pictures. we have been looking at some pictures earlier but all you really see is the rain and hail shaft. you don't see where the damage is happening in the middle with the tornado, jake. >> all right, chad myers in the cnn weather center. that is it, thank you. and we'll turn you over to wolf blitzer right next door in "the situation room." all right, following the tornado spotted. a twister on the ground near the denver airport. passengers are being warned to take shelter. the metro area, stand by. president obama breaking his silence on the allegations of cooking the books at veteran's hospitals. he is taking some serious heat for sticking by his v.a. secretary. seconds away from catastrophe. near collisions in mid-air. you wouldn't believe how often they actually happened. the numbers, we're being told, they're staggerer i estaggering and new allegations against the clippers owner.

i have never had sexual relations with mr. sterling. >> i want to be sure we're not having a bill clinton moment here. define sex. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. let's get right to the breaking news, a tornado hitting the denver area right now very close to the international airport there where flights have been halted. passengers are being told to prepare to take shelter. our severe weather expert, our meteorologist chad myers is tracking all of it for us. so chad, update our viewers. what do we know right now? >> one single cell, major mai mezocyclone. it missed you, that is a lot to say, there was a small tornado reported not just south of aurora, but has moved to the south of the runways here at dia, but dia also picked up a

lot of hail. airplanes that are made of aluminum don't do well with hail. we'll have to see what is happening there. tornadoes moving to the east here is i-70. if you're on i-70 you're okay for now because the storm has not decided to turn for you but if you're listening on sirius radio, there is the velocity, wolf, and this is the most impressive i've seen in a long time. think of the tail lights, they're always red. that means it is moving away from you. this part of the storm is moving away from the radar site. this part is moving toward the radar site which is pretty much there, there, and there. that is the rotation. this tornado is on the ground, a significant, likely ef-3 or 4 tornado on the ground no question about it. and we're so thankful this did not happen in denver or littleton or centennial, because when you get out from where the

airport is, from the runways there is not much out there. now denver has annexed all of this to get the highway out of the airport but it is not stapleton, which is way back here. this is dia out in the plains. there are the runways or south runways. and there is where the storm is going. a lot of farm and ranchland out there. because this is the major tornado on the ground right now. >> i want you to stand by now, we have a storm chaser, joining us right now. what are you seeing and hearing, tony. >> reporter: well, i'm about 20 miles east of denver, we're watching the leading edge of the storm which has been mentioned by you guys many times. this is very difficult to see inside this thing whether or not there is an ongoing tornado. i know the radar is showing some strong rotation and it is quite likely that there is something going on in the rain and hail

right now. it is just possible to tell. >> we're showing our viewers, tony, live pictures courtesy of your camera there. it certainly looks ominous to me. how does it feel up close there? >> reporter: well, it is actually very calm. we have no wind, which actually bodes well in terms of a strong tornado. if we had strong winds at my back it would be something of a concern, to indicate ongoing tornado further. but it is very calm, very little wind here at this point. >> how close is this area to the denver international airport? a lot of us are very familiar with that major airport? >> we're probably looking ten miles southeast of the denver national airport where the storm is rolling through. they probably had a significant amount of heavy rain and hail as it moved over the airport, but i think the main circulation stayed just south of the concourse and runway. >> where is it heading?

>> reporter: i think it will go past byers, strasburg, those towns, bennett, as well, probably need to think about taking cover. again, if there is a tornado here you will not see it so you really need to take heed to the warning. >> i want to see if karl malden myers is still o-- chad myers is still with us. >> the bigger of the three towns, the storm is kind of making its way toward us. the big thing will be the travellers on i-70 that probably don't want to be caught on the interstate when this thing rolls through. >> all right, chad, go ahead. i know you have a question for tony. >> yeah, i see a lot of traffic. i was trying to get close to the tv to see it. is that i-70, tony? >> reporter: i'm looking at the

frontage road, i-70 is actually just to the south. i'm north of it probably by half a mile. >> so you have access to i-70 to get farther to the east, maybe towards strasburg, and travel maybe back up to the north. you're still in it. though, this could be a very big tornado. it did turn right earlier. we're talking, wolf, for the most part the storm is going to the northeast and for a while turning to the northeast. and tony you still could be in what could be the back side here on the south side of what is a very impressive hook. i know you can't watch cnn right now in your car, but the hook is very impressive. >> reporter: i have live radar in the car and i definitely feel the area i'm in will have some real flank down drift, the winds that kind of wrap around the tornado. that will probably be a big concern in this area. >> hold on, tony, chad, we have another storm chaser joining us,

jeff petroski, what is it like where you are? >> reporter: well, wolf, we had the first tornado touch down northwest of aurora about 45 minutes ago. i tracked the circulation to the southwest side of the national airport about a mile south of the runway. it became rain-wrapped. and then we had a new tornado develop that was actually quite large. i have one south of the dia runway, that was on the ground for about two minutes. then it lifted. and then as that tornado lifted a new one came down, and i got a tornado on the ground right now. stand by. tornado is now on the ground, one mile, tornado on the ground, again, three and a half southeast of dia airport, moving rapidly at 40 miles an hour. 100 yards wide, white cone, probably 65 miles an hour,

