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Hot Air Balloon Catches Fire; New Recording Tied to Clippers Owner; Drone, Jetliner Nearly Collide in Florida; Gay NFL Prospect Not Drafted Yet; Impact of Climate Change Worldwide

Aired May 10, 2014 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, thanks so much. And it makes me want to go ice skating. I love ice skating did you guys skate as kids?

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: No. For me to put all this man on a blade on ice, it just didn't make sense. It didn't make sense.

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: I'm a ground creature myself.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Well it is fun. It's never too late, you guys. Maybe, Victor -- Ana, maybe you and I can take him to a cold region and take him skating. What do you think?

CABRERA: Why not right.

BLACKWELL: I will tube and snowboard.

WHITFIELD: Ok. All right. That's not bad either.

BLACKWELL: I'll do it.

CABRERA: Adventure.

WHITFIELD: All right thanks so much, you guys. We're going to have our own adventure this afternoon. It's 11:00 Eastern right now. Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Chaos out of Virginia festival after a hot air balloon catches fire with people on board. Onlookers are horrified and confused and call 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Possible mass casualty incident reported multiple hot air balloons have crashed into power lines. And the balloons are now on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Actually, it was one balloon and now we have new details on the deadly accident and the search for missing victims.

And the wife of embattled L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling makes her intentions for the team crystal clear, while a new leader takes over the team operations.

And a commercial airliner comes frighteningly close to a drone in the skies over Florida. How could this happen? We'll hear from the FAA and experts who say the danger of drones are very real.

All right. Back to that top story of that balloon and the search now. Search crews are scouring a wooded area north of Richmond, Virginia, looking for victims of that horrifying hot air balloon accident. Flames engulfed the balloon after it hit a power line. One person is confirmed dead. But two other people who were on board remain missing.

Erin McPike is live for us in the search area. So Erin, what are officials saying about the victims and how they're going about this search?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, officials are not naming the victims just yet. They have spoken with all of the families, but they don't want to name them just yet. I want to play for you a little bit of what the spokesman for the Virginia police said earlier this morning when she was talking about what happened last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORINNE GELLER, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE HQ DIRECTOR: So we had witnesses tell us they may have seen two jump or possibly somehow they got out, whether they leapt on their own or maybe the basket and the condition of it, they fell, we don't know that for certain. But we've also seen video that people have provided us, that it does have that appearance, is two people exited in whatever fashion the basket.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And Fred, unfortunately, that official also said this has moved from a rescue mission to a recovery operation, meaning they don't believe there are any survivors. Now, as far as the search goes, they have not found the basket or the balloon, which separated last night. But they have found some debris that was inside the basket. So they believe they have a more concentrated search area now.

WHITFIELD: And so, Erin, help us understand the big picture, too. This was part of a balloon festival, was it not? So there might be a whole lot of witnesses to all of this.

MCPIKE: Well, there were a lot of witnesses, but first off, we should say that the remainder of that balloon festival, at least for today, has been cancelled. Some of the witnesses actually lived in the area. We've had people come up and down this road all morning telling us what they saw from their homes. One man said that he could hear the explosion from about two miles away, and said it was very awful. Of course, that he saw flames engulfing the entire basket. Some people said that they have seen the two -- or they saw that the two victims try to jump out of the basket. Here is one woman who noticed what happened last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE BRADLEY, WITNESS: You could hear them screaming, "Please, dear God, sweet Jesus, help us, we're going to die, oh, my God, please help us, please help us."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: And we have heard similar sentiments from everyone in the area who has come by here today, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Frightening moments for so many. Erin McPike, keep us posted. Thank you so much.

Let's bring in our safety analyst David Soucie who is in New York and aviation analyst and Mary Schiavo joining us from Charleston, South Carolina, via Skype.

