Break free and make it back home. We are live in nigeria with her harrowing tale. And breaking news this morning, ukraine in crisis. Prorussian rebels claiming victory after eastern provinces vote on whether to secede from the nation. So, will that country now be split into pieces . What is the situation on the ground . Were live with the very latest. Good morning, everyone. Its monday. Welcome to early start. Im john berman. Im christine romans. May 12th. Its 4 00 a. M. In the east. Lets begin with a cnn exclusive this morning, Donald Sterling on the record for the first time about the racist comments he made and the nbas push to force him out as owner of the l. A. Clippers. Sterling sat down with anderson cooper, insisting he was baited by the woman named v. Stiviano, baited into saying she shouldnt be seen with black people. He called her a friend he thought liked him and he thought cared for him, and he apologized, calling what happened a mistake. His wife, shelly, is also speaking out, telling abc news she thinks Donald Sterling is suffering from earlystage dementia and she plans to get a divorce, but she says she doesnt want to give up her share of the team. Ive been with the team for 33 years, through the good times and the bad times, and its my passion and i love it. I guess, whatever their decision is, we have to live with it. The nba says under its rules, if he loses control of the team, she will, too. As for the clippers, they mounted an amazing fourthquarter comeback in their semifinal series against Oklahoma City thunder, rallying from a doubledigit deficit to win 10199. Their series is now tied two games apiece. You can see anderson coopers exclusive interview with Donald Sterling coming up on new day, 6 00 a. M. Eastern and this evening on ac360, 8 00 p. M. Here on cnn. Now to another cnn exclusive. Were hearing this morning from a young nigerian girl who escaped after being captured by terrorists when they rounded up more than 270 of her classmates. Those girls are still being held by boko haram. That is a terrorist group in nigeria. This morning, hundreds of people, including u. S. Troops, are out looking for these girls without any success yet. Cnns naima albagar is live in nigeria. You were the first reporter to reach this town where this all happened. Tell us what you saw there. Reporter morning, john. I think what really struck all of us on the team was just how much that sense of fear still remained with the people, nearly a month after that attack. This young lady wasnt just incredibly brave for speaking to us, but she was risking not just the broader communitys worries about what she might bring down upon them, because boko haram are still out there, they are still active in that region. Were hearing reports about their activities and their attacks all along the road they traveled, but she was also risking retribution from the Nigerian Government, who have continuously doubted much of the version of events that the girls families have been putting out. Listen to what she had to say to us, john. Describe the men that came and took you. What did they look like . Were they wearing civilian clothing or military uniforms . What were they wearing . I dont know this line. But what was their dress . What were they wearing . I feel afraid. Did they look like soldiers . You feel afraid . Yes. You dont want to talk about what they look like . No. Its okay. I understand. I understand. Im sorry. You can still hear that tremor, that fear in her voice, john, but what she was able to give us is new detail about really how incredibly well organized this attack really was. She describes a convoy, effectively, of large vehicles and motorcycles and quite a wellequipped force coming on what one villager described as a shopping trip to pick up these girls. This is what she had to say. Well, she spoke a little bit more im sorry, i think well get to that later, but she spoke a little bit more about what it felt like in that school and when she and her classmates were in that truck, she said she felt that there really wasnt an option. She couldnt bear the thought of not going home to her parents. So, imagine being young, alone, herded on to the back of that truck like cattle, effectively, and deciding it was safer out there in the dark, rolling through those dirt roads than being carried off by boko haram, john. Nima, the fear in that girls voice is simply heartbreaking. Talk to me about the town. Do they have a sense that the Nigerian Governments response to this has been satisfactory . And are they aware of the International Outcry really on their behalf . Reporter some of that is trickling down to them. Theyre aware of the u. S. s commitment to help, theyre aware of the uk and france, and actually, thats given them a lot of hope, because to be honest, they werent getting a lot from their government. We arrived, and given how far along its been since the incident, youd expect to see reinforcements, youd expect to see a definite presence, but there was nothing. There was very, very little out there. You know, night that we spent with them, it was the men from the village wandering around on night patrol with machetes and bows and arrows. They were the ones defending their