accelerating to the north. right in front of me about half a mile moving north at 60 miles an hour. a round circulation. there it is, large tornado four miles southeast of the airport moving tracking southeast, moving east-northeast around the circulation. that was northwest of me now. multiple tornadoes, there are tornadoes on the outer ring of the circulation if you will. this is the outer ring and then there is a main tornado vortex closer to the center of the storm producing multiple tornadoes in two locations about four miles apart. >> and you say you're pretty close to the denver international airport. how close are the tornadoes to the actual runways, the terminal buildings? >> wolf, about 30 minutes ago, right now the farther southeast -- they're farther southeast, 30 minutes ago the first was probably a mile and a half south of the terminal. i was on the south end of the runway, literally by the security gate and the tornado was just about half a mile south of the runway, it missed the airport probably by a mile to

two miles max. the main tornado vortex, i don't know what kind of damage is currenti i occurring based on the doppler radar. looks like it was 100 miles an hour back to the west-southwest, we may have wind damage just south of the dia airport, and powerful winds and large hail. >> jeff, hold on for a moment. i believe chad myers, our meteorologist has a question for you. >> first, let's put it into perspective, chad is in a good spot. here is the airport, the runways, you are in the middle of it, jeff. as the storm went by you, multiple vortex tornadoes, is that what you were just seeing or one and then another tornado out of the same cell? >> there is one after another chad, we -- the tornadoes would cycle in the wall cloud, they became rain-wrapped, and then as the circulation got larger you started having them small enough

on the plain, the large mezocyclone to the west, i had the big cloud to the northeast and the wall into the rain. all the way around, the storm on the south side of dia airport, and then the rain evaporated from where it was raining around the tornado. and the large northwest tornadoes were inside the rain, i saw it for 35 to 40 seconds. it was violent motion, i would call it a large significant tornado about a mile and a half to two miles in the open field. to my knowledge, no damage that i'm aware of. but this is an open field south of dia airport. >> chad, jeff, hold on for a moment. we have another storm chaser, where are you, storm, what are you seeing? >> reporter: okay, mr. blitzer, i'm nine miles north of bennett

he have y if you look northeast, we're looking at a large rapidly rotating wall cloud. we've seen multiple tornadoes coming in and out of the precipitation. it is a fairly heavily precipitation-wrapped storm. there is probably about four or five miles to the west -- we have been zig-zagging in front of it to stay in the in-flow notch and keep ahead of it. there is baseball sized hail. there is a powerful super cell, multiple tornadoes and extremely large hail with it. and right now we're looking due west. i am inclined to say that there is a tornado probably buried back in the circulation moving north into the areas north of bennett. >> north of bennett, moving towards more rural areas or towards the towns? >> reporter: it is moving away from the towns, there are quite

a few ranches and little houses that people have built up here, about the last probably five or ten years. so there is a lot more stuff to hit out here than there used to be. it is not out of the question that something could get hit. this used to be in the middle of nowhere, but not so much anymore. to the east, bennett o-- >> hold on for a minute, storm, i want chad to weigh in, as well. we're getting multiple reports, chad, in this area outside of denver. not far from the denver international airport, but what is a worry is the major hail storms. >> no question we've already had baseballs on the ground. i'm sure, because even though the doppler, the signature had 3.2 inches in the cloud that was falling out. some melting, some evaporating on the way down. let me go through some layman's terms and what storm they're talking about, the in-flow notch. he wants to be right here so he can see what is circulating.

you don't want to be down here where you want see anything, or even up here, that is where you will really get pounded. he is in the correct area looking back at the circulation, i can zoom in, it looks just like a big hook. and right there is the tip of the hook just like a big fish hook. >> chad, i want you to stand by. i want the storm chasers who are watching what is going on in the denver area to stand by. we'll continue the breaking news coverage, tornado watch, tornadoes on the ground in the denver area. much more coming up after this. we know we're not the center of your life, but we'll do our best to help you connect to what is.

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560 550 love you. love you too. 679 653 ready to do this? 720 725! we can actually get it? we can get it! (announcer): credit karma what are you building toward? we're continuing to monitor the breaking news out of the denver colorado area where there have been tornadoes on the ground, not far away from the

denver international airport. you have heard a bunch of storm chasers report on what is going on. heavy, heavy hail sorensthowers thunderstorms in the middle of all the tornadoes, we'll continue to monitor what is going on in the denver, colorado area. and finally drawing a direct response from president obama, the controversy has been growing since cnn first reported fraudulent record-keeping and the deaths of dozens of veterans waiting for care. now the president says he won't stand for that. he is ordering the v.a. to sped up its review of the entire situation. president obama is not getting rid of his embattled secretary, at least not yet. we have full coverage, drew griffin who broke the story for cnn. he is standing by. and let's get to our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, jim? >> reporter: wolf, in his first conference since the scandal

broke, president obama is vowing action and accountability. but that is not good enough for his critics who want heads to roll now. >> reporter: for president obama it is not buck stops here moment. this time over the allegations on the wait times at the v.a. facilities. >> if these allegations prove to be true it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful and i will not tolerate it, period. >> reporter: after meeting with the veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki, he suggested the days may be numbered pending the internal investigation. >> i have said to rick and i said it to him today, i want to see what the results of these reports are and there is going to be accountability. >> veterans groups were quick to slam the president's comments saying the decision to keep shinseki on his post is wrong. >> mr. president, we need urgency. we need you to roll up our