So let's begin with you David, officials say the balloon's pilot tried to contain the fire by letting the hot air out. Is there anything else the pilot could have done based on what we know here to put out the flames, or was it inevitable that it was going to be a catastrophic ending?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well the fact that he opened up the top of the balloon, which allows the hot air to escape, is an attempt to try to get it down to the ground quicker. Obviously, it's an emergency maneuver. And that he did try that. That is the right thing to do.

But at that point, the explosion had happened. The hot gases had already expanded the balloon, so they were going up into the balloon and making it rise very, very rapidly. It's a very tragic situation, really.

WHITFIELD: And so -- so Mary, people think of a hot air balloon ride, it's exhilarating, lots of fun. But this kind of incident underscores that there are serious dangers. How risky is it in general?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, in terms of statistics, it's less safe than a commercial airline passenger's experience, you know, by far. But there are so few accidents, that it's difficult to get a reliable statistic on the risks compared to commercial air transportation.

But every year, there are few -- a handful of balloon accidents. And some of them concern, you know, the propane heaters, the fire with the propane heaters, or the balloons, or the baskets. But a lot of them include things that you see with airplanes, collisions, collisions with each other, collisions with electrical wires, as here, and a lot of it goes back to the balloon airmanship of the pilot, and they do have to be licensed by the FAA, including commercial.

WHITFIELD: And the FAA is investigating. You were formerly with the FAA. How does the investigation of something like this go about?

SOUCIE: Well, as far as the -- I'm sorry, Mary. WHITFIELD: I'm sorry go ahead, Mary.

SCHIAVO: Well, the -- the investigation, you know, it can be an NTSB investigation or an FAA investigation. I had thought that the NTSB was going to dispatch a team, as well. You know, the first thing they do is obviously try to secure all of the elements into the crash site at the ground. But they're also doing a behind-the-scenes thing. They're looking at the operation of the balloon company. They're looking at the pilot's training. They're looking at the equipment.

So the paperwork that goes on behind an investigation may be just as important as what happened in the sky. There are lots of witnesses to that. But sometimes the secret's in the paperwork and the training of the crew.

WHITFIELD: And David, how do you see this playing out, the investigation?

SOUCIE: Well, the investigation part, in this type of accident, typically the NTSB will delegate the accident to the FAA, who's local and on the ground, rather than dispatch a go team, necessarily. So in this case, I would suspect that that's what's happening. But the FAA is qualified and would do the same steps the NTSB would on behalf of the NTSB, as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Soucie, Mary Schiavo, thank you so much. We are expecting to get new information as it involves this hot air balloon accident coming up at noon Eastern. We understand there will be a news conference, and of course we'll monitor it live if not take it live as it happens.

All right, a near nightmare in the sky. A passenger plane almost crashing into a drone. There's the graphic right there. A big question now, how safe are you when you fly on a commercial jet?

And yet another audio recording surfacing, alleging -- allegedly of the L.A. Clippers' owner, Donald Sterling. This time, he tries to explain that rant and maintains he is not a racist. Alexandra Field is here with a preview. Alexandra?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The saga of embattled L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling is getting even more bizarre. In a new recording released yesterday, a man alleged to be Sterling says he was jealous and that's why he made those racist remarks. That came just as the NBA named a new CEO to the team. Former Citigroup and Time Warner chairman, Richard Parsons.

Alexandra Field is following the latest on all of this, as she joins us live outside NBA headquarters in New York. So, Alexandra, what is Parsons now saying about this whole situation and his new job?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, Parsons calls himself a lifelong NBA fan, as of course, you can imagine when you get appointed to a position like this. He says that he is troubled by the pain that the Clippers team and its fans have felt over the last few weeks. He's speaking about all that has transpired, and he says this, to quote him, he says, "This is actually a large and important issue, not just for the Clippers or the NBA, but for the country in some ways. All eyes are on this, and how we work our way through it is important."

Now, as the CEO tries to move the team forward, the team's owner, Donald Sterling, also seems to be speaking. This time, another audio recording in which he tries to say what it is that he was trying to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD (voice over): Clippers players still playing. Donald Sterling still talking.

