over 20 years and this is the first time i've seen this happen. i'd say this is setting precedent right now. >> you think it will stop anything or just going to ekeep on going? >> wolf, i can tell you it's the most normal escalation you can do. we've tried everything else. we exposed the chinese group 6 1398 on the front pages of "the new york times." presidential meetings where two heads of state discussed this. again, it was the same day the snowden files leaked so that may not have had the right teeth to it. the next logical escalation is, in fact, this indictment. >> kevin mandy helping us. appreciate what's going on. thanks very much. still ahead, there's breaking news we're following in the donald sterling scandal. the nba now making a new formal move to force him to sell the

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mrs. breaking news in the donald sterling scandal. we just got reaction from this estranged wife's lawyer to a new move today, a legal move by the nba. the league took its first formal legal step to terminate sterling's ownership of the l.a. clippers and force a sale. in a statement, shelly sterling's lawyer says he's reviewing the voluminous charges, the lawyer is. also adds this. "based on our anymore initial assessment, we continue to believe there's no lawful basis

for stripping shelly sterling of her 50% ownership interest in the clippers. she is the innocent estranged spouse." let's bring in senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin and cnn anchor don lemon. what does this all say as far as shelly sterling is concerned? her 50% ownership, this legal move today by the nba, jeffrey? >> well, two things jump out at me about pierce o'donnell's statement. one is he refers to the voluminous charges. we've only seen a press release. a brief summary of what the nba has filed against the sterlings. so really don't know the full effect of it. the second thing is it is something less than a threat to sue. the lawyer says pierce o'donnell, miss sterling's lawyer says we think this is wrong, but it is not as much of a saber rattling statement as he's made in the past, so she certainly does seem to me, at least, to be someone who's open to a deal that would give her a

great deal of money, but not let her own the clippers anymore. >> what do you think, don? should she be allowed to keep 0 50% of the team? >> i don't think so. i think that's a public sentiment, what the team says and what most people want. i think the -- if i were an attorney for the nba and i received this, i'd say, so what, who asked you? we're not suing you, right? we're suing donald sterling. donald sterling is the principal. so you're donald sterling's wife. whatever profits, whatever money donald sterling gets from the sale of this team, you will get your half. my response would be like, who cares, you're not involved in this lawsuit. >> remember, it's not a lawsuit yet. it is simply the nba working its own processes and they have said for the last several weeksi, we're getting rid of the whole sterling ownership group. so it doesn't matter who else donald sterling is connect with as far as we're concerned. we're getting rid of the lot of

you. and as you say, don, i thing that's right, it's like who cares what you think. >> don, let me read to some of the direct accusations the fba leveled against sterling, said sterling's actions undermine efforts to promote diversity, damage fan relationship, harm owners, players in the clippers' team and impair marketing relationships. based on that, alone, they suggest he should be out. obviously if he sells the team, he's still going to walk away with $1 billion or so. i don't know if he's going to take the money and run or if he's going to fight. i think you believe even though he's 80 years old, he's going to fight. >> of course he's going to fight. and if he doesn't fight, you see shelly sterling is going to fight as well. if donald sterling doesn't tie this up in court, then shelly sterling, that's probably the wildcard. he may say, okay, fine. then she'll go, wait a minute, i don't want to sell, i'm part of a trust. i own half of this team or whatever percentage i own. she may have some sort of a -- i don't know if this will work --

some sort of back end legal claim that she will try to -- so i think -- i think what our legal analysts like jeffrey and sunny said early on that it's going to be a while. it could be years. i think most people hope not. i think it's going to be a long time before this is actually resolved s ed and figured out a have to see how the players react next season if they feel as if the nba is working at least in their manner in the way that they would like them to work or just go, you know what, this isn't happening the way we want it to happen and figure out a way to take some measure of their own. >> you see the nba is moving quickly. they say adam silver, the commissioner of the nba, jeffrey, that sterling has until, what, may 27th, little bit more than a week from now, to go ahead and respond to these charges. they want him out, they want him out quickly. >> right. then the nba owners will meet june 3rd. so, yes, the process is moving forward quickly. and i think, you know, what's key here is that adam sterling

