owner. our guest, isaiah thomas, joins us with his reaction. and the world lead. a company says it may have done what nobody else was able to do, find flight 370. just one problem, of course, it's thousands of miles from the current search area. >> good afternoon, everyone, welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we'll begin with the national lead, from the gulf to the great looks, 75 million americans are currently in the path of a tornado spawning severe weather system. i don't mean like a, oh, no, did i leave my car windows down kind of storm. it's more like i hope my car is still on the ground in one piece kind of storm. this could be heading your way in the next couple hours. this massive tornado inflicted wide-spread damage in louisville, mississippi. one of dozens of tornados unleashed by the storm system, the same storm system that killed 31 people from sunday. far from finished, it's now reloaded and ready for round three. some of those got hit yesterday by the same system. two people died when storms leveled a chunk of athens alabama and two hours north of there, 21-year-old swimmer from tuscaloosa was killed. the university website has a tribute to him on his home page. chad myers is in aberdeen, close to the border. how are conditions there? >> reporter: very moist and just steamy here. this is tornado weather. the only thing i think we're missing is wind. there's not a lot of in-flow but the storms just going up, jake. over my shoulder the base of one of the first thunderstorms of the day. see how the dark and the light mix, dark on the top and light on the bottom? the dark part on the top is a cloud going up higher and higher. we are here on this road. because this is where the storms are going to fire. one after another. and there will be likely many tornadoes on the ground today more than one and even at the same time, i believe what i was looking at radar, i could see six separate for sure meso scale, meso cyclone tornadoes on the ground at the same moment around 10:00 last night. this is not just a daytime event, it's a night time event. the problem, when you get a storm like 2 below and back toward meridian, you get the next day it's fine. the storm comes by one time. today the air mass reload and the same people ho had storms yesterday could have more storms, more tornadoes, tonight. >> chad we just saw two cars drive by behind you while you were talking. how bad do you expect it to get in the coming hours and has the local population taken cover appropriately? >> reporter: when you go into the cafes, and go into the quick shops. everybody knows. they seem a little cnn on your shirt, they go, why are you here? i said, well, why do you think? they said don't tell me they're coming here. because they know. everybody is here, everybody has already seen what two day, two and a half days of tornadoes has done off to the west of here and south of here. they know they're next in line and ready for it. can you ever get prepared? yes. you can be prepared when the sirens go off. already have a plan much don't try to make a plan when you know the tornado is coming. you have to know what to do before it gets there. >> chad, you have so much institutional knowledge when it comes to these storm systems. how much does this remind you of the massive tornado damage in that region. nearly three years ago almost to the very day. >>. >> reporter: you know, we drove down from tupelo, to aberdeen and along the highway. as i drove by. i said that town looks just like greenville in kansas. something happened here. and when we looked it up it was smithville. it didn't register, because it was a small down but an f-5 tornado drove through that town. i could tell it had been hit by a tornado. there were no trees, all the homes were brand-new yet it was an oldish village. stripped much all of the trees. this is tornado central. and it reminds me. it's a little less humid than that day. let's go down the road where the lights are coming from from that car there. you see there's a separation from the light and the dark. that's the next storm come. that's already 30,000 feet high. that's six miles in the sky and still building. the higher they are, the more severe they are. the ones last night, 55,000 feet tall, 11 miles in the sky. >> chad meyer, thank you so much, my friend. stay safe. this terrifying weather is no doubt bringing back awful memories for the people of birmingham, tuscaloosa. nearly three years ago today. e i ef 4. can you tell us what conditions are right now? >> it's similar to what we experienced three years ago. coming off a high anxiety day. where we had 150 homes damaged. it's something we're bearing down for and getting for another restless night. >> you just got hit yesterday. is there any reports of new damage? >> no reports of new damage. nearly 200 homes were impacted yesterday. that pales to april 27th, 2011. where we had 5,000 homes imkt paed. still for a community still recovering, any event like this brings back bad memories where we lost 53 fellow sill sentences. >> citizens. >> what is the level of damage from the first round of severe weather yesterday op monday? >> if you weren't comparing it to april 27th. you would say it would be major. we had several neighborhoods impacted. nearly 200 homes that felt the impact. thousands without power and one fatality. we had a tragic fatality of a student athlete at the university of alabama. really our community son the edge. we're used to being in tornado alley. we're used to