families because they felt that no one else could be trusted to. And its understandable that they feel that, that you know, if on the day before we came down, that road was still compromised, john. There was a shootout between boko haram and the Nigerian Police on that road in which a Police Officer was wounded after they had come from an attack on another village. The fact that they are able to still operate with impunity so close to some of their more recent victims, i cant imagine what it must be like for those people, john. I dont think any of us can imagine. Nima, thanks for going to that town and being with us this morning. A really harrowing trip for her team. I think it took three or four days for them to get there. All of the obvious struggles and safety concerns. I cant get over the fear in that girls voice as she was talking to nima. You can tell she still doesnt feel safe right now. Want to talk about the weather on this monday because there is a significant threat facing a big part of the country today from texas to the great lakes. Could be more thunderstorms, more tornadoes. Right. In nebraska, significant damage being reported not far from lincoln. These pictures are amazing. This tornado and others like it roaring across the ground. Take a look at these clouds in grafton. No word yet on damage there, but those pictures are unbelievable. This farm in sutton, nebraska, destroyed. That used to be a house and a barn. Its rubble now. The owners, luckily, got away before this happened. Missouris still in the crosshairs this morning as many clean up after tornadoes raced through an area near kansas city. The town of orrick, theres significant damage, but officials and those who live there are grateful that no one was seriously hurt. My son and i were holing each other and the house was shaking. You can tell that it was, like, the structure was moving because dirt was coming down. I was scared. I thought, like, the whole house was going to collapse on us. These pictures from colorado, heavy weekend snow near denver leading to accidents. Some areas could get up to 10 inches of snow by the time this storm system moves out. Jennifer gray tracking all of this and the threat this morning at the cnn weather center. Jennifer . John and christine, Severe Weather has moved across the country for sunday and also saturday. Today looks like were going to see another round of possible Severe Weather. Showers and storms setting up right around the countrys heartland. Were going to look at 10 00 on monday, a little bit later today. Then as that will progress to the east, we could see showers and storms firing up as we go through the afternoon. Also, texas could see quite a bit of rain in the next day or two, so well be on the lookout for that as well. Rainfall totals could be anywhere from 4 to 6 inches. Right outside of dallas, we could see 4 to 6 inches on the north side of chicago, 1 to 3 outside of the city, and memphis could see quite a bit of rain as well. So, a lot of rain across the country, possible Severe Weather. Youll be in the Severe Weather threat if you are in, say chicago all the way down to portions of missouri and even southwest texas in that Severe Threat for today as well. Look at these temperatures. 88 in memphis, 75 in kansas city, 38 in denver. What a contrast we have that warm air and that cold air colliding, and thats one of the things thats going to spark off a lot of those showers and storms as we get through the afternoon. John and christine . Hello, spring. Yeah. Thank you for that, jennifer gray. All right, happening now in ukraine, were just getting the first results from a controversial independence vote in two eastern provinces, a vote to pull away from the government in kiev and declare a closer allegiance to russia. That amid more deadly violence. Gunmen opening fire on crowds about 30 miles from donetsk. And its not clear this morning just who those gunmen were. Nick paton walsh live for us in slovyansk. Nick, whats the latest . Reporter well, as i stand here in slovyansk, were about six hours away from where we were awoken by a tank, it seemed, rounds exploding for half an hour on the outskirts of this town. Now, the results of the referendum here never really in doubt, frankly. A large turnout endorsing the joining russia. Its not certain, because Vladimir Putin did suggest this referendum should, in fact, be delayed. They still went ahead, regardless. Suggestions today about 50 , possibly even [ inaudible ] that particular vote. We spoke with the selfdeclared mayor and he said only 40 were in fact [ inaudible ] numbers were never really in doubt. It was always about the unrest here with the prorussian militants and protesters doing, just purging this area of kievs government. Now the interim presence of ukraine, the opponents of whats happened said its a farce, that it propaganda trouble with nick paton walshs audio, as you can hear. Well get back to him in the next half hour for the latest on the complicated situation in ukraine. Really, you know, Vladimir Putin said he didnt want that vote to happen. It happened anyway. Unclear what happens next, and in fact, whos firing into these crowds . No one knows. Its an interesting chess board there. No, and