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CNN NEWSROOM

Obama Could Face Chilly Reception in Alaska; Violence after Vote to Change Ukraine's Constitution; Ruling on Brady Suspension Expected by Friday; Legendary Film Maker Dies. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired August 31, 2015 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


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[10:33:43] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama is expected to face a chilly reception today in Alaska. He'll deliver an urgent warning on climate change in a state reeling from its impact and yet dependent on the production of fossil fuel that many experts blame. Add to that another controversy over a beloved landmark.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House to tell us more. Good morning.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, WHITE HOUSE CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi -- Carol. Yes, right. I know we're going to see some brilliant scenes, some beautiful backdrops there. The President is going to be on a glacier at one point, a shrinking glacier, wanting to make the point that climate change is real and happening according to this administration.

He's going to be visiting communities, talking to local people, announcing some new initiatives on both the environment and on helping local people there, but, yes, there's some controversy, too.

First of all, the fact that the Obama administration just allowed shell to do some exploratory drilling up there off of Alaska. Environmental groups are upset about that. Some calling it hypocrisy.

And also the naming of Mt. McKinley -- renaming it Denali. That's something that local peoples have called it long before it was called Mt. McKinley, but Republicans now are reacting to it. The House Speaker just called it deeply disappointing.

[10:34:58] Republicans in Ohio where President William McKinley was from is calling it a political stunt and saying that it's constitutional overreach and another instance of the President going beyond Congress to just name it something that he wants to name it.

But the White House is insisting that the Department of Interior has that authority, to change the name, and you have to consider, too, that Alaska itself has been asking for the name change since the 1970s.

So the White House wanted to use this opportunity to talk climate change, to please the local population there, and to really try to show people what is happening -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Michelle Kosinski reporting live from the White House this morning. Thank you.

A potentially significant boost today in the world's energy supply. An Italian exploration company says it has found, quote, "a supergiant field of natural gas beneath the Mediterranean Sea". The company says it covers an area about 40 square miles and is located off the coast of Egypt. It's potentially the largest natural gas field in the entire world holding an estimated 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. While this may not have a direct impact on oil prices just yet, gas prices keep dropping down 20 cents in one month.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, a vote in Ukraine's parliament provokes a violent backlash on the streets. We'll take you there next.

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[10:40:58] COSTELLO: We want to take you right now to the capital of Ukraine where there is a massive demonstration outside of parliament. It erupted in deadly violence and chaos.

Phil Black has been following this story from London. He joins us now. Tell us more -- Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol -- we're seeing dramatic pictures out of Kiev just outside the country's parliament today with a considerable -- considerable figures that sort of point to the degree of violence we're seeing there. One dead, 90 injured -- a number of them critically, following a protest outside that country's parliament where it looks like one person has thrown an explosive.

You can see the crowds, you can hear a blast, smoke rising and security forces being dragged away. Those that were injured. It is one of those security forces that was injured in this apparent domestic terror attack of some kind.

The crowd there, they are nationalists, right-wing party supporters who do not approve of the government party making any concession to those forces that are trying to break away from Ukraine in the east of the country. Those separatists who many believe are fighting with Russia's support.

Today the country's parliament was voting on a law that would give those regions some degree of autonomy, self-governance. This is all part of a peace plan that was agreed back in February. This legislation would be a key part of moving that peace plan forward, but as we can see from the violence on the streets of Kiev today, it does not have unanimous support, not even close to it.

Ukraine is very much a divided country, not just with the separatists and those pro-Russian separatists in the east but also those nationalist forces in the west. This is the delicate balancing act that the president, Petro Poroshenko, is trying to walk. The tough job of trying to balance off these two opposing forces. That legislation passed just before the explosion took place, but it has to pass a second vote in the country's parliament in a few months' time -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil Black, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

To the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, authorities are still unable to verify that that flaperon that washed up on a beach on Reunion Island actually was part of that missing passenger jet. A Spanish company telling French officials that the records are insufficient. MH-370 is the only Boeing 777 though currently missing in that area.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Roger Goodell and Tom Brady get one last chance to make deflategate go away before the start of the NFL season. Just minutes from now, a federal judge will try to convince them to settle for goodness sakes.