tornadoes but the last couple days especially i with the anniversary of april 27th looming, just put all of us on edge. >> you mentioned john serv ti. is there anything else you can tell us? >> it's an incident where we had flash flooding into place. the young man was in a caught in a bad position, my undering he was acting heroically all of the way around. everyone today is mourning his loss. at same time we have to dust ourself off. recover and batten down the hatches. we have another round of severe storms coming from mississippi, that everyone believes, including the national weather service's potential to be severe and could bring even more damage to our city. >> how worried are you that all of the rebuilding they did will get wiped away today? >> you are very worried. you like to think something like that can never happen again. it's obviously a shadow that lives with you and this community. but we're taking it very seriously. one thing i can't predict whether a tornado will come to tuscaloosa. but they will be resilient, we'll survive it and come through it better than ever. >> are there lessons that we learned that may save lives this time? >> early warning. make sure you idea your safe places, get to the safe places and heed for caution. if we do anything, we know by doing that, it will definitely save lives. >> tuscaloosa mayor, walter maddox, we'll be thinking, praying and hoping everyone stays safe. >> we must report officials are raising the death toll to 35 over various states. there are people who witnessed a tornado with their own eyes. storm chasers get closer than any of us would care to. and capture images of these very often unpredictable and deadly weather outbreak. brett joins us, good to talk to you. give us your location and tell us what you're seeing. >> this afternoon, we're in meridian, mississippi. i must echo what chad was staying. we are see storms go to the west. getting around 30,000 feet. right now we're seeing those in the distance but they're definitely coming. and just like chad and walt maddox said, everybody needs to heed warning and take safety precautions. >> any reports of new damage so far in any of the areas you've been do-to-? >> not so far. a lot of storms did insignificant damage. through columbus and tupelo. those areas are still frying to uncover from that. we don't have tornado warnings just yet. but that could change quickly. >> you've been out there. have you found yourself in danger of this particular outbreak of tornados? >> absolutely. yesterday we were within a couple of hundred yards a little over a mile-wide tornado outside of columbus, mississippi. several other storm chasers were on that storm as well. did some damage. we saw a church building significantly damaged. 45 south. south of columbus, these storms packing a punch. >> you heard we just upgraded the number of individuals who have been killed by these storms. do you have any sense whether these are individuals in the wrong place at the wrong time or whether these are people, in many cases, who did not seek shelter? >> in all honesty, i know we were in mayflower arkansas when the tornado hit there. helping with the search and rescue. most of the people were heeding the warning. some of them were in mobile homes, unfortunately. that's where a lot of deaths came from. if you're in a mobile home and a tornado is approaching, please find a safe shelter. we have community shelters. i know in the state of alabama, we have several. these tornadoes approach. and you can get to a low, safe place, please do so, they are large and they are violent. >> before we go, we were talking to chad earlier, there were individuals on the road driving on the road behind him even though it looks like he was in the path of this severe weather. are you encountering a lot of people who have not sought shelter yet? >> absolutely. that's one of the things that kind of concerned me. we have our vehicle kind of outfitted with representation of what we're here for. unfortunately we have a couple locals try to follow us while we're trying to do our job. i do not recommend that. if you get a tornado warping on your weather radio, or see it on local media, please do not try to follow these things. they can kill you. >> brett adair, thank you. we'll go back live to mississippi and alabama. two states under tornado watch right now. but first, paying the price. clippers' owner donald sterling banned for life from the nba and if the commissioner has his way, sterling will lose the team, too. is that enough? is that too much? what do you think? at od, whatever business you're in, that's the business we're in with premium service like one of the best on-time delivery records and a low claims ratio, we do whatever it takes to make your business our business. od. helping the world keep promises. that's why i got a new windows 2 in 1. it has exactly what i need for half of what i thought i'd pay. and i don't need to be online for it to work. it runs office, so i can do schedules and budgets and even menu changes. but it's fun, too -- with touch, and tons of great apps for stuff like music, 'cause a good playlist is good for business. i need the boss's signature for this. i'm the boss. ♪ honestly ♪ i wanna see you be brave ♪ honestly i cthis year aloneore places offi hit new york...ist. and texas! see, hotwire checks the competition's rates every day... so they can guarantee their low hotel prices. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e ♪ hotwire.com welcome back to "the lead" i'm jake tapper. the sport lead. most of us have heard what los angeles clippers owner revealed to his girlfriend proofing his own world view on race seems to have more from common with jim crow than martin luther king. if you need a reminder here's a brief sampling. >> don't come to my games, don't bring black people and don't come. >> the rapting is so spectacularly grotesque, the lead handed down what is actually a death sentence. mr. silver released that it is mr. sterling's voice. he must pay a find and be banned. no watching practices no weighing in on personnel or decisions, no going to games. he's now a basketball persona nongrada. he didn't stop there. he added he'll push the league's other owners to force sterling to sell the clippers. joining me, isaiah thomas. good to see you again. thanks for joining us. first, what is your reaction to the nba decision? >> i think it's great. it's a great day in sports. it's a great day in our society in terms of leadership and showing what we will and won't stand for. sports has always been the back drop for societal values, and when i look at what the commissioner silver did today, in terms of exuding his leadership, setting the platform for what the nba will be about, moving forward, setting the example for kids who watch our game, not only domestically but internationally, this is the place where we embrace diversity. and this is the place where we welcome all and i think he showed that today. >> silver said, the commissioner, said he would do everything in his power toe force sterling to sell the team. the league's constitution would apparently allow him to force a sale. should he? >> i think so, definitely. you know, that is his belief, that is the league's belief. that is the players' beliefs. and i do believe that the owners will fall in line, because, you know, this is a place, again, where we take the leadership role in sport. a lot of times we discuss tough issues in the nba and we dealt with tough issues in the nba, and from a leadership standpoint, i do believe all of the owners will fall in line and set the example, not only for sport, but also for society. >> do you see any scenario in which the nba owners, and i believe there needs to be a three-fourths majority reach -- decided against forcing sterling out? >> i think there will always be some dang and some given and take, but i think most of the owners, if not all of them, will side on the right side of this issue,ly is to transfer power. >> mark cuban, the outstoken owner of the mavericks. he contempted his comments. he expressed happiness about what happened today on twitter. he also expressed forcing sterling to sell the team might go a step too far and create a slippery h slope. after all, seems he was recorded illegally because he didn't consent to it. do you think cuban has any sort of point there? . i think he has a point. but we always have to do wheat best for the good of the game and no one player, no one owner, is bigger than the game. and this is a defining moment, not only in our sport but in society. and this is a place where we can -- the door's now open for a bigger debate and larger debate, that society should have, because we had this debate and we have this in sport, but this needs to go out further into society, out into society and have these open discussions. for so long, we couldn't even talk about race for a while in this country. it was taboo to talk about it. now we can talk about it, we can speak about it. we can have debate about it. that's a good thing. i think commissioner silver's leadership today opened up the door for the continued debate, that continued discussion about how we interact with each other in this country. >> i heard an interesting comment from a commentator on espn, he said on a radio show, earlier today, he suggested it's too easy to stand against donald sterling, it's so obvious, overt, caught on tape. while those comments are politic and racist, other things he's done such as engage in housing discrimination. he paid the largest fine for housing discrimination in the history of this country. those things matter a lot more. why are we now acting as a society against this guy when he's done worse things? n some ways? >> those things that he brought out have been the debate and the conversation for us as african-americans, all of the way back to the '60s. when you talk about housing, equal access to housing. equal access to education, those are the things that we, we are -- we want to have discussion about. sports gives us the opportunity to bring it to the table, but at the same time, let's not just confine it to the sporting arena. let's bring it out into society where we can talk about education. we can talk about fair housing and access to financial resources and the banking institution, loans, so forth, and so on. discrimination, race, rationalization. those are big words in our society that we need to have conversation about here in america. >> before you go, i want to ask, you've been in the public eye for decades. you, yourself, face nothing like this. you've faced some difficult times in the public eye. is there any part of you -- not sympathizing with donald sterling in any way. is there any part of you that looks at the public, what he's going through in the public right now and sympathize, you can put yourself in his shoes at all? >> america is a place, and sport is a place, where we do have punishment, but we also have compassion, and we do have time for rehabilitation. you know, when we send