DONALD STERLING, LA CLIPPERS OWNER: I'm talking to a girl. I'm trying to have sex with her.

FIELD: The latest recording released by Radar Online is believed to be Sterling offering some kind of explanation for his racist rant.

STERLING: What the hell, I'm talking to a girl? The girl's black. I like her. I'm jealous that she's with other black guys. I want her.

FIELD: Sterling could be forced through a vote by NBA owners to sell the team. This week, his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, is saying she's a partial owner and she wants to keep it. Clippers Coach Doc Rivers --

DOC RIVERS, LA CLIPPERS COACH: I think it would be a very hard situation if you want me -- I'll say that much. I think it would be very difficult. I guarantee you every person wouldn't be on board with that.

FIELD: Players have already protested Donald Sterling turning their shirts inside out. Sports law professor Marc Edelman says they could turn to social media, too. Beyond that, there are consequences.

MARC EDELMAN, SPORTS LAW PROFESSOR: Everybody is so quick to say what the players should do, when they don't have any skin in the game. But for a player, they have to be cognizant of their contract and the fact that if they do not show up to a game when they have an obligation to appear, they do run the risk of termination.

FIELD: Professional athletes have had lockouts in contract disputes, but a team rarely publicly goes up against its other than. There is an extreme example. Eight players, including the infamous shoeless Joe Jackson on the 1990 Chicago White Sox team were accused of conspiring with gamblers to lose the World Series, an apparent act of retaliation against an unpopular owner.

EDELMAN: It just goes to show what could happen if all levels of respect between an owner and a player would fall apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FIELD: Now, while Donald Sterling has been banned from all NBA activities for life, he is still the owner of the Clippers team. But Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA has asked the other NBA team owners to join together and vote to try and force Sterling to sell the team. That was the topic of an NBA committee meeting that happened earlier this week. The same committee will meet to discuss it again next week. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Alexandra Field, thanks so much. We're going to talk more about this now. Let's bring in CNN commentator L.Z. Granderson live from Grand Rapids, Michigan. L.Z. good to see you. Ok so let's start with the Clippers --

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: Ok, so let's start with the Clippers new CEO now Richard Parsons. Does that move, signing on an African-American CEO soften the blow or simply send a new message?

GRANDERSON: Well, it sends a new message. It definitely doesn't soften the blow. You know, as long as the public is cognizant of the fact that the Sterling family will be making money off of this team, as long as the players and Coach Rivers are aware of the fact that at the end of the day the Sterling family are making money off of them, it doesn't completely take away the sting of relearning, if you will, what we already have known about Mr. Sterling.

I was happy to hear Mr. Parsons say that this situation is larger than the Clippers and larger than the NBA, because it is. Very much in the same situation that -- moments in which we've seen other tense race relations play out in the media, they extend beyond just the immediate people affected but as a cultural touchstone, as well.

WHITFIELD: And then he said, quote, you know how we work our way through it is important, underscoring that, you know, that message is not getting lost just simply because he's been named CEO.

So now, back to Donald Sterling. You know, his newest alleged recording says -- he says that he was jealous, and he also said that it's un-American to take someone's business property, and that simply can't happen. So how do these two statements from him -- those two messages in his very lengthy statement -- how does this potentially change the game, if at all?

GRANDERSON: Well, you know, I think there's several different layers to the new recording, if you will. You know, as I said in the past, it's like when you are -- when you are taught in journalism school, when you get a-hold of something that's breaking news, exclusive, you have to ask yourself, why. Why did I get this material, who stands to benefit from it? You look at the tape, and you wonder, did it really leak, or did Mr. Sterling send it out there so people could hear him try to explain himself, to try to sway the public opinion --

WHITFIELD: Change the conversation?

GRANDERSON: -- more towards his way. Exactly -- make it more about something that maybe the average guy can understand, right, lying to try to get into a girl's pants. It may work for some people. But I would think by and large it doesn't work for the majority of Americans. They can kind of see through that sort of thing.