sleeves and get into these hospitals. >> the white house faces a political crisis that is building with 26 v.a. facilities now under investigation. >> i don't yet know, are there a lot of other facilities that have been cooking the books? or is this just an episodic problem? >> this is not the first time the president has been caught off guard by its administration. >> he found it didn't work. >> nobody is madder than me about the fact that the website is not working as well as it should. >> republicans charge there is a pattern pointing to his response to the irs scandal. >> i first learned about it from the same news reports that i think most people learned about this. i think it was on friday. >> and the president's crisis management is also familiar. >> is he too detached from some of the nuts and bolts of running

the government? running the administration? >> i think if you look at the way the president handles a challenge like the website and handles this challenge he responds by demanding action. >> and so far, the only action the president took today is demanding that his secretary veteran's affairs shinseki complete that internal investigation he has under way right now and that his top aide, rob nabors, finishes the broader review. and as we've seen in the past this white house is back in bunker mode, wolf? >> jim acosta, thank you. and the white house has made comments about the administration and how they have improved services for veterans. tom foreman has been doing a fact check. hi, tom. >> hi, wolf, some veterans advocates say facts do not tell the whole story. and neither did he. >> we have made progress over

the last five years. >> claim veterans among funding has been boosted to record levels. true, the v.a.'s budget request for this year is $164 billion, way up from a few years back when it was $113 billion. what is missing? the white house facing overall budget issues may not yet be asking for enough to provide promise services to all the vets from iraq and afghanistan, according to some veterans advocates. >> as they say in the army, failing to plan is planning to fail. and it is clear the v.a. has failed to plan for the numbers of troops and vets that it was going to be services for years now. >> claim, the v.a. has slashed the back log of disability cases by half in the past year. >> we launched an all-out war on the disability claims back log. >> also true but complicated. claims rose in 2011 after a court decided 150,000 cases

involved with troops exposed to agent orange, cases they decided must be reconsidered. the v.a. instituted procedures to cut down on that spike. the secretary made a big problem. >> we're open for business and we'll end the back log in 2015. >> that could be a stretch, but supporters say he made a good start. >> you can't just get to the bottom of this in a week. >> claim, the v.a. has reduced homelessness among vets, in 2009, 106,000 vets were homeless, the administration saw the number fall to about 50,000. claim, the administration is helping veterans find jobs. the jobless rate for all veterans in 2009 was 8.1%. by 2013, it was down to 6.6%. that is better than what the general population has experienced although the numbers are not nearly so good for younger vets. >> now, of course many veterans groups will say that there are still plenty of very serious

problems out there that they are concerned about. and they accuse the president of shading the facts to fit his politics. but that aside, wolf, the facts in the areas he raised seemed to put him on fairly firm ground to say the administration has been making progress on this. >> tom foreman, thank you. our senior investigative correspondent drew griffin who first broke the story. he is joining us now from phoenix, which is the epicenter of the v.a. joining us, the legislative director of the american legion. drew, let me get your reaction on what the president had to say today. >> i was somewhat taken aback for this reason, i thought it wag something the president -- was something the president could have come out and said when the allegations first broke, that he was mad, we'll investigate and find out. but a month later, a month of all of this reporting, wolf, and quite frankly after all that evidence from the government's

own reports, the v.a.'s own reports, from the memos that have surfaced that this is a systemic problem to come out now a month later, and say if true i want to hold somebody accountable? we're going to look into this? i felt it was a lack of substance in actually doing something other than what eric shinseki told the senate last week. have patience, we're looking into it. >> your organization, a powerful organization, very important organization. you want the secretary of veterans affairs, eric shinseki to step down. the president says he is in the middle of an investigation right now. he has an audit under way. the inspector general's report is about to come out. he doesn't want to fire somebody, at least not yet until he has all the information. what is wrong with that? >> well, wolf, the president has had the information, and so has secretary shinseki, at least since 2010. there was a memo that came out

last thursday that said these are the ways the v.a. is gaming the system. for four years, shinseki had the time to put an end to this. and now we're just hearing from the president that today, now it is time for it to stop. the time for it to stop was four years ago, the secretary was brought in specifically to change the culture of the v.a. at one point the american legion even stood behind him and we have totally lost conference. >> you are the spokesperson for the american legion, you want him to go away? >> we believe at this point, secretary shinseki is nothing more than a distraction. the only time we're going to be able to watch the v.a. heal and get better is after this leadership is done, we infuse new leadership and we start to clean it up from the middle, the bottom and the top. >> let me go back to drew. drew, one of the argument you have heard, there may be problems at three or four v.a.

facilities, including where you are in phoenix, but there are hundreds of others where there have been no problems. and you can't just go along with the problem that is some of these hospitals and facilities and ignore all the good work being done elsewhere? >> of course you can't ignore the good work. but this is the problem with the bad work and the bad work needs to be fixed. because the veterans are not receiving care. and the allegations are that many of them have died out here in phoenix. and we know dozens of veterans, two dozen veterans have died because of delayed care. so just focusing on the positive spin is not going to make the bad stuff any better. and i just want to add one thing. i talked to some would-be whistle-blowers last night today, people who want to come out and tell their stories who were looking for some direction last week from eric shinseki. they wanted assurance that if they came out and told the truth that they would not be retaliated against by v.a.