we keep saying were waiting for the results of the election. Well, the results arent in question. Right. Everyone knows what this vote is going to say. Right. What we do not know is what the reaction on the ground will be, and thats why it crucial people watch this the next couple days. 12 minutes after the hour. New this morning, the man in charge of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 speaking to cnn after months of coming up empty. He explains what comes next in this search. Were live in australia with the new plan, next. Hey, razor. Check this out. Listen up, thunder dragons, its time to get a hotel. We can save big on killer hotels with priceline express deals. Somewhere with a Fitness Center . Hey you know what man, these guys aint no dragons. Theyre cool. These deals are legit. Yeah, were cool. Shes cool. Were cool. Im cool. Hey, isnt that razors old lady . Not anymore. Priceline savings without the bidding. He thought it was the endn for his dof the conversation. D. She didnt tell him that her College Expenses were going up. Or that she maxed out her card during spring break. When the satellite provider checked his credit, he found out his daughter didnt pay her bills. But hes not worried. Now he checks his Credit Report and score at experian. Com, allowing him to keep track of his credit and take a break of his own. Experian. Live credit confident. New this morning, were hearing from the man responsible for finding flight 370 months after the jet disappeared with hundreds of people on board. Angus houston sat down with our own anna coren to talk about the status of this search, whats happening right now, whats next, do they believe they will ever really find this plane . Anna is live in canberra, australia. Anna, what did houston have to say . Reporter well, john, as chief martial Angus Houston says he is confident they are looking in the right place, mh370 is somewhere in the indian ocean. The bluefin21 submersible will be at that search area within the next 24 hours and will be scouring the ocean floor on what will be its 19th dive. Theyre going to exhaust this lead. You know, that, of course, are those four pings they detected, believed to be pings from, beacons, if you like, from the black boxes on board mh370. Once thats exhausted, they will then move on to the next phase, which will take in some 20,000 square kilometers, and that could take 8 to 12 months to complete. But mr. Houston said, you know, this search of the bluefin over the next month could find the debris. He certainly did not rule that out. He says that he is committed to the search, to finding the wreckage of 370 for the families of the victims of the 239 people on board as well as for the general flying public, but he does say, he emphasizes that the way that planes are tracked currently needs to be changed. Listen. We need to have jetliners that are equipped with some sort of tracking device that cant be turned off, that can be tracked all of the time. And with satellite technoogy available, i think that can be done, you know, in the near future. Reporter now, just to give you some background on the man who is really the face of the search of mh370. He is the former chief of the Australian Defense force. Hes had an illustrious career of 40 years, brought out of retirement to lead this search. Hes been praised with bringing credibility to the search, restoring the credibility. Hes been seen and described as a steady pair of hands, and he asks the people, the families involved, he asks them to trust him and his team, because he is confident, john, that they will find mh370. Hes confident. Any sense that hes discouraged that it has taken as long as it has with as many twists and turns as weve seen over the last several weeks . Reporter yeah, look, he said that he has been disappointed, because obviously, very early in the search there were those initial signs that they had, in fact, detected the locations of those black boxes, but he says that this is a search that hes never going to say with 100 certainty that they are going to find something, but he is confident. He stresses that he is confident and that he is going to see this all the way to the end, john. Anna coren for us in canberra with a behindthescenes look at the status of the search with the man in charge. Thanks so much. Happening today, defense secretary chuck hagel begins a fourday, threenation tour of the middle east, his third trip to the region in just over a year. First up, hagel goes to saudi arabia for a meeting on regional security, then to jordan and finally israel. Hagel making news in this country as well, saying the military should continually review its prohibition on transgender people serving openly. Thats raising hopes the ban could eventually be lifted. The u. S. Embassy in yemen will remain closed to the public at least through thursday. This morning were learning new details of just why. Yemeni officials tell cnn al qaeda gunmen attempted to kidnap two embassy employees last month, but the two gunmen were shot and killed instead. Officials believe this may have been part of a wider plot. There was more bloodshed sunday outside the capital. Two separate attacks left at least 13 yemeni soldiers and 3 