people to prison, we let them come out. we rehabilitate them. we forgive. we are a forgiving society and a compassionate society. i think that should extend to all, not just one. >> isaiah "zeke" thomas, good to talk to you. >> good talking to you, thanks for having me. when we come back he's banned from the nba or making any decisions from the l.a. clippers? will he still profit off the team even if he's not in the board room? plus, keeping a close eye where tornadoes could strike this afternoon. several major cities in the potential path of this storm system. stay with us. we'll have a live report ahead. ♪ abe! get in! punch it! let quicken loans help you save your money. with a mortgage that's engineered to amaze! thanks, g. ndred and seventy-seven thousand dollars per minute. that's what big oil made last year... now they're spending it to rig the system against you. pushing washington to cut american-made biofuels... bullying gas stations to use more of their oil... all so they get richer...and you pay more. truth is, biofuels are cleaner, better for your engine and less expensive. washington, don't let big oil rig the system any more. protect the renewable fuel standard. ♪ (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. 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 18 years we've helped people take care of the things that matter most. join today at angieslist.com ♪ no matter what kind of business you own, at&t business experts can help keep it running... seamlessly. so you can get back to what you love. when everyone and everything works together, business just sings. the money lead now, he was exposed publicly lick as a racist. now he's boxed out. a short time ago the commissioner of the nba slapped los angeles clippers' owner donald sterling with the most severe punishment. a lifetime ban from the sport effective immediately and a $2,500,000 fine, the maximum. but does it put a dent in his pocketbook if he does not have to give up ownership in they said they're going to do everything they can to force sterling to sell the team. what can they do? >> there's a provision that the commissioner can ask for the vote of the owners. there are certain circumstances that have to arise to trigger that vote and the circumstances are typically extreme. like the owner being able to financially support his team or gambling or fixing games. the question is, do racially ab remarks made privately rise to the circumstances necessary to happen. if he wants to challenge it in the court. then a judge will decide that. >> i don't know any of these owners. i'm thinking a bunch of billi billionaires out there. questioning whether or not everything they ever say, privately, or that a mistress might record, how that could affect them in the future. is it possible some of them aren't going to care for this precede precedent? >> absolutely. that's a concern. and this will not be about, or shouldn't necessarily be about for all of the owners whether they agree or disagree what he said privately. there's a question, no one agrees with what he said privately. everyone agrees it is horrible and offensive. if we expand the power of the owners to vote out another owner based on something they don't like, whether said privately or publicly, and the other owners said i don't like what they said, i don't like that person. do the owners want to subject themselves to that. where we've gotups of millions of dollars invested. does this open up the power of the commissioner and other owners too broadly to allow someone to force someone out because they don't like them. that has to be in the back of owners' minds. if not the front. the better resolution, rather than dragged out in a vote, to encourage donald sterling to sell the team on his own but not as part of the vote or forced sale. >> if sterling is forced to sell the team, he stands to reap an enormous profit. he played chump change fort clint ergs in '81. could potentially be worth $600 million. at the end of the day, could this backfire? >> i don't think it will backfire. 600 million is understated. the milwaukee bucks sold for $5050,000. i cli tthink the clippers are w more like a billion dollars. but the question is, is this bett better for the nba in a long time. we're talking about the sponsors leaving. fans and players boycotting. right now we're right in the middle of the best nba playoffs of all time and people are talking about a racist owner. he may get a lot of money from the sale but will allow the nba to shift on the product on the court. >> at the end of the day. for the average american family. compared to $2.5 million for donald sterling. this is something like a $51 fine, when you look at the math. so, there's a question, of course, how much is this actually going to hurt him financially. in any case, gabe feldmann, thank you so much. when we come back, the storm intensifies. tornado warning now for part of north carolina. we'll get an update on that threat. later, a break-through for families as they finally hear the last words spoken by the captain of flight 370 just before the plane disappeared. you'll hear it, too. coming up. for over 75 years, fannie mae and freddie mac have been there for america. helping millions realize their dreams of homeownership. and when fannie mae and freddie mac needed help, america was there for them. today, fannie mae and freddie mac celebrate payment in full to taxpayers. together, we've created one of the greatest comebacks in our nation's history. so, let's preserve and strengthen fannie mae and freddie mac. because without them there really could be no place like home. ♪ (vo) oh. my. tongue. finally. (announcer) all-new friskies saucesations. a taste experience like no other. in cheesy, creamy, homestyle, or garden sauce. friskies. feed the senses. if yand you're talking toevere rheuyour rheumatologistike me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain. this is humira helping me lay the groundwork. this is humira helping to protect my joints from further damage. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. humira is proven to help relieve pain and stop further joint damage in many adults. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, have happened. blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure have occurred. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live in or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. take the next step. talk to your doctor. this is humira at work. disturbing the pantry. ortho crime files. a house, under siege. say helto home defense max. kills bugs inside and prevents new ones for up to a year. ortho home defense max. get order. get ortho®. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, they could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and virtually no referrals needed. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. welcome back to "the lead" we'll turn to the national league that deadly system that spawned dozens of tornados over the past two days. it's now barreling towards 75 million americans as we speak. it's still packing the kind of punch that a city or town can feel not just when it his but for years to come. already 35 deaths blamed on this outbreak of pulverizing weather. let get the big picture, jennifer grey is stand big in the severe weather center. what do you have your eye on right now? >> the focus is actually north carolina. an that's not even in the moderate risk we had circled over the past day or so. this is outside of that but still in the realm of the possibility of storms. man, are we seeing them. we have one, two, three, four, five tornado warpings right now outside of the raleigh area and all pulling to the north and east. using a map called radar scope. you can pull this up on the cell phone. it's very easy to use and you can zoom in and look at some of these storms. that's what i need to do. circle some of these storms that i need to pay attention to. especially outside of the plainview area. a strong cell moving to the east 40 miles per hour and looking at one towards newton moving east. all moving in the same direction, all going to be very, very powerful. these are storms you should definitely take seriously. i also want to pull up a different look at the velocity. this is where we can get a very good idea of circulation on the ground, the cell pulling towards linden. be on the lookout. jake these are very powerful storms and we don't need to let our guard down through the afternoon. even mississippi and alabama could be hit again. >> i want to get to the phones now. let's bring in matt shaw, the communications coordinator for the city of wilson. matt, can you say for sure a tornado hit your area? >> we've been told there's been a funnel siting in the area south of wilson that's moved through our area. we don't know that for a fact that there was a tornado, but there's certainly a lot of evidence of bad storms. >> where exactly is wilson? >> we're about an hour to the -- we're about 60 miles from raleigh, in the middle of the state. we're on the eastern coastal plane of north carolina. i-95 midway between new york and florida for your viewers. >> what is the damage level and what are you telling residents? >> right now we're still in the middle of it,s it's moving through our area right now. we're under a tornado watch, warning right now in wilson and trying to determine what is going on. but we are experiencing a lot of lightning and thunder here. the thunder has been like canon shots. we've had hail like marbles falling this afternoon. it's going to be -- we have a tremendous wind here as well. >> matt shaw, thank you so much. stay safe. our meteorologist, chad myers is standing by. chad are continues picking up near you. >> reporter: we're starting to see bigger storms to the southwest that we'll wait on. we'll wait for them to come to us. up the line. we have a picture up here. this is a pretty impressive storm heading toward armory, not rotating, not tornadic but you could see some hail. maybe that will be a bigger deal today. hail and wind damage than tornado. this does not seem to be an f-5 day. there could be very large tornados and a moderate risk that could happen. today seems to be the in between kind of day where yesterday we used a lot of energy. we had major tornadoes on the ground at the same time. six to ten tornadoes on the ground from southern alabama to tennessee. today is a middle kind of off the road day. we will continue to watch that. doesn't take a big f-1 to make a big difference. you need to still pay attention to the weather we have outside. we can see the low-hanging clouds as it moves on up. we call it scud as it rises toward the cloud. looks can deceive you, wow, is that something falling out of the cloud? no, actually that's the clouds going up into the clouds, because there's such a big updraft from all of these storms, going up now. when they go up and begin to spin in a couple hours here, in mississippi and alabama. maybe one hour, that's when we have a chance