administration. there is a very big fear factor. they didn't fear that. and they're telling me they're not coming out right now because they're afraid of ruining their career or reputation reporting these things to a v.a. administration they believe is not listening to them. >> drew griffin who has been doing excellent reporting on this breaking news story, thank you very much. coming up, stunning new allegations against the l.a. clippers owner donald sterling. shocking revelations as girlfriend now goes public with dr. phil. >> mr. sterling also said that i'm an animal in bed. so what do you want me to tell you? how am i supposed to know why he says the things he said. this is why i recorded it. because it burned so much. as first lady of our church we have meetings. we have activities. and i couldn't do any of that. any time anything brushed up against this rash

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brian todd has more on the latest. >> wolf, the nba is ramping up its case against donald sterling saying evidence in this case was destroyed and that false and misleading evidence was provided to league investigators. we have confirmed details of an nba document on the league's allegations against sterling, the charges are very powerful and if true could be very damaging. >> new allegations of cover-up and lying on the part of donald sterling and his wife putting his attempt to keep the clippers in peril. the allegations that he tried to persuade his companion, v. stiviano, to say that she had lied and altered remarks and that this post on the tmz tape was lies. >> it bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you are associating with black people. do you have to. >> the allegations that they tried to remove donald sterling,

according to the source, sterling asked stiviano to cover for him about a week after the tape was revealed. >> in the real world, people go to jail asking people to change their testimony. it would add additional testimony that he does not belong in the league and they should throw him out. >> the l.a. times, which first reported the details, quotes an associate of sterlings calling the nba claims a smear. today, v. stiviano, in a new interview with dr. phil contradicted the claims that he didn't know he was being recorded. >> did he know he was being recorded? >> absolutely, with his permission. >> the documents cast doubt. they say they're intertwined. one sports agent says this has to do with shelly's attempt to keep her share of the clippers. >> this is really an attempt by the nba to create a guilt by association context.

not only are they still connected but ms. sterling shares the lease or was otherwise tacitly indifferent to the known accusations. >> they have been living apart for more than a year and both announce their intentions to divorce. in a statement, shelly continues to be unfairly tarnished by the words of sterling. >> and allegations on when the camp originally heard the audiotapes. >> the nba documents says that the then clippers president andy rossa received a copy of the recording on april 9th, two weeks before tmz posted that clip. the document says that andy rosser told sterling with the clip, and that sterling ordered the employee who provided the

recordings to delete the recording. again, no comment on those allegations. >> that is an explosive charge, let's dig deeper with our senior legal analyst, jeffrey toobin. and if this report is true that the team president, andy rosser, donald sterling asked him to delete the recording from the smartphone, if you will. how serious is the charge? could there be some legal recourse? >> well, i don't think it would actually lead to a criminal case against donald sterling. this was not after all a government investigation that was being obstructed. but it is yet another ground for the nba to take the franchise away. and it would make -- and if it is true it would make any effort to get the courts to intervene and stop the forced sale of the clippers that much more difficult. so it is very bad news to donald sterling. but it is not news that i think

p puts him in any sort of criminal jeopardy. >> because trying to destroy evidence or lying, don, as you know they are very serious charge are -- charges that are levelled against donald sterling and his wife, shelly. >> the more i read about it, it is a mess, a soap opera. and you're right, anybody involved in this, in the sterling camp whether it is rossa or donald himself or shelly, they should be looking at this. because if they take it into a courtroom outside the nba, right, then they would have some exposure, i would think. because if you look at all of this about making the recordings public or not knowing about the recordings or trying to pay somebody, that is bribery or what have you. the best thing for him to do is go away. yet he continues to fight. and the more the documents come out the worse it gets for him. if i were him i wouldn't want any of this coming out i would

say okay, what do you need me to do? make it stop. >> they have five days, the lawyers for shelly sterling and donald sterling to respond to this 30-page legal brief or the accusations that they formally levelled. they haven't made that 30-page document. there are a bunch of other pages with exhibits attached. all sorts of stuff. what happens if they don't respond, let's say, within the five days that the nba has asked them to respond. >> well, then the nba proceeds on june third to have its hearing, with or without donald sterling to take the franchise away. and presumably if there is no defense it would be a very easy judgment for the owners, 3/4, probably unanimous to take the franchise away. he has got to persuade them not to take the franchise away or persuade a court to intervene. and so far he has done nothing in either direction. >> all right, don, hold your thought for a second. i want to continue this conversation. both of you stay with us.

so what should we make of these latest shocking revelations from the woman at the center of the scandal? >> i have never had any sexual relationship with mr. sterling. >> i want to be sure we're not having a bill clinton moment here. define sex. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, like me,

