don lemon, l.z., suzanne malveaux are watching all of this.n, they are just talking football right now. they are not talking about what so many other people are talking about, this historic breakthrough, there will be an openly gay player in the nfl. >> listen, there are gay mayers in the nfl already. they were probably there from the beginning. i'll be quick here. i'm glad that he's there talking about football. continue to talk about football and continue to get on the field and kick butt and that's what i want to see him do and what the fans want to see him do. put blinders on like v. stiviano and play a good game of football. that's all he needs to do. >> i'm sure he will. l.z., what do you think? >> he looks really comfortable up there. he was comfortable in missouri. expect him to be comfortable in the locker room as well. the chips were stacked against him, if you will. the rams had a fantastic draft. so it's going to be a hard rope for him whether he was openly gay or not. like don said, to focus in on football because that's the most

it's not going to happen. >> l.z., what do you think?is a part in there in which donald sterling would like to be able to go back into an nba building. i'm not quite sure how stuck he is on the $2.5 million fine. i thought it was interesting the lawyer said that kobe's $100,000 fine was a drop in the bucket because $2.5 million compared to donald sterling's worth is also a top in the bucket. i do believe there's probably an element of him wanting that lifetime ban lifted and that's kind of seen whether or not commissioner silver is willing to yield anything in terms of the punishment that's been brought down. >> l.z. granderson, don lemon, jeffrey toobin, thanks very much for joining us. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. be sure to join us again tomorrow in "the situation room." watch us live, dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." now let's step into the "crossfire" with stephanie cutter and newt gingrich. >>> washington's latest attempt to impose rigid uniformity on every aspe

cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin here in washington and cnn commentator l.z.o. jeff, what do you make of this possible lawsuit? >> there are all sorts of things he could claim. he could claim an antitrust violation and file a separate lawsuit trying to stop the sale. but the important thing to remember is one of two things is going to happen. there is going to be a voluntary sale to steve ballmer before the meeting on june 3rd, or at june 3rd they will take the franchise away from him. and then the nba will sell the franchise to steve ballmer. but the bottom line is, steve ballmer is getting this franchise sooner rather than later. >> what do you think, don? you think this is a lot of posturing going on, but in the end, by tuesday, there will be a deal, the clippers will be sold? >> well, i think that regardless of what happens, i think that the nba is going to go on with their june 3rd meeting. i'm not sure about the sale, where it's going to be, where they're going to be in the process. but, again, i'm very skeptical as i've been saying here for weeks, as i'

l.z.nderful coach for any player, i mean, he is a player's coach. they also have a defensive coordinator named gregg williams who likes to blitz. so if you're a tweener who is 6, 265 pounds which michael sam is which is kind of small as a defensive end and you blitz an awful lot, it's a perfect fit and he is the guy that has proven he can get to the quarterback. last year, he led the s.e.c. in sacks and also tackles for losses. so if he makes the team, this could be a huge pickup for the rams and even for the national football league. >> l.z., what kind of impact do you think this might have on other players and maybe those who are considering coming out? because michael sam has talked about saying he has heard from others. >> you know, i've been tracking this conversation, you know, for well over ten years. you know, me and many others who have worked in this sort of advocates player that than be denied than coming out of the closet while still playing and what has come to pass. if you ch

jeffrey, go ahead, respond to what we just heard from l.z. >> i think problem with what l.z.ts on the record, you have a lawsuit charging him by the federal government with discrimination that was settled without an admission that he did anything wrong and he was sued by baylor for racial discrimination and sterling won that case. >> won. >> so if they had evidence of, true evidence of racial discrimination, the question for the nba would have been, what took you so long? so i think silver made the only decision available to him which he said this is only about these comments and, frankly, i think that's enough. he's not -- >> my question is -- >> jeffrey, there's -- >> i want to ask -- >> hold on, hold on. >> does it matter how they got -- how it became public? >> i think it doesn't matter how it became public. it is public now. it's already out in the public, right, jeffrey? so -- >> absolutely. >> -- the nba is not concerned with how the tapes were acquired. that's something for donald sterling to deal with in a court of law. it's already out as far as they're concerned. d

jeffrey toobin, l.z. granderson, suzanne malveaux.hanks very much. >>> coming up, nuclear insecurity. disturbing revolutions about how vulnerable the u.s. arsenal really is. >>> plus, similar fears about our water and power supplies. hackers have already attacked some public utilities. could they cut supplies to millions of americans? hi, i'm jay farner, president of quicken loans. and we're here in detroit michigan helping folks refinance their homes and save money. does it make sense to refinance right now? a lot of times we can lower the monthly payment, we can consolidate debt. we just want to make sure that you know your options, and we're here for you. we're not just number crunchers. i specialize in what i do and i care about my clients. from beginning, the middle and to the end, you're gonna talk to someone. not a machine. call us today for a mortgage experience that's engineered to amaze. the was a truly amazing day. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. for over 1