suspected militants dead. Tough questions this morning for former secret Service Director mark sullivan. The Washington Post says top agents guarding the white house were pulled twice a day for about two months in 2011 to monitor the home of sullivans then assistant. Sullivan says he did not personally issue the order and that threats against the employee justified their response. An Agency Spokesman says the operation lasted only two days and the Inspector General has been looking into it. New warning about the danger of oil and gas wells. A congressional report obtained by the Associated Press says federal inspectors have failed to look at thousands of wells that could potentially contaminate the water supply. The report alleges the bureau of Land Management is working from outdated policies based on incomplete data. The interior department is calling for updated regulations and closer coordination for state officials. Breaking news this morning, wildfires tearing through texas. Dozens of homes destroyed. Weve got that story next. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a table [ sneezes ] without lifting a finger, you may be muddling through allergies. Try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. And zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. Zyrtec®. Muddle no more™. [ female announcer ] and now introducing childrens zyrtec® dissolve tabs for full 24 hour allergy relief. Childrens zyrtec® dissolve tabs thcar loan didnt start here. It began way, way back. Before he had children. Before he got married. It started in his very first apartment. See that overdue bill . It arrived after he moved out. And he never got it. But hes not worried. Checking his Credit Report and score at experian. Com allowed him to identify and better address the issue. And drive off into the sunset. Experian. Live credit confident. ™ breaking overnight, a huge fire forcing hundreds of evacuations in the texas panhandle north of amarillo. Officials say more than 100 homes were lost in the flames, some 1,500 acres burned. The fire is now 75 contained. No injuries reported, but fire officials caution they havent yet searched all of the burnedout homes yet. Investigators are trying to figure out what led to a deadly hot air balloon crash during a festival in virginia. It struck a power line and burst into flames, killing all three people on board. The university of richmond says two officials from its Womens Basketball team were on board. Associate head coach ginny doyle and director of operations natalie lewis. Search crews have now found the body of the pilot, 65yearold army veteran daniel kirk. He is being remembered as an avid balloonist with over 30 years of experience. Feeling i have is that he was doing what he loved. We could go out here tomorrow and be in an automobile accident, but he was actually doing what he loved. Police say kirk began safety maneuvers before the basket and balloon somehow became separated. What caused it to drift into power lines is under investigation. Now suspended Miami Dolphins safety don jones for what he tweeted about michael sam, the openly gay Football Player drafted by the st. Louis rams. When his selection was announced, sam, who was shown live on espn kissing his boyfriend well, jones tweeted omg and then horrible. The team has suspended jones, fined him, ordered the safety to undergo some training, saying the comments were unacceptable. Jones issued an apology, saying he regrets that what he tweeted took away from michael sams moment. And i think the dolphins are particularly sensitive to anything like this, given what happened on that team last year. Id say. All right, a dangerous escape. A young girl kidnapped from her school in nigeria manages to get away. How did she do it . We are live with an incredible cnn exclusive, next. Every day, people fall. From a simple misstep, to tripping over a rug, to just losing their balance. 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Mattress discounters whats this . Mattress discounters Memorial Day Sale ending . But mattress discounters has the Largest Selection of memory Foam Mattresses under one roof. Comforpedic, icomfort, optimum, and wow, four years interestfree financing on the entire tempurpedic cloud collection, even a queen size sealy gel memory Foam Mattress for just 497. The Memorial Day Sale is ending soon. Mattress discounters sorry and asking for forgiveness. L. A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling on the record in a cnn exclusive about the team he doesnt want to lose and about the woman he believes was setting him up from the beginning. Escape from terror. A young girl kidnapped from her school by gunmen explains how she got away and why she took so much risk. Were live in nigeria with this cnn exclusive. Breaking news this morning, prorussian rebels declaring an election victory in eastern ukraine, demanding independence. Will ukraine be split into pieces now . We are live with whats happening in the streets right now. Welcome back to early start. Im christine romans. And im john berman. About 30 minutes past the hour now on this monday, and this morning, we are hearing from Donald Sterling. Thats right, the Los Angeles Clippers owner