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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. i have never forced anyone to say anything that they did not choose to say themselves. he has his bipolar moments where he would just lash out and say certain things that were absurd,

things that were just mean, out of the norm. and i would play those things back to him just to remind him how he acted or how offensive he can be towards another person. >> donald sterling's girlfriend speaking to dr. phil today earlier on a syndicated program tv. we reached out for sterling's reactions, haven't been able to get that. but in another surprising twist in the whole nba scandal we're continuing our conversation with our legal analyst jeffrey toobin and don lemon. let me get your reaction. >> she is an assistant, first, now an archivist, then a therapist. she said he had his bipolar moments, i don't know if she can diagnose him with that unless she is a physician. but v. stiviano caught him on

this racist rant and helped the world to uncover the racist rant. and then she went on television with the visors, she has quickly gone to sympathetic to sell iin out. and i believe everybody in this particular situation, especially donald sterling needed to shut his mouth a long time ago. she needs to, as well. she just needs to stop until this is over. >> don, jeff, i want you to stoo stand by, we'll have much more in the next hour, and more with don lemon at 10 p.m. eastern. just ahead, passenger collision courses, happening much more often than people believe. why are so many planes coming close to disaster? hey! [squeals] ♪

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the dust is settled after primaries. the gop establishment regained the upper hand. in november, women candidates, women voters potentially could decide who controls the united states senate. les take a closer look right now with our chief political analyst gloria borger as well as the republican consultant alex costianos. one of your superpacs did support monica webby. last night we saw a whole bunch of women do well. a bunch of women up for re-election this time. this could be a decisive factor in who roll controls the senat

>> in two key races we saw last night, in georgia, michelle nunn and kentucky, alison grimes going up the big dog mitch mcconnell. >> both democrats. >> both democrats. you also have democratic women who are kind of in the hot seat, wolf. you've got kay hagan of north carolina. she's got a tough race against republican establishment candidate tom tillis, mary landrieu, louisiana, jeanne shaheen up against scott brown in new hampshire. so they need to win re-election. the democrats obviously. there's a six -- the republican -- i'm sorry. the republicans want to win six seats to get control of the senate. so the women are really key here and, of course, they're trying to appeal to women voters. >> normally as you know, alex, women voters tend to do better with democrats than they do with the republicans. >> they do. and the one thing everyone hates in the entire country is washington. right? it's dysfunctional. democrat or republican. who's the ultimate outsider when you look at the old boys club in

washington? women. so a fresh face like that, a female face, i think it's a very powerful case to make this year. for example, look at kentucky how that can change. alison grimes started that rice so early against mitch mcconnell. by the time that race is done, it's everybody's going to be so political. the old saying in politics is don't wrestle a pig, you get mud on you. eventually voters can't tell you apart. i'm not sure thooshe'll be the outsider by the end of this race. >> you saw last night, mitch mcconnell had his wife introduce him. he spoke about three women in kentucky that meant so much to him. i mean, this is going to be a fight for women voters and he's already unpopular to begin with, i might add. >> the republican establishment was pretty happy, though, with the outcome last night. you're part of that republican establishle. >> establishment guy? i'm kinder, gentler now i guess. yes, it turns out when you challenge bad republican candidates in primaries, the mistakes they would have made in the general, they make earlier.

so i think republicans have a better field this time. you do have fresh faces like monica webby in oregon, but not only good candidates, this is a better year. the democrats are running around saying that obamacare is not going to matter and it's a little bit like the hunchback of notre dame saying what hump? voters, it's become a symbol of a dysfunctional government in washington. this is going to be a good off-year election for republicans. >> the democratic leader in the house, minority leader, nancy pelosi, she announced the democrats would participate in this house select committee investigating the benghazi. she named five democrats. elijah cummings, the ranking democrat to be on this select committee. there will be seven republicans as you know. smart move on nancy pelosi? >> i always thought there was a lot of talk among democrats such as boycott the committee. i think that -- >> so not to give it legitimacy. >> not to give it legitimacy. in the end they decided they'd rather be on the inside. they can shape their own far

ti fartive, know what democrats are going to come out. it's likely hillary clinton is going to testify. by the way, hillary clinton has a book that's coming out, wolf. i guarantee you it's going to have stuff in there about benghazi and they would rather be on this committee defending her than not. and so in the end, nancy pelosi said, it was a tossup, but i think she did the right thing. >> that's exactly right. frankly, they would have helped it make more news by opposing it than being on the inside and helping imagine it. that was the right strategic call. >> if they subpoena hillary clinton to testify and seven republicans are asking questions and no democrats, that's tough. five democrats are there to help save her, protect her a bit, that would be for her perspective a lot better. >> i'd be surprised if subpoenas are issued. if you're hillary clinton, you'll volunteer before anything like that happens. >> can i just say, hillary clinton is a big girl. she's going to write about benghazi. she knows how to tdefend hersel. politically speaking, the democrats need to be inside that

room, understanding the n narrative and documents and trying to effect the show. >> they want access to all that information that the republicans will have access to. we'll see where it goes. alex, good to have you back in "the situation room." gloria, thanks to you as well. coming up, a dire warning about a growing terror threat possibly involving dozens of americans training overseas. plus, frightening near collisions like this. multiple planes are getting way, way too close for comfort every day. why are there so many close calls that could lead to disaster? stay with us. ♪