As far as, you know, his rhetoric, forcing him to sell, the NBA has bylaws, and you have to adhere to those bylaws. Now, I think that they're vague, they may expressly talk about, you know, what you may say, you know, in the privacy of your own home. But it talks about morality and it talks about the image. And so, it's not about somebody forcing him to sell his team. It's about him being compliant to the membership of the NBA ownership family.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, you've got Magic Johnson who was initially kind of brought into this fold, and he's commented along the way, and most recently in a "USA Today" article, he comments again saying that no player will want to play for a team attached to a Sterling name, saying that because Shelly, you know, Sterling, is saying I got 50 percent of this, and so I'm going to hang on. And her attorney has made it very clear she's in the fight all the way.

But you know, I wonder, you know, is this an anomaly now, or are we talking -- you know, is Magic Johnson speaking to the point that players are considering a number of things, not just the team, not just the coach, not just the team's record, but also the ownership of a team when saying, yes, to a contract with the team, or is this now a new dynamic as a result of the Sterling mess?

GRANDERSON: You know, I've been covering the NBA for a long time, been in sports for a long time. And ultimately, I look at the players' relationship with his or her own agent, right? Because the agent is the one that's supposed to guide them to make the best decisions, both financially, but as well as personally. And so, before I start talking about whether or not the players are ever going to play for Donald Sterling again, I would wonder what kind of --

WHITFIELD: Or a Sterling name.

(CROSSTALK)

GRANDERSON: -- right, or a Sterling name -- I would wonder what kind of conversations are the players having with their agents? Why weren't those players better informed? Because we've known about the Sterling family's history of racism as far back as 1982. That was the first time that Sterling was recorded saying some racist remarks in regards to Ralph Sampson back in 1982.

So essentially, this guy has been saying and dropping and doing racist things for the past 30 years, and players have still been signing with this man and with this team. So I'd be wanting to know, why wasn't the agents informing the players of this, and why wasn't the players association informing members about this man so that they wouldn't have signed with him in the first place?

But I just want to add one final thing.

WHITFIELD: Ok. GRANDERSON: And that is, I understand that Magic Johnson, you know, may be upset and the players are upset, but it's important to realize some of the true victims in all of this haven't been talked about, and those are the people that have had -- were discriminated against because of housing, you know. Trying to move into nice areas where the violence is low, trying to move into areas where education would be better for their children.

They were discriminated against, and we don't spend enough time to talk about the victimization that happened back then. We're spending too much time talking about the millionaires who at the end of the day will be able to live in safer neighborhoods and send their kids to better schools.

WHITFIELD: L.Z. Granderson, thanks so much. Good to see you.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And I will be talking to our legal guys next hour about Shelly Sterling's push now to hold onto the team with her 50 percent and, of course, the dynamics of the audio recording, how that impacts the legal road straight ahead.

We're not done with the subject just yet.

All right. Coming up a little bit later on this hour, four more rounds to go in the NFL draft, and it could be an historic day. Will any team give the first openly gay player a shot?

And the shocking revelation from a new report -- a drone with a close call with a passenger jet, and it isn't the first time apparently this has happened. More next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A major domestic airliner flies dangerously near a drone -- the consequences could have been disastrous. Well, now we're learning more about the incident and the threat to passenger planes from small unmanned aircraft. Here now is Rene Marsh.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Fred, this could have been deadly if that drone made contact with that passenger plane. The two came dangerously close to colliding midair, but this isn't a first. There have been other near disasters in the air involving drones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH (voice over): A near nightmare in the sky. A passenger plane nearly crashes into a camouflage drone flying at 2,300 feet well above the typical altitude for a private drone. The incident in the Tallahassee skies involved a U.S. Airways Express jet flying near the airport.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A remote controlled aircraft at 2,300.

MARSH: The first details of the March scare previously not revealed until an FAA official spoke about it Thursday in San Francisco.