sitting down exclusively with Cnns Anderson Cooper and speaking out loud on the record for the first time about the racist comments that got him banned for life from the nba. Now, as the league moves to force him to sell, sterling says hes sorry that what he said was a mistake, that he hopes his fellow owners will give him another chance and that v. Stiviano tricked him into saying she couldnt be seen with black people. He called himself foolish, that he was diluting himself into thinking she cared for him. Were also hearing right now from sterlings wife, shelly, who owns 50 of the team. She tells abc news she doesnt want to give up her share. Shelly sterling says she plans to divorce her husband, who she says is likely suffering from earlystage dementia. But is he a racist . Shelly says no. I have never heard him say racial things. I dont know. It was horrible when i heard it. I mean, it was just degrading and it made me sick to hear it. But as far as a racist, i dont really think he is a racist. The league says if fellow owners decide to force Donald Sterling to sell, Shelly Sterling will lose her share of the team, too. Now, all of these new comments coming as the clippers took to the court, battling the Oklahoma City thunder in game four of their semifinal series. The clippers overcame a doubledigit deficit in the final minutes. This was an extraordinary game, an extraordinary comeback. They won 10199, and that series is now tied at two games apiece. And you can see and hear anderson coopers exclusive interview with Donald Sterling coming up on new day at 6 00 a. M. Eastern, the full thing airing tonight on ac360, 8 00 p. M. Eastern time here on cnn. Well worth it. Wait until you see what he says about magic johnson. Really interesting stuff. All right, in nigeria this morning, were getting a closer look at just what happened when armed militants took more than 270 young girls from a school. Those girls still being held today, despite an intense International Effort to find them. One of the students who escaped from her captors is now talking exclusively to cnn about the scary moments and what she did to get away. Cnns nima elbager is live in abuja, nigeria, this morning. Nima, you were the First International reporter to reach this town where the kidnapping took place. Sounds like a harrowing journey for you and your team, and at the same time, sounds as if those people there, this young girl that you talked to, are still terrified about the potential that this group holds in that region. Tell us about it. Reporter absolutely. And i think that really gives you a sense of how isolated and how under threat the community in chibok continues to be. If it was this difficult for us to get there and this difficult for us to see the reality, the daily reality, can you imagine what its like to live it . But the girl that we spoke to said when it came down to it, when she and her classmates were packed like cattle, as she described it, hurdling through the dark on the back of that lori, she felt the only option was to jump. Yes, they say okay, enter this ferry we go, i will drop down. That was really brave of you. Yes, we would rather die than go. We ran in the bush. You ran in the bush. Yes. And what happened then . We ran and ran and we were gone. Reporter this was an extraordinarily wellequipped convoy. All of those lories, seven in total, pickups, motorcycles. It was very clear that from the outset, their intention was to go in and to take these girls and to sell them on. And one villager described it to us as almost like a shopping trip, how you or i would go into the market and choose produce. He says thats how they feel their girls were treated, christina. What are they doing now, nima, the people in that town, to try to protect themselves . Reporter well, they seem to feel that they have no option available than to protect themselves. They feel that the Nigerian Government hasnt come to their aid, which, given how much weve been hearing from whether its the first lady or the president or the uk prime minister, all these pledges of support, its just heartbreaking to see that thats not being felt on the ground. So, people are taking it into their own hands. The night we spent with them, we went out on patrol with just the local neighborhood watch. Everybody in every neighborhood is organizing themselves and carrying what they can, machetes, makeshift bows and arrows, old guns, and thats what they are prepared to face down boko haram with, because they said this cant happen again, this community cannot take any more heartbreak. Nima, thank you so much for that report. Just the terror in that girls voice and how terrified those townspeople must be, just heartbreaking. The rest of the world is watching and wants to bring back the girls, but on the ground, it is still raw fear. It is, although it is reassuring at a certain point. Nima says the people there now understand that the world is watching and theyre grateful for the support because it may be spurring the government, finally, to take more serious action. Now to ukraine where it does appear that voters in two eastern provinces have decided they want their independence. That is, if you believe the justreleased preliminary