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join today at angieslist.com happening now, a secret u.s. plan is revealed to deal with a dangerous al qaeda safe haven that could be the launching pad for a new attack on americans. plus, more twists in the donald sterling scandal. v. stiviano opening up about their relationship as new allegations surface that the l.a. clippers owner asked her to lie about his racist rant.

and a terrifying reality for all of us who fly. stand by for a shocking assessment of how often planes come close to colliding. 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 begin this hour with a chills new warning today about a terrorist training ground where al qaeda fighters are getting combat experience right now. and some of them may be american. u.s. officials sound more worried than ever that syria's civil war is a direct threat to the security of the united states. and we learned today of a secret u.s. plan to deal with that. we have our correspondents standing by with new information about the terror threat and the obama administration's response. let's go first to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr for the very latest. barbara? >> wolf, a revelation on capitol hill today that there is a secret battle plan to deal with

al qaeda if it strikes the united states. from that safe haven in syria. it will not surprise you details are sparse. in syria, amid the fighting, al qaeda is planting its flag. leading to a dire warning from the director of the fbi about the rise of al qaeda affiliates. >> progeny in throughout the middle east and africa are verulent and bent on doing great harm on americans abroad and here at home. >> reporter: one of the biggest threats is brewing in syria. >> an opportunity that is attracting droves of jihadis to come to syria to learn new things, build new relationships, and then most dangerously of all, at some point flow out of syria. there will be a terrorist diaspera out of soar yria.

we're determined not to allow lines to be drawn from syria and future 9/11s. >> reporter: u.s. estimates 70 or more americans are go s have syria to fight. nobody knows how many are back in the u.s. increasingly warning of the threat of an al qaeda attack in the u.s. by fighters from sere wa. >> we're seeing now the appearance of training complexes in syria to train people to go back to their countries and, of course, conduct more terrorist acts. >> reporter: and now, a new revelation. >> the al qaeda presence in syria. do you agree with director clapper that it represents a direct threat to the homeland, al qaeda safe haven in syria? >> yes. >> okay. do we have a plan to deal with that? as a nation? >> yes. >> is that classified -- >> yes. >> okay. i'd like for you to brief me about that because i think one of the likely next attacks is

going to come from somebody who's trained in syria. >> so, wolf, perhaps the most direct public acknowledgement today by the fbi director. there is a classified plan on dealing with the, if there is an al qaeda attack e merming out of sere wra, an attack against us. >> i want to talk more about the al qaeda threat from syria, elsewhere. mohammed jis joining us as well as eli lake from the daily beast. what are you hearing, mohammed, i know you're well plugged in on what's going on, the security situation in yemen right now, specifically the u.s. embassy, american diplomats who are in sanaa, yemen, the capital. >> defense ministry officials in yemen which houses arguably the most dangerous wing of the caal qaeda network, aqap, yemeni

security forces on the highest level of alert throughout the country that yemeni government official are fearful al qaeda is planning attacks throughout the country and especially in the capital and trying to target foreign embassies including the u.s. emembassies. the u.s. embassy closed there because of terrorist threats against it. it's remained closed now for almost two weeks. it could be closed another several weeks. a security official in yemen told me a short while ago because the foreign ministry there has not been briefed by the u.s. officials in yemen about when the embassy might re-open, mthey believe it will e closed for some time to come and worried about the threats drebted toward the u.s. embassy. >> chilling stuff there. eli, what are you hearing? you've been doing reporting on this. maybe a split division. some contentiousness between elements of the u.s. national security team, spies and others, versus the obama administration, shall we say, more mainstream

obama national security officials. >> well, it was more pronounced in 2012 which was an election year, but then there was a tremendous amount of pressure and even a draft national intelligence estimate to say basically al qaeda no longer posed a threat to the u.s. homeland. the director of the dia right now general michael flynn opposed that and eventually had it changed. it was a bitter division within intelligence community at the time. >> the national intelligence estimate, you're reporting in the "daily beast," you're saying it had concluded al qaeda really did not represent a significant threat to the united states? >> yes. you saw that in the rhetoric of the president particularly in his state of the wrunion addres in 2012. at the time, officials were saying wait a second, we better slow down here. those kinds of concerns continue to exist. there are a lot of people who believe boko haram has more ties than the official estimates. we've certainly seen a lot of attention on syria a this point as a safe haven.

i think you're starting to see more cautious rhetoric coming now from the top of the administration. >> the dia, defense intelligence agency. what to you make of this information that the dia resisted efforts in 2012 to simply suggest that al qaeda really didn't present much of a threat any longer to the united states? >> well, you know, mike flynn, the head of the dia, is one hardnosed customer. he's not going to be willing to say al qaeda is going away. i think what the obama administration has been struggling with which is something many americans are questioning is what is al qaeda today? al qaeda on the run, remember that? well, the administration says they were referring to the old al qaeda back in pakistan, but now we have these al qaeda afill waafill yats in yemen, somalia, nigeria, libya, in syria in droves. so to talk about al qaeda today is a term that is somewhat geographically meaningless

because these affiliate organizations are everywhere. the bottom line is the u.s. intelligence community thinks that most of their focus is inside the countries where they operate, but this new wrinkle is that they may be trying to come back to the united states, recruit americans, get them over there, train them. they have the passports. many of them have the visas that will get them back into the states and that's the big concern. remember, wolf, boston marathon. all it took was two guys inspired by al qaeda already living in the u.s. >> good point there. eli, the other story you're working on, another article you've written, you made a comparison between lawyers defending president obama''s drone strikes to what dick cheney used to say about defending drone strikes and other aggressive measures. explain what you're hearing. >> this is all coming back to something called the authorization for the use of military force. originally introduced three days of 9/11.