JIM WILLIAMS, MANAGER, FAA'S UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS: -- pilot said that it was so close to his jet, that he was sure he collided with it. Thankfully inspection to the airliner after landing found no damage.

MARSH: Authorities do not know who flew the drone but say it could have brought down the plane. "The safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority." U.S. Airways parent company tells CNN in a new statement, "We're aware of the published report alleging an incident with one of our express jets and we are investigating."

There have been close calls before. The FBI is still investigating a drone that came within 200 feet of an Ali Italia flight in New York earlier this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw a drone of one aircraft.

MARSH: The pilot in the incident can be heard telling air traffic control. And this Monday, a small drone was found after apparently hitting this building in St. Louis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARS: In the next five years, the FAA estimates as many as 7,500 drones could be flying in the U.S. airspace at any given time. The agency has been working on a plan to safely integrate drones into the airspace so that you don't have accidents with passenger aircraft.

Now, it is illegal for commercial use, although there are some exceptions. As for hobbyists, the FAA only allows recreational drones to fly up to 400 feet -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rene Marsh, thank you so much. That provokes a whole lot of questions.

I want to bring back CNN safety analyst David Soucie and CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo. So Mary, the Defense Department is not commenting on whether this was a government drone, saying that they don't usually have drones that are painted in camouflage. But then it brings the question, are there a lot of independently owned drones in the skies, period, whether it's 400 feet or more, as Rene was saying?

SCHIAVO: Yes, what the public doesn't realize, and what took the FAA apparently by surprise, since they have not moved to fully regulate the industry yet, is that drones have been an exploding medium, literally for a couple of decades. This plane was probably a model airplane, and there are model airplanes that can fly -- they're breaking the speed -- or the sound barrier right now. They have model planes that are so capable.

But drones are exploding. Two years ago, for example, was the year that we passed the benchmark and that there were more trained -- these are trained -- trained drone pilots than aircraft pilots. So it's an exploding industry, and right now it's no-man's land in regulation, because the FAA regulations are not in place. WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. So, David, I read in some reports that this drone may have been about 2,400 feet, that was the calculation of the pilot, and if we're talking about no regulation, as Mary's underscoring there, this really could be problematic especially if the market is open, people are buying them, they're using them, experimenting with, but no regulation?

SOUCIE: Well, not only is there no regulation, but the FAA is fighting to grab what they do have, which is just the ability to even prosecute someone for careless and reckless use of these. There was a case that was brought up in 2012 and as of March 7th, the FAA is trying to appeal to the NTSB to overturn their ruling, which at the time said that this operator did not operate in careless and reckless, he just basically used the aircraft -- or the drone to take pictures. So they've been trying to pursue that case, as well.

So it is no-man's land, but Jim Wilson and the FAA is in charge of that office, and they're mandated by Congress by 2015 to do something.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. You know, Mary, does this kind of incident mean that they have to do something sooner than that?

SCHIAVO: Well, they probably can't, and I'm going to question whether they can actually get the job done by 2015. What they have done is they've opened six different centers around the country -- one's in New York, one's in Alaska all over the country -- to study drones and what they should be. For example, they have to ask -- answer questions like, are drones going to be put in special altitude categories? Are they going to be interspersed with the rest of the flying public? Are you going to have to have a pilot for every drone, or can you have one pilot, on the ground pilot, I'm referring to, controlling several hundred drones?

So there's so many questions to be answered. I think the FAA has a very big job in front of it.

WHITFIELD: Wow, it does look like a big job. It looks like we're just at the beginning of what potentially could be a huge, exploding industry.

All right, David Soucie, Mary Schiavo -- thanks so much. Appreciate that.

SOUCIE: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. We're also hearing horrifying stories now of those people trapped on a burning hot air balloon.