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[10:47:55] COSTELLO: Toss out the NFL playbook. Deflategate is now an unchartered territory. Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady is facing a four-game suspension and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell summoned back to federal court this morning for a hearing in just about 15 minutes. You see there Tom Brady walking in and now Roger Goodell.

This is probably the last best chance for both sides to reach a settlement before the judge rules on Brady's suspension for using under-inflated footballs.

Let's bring in CNN sports anchor Rachel Nichols and from Fort Lauderdale sports attorney David Cornwell. Welcome to you both. Rachel -- you've been covering this story since the beginning of time. So what do you think will happen today?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, we are. We have entered into month eight. I just want to remind everyone. That's where we are now. Look, there's two things that could happen today. Either Judge Berman could actually make a ruling from the bench. Neither side has been close in settlement talks. This is his last chance to see everyone in court before the end of the week when he said he would rule anyway. There is a chance that he could make a decision today.

However, there is also a good chance that he could once again try to push these sides to settle. He not only has brought in Roger Goodell and Tom Brady physically to court, he's asked John Mara, the owner of the New York Giants, to be there today as well.

COSTELLO: What?

NICHOLS: Mara is the guy who oversaw a lot of the deflategate investigation from the ownership side. He's also, don't forget, Roger Goodell's boss. He's one of 32 guys who are Roger Goodell's -- the people that Roger Goodell reports to. This is a way for Judge Berman to again say, hey, guys, you have to settle. If I'm not getting anywhere with Roger Goodell, hey, it's like the rest of us, right. You say "I'm sorry I'm not getting anywhere, I need to speak to your manager." Right?

Kind of what's happened here today.

COSTELLO: OK. So David, your thoughts?

DAVID CORNWELL, SPORTS ATTORNEY: Well, I don't think there's going to be a settlement, and I think we are kind of missing the real story. This is less about Tom Brady to the National Football League Players Association than it is about the next round of collective bargaining. They view these high-profile cases as an opportunity to make an argument that they lost in collective bargaining the last time regarding commissioner authority.

[10:50:05] And so this case is a chance for them to continue to chip away at the wall of commissioner authority, and this is a five- year plan for them. So in 2020 they can say look at all this history about the commissioner's authority.

The issue to the judge should be to follow the law, and if the judge follows the law, the NFL should win because the question is whether the commissioner acted reasonably. And the best evidence here is probably the absence of evidence. And this evidentiary void of what Tom knew is created by the fact that he threw out his phone. And there is a legal principle that enables the commissioner to presume that Tom destroyed his phone because the evidence in it would have hurt him.

So I don't think there will be a settlement. Ultimately the judge will rule. He will rule in the NFL's favor if he follows the law but the next time the commissioner exercises authority will be here again whether it's football or something else.

COSTELLO: Fascinating. So if the judge rules in favor of Roger Goodell that means Tom Brady won't be playing in that first game.

NICHOLS: Absolutely. Although Tom Brady can and probably would appeal to the Second Circuit because, you know, we have to have this go on longer, right? We would expect both sides actually if they lose the case to then appeal because as David points out, this is about more than Tom Brady. This is about precedent and going forward.

So this is something that neither side wants to lose, even long after Tom Brady does or doesn't serve this four-game suspension. Now, there's a lot of people who would disagree on the NFLPA side with David's analysis that this is a slam dunk legal case for the NFL but that's why none of us are making the decision. Judge Berman is making the decision and hopefully he does it by the end of the week as promised, but, hey, we'll see. We're only just in the middle -- Carol, it never ends.

COSTELLO: David, you're sticking to your guns, right?