now, when it was asked of two top obama administration lawyers in a hearing today whether or not these counterterrorism operations, not the detention, but the drone strikes could continue if the aumf explained tomorrow -- >> the authorization for the use of military force. the resolution passed after the 14r 9/11. that was exactly the kind of logic that was used by david addington, the top lawyer for dick cheney in the first term of the bush administration to justify the president's war time authorities. i thought it was interesting because obama as a candidate certainly campaigned as somebody who believed the executives should not have all that authority and his lawyers are making that exact case. >> mohammed, your sources in yemen and elsewhere are depply worried about some kind of

thought that may be in the works. >> deeply concerned there are plots in the works right now and this is happening at the time where the largest offensive that's been carried out, going on in yemen, this is happening in different parts of the country. there are yemeni boots on the ground in the most inhospitable parts of the country. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has been takie ining fighters and having street fights killing dozens of soldiers in the most secure part of the country. that's one of the reasons yemenis and u.s. officials are worried about what might happen there and looks like it is deteriorating there. >> mohammed, thank you, eli lake, thanks for coming in. barbara starr at the pentagon. thank to you as well. still ahead, new and detailed account of the nba's case against stodonald sterling. does he face further charges in the court of law? the woman at the center of the

scandal speaking out, v. stiviano insisting sterling has been lying about their relationship. >> i've never had any type of sexual contact with mr. sterling whatsoever. 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. the numbers are impressive. over 400,000 new private sector jobs... making new york state number two in the nation

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we're learning more today about the nba's legal case against donald sterling. the league moves quickly to try to determine naterminate his ow the l.a. clippers. a document reveals sterling is accused of trying to persuade v. stivi stiviano, his girlfriend to lie and altered an audio tape of racist remarks, she was told to say it wasn't his voice on the recording.

also today a new denial from stiviano she ever had sex with sterling but she told tv personality dr. phil that their relationship was complicated. >> i was not only his assist ta tant, i was his caretaker, secretary, mother, his driver. i did everything for this man in the last flthree years. >> let's bring in jeffrey toobin, don lemon, and washington sports columnist, mike wise. could there with serious legal recourse against sterling if he, his associates were engaged in trying to destroy evidence, or lying, stuff like that? >> as a theoretical matter, i suppose it's possible. there's no way a los angeles district attorney is going to wake up in the morning and say, you know what, i want my first witness to be v. stiviano. they don't want to get involved in this sort of nonsense. this is something for the nba to deal with. it's very bad for sterling to keep control of the franchise,

but i mean, i don't think the government needs to be involved here. >> don, listen to what else v. stiviano told dr. phil. >> never did he ever come on to me. what i meant by him being in love with me, i meant in love like a person, like a tour. in love with me in terms of hu also wanted to protect me. i sometimes make bad choices and associated myself with bad people. >> all right. let me get your reaction. what do you think about that? >> it -- my honest reaction is it's just laughable. i, you know, unless i was 2 or 3 years old and said, mommy, i'm in love with you, and she would say, no, you should love me, you're not -- you don't tell people you're in love with them if you're not in love once you're an adult. she said on the tape, you're in love with me. he has said according to the tapes we heard from radaronline how she basically, you know,

seduced him. i don't know if that's true, but i guess she's denying it. there was something going on for her to stay with him for three years to be his driver, as she said, his caretaker, his secretary, and his maybe lover. something had to be going on for her to do that. i just think it's laughable. >> mike, you know, the other element in the "l.a. times" story today, i'm sure you saw it, was two weeks or so before all of us heard that racist rant on that audiotape, it was made available to the clippers, to the team president, and others, and they were told according to the "l.a. times" to delete it from someone's smartphone, get rid of it which potentially could be a serious problem. >> well, it reminds me, wolf of the movie "unforgiven." there were no redeeming characters in it and no redeeming characters in this story including v. stiviano. the more you hear about it, the more you shake your head. adam silver must be shaking his

head saying when is this going to end and when can i get back to my playoffs? >> when is this going to end? there is a timeline the nba has put forward. they got five days for the lawyers for sterling to respond. they'll have a vote among the 29 other team owners. what do you think? is this going it be over with in a couple weeks? >> thunless something dramatic happens, it's going to be over june 3rd. donald sterling either has to put forward a defense or file a lawsuit and persuade a judge to issue a stay. he's done neither of those things so far. you know, we've heard a lot of big talk from his lawyer, from his wife's lawyer that this is unlawful, this is terrible. but they haven't done anything. they haven't filed a lawsuit. they haven't filed the response. and if they don't, this thing is going it be over on june 3rd. >> let me play another clip for you, don, this is a little more of v. stiviano speaking to dr. phil. >> all right. >> i sent it to a couple of my friends and i did not once think