Coming up, we'll speak with an expert about the art and the dangers of hot air balloons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Search crews are still trying to find two people missing after a hot air balloon burst into flames after hitting power lines. It happened at the mid-Atlantic balloon festival in Deswell, Virginia. Witnesses say the three people on board were screaming for help and pleading for their lives. The witnesses describe seeing people fall from the balloon's basket, but crews have not yet found the balloon or the basket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CORINNE GELLER, VIRGINIA STATE POLICE PR DIRECTOR: We've also found kind of a debris field. We found different items that would have been inside the hot air balloon. This is very helpful for us in our search efforts because now we have an area of concentration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So search crews have recovered the body of one person, but are still looking for two others that were in that balloon. Joining me now on the phone from Albuquerque, New Mexico, is Troy Bradley, an expert on hot air balloons. So, Troy, apparently you have flown nearly 6,000 different flights carrying some 20,000 passengers over the years. There are always going to be risks with everything, but when we talk about hot air balloons, there are certain risks that are greater than others. What is the greatest danger of these kinds of flights?

TROY BRADLEY, HOT AIR BALLOON EXPERT (via telephone): Sure. The one thing itself is a very, very safe activity. There are hundreds of thousands of flights that go off without anything ever occurring. We had 30 balloons up in Albuquerque this morning as well. Those are the things that just don't get the coverage. Just because the balloons do have an occasional accident, it gets a lot of media, because it's a very colorful aircraft, and usually there's somebody with a phone or some way to record that.

But I don't think we had a fatality in the last two years outside of this in the United States. And so, the real dangers that are involved with ballooning aren't the balloons themselves, as much as it sounds like this balloon may have hit a power line, and so there's an obstruction there. We have very good vertical control under a balloon going up and down. We have to go with the wind for steering.

But the possibility that maybe where was a line that wasn't seen in between trees or something like that is what might have got this pilot. But I have no idea. I'm probably less familiar with this accident than you are at this point because it turns --

WHITFIELD: Sure, they are still investigating and I know you're in Albuquerque, and the investigators are on the ground there in Virginia. You know, you talk about as far as you know, there have not been any fatalities involving hot air balloons outside of two years. And right where you are, Albuquerque is probably one of the world's biggest hot air balloon events that takes place every year.

We are talking about the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. So in your view, when hundreds of balloons are in the air at any one time during that event, what is so paramount to keeping everyone safe there? Is it just an issue of expertise or --

BRADLEY: No.

WHITFIELD: -- or regulations or restrictions in place to ensure that everyone hits relatively the same altitude, or is in the general same vicinity?

BRADLEY: Well, to make the general public feel very comfortable with balloons, we are regulated by the FAA, just like any other type of aircraft, because we're dealing in the airspace. All the pilots are certified by the FAA, as well. There's a lot of regulation overseeing it. The limited control that a balloon has, the complexity of where you're going to go, though. We do have good vertical control, horizontally we have to go where the wind takes us.

Because of that, though, all the winds -- balloons are moving in the same wind, so they'll keep a relative distance to one another, unless you shift altitudes and maybe come over the top of one another. The pilots are very cognizant of the fact when they're flying in busy airspace, whether in the event back east or the Albuquerque fiesta.

And so, it's very seldom we have any mid-air type issues with the balloons. Like I said, typically it's a manmade structure or something that somebody ends up running into.

WHITFIELD: OK. Here you are talking about the fact that this doesn't happen that often. We're looking at still images. I don't know the history of the still images that we are seeing, but we are showing a catastrophic event here, some sort of fire. OK, well, apparently these are fairly new images now as it relates to Virginia and that balloon that got in trouble. We understand reportedly there was an explosion.

There was a report of it hitting power lines, but to the extent of that we don't know, and here we are looking at those images, although you are joining us from Albuquerque, New Mexico and talking about the more optimistic view of the hot air balloon journeys. Thank you so much, Bradley, I appreciate it. Troy Bradley. Thank you so much. Appreciate your expertise.

WHITFIELD: Again, we are expecting new information on the hot air balloon crash coming up again related to those images you're seeing out of Virginia. A news conference is scheduled for 12:00 Eastern. We'll bring that to you live as it happens.