results of a weekend referendum. The voting appeared to turned violent in one town near donetsk. Gunmen opened fire on a group gathered outside a town hall, and there are reports of fatalities this morning. Nick paton walsh is live in slovyansk this morning. And nick, we do understand there are real questions about just who was voting, how often they were voting in this referendum. Reporter well, i think, you know, john, first thing to bear in mind is the big one irregularity, which is how this referendum came to be. Its not recognized by the Central Government in kiev, its not held by local officials. Its held by activists in buildings theyve occupied, and in many ways, weve seen no real signs of a debate on the streets of the two different ideas differe presented to the people on the bulletin building, taken through armed men taking over buildings, officials being squeezed out of their posts. So, put aside the notion this was some genuine pleb side asking people what they thought then, of course, you have irregularities, suggestions people voted twice. If theyre not on the list of voters, just write a declaration saying why you should be, and you can vote. So, the results, no real surprise. Were hearing suggestions 80 , 90 in favor, a large turnout of 80 according to the selfdeclared mayor of the town of slovyansk, where im standing. But all of that was never really going to be a surprise, john. We always expected a positive result. The big question, the big doubt is what comes next. We heard from kiev. The interim president of ukraine turchynov saying this is a farce, that its propaganda to hide murders and kidnapping. Weve seen people detained and killed in this town, too. But the other side of the story is this is really a town that feels at war with its own government. They feel theyve been ignored initially, then attacked by the ukrainian military, and we have to see whether moscow feels now they did say this referendum should be delayed whether moscow feels now they can step in now that the vote suggests they should be closer to russia, and what does kiev do . There is plenty of rhetoric from the Ukrainian Government and plenty of troops in the town. I was awoken this morning by half an hours worth of explosion, sounding like tank fire on the outskirts of town. The military are closed, threat of intervention still there. We just dont quite know how kiev thinks they can end this. John . A tenuous situation there this morning and for the next few days, no doubt. Nick paton walsh in slovyansk. Thanks for being with us. It was a dangerous weekend for much of the country here and this morning the threat remains from texas all the way to the great lakes. There could be more severe thunderstorms. And folks, we are ripe for tornadoes. Thats right. Take a look at this from nebraska, a tornado on the ground near lincoln, just one of the many reported there. This one caused serious damage. Look at these clouds in grafton. Wow. The sky just ominous, dark gray and black. Unclear if that storm caused any damage there. The damage, though, to this farm was serious. A house and barn reduced to rubble. Thats in sutton, nebraska. The owners did manage to get away before the storm hit and they are now staying with relatives. Missouri is one of many places that could see more weather trouble today, like what it experienced over the weekend, significant damage near kansas city. The result of a tornado on the ground in the town of orrick. Amazingly, no one was seriously hurt, but those who live there say riding out that storm was scary. My son and i were holding each other and the house was shaking. You can tell that it was, like, the structure was moving because dirt was coming down. I was scared. I thought, like, the whole house was going to collapse on us. In the rockies, the story is snow look at that. There were accidents throughout the denver area as snow piled up on the highways. Some areas could get up to 10 inches by the time this system moves out. All right, what can we expect today . Jennifer gray tracking the weather for your monday. John and christine, Severe Weather has moved across the country for sunday and also saturday. Today looks like were going to see another round of possible Severe Weather. Showers and storms setting up right around the countrys heartland. Were going to look at 10 00 on monday, a little bit later today. Then as that will progress to the east, we could see showers and storms firing up as we go through the afternoon. Also, texas could see quite a bit of rain in the next day or two, so well be on the lookout for that as well. Rainfall totals could be anywhere from 4 to 6 inches right outside of dallas. We could see 4 to 6 inches on the Northwest Side of chicago, maybe 1 to 3 inside the city. And then outside of memphis, could see quite a bit of rain as well. So, a lot of rain across the country, possible Severe Weather. Youll be in the Severe Weather threat if you are in, say, chicago all the way down to portions of missouri and even southwest texas in that Severe Threat for today as well. Look at these temperatures. 