you know has lined up support in advance. there will be at least three warters, probably unanimous support for his position. >> adam silver. >> the question is, will any -- >> yes, i'm sorry. adam silver. >> biwill sterling, mr., mrs., children sterling, go to court and stop this process because it seem to me like this train is leaving the station and could be out on june 3rd unless the court interfe interferes. >> even after that -- >> don, hold on. hold on, don. because i know you're going to have a lot more. that's a good tease for your program later tonight. you'll have a lot more on this subject. 10:00 p.m. eastern cnn tonight with don lemon. we'll be watching. guys, thanks very much. just ahead, the leaders of north korea's brutal regime now saying, the leader, that is, kim jong-un saying he's feeling the pain of his countrymen. what is he up to? stay with us. mine was earned in korea in 1953. afghanistan, in 2009. orbiting the moon in 1971.

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a catastrophe in north korea prompting a surprising apology from the country's leadership and claim the strong man kim jong-un lost sleep over ha happened. pentagon correspondent barbara starr is watching this story for us. unusual for north korea. what happened? >> an apartment building collapsed. no word on how many were killed or injured. what is so extraordinary is the north koreans are talking about it at all.

an extraordinary deep bow as the north korean official apologizes to grief stricken residents and families of victims of an apartment building collapse in the capital. the north korean state-run news agency reported construction was not done properly and officials supervised and controlled it in an irresponsible manner. south korea said the 23-floor building may have had 92 families living inside. north korea said kim jong-un stayed up all night feeling painful after being told about the accident. but a public apology from a government that keeps its citizens isolated? >> this happened in the city of pyongyang. they obviously felt like they could not keep it quiet. >> reporter: could the regime be loosening its control? >> it's a reflection of the fact that even north korean authorities understand that they cannot keep the same sort of

iron grip on their people the way that they did, you know, 20, 30, 40 years ago. >> reporter: north korea going so far as to release this photo monday of leader kim jong-un visiting hospital with his wife. cnn cannot independently verify the authenticity of the image. north korea has acknowledged disasters before, including floods that killed scores in 2012, and a 2004 railroad explosion that killed hundreds. but this time, the regime took responsibility. analysts say perhaps hoping to draw contrast to what it says is south korea's avoidance of responsibility for the recent ferry disaster that killed nearly 300 people. now, don't look for north korea to change its tune any time soon in favor of more openness. in fact, analysts say the regime kim jong-un is still quite repaired to do away, to kill any

of those in opposition to him to preserve himself in power. wolf? >> that's a very mysterious place, indeed. all right. barbara starr reporting for us. thanks very much. finally, i want to end our program with this important note. i was simply thrilled to return to my hometown of buffalo, new york, over the weekend, to receive an honorary doctorate from ka neeshs college in buffalo, a wonderful jesuit university that produces excellent, excellent graduates. i delivered the commencement to the undergraduates. follow their passions wherever that takes them. let me congratulate the class of 2014 once again. i had a great thrill going back to buffalo. remember, always follow us on twitter, tweet me @wolfblitzer. certainly always tweet the show @cnnsitroom. join us once again tomorrow right here in "the situation room." always watch us live.

certainly dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." now let's step into the "crossfire" with van jones and kevin madden. >> congratulations, wolf. republicans need to stop picking on hillary clinton. it's only 2014. >> actually if the democrats tried listening, they'd avoid nominating a deeply flawed candidate. of course, democrats never listen to good advice. the debate starts right now. >> tonight on "crossfire," hillary clinton in the bull's-eye. attacks from the right. and discomfort on the left. >> i do worry about the inevitability thing. >> will she decide not to run or listen to a possible rival's advice? >> don't let the ugliness of politics keep you from pursuing public office. >> on the left, van jones. on the right, kevin madden. in the "crossfire," no alathy, communications direc