for a threat of tornadoes. >> that's a scary looking image. you were seeing people on the road when we talked to you at the top the hour. are we still seeing a lot of traffic out there? >> people know now, they want to get home. time to get home. time to get the kids and get all of the family in one place. we know that, once you get the watches, the warnings going, it's time to gather the troops and say, okay, asap in school is over. you're coming home with me and everybody stays safe. so, yes, i think people are doing the hunting and gathering, gathering the kids to ride this out. they know it will be another rough night here. >> chad myers in aberdeen, mississippi, thank you, stay safe and all of those in the area, get off the road. get to shelter. coming up we'll bring you more on the tenuous situation in various regions across the south being affected. plus, a private company said it found something under water thousands of miles from the current search area of flight 370. why they think this could be the missing plane. come up. i dbefore i dosearch any projects on my home. i love my contractor, and i am so thankful to angie's list for bringing us together. find out why more than two million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. welcome back, i'm jake tapper. to the world lead and dramatic and odd developments for the search of flight 370. take a look at these images. do they look like a plane to you? australian survey company released these to the public in a potential new break through to find the missing plane. renee is here, what exactly is the information this company, geo renaissance says it has? >> the private company believe they found wreckage of a plane. some say it's worth investigating, others a bit skeptical. others never before released information. and finally shared with families of passengers on board. >> newly released images from private company geo renaissance, said they found something that could be off the coast of bangladesh in the bay of bengal. >> we found some materials that might be a boeing 777. >> reporter: the company using technology to defect nuclear, biological and chemical weapons below the satisfy. they detected titaniuitanium, aluminum, steel and copper in this area. materials that make up a 777. they said they notified search officials a month ago, but went public monday after getting no response. >> if you were wanting to match the fifths. they have information to say those materials were not in that location. that's why we should be pursuing this further. malaysia's transport minister said they're verifying the credibility of the information but australian officials and company behind the satellite data are confident the plane went down 3,000 miles away in the southern indian ocean. that's where all of the satellite data points and where the pings thought to be from the plane's black boxes were dete detected. satellite imaging expert is skeptical of the australian company's claim. >> i'm not aware of anything in any level of the spectrum from aircraft or space that penetrates into the ocean. >> meantime a break through from the families. they finally got information they were demanding for weeks including never before we leased radio calls from the cockpit and air traffic controllers. the final words before flight 370 disappeared. everything appeared normal. officials also provided a trove of information like the serial number of the flight data recorders, a map of the plane's flight route and cargo manifest. the other development after seven weeks of intense aerial searches, the planes silent. hundreds of flight crews from at least seven countries are going home. the underwater search canceled today because of high seas but the bluefin and other equipment will continue scouring an area the size of west virginia. >> and the australian company won't say what the exact coordinates of their find are. they are only giving that information to the government involved in the search. but if -- and that's a big if, something of interest is in this area, the next question would be what did radar from india and bangladesh pick up. you want to revisit that data. but again, i spoke to quite a few people and they all seemed skeptical. even the ones who say we should investigate it, they're skeptical. >> thanks renee marsh. so the claims from the company that made have found the plane, is it a legitimate lead? let bring in our analyst. tim taylor is president of sub sea services and he himself is a sea operations specialist. david let start with you. i want to talk about -- geo renaissance said they were rebuffed by the australian-led searching team. now they put out a center. quote the australian search is relying on information from satellite and other data to determine the missing aircraft's location. the location specified by the geo residence report is not in this data. it's satisfied that the final resting place of the missing aircraft is in the southerly portion of the search arc. do you think -- they're just dismissing it saying it's false. what do you think? >> i don't think they should be dismissing it completely. i still feel very confident the pings came from the aircraft. here's the space situation. how many hours and millions of dollars were spent trying to find debris on top of the ocean because we wanted to give the families something to hang on to, something to go by. now we have this unfehr vied claim, whether it's true, whether it can be done tech logically or not. that's all in question. the bigger