88 in memphis, 75 in kansas city, 38 in denver. What a contrast we have that warm air and that cold air colliding, and thats one of the things thats going to spark off a lot of those showers and storms as we go through the afternoon. John and christine . Yeah, its a dangerous combination there. Well keep an eye on it, for sure. Hello spring. Yeah, hello, spring. 41 minutes after the hour. New information this morning on the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. The man in charge of the search sits down with cnn. We are live in australia with what he had to say, next. The was a truly amazing day. Without angies list, i dont know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. For over 18 years weve helped people take care of the things that matter most. Join today at angieslist. Com Angus Houston sat down with our anna coren to detail the hunt in the next phase for the missing mh370 a day before the bluefin21 goes back under water to search for this jet. Anna coren is in canberra this morning. What did he tell you about the status of this investigation and just how long this thing could go . Reporter well, christine, air chief marshal Angus Houston is realistic about this search and is not going to give anybody false hope, but he is confident that investigators are looking in the right area and that mh370 is in the southern indian ocean. Hes not going to say anything with 100 certainty because of the disappointment that theyve experienced over the last few months. You have to remember that early on, they thought they had detected those black boxes, like within a mile before those batteries died, but obviously, that search over the last two months has failed to find anything, but that doesnt mean its not down there. The area that the bluefin21 is looking in, as you say, the ocean shield, the ship thats carrying the bluefin, its heading back out to that search area. It should be there within the next 24 hours and in the water, continuing to scour. It has reached depths of 5,000 meters. The problem is that the ocean floor that they are looking at, mapping for the very first time, is as deep as 6,000 meters. But according to mr. Houston, those four pings that they heard about a month ago, he is certain that they came from the black boxes on board mh370. Lets take a listen. What we picked up from the ocean was something that was assessed as being from a manmade source and the characteristics of the transmission were very similar to an emergency locator beacon. Reporter now, as i say, christine, the bluefin21 will be back in the water this time tomorrow. It will spend about a month out at sea scouring the ocean floor. They will exhaust that lead until they are certain that they cant find anything with the bluefin. Thats when the next phase of this investigation will get under way, bringing in a commercial contractor yet to be announced. They will use, you know, equipment, more sophisticated, can go deeper, can reach depths of 6,000 meters as well as can cover a much wider area. But you know, as far as Angus Houston is concerned, he is committed to seeing this the entire way through. He says he owes it to the families of the victims of the 239 people on board as well as the general flying public so as to restore confidence in the aviation industry, christine. All right, anna coren for us in canberra, thank you. 47 minutes after the hour. Today if youre so inclined, you can get your copy of stress test. Thats Timothy Geithners new memoir detailing his time as treasury secretary and before that, frankly. But at least one revelation is leading to anger from an economic expert. Glen hubbard says what geithner wrote about him isnt true, saying he never endorsed raising taxes when he was a top economic adviser to mitt romneys 2012 president ial campaign. In fact, hubbard says geithner is just flat out lying. Gosh, during that time, i can remember asking him, i did an interview with tim geithner, and i asked him, what do you do to unwind . You know, the whole world is basically falling apart. And he told me he had just watched the movie hurt locker and that he loved that movie. If you remember that movie, it was about defusing bombs. And in a way, what the economic chiefs in this country were doing and around the world, actually, were defusing bombs. I wouldnt call it relaxing, though. When you said unwind. Thats what i mean. Theres no way to unwind from that kind of a job. All right, happening right now, Oscar Pistoriuss defense readies its final witnesses. The olympic athlete accused of murdering his model girlfriend. Were live in south africa with who is on the stand this morning. Thats coming up next. [ female announcer ] hands were made for playing. Legs, for crossing. Feet. Splashing. Better things than the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. If youre trying to manage your ra, now may be the time to ask about xeljanz. Xeljanz tofacitinib is a small pill, not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz is an ra medicine that can enter cells and disrupt jak pathways, that comes with ra. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers have happened in patients taking xeljanz. Dont start xeljanz if you have any kind of infection, unless ok with your doctor. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz, and routinely check certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common, and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you are pregnant, or plan to be. Taken twice daily, xeljanz can reduce the joint pain and swelling of moderate to severe ra, even without methotrexate. Ask if xeljanz is right for you. Happening now at the Oscar Pistorius trial in south africa, a key defense witness on the stand. Its a forensic expert arguing that much of the evidence presented by the state cannot prove what really happened when pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend. Cnn legal analyst kelly phelps live in pretoria this morning. Kelly, tell us about this forensic expert and why this evidence is really so advantageous for the defense. Reporter well, its such important evidence, because youve got one of the most respectable ballistics experts in the country, someone whos been referred to as the godfather of ballistics in south africa, analyzing the evidence presented by the state and simply saying that because of the fact that the door was removed from the crime scene and rehung inaccurately, the findings that the state have drawn from that ballistics evidence are simply not reliable, and its not possible to draw any findings of any major credibility from the ballistics evidence. And this unsettles not only key specific claims the state have made, such as, for example, that Reeva Steenkamp was in a defensive position because there was a fight and she feared for her life, but it also unseats much of their investigation, because if their investigation has not been conducted in a reliable manner, it becomes very difficult for them to claim that they have proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. So, very Critical Evidence were hearing. Evidence as this trial winds down. Kelly phelps for us live in pretoria. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. All right, breaking news overnight. An nfl player suspended, fined and now apologizing this morning. The tweets that took him off the field, next. Breaking news in texas this morning. Fire crews are reporting some success in their fight against a huge fire that raged north of amarillo. It is believed to have destroyed at least 100 homes. Hundreds more were evacuated, but Officials Say the fire is now 75 contained. So far, no injuries have been reported, but this morning crews plan to search the burnedout homes looking for victims. Arkansas could see hundreds of samesex couples lining up for marriage licenses this morning, joining the more than a dozen who got their paperwork completed last weekend, that after a state judge threw out arkansass ban on samesex marriages and overturned a voterapproved constitutional amendment. The judge did not act on requests for a stay, so couples like Jennifer Rambo and kristen seton, a race to get their license and get married before another court intervened. We got engaged in march, and you know, didnt expect this to happen, so its a great surprise. Weve been waiting just to have equal rights. There is nothing that can take it away from us. The state attorney general, dustin mcdaniel, plans to appeal citing his obligation to defend the law, but hes said he personally believes gay couples should be allowed to marry. This morning, Miami Dolphins safety don jones has been suspended, fined and ordered to undergo training after tweeting out what he admits were inappropriate comments about michael sam. Sam is the gay Football Player who has now been drafted by the st. Louis rams. When his selection was announced, sam was shown live on espn kissing his boyfriend. You see it right there. Jones tweeted at the time, omg, and then he wrote, horrible. The team called the tweets unacceptable. Jones issued an apology, saying he regrets that what he tweeted took away from michael sams moment. Early start continues right now. Don sterling on the record saying im sorry. In a cnn exclusive, apologizing for the racist remarks that got him banned from the nba. The l. A. Clippers owner opening up about what hell do if hes forced to sell that team, and hes talking about the woman he says has been secretly recording him for years. Escape from terror in another cnn exclusive. A young, nigerian girl kidnapped from school by armed militants explains how she managed to break free and make it back home. Were live in nigeria with this harrowing tale. Breaking news this morning. Ukraine in crisis. Prorussian rebels claiming victory after eastern provinces vote on whether to secede from the nation. Will this country be split into pieces . We are live with the very latest. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to early start. Im christine romans. And im john berman. A lot going on. It is monday, may 12th, 5 00 a. M. In the east, and we do begin with a cnn exclusive. Donald sterling on the record, out loud about the racist comments he made and the push to force him out as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Don sterling sat down with Cnns Anderson Cooper. He did apologize, calling what he said a mistake and claims he was baited by v. Stiviano into saying she shouldnt be seen with black people, including magic johnson. Now, as for johnson, sterling called him a good
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