All right, it is the final day of the NFL draft, and all eyes are on Michael Sam, the first openly gay player ready for a shot at the big time. What are his chances? A live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the fourth round of the NFL draft starts in just minutes and a big name is still up for grabs. Michael Sam, he was named co-defensive player for the year for the SEC, but you probably know him because he announced earlier this year he is gay. And that made him the first openly gay NFL prospect, which means today could be historic if he gets drafted. I'm joined now by CNN's sports, Joe Carter and also former Atlanta Falcon, Chris Drat. Joe, to you first, I'm saying if. Do we know anything about the measurements of chances for Michael Sam?

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS: As far as the managers and the teams that we've talked to in the last couples of week, they said, yes, it probably will happen, but more like the sixth, seventh round. Michael Sam did a great job at the Combine when he met with the media. He didn't do as good on the field. It's the measurables -- a distraction, but when it comes to running the 40-yard dash, the 225- bench press reps, he didn't match up to those in the third, fourth round. He doesn't have the football measurables, but you look at his tape from Missouri, he can play between the white lines, and that's really what matters.

CHRIS DRAFT, FORMER NFL PLAYER, ATLANTA FALCONS: When we're talking about a draft, a lot of this is about numbers. He ran a 4:9, and for a lot of people out there, they might say, it's in the 4s, it sounds like it's all right, but for a linebacker in the NFL, that is absolutely slow. We were talking about how there were defensive linemen that ran faster than that.

When you talk about how strong he was, there were wide receivers and dbs stronger than him. So those numbers, along with his vertical jump, only 25 inches, those numbers make it where it will be difficult for a team -- even if, you know, you take away the fact that he's gay -- if you just look at the numbers, it would make it difficult for them to pick him.

WHITFIELD: Does the total package include the numbers, include the poise, include the appeal, include the life story, and so that might round out, you know, these numbers in any way, Chris?

DRAFT: It is. It's a function of all of that.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

DRAFT: So we're looking at the numbers right now. He came out, a lot of attention on him. And they're looking for this guy, you know, I came out, all right? Now, you have to go and show people why you should be picked. And his numbers didn't back that up. What he's done on the football field, absolutely. You know, 11 1/2 sacks, 19 tackles for a loss. It says he can play but --

CARTER: Co-defensive player in the SEC, arguably the best conference in college football, the guy dominated. I have to say here, that if he doesn't get drafted today, his football career is still going to be a success, because you know what? He will end up on a roster. And if he can play, they'll find a spot for him. Lions don't listen to what sheep say. If the guy can play, the guy can play.

WHITFIELD: Will that make a statement on behalf of the team that were to find ultimately pick him, whether it to be today or later on a team he plays for, might they be considering that it says something about the team, too, that they are considering the total package, the fact that he's the first openly gay prospect? CARTER: This is not a typical sixth or seventh round pick. Let's be honest. It's not the typical undrafted free agent. There's a whole lot that comes with picking this guy or picking him on his team. A whole lot of distraction and noise. When they talk about that, bringing Tim Teebow, it brings a lot of noise. They have to decide if they're ready for this. It's going to be the right team. It's going to be right situation.

DRAFT: Absolutely. Tim Cain there, the Jets, I played with the Buffalo Bills in 2009, and it was a totally different Jets team. When you move forward, you bring Tim Teebow in, a lot of people didn't recognize they lost guys like Leon Washington, Braylon Edwards, Lodanian Thomson. These guys who were veteran leaders that made plays that really made Sanchez a better quarterback.

And so, the distraction, you don't really want that. And so, it's going to be important, the team that brings him in, they don't want a distraction. As long as he can come in and play, that's the great thing about football. At the end of the day, regardless of what you're doing kind of off the field, as long as you can come on and play, there'll be a place for you.

WHITFIELD: Right, all right.