this was going to happen. if i thought that, i never would have sent it. >> she said she sent some of those tapes to some of her friends. she never thought it could get out. what do you make of that? >> what world is she living in if she didn't think that would get out? the moment you tell someone something, there's a possibility they're going to tell someone else. if you give them tapes, then there's a possibility that they're going to give those tapes to someone else. listen, she was in control of the tapes, right? she said that he gave her permission for the tapes. okay, i take her at her word that he did that. did he give you permission to distribute them to other people? and so i think as mr. wise said here, there are no sympathetic characters. donald sterling said reprehensible things not only on the tapes but in the interview with anderson. she at first was a simpympathet character because we thought she was exposing a racist. now i feel sorry for her. >> by the way, i want to have a

boss/employee relationship where i don't have to have an intimate relationship with my boss and get a $1.4 million condo and a bentley. i think that's a great deal, wolf. >> probably a few outfits as well. >> exactly. >> and not sleep with him, right? >> you see what's going on now. you're close to the nba. cover the nba. you know these teams. i assume you know some of the owners. do you have any doubt adam silver will get the 3/4, 75% vote he needs to kick him out of the nba? >> none whatsoever. i talked with three on the phone and communicated with two via e-mail. all of them are unanimous not only does adam silver have the vote ts but there's a tremendou amount of public pressure to ensure donald sterling is out of the league not just from the players who hinted at insurrection and maybe boycott, but there's a feeding frenzy of a public who wants this old racist man to go away. i think just as jeffrey said, i

would be shocked if the board of governors did not get him out of the league. >> very quickly, jeffrey, shelly sterling, her lawyer says she's going to fight this. she's determined to remain a 50% owner of that team. he did put out a statement, pierce o'donnell. she attended the meeting as an impromptu invitation from a friend as part of an attempt to persuade him to apoll swr popol his racist remarks. >> none of it matters until and unless he files a lawsuit. he can say nice things about his client all he wants but he's got to file a lawsuit or none of it matter. >> okay. jeffrey toobin, don lemon, mike wise, guys, thanks very much. and this coming in to "the situation room." the house has overwhelmingly

approved legislation to make it easier to fire or demote top officials at the department of public affairs. cnn reported about the deaths of dozens of veterans while waiting for care. president obama said today he won't stand for that. he stopped short of firing his veterans affairs secretary eric shinseki. that just in. just ahead, we're learning just how often airliners come dangerously close to hitting one another and it's far more frequent than you might think. we have the startling numbers. that's next. orbiting the moon in 1971. [ male announcer ] once it's earned, usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection. and because usaa's commitment to serve current and former military members and their families is without equal. begin your legacy. get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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there are troubling numbers for r anyone who flies. the rate of near collisions among u.s. airliners is disturbingly high and recent high profile incidents are putting a spotlight on the problems in the say. aviation correspondent rene marsh is working the story for us. what are you finding out. >> when it comes to these sort of situations, one time is too many. cnn has learned planes flying too close happens more than you might think. on average, more than a dozen times a day. last month, at jfk, a jet blue a-320 taking off while another jet blue regional plane was about to touchdown. in a last-minute move, the pilot approaching the runway decides to abort landing, putting the two planes about a half a mile apart. closer than allowed. >> any time there is a loss of

separation, we are concerned about it because it's not supposed to occur. >> reporter: april 24th, a much more dangerous situation. a near midair collision over newark. a united airlines 737 landing with 160 passengers on board came within 150 yards of a united express regional jet preparing to -- >> he was real close. >> reporter: the next day a united 757 cruising at 33,000 feet over the pacific gets too close to a us airways 757. the collision alert system goes off. one passenger says the plane plunged without warning. >> for the past 30 years, we've had an air traffic control system that has not been upgraded properly. our controllers are basically in many cases overworked. >> reporter: the latest faa numbers showed planes got too close 4,400 times within a year. 41 were considered high risk.

>> i think the faa's measure of safety is whether someone died or not. that's not good enough. >> reporter: this is what can happen when planes get too close. in 1991, this u.s. air 737 at l.a.x. landed on top of a sky west commuter plane preparing to take off. 34 people died. accidents like this are incredibly rare because of collision avoidance systems now mandated in planes. >> i hate to judge safety by the lack of accidents, but i will say this, and that is since it has been installed and used, we have not had a midair collision in this country involving two equipped airplanes. i think that says a lot. >> all right. the most recent stats faa released were from 2012. last year's stats are not out yet so it's really impossible to say if this is a growing trend from year to year because we

just haven't seen those 2013 numbers just yet. >> still worrisome indeed. thanks for report, rene. appreciate it. be sure to join us again tomorrow in "the situation room." watch us live. dvr the show so you won't miss a moment if you can't watch us live. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." now let's step into the "crossfire." >> wolf, we have great guests today including the chairman of the veterans affairs committee in the senate here tonight. we also have the committee republican who asked eric shinseki who explain why he should not resign. the debate starts right now. >> tonight, on "crossfire," is president obama doing enough to clean up the scandal over veterans care? >> if these allegations prove to be true, it is dishonorable, it is disgraceful, and i will not tolerate it, period. >> so why wasn't va secretary eric shinseki fired? >> mr. president, we need urgency. we need you to roll up our sleeves and get into these hospitals.