>> well, first of all, i can't believe l.z. said that it was leaked.phone call. i can't believe you would say that, l.z., by the way, i am being facetious here. >> leaked. >> when i hear -- i mean, it's just more of sort of the same. you know, wolf, i keep saying the same thing. he keeps putting his foot in his mouth. no one believes him. no one believes no matter how much he triesapologize, which aren't really apologies, yes, he's delusional if he in fact believes that. maybe somewhere in his mind or someone is telling him that, you know, if he goes out says that, that he has the opportunity to change public opinion. i don't see how that is going to happen. i think he is is a lost cause and i think the clippers are loft cause when it comes to him owning them again. >> i think you're right on that front. suzanne, he denies he's a racist. he accused anderson cooper of being a racist. now he's talking about v. st stiviano, she is a racist. >> we don't know anything about v. stiviano or what her thoughts are. he's confusing two different things. he's sayi

joining us, cnn commentator, l.z.on lemon, and james rainy from the "los angeles times" who has broken details in the story. what are your sources telling you, james, first of all, an shelly sterling to try to maintain some ownership in the team. what's the latest you're hearing? >> well, i am hearing the same thing i think you are, she would like to maintain an ownership interest perhaps to make an immediate sale, but the thing everyone here has to remember, maybe you've already spoken about this is there can be no transfer from donald sterling to shelly sterling without approval of the nba owners. so if the other 29 owners don't approve this, it's as if it didn't happen. donald can do whatever he thinks he's doing with the transfer but it's like it doesn't exist. it could be much adieu about nothing. i don't know if this is going to be a hiccup in the long-term transformation. >> clearly the nba is hoping to avoid legal battles and avoiding a vote on june 3rd by the 29 other owners, james. let the two individuals, t

it's not about the kiss. >> i think it's more than a few people, l.z.ans may be more accepting of gay people, they're not quite as effective. >> the same network had the show "brothers and sisters" in which you had the couple kiss, get married, wake up in bed together. same network. same -- in fact, it was an hour-long show, not just a half-hour show. for every modern day example you have of two couples not kissing for whatever reasons, i can have come up with new shows in which you have seen displays of affection by same-sex couples. >> you have to admit it's not pervasive and you have to admit there is a reason for that. >> we don't see a great deal of interracial couples on television either. as we remember from the cheerios commercial, america kind of responded to that. we rightfully so remember that this is a voice of the mine nofrt, not the majority. the country's attitude has shifted when it comes to marriage equality. obviously if the attitudes shift towards marriage equality, that goes along with the idea of two same sex people kissing. i'm not

with me, senior writer for cnn, l.z granderson and brian claypool, a season ticket holder.th me on this memorial day. brian, we know donald sterling turned over the sale of the team to his wife. does that mean she can sit down with steve ballmer and negotiate a sale? >> happy memorial day, by the way, carol. how ironic that on memorial day, on a day where our veterans have fought for equality in our country and fought for freedom in our country that we're talking about a man who wants nothing to do, and a woman who really wants nothing to do with equality in our country. getting back to your question, shelly sterling can talk to whoever she wants to try to negotiate a sale of the team. at the end of the day, carol, she's in the going to have any interest in the clippers, because in 2005, she signed the same agreement that donald sterling signed that says that neither one of them can transfer their 50% ownership in the l.a. clippers to each other unless the board of governors of the nba approves that by a 3/4 vote. she's not going to have a say in who the clippers get sold t

let's dig deeper now, jeffrey toobin is joining us, along with don lemon and l.z. granderson. do you think after all that's happened to the clippers, the nba would actually allow the team to move the clippers to seattle? >> you know, that really depends upon who the owner is. i don't see a scenario like that, because the reasons why the seattle team left in the first place, i don't see that situation changing, but with that being said, if it expedites the situation, then i can see a scenario in which a team being moved to seattle will be beneficial. but in the likeliness of it, i just don't see it. i don't see it either, don, and i'll tell you why. the media market in seattle is a lot smaller than it is in the los angeles, and if they are going to go for a billion or billion and a half, whatever they are going to sell it for, the value of that team is in a huge media market like l.a., not necessarily seattle. >> right. if you're going to sell for that much, it's not worth the same there. wolf, can i talk about what brian todd talked about, the people who are interested, oprah

do you know about this, l.z.?ut these t-shirts so people can buy it saying we are one. >> the money is going to charity we're told. >> to me, you know, it's capitalizing on racial discomfort. i'm a big fan of that. i know in the polls that a lot of americans believe that race relations are good and i'm happy to be one of those americans. i believe that interpersonal race relations are good. to me it's institutional race relations that need a lot of work and selling t-shirts like this is a nice feel-good and warm blanket around your shoulders but doesn't talk about the things that we really need to talk about. this we are one thing is kumbaya but discrimination is going on with or without donald sterling leading the clippers. >> i can't get a job. >> america loves to buy a t-shirt. >> we were one but my unemployment rate is twice the average american. >> just to be clear because at first i thought my gosh, the nba is profiting off this controversy and it's not because all of the proceeds will go to charity. >> anti

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let's bring in cnn commentator l.z. grander from grand rapids, mitch michlt.>> good morning. >> let's start with richard parsons. does that move, signing on an african-american ceo soften the blow or simply send a new message? >> well, it sends a new message. it definitely doesn't soften the blow. as long as the public is cognizant of the fact that the sterling family will be making money off this team, and once the players and coach rivers are aware at the end of the day the sterling family are making money off of them, it doesn't completely take away the sting of relearning, if you will, what we already have known about mr. sterling. i was happy to hear mr. parsons say this situation is larger than the clippers and larger than the nba, because it is. very much in the same situation that -- moments in which we've seen other tense race relations play out in the media, they extend beyond just the immediate people affected but as a cultural touchstone, as well. >> and that he said, quote, how we work our way through it is important, underscoring that, you know,