point for me, what are the families thinking right now? how hard would it be to simply go up there, verify, send an orion up there. they plenty on the ground. send an orian. verify is it there or not. think what that would do for the family, allow them to focus back and quickly distracted, or maybe it is something. but at least we would know. >> at this point, the company said they used multi spectoral imagery, what is that? >> looking at spectrums of light and uv. i'm not familiar with anything that could do this 1,000 meters into the water. this company claims they have some secret recipe like they are making chicken that says we can take all of this data and do things that major military secret classified people can't do, sos it t just reeks to me, very suspect. and the way they introduced it to you guys, the press. maybe they introduced it and it was shot down by the jacc, and there are better channels to bring this to light and they should be using those channels, not trying to get press for their company in what they do, which they can't tell you how they do it, because it's classified in secret. it's suspect all of the way through for me. >> tim, before i let you go there's talk about bringing in private contractors for this search. how long will it take them to get to the search area? >> well, depends who they are bringing in. if they're bringing in another vessel with another awe town mouse vehicle, they have to deploy it from whatever part of the world they're in and get it there. that could take weeks. if this is expandeded to the north like they say they are, 60,000 kill meters, that's a type of product that will last for months in not close to a year if they don't find anything. it's a large, large undertaking and they might have to bring this in from across the planet. >> tim taylor, david, thanks so much. when we come back residents of north carolina are urged to take shelter as storms trigger a new tornado warning in the tar heels state. we have more coming up next. dear sun, meet your biggest competitor: philips slimstyle led bulb. beautiful quality light with a slim design, at a slim price. ♪ hooking up the country whelping business run ♪ ♪ build! we're investing big to keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice! ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ [ female announcer ] the sun powers life. ♪ and now it powers our latest innovation. ♪ introducing the world's only solar-powered home energy system, which can cut your heating and cooling bills in half. call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 13th. plus download our free lennox mobile app with an energy-savings calculator. if your current system is 10 years or older, start planning now and take advantage of special financing. so call now to get up to 1,700 dollars back or special financing on select lennox home comfort systems. offer ends june 13th. and download our free lennox mobile app. lennox. innovation never felt so good. could mean less waiting for things like security backups and file downloads you'd take that test, right? well, what are you waiting for? you could literally be done with the test by now. now you could have done it twice. this is awkward. 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'm morgan spurlock and this is cnn. welcome back to "the lead" i'm jake tapper, following breaking news, severe weather, 70 million americans remain in the path of severe weather. now we have reports of spottings of several new year's day knows the area of steadman, north carolina. jennifer grey in our severe weather center, what is the latest? >> yeah, fwauk this tornado warning right here affecting cumb cumberland, sampson count tis in effect until 5:15. this is one furthest to the south and continuing to travel north and east affecting dunn and erwin. next up, stedman is down to the south. already passed just to the north but on the heels of dunn. and we have a parade of tornado warnings if you will. we have them lined up one after another. five tornado warnings in effect just outside of the raleigh area to the south and east. crossing over i-95. very dangerous. these are impacting a lot of people, stay indoors, stay off the roads. jake, folks need to get to a safe spot and stay inside where it is safe in the small interior room until these storms pass. they are very, very dangerous and have a history of producing damage. jennifer, what can you tell us, about storms that have been hit. >> right now, alabama and mississippi staying relatively quiet. but we have strong storms starting to fire up on the south side of jackson, all pushing into portions of alabama. we don't have any warnings per se. in portions of alabama, but just give it time. we'll see pretty nasty weather as we go through the next couple of hours. >> a rough weather system, especially those outside of the area of raleigh, north carolina. please seek shelter. five tornado warnings outside the wall raully area. jennifer grey, thanks so much. that's it for "the lead." now i turn you over to wolf blitzer in the "situation room." mr. blitzer. >> jake, thanks very much. happening now, breaking news. >> effective immediately, i am banning mr. sterling for life. >> unprecedented punishment for the owner of los angeles clippers after racist remarks. will he be forced to sell his team as well. tornado threat, extreme risk of more deadly storms as victims still reeling from the latest disaster. will they face more in the coming hours? wreckage found. an australian company claims to