CORNWELL: Absolutely. I believe, you know, I don't have a crystal ball and judges have disagreed with me in the past. They're wrong but they have. But Judge Berman has indicated that he has problems with both sides' arguments and I think that's probably in a role of a mediator more so than serving as a federal judge, and he will serve as a federal judge when he makes his decision. And the law is pretty strong in favor of the NFL.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens.

NICHOLS: There have been 19 cases that have been overturned, where they overturned the arbitrator's decision. So there's precedent on both sides and as David said, it will be fascinating to see.

COSTELLO: Well, Rachel will be watching every moment. Rachel Nichols, David Cornwell thanks to you both. I appreciate it.

CORNWELL: My pleasure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the man who redefined the slasher film genre has died. A look back at Wes Craven's legendary career.

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[10:57:02] COSTELLO: All right.

This news just in to CNN, and it has to do with President Obama appearing on a reality show. Brian Stelter is about to break the news. Seriously?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Breaking news? Breaking news? Yes.

COSTELLO: It's one of those breaking news.

STELTER: We know the President is in Alaska this week. He's going to be taping an episode of Bear Grylls' reality show. It's called "Running Wild with Bear Grylls". It's on NBC last year. Since Obama is up there, he's going to spend some time in the wilderness learning survival techniques from this reality show star.

COSTELLO: Come on. Why?

STELTER: He's joining celebrities like Drew Brees and Zac Efron and Channing Tatum who will also be on this season. NBC just announced it this morning a few minutes ago because the President is up there. They're talking about climate change in Alaska.

COSTELLO: Right. So this episode will air while the President is still president?

STELTER: Yes, it will air later this year. That's right. You know, this White House has tried very hard to use new types of media, lots of entertainment forums to get his message out. This one though, this is one of the most extreme versions. We're talking about extreme survival techniques. Can I read you my favorite line from the press release?

COSTELLO: Please. STELTER: It says "President Obama will become the first U.S.

president to receive a crash course in survival techniques from Bear Grylls." This president having so many firsts including now --

COSTELLO: OK. I have a headache now. But what a perfect time to play a scene from one of the Wes Craven movies. Let's do that right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you like scary movies?

You never told me your name?

DREW BARRYMORE, ACTRESS: Why do you want to know my name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to know who I'm looking at.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I was hoping it started with Drew Barrymore screaming, but we have to talk about Wes Craven because he was a legendary filmmaker, and we've lost him.

STELTER: A maestro of horror as he was described overnight. He really is -- it's rare to have someone so dominant in a genre as Wes Craven was in horror. He made other movies as well but obviously best known for the "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Scream" and so many others. In fact, MTV right now has a remake of "Scream" as a TV series that they're airing right now.

You think of some of the other films on screen right now like "Swamp Thing" and "Vampire in Brooklyn" and it's something that he was able to own really, that genre he was able to own. Of course, his family saying he died of brain cancer last night.

COSTELLO: How old was he?

STELTER: 76.

COSTELLO: Well, we will miss him.

STELTER: But he defined and then redefined the horror genre, you know, in the 70s, 80s and 90s. And, of course, then there are even parodies of the "Scream" movie like "Scary Movie" -- so many different entry points into his career, into his legacy. And I have to say a lot of people will be logging onto Netflix or Amazon today wanting to re-watch some of those films.

COSTELLO: Absolutely.

I still can't get over President Obama. I'm sorry. So he's going to be on this reality show and he's going to be learning survival skills. He'll be fully clothed and everything.

STELTER: Well, We'll have to tune into NBC -- COSTELLO: It's not like "Naked and Afraid" -- right?

STELTER: Not quite like "Naked and Afraid". No, this one is called "Running Wild". And I presume at some point in the series President Obama will talk about climate change and that will reinforce the message he's trying to send in Alaska this week.

COSTELLO: Which is an important message so I hope that does get out.

[11:00:01] Brian Stelter -- thanks so much.

STELTER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Killed in cold blood, the man accused of shooting an officer --