CARTER: It doesn't matter who you are, who you're dating, what you can do, if you can win game, they'll find a spot for you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, gentlemen. All not hopelessly good publicity.

CARTER: Not necessarily.

WHITFIELD: All right, Joe, Chris, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

CARTER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, a White House report on climate change and the news isn't so good. We'll talk with an expert who has travelled the world and ask him what he has seen.

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WHITFIELD: Climate change is getting worse, and you're going to notice it. That's the message from the White House this week in a new report. According to that report, indigenous people in the U.S. are feeling the impact right now. In the Great Lakes, tribes can't grow rice anymore because it is too warm and water levels are too high. Drought is killing crops and livestock in the southwest, and it is not just the U.S.

Adventurer, Professor Aaron Doering has been traveling to the most remote places in the world since 2011. He sees the impact firsthand.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to have the people in the south to understand how things are changing here. And there's a common strand, a common theme that goes throughout. And that theme is that things changed drastically in the last 30 years especially.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is much warmer in the summer, and the season is getting earlier and earlier.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Doering and his team have planned seven expeditions, one to each continent over four years. He just got back this week from the sixth journey, to Nepal. He is joining me now from Minneapolis where he is also the associate professor at the University of Minnesota. Good to see you, Aaron.

AARON DOERING, ADVENTURER WITH EARTHDUCATION: Good morning, good to be here.

WHITFIELD: So in a nutshell, what is your mission when you go on these expeditions?

DOERING: What we want to do is put a face to climate change, so there are always people around the world, and they want to tell their story. We're going using adventure learning, getting them excited to tell their story about what is happening and have people throughout the world hear it.

WHITFIELD: So you've gone to six of seven stops on these continents. The last is to Antarctica. Tell us what impact you saw that climate change is actually having on people in Nepal?

DOERING: In all these areas it is very similar, no matter if you're in Australia, Antarctica, or in Nepal. These people are being impacted greatly by weather conditions. They can't grow crops like before. These are people that can't go to the grocery store, it is subsistence living. They need to be able to grow their food. Now in place we were two weeks ago they're not able to and having to adapt to that change.

WHITFIELD: Why are they not able to, what's happening environmentally?

DOERING: They're experiencing drought where they never experienced it before, experiencing downpours of rain they never experienced before. So they're having to come up with solutions. And a solution, for example, we were in Peru, I was with a farmer outside of Lima, an area that was completely drought. And what they did, they put up fog harvesting nets, collected the fog, trickled into a barrel, then they could use that for irrigation. People have to adapt to it. Doesn't matter literally where you are, you're seeing it, as we have seen it on all six continents.

WHITFIELD: In Peru, people are being incentive, not consulting any manuals, no experts are coming into area and introducing them to new ideas, they are trying to figure it out on their own, seeing that OK, in that fog is moisture, Let's catch some of that moisture and now let's feed our crops with it? DOERING: Yes, that's correct. You're exactly right. They're also trying to bring education to these villages so that people can literally get themself educated about the different opportunities to invest into adapting to this changing world. When we were in Nagi, this village outside of Katmandu, literally what they're trying to do is bring the internet there to keep their students there, so that they can be educated, so they can adapt to the changing world.

WHITFIELD: Over time, we heard a lot about ice melting in the arctic associated with climate change, certain animals are having difficult time surviving because their habitat is the ice. What did you see in the Arctic Circle?

DOERING: Yes, you know, I spent actually a decade traveling around the arctic by dog team and ski and delivering online education program, telling stories from the people. What you're hearing like the lead in there is that they're having this early breakup of ice in a late freeze. What it means to these people, they have to travel the ice to hunt caribou and fish. It is not like they can turn and go to the grocery store, like I said. Even their travels on the land are am impacted by this.

WHITFIELD: So what's next? What happens from this information you gather? Does this mean this is a flat forum in which you say world, you have to help these people in these places or this is what we can learn from people who are doing these magnificent adaptive things as a result of climate change? What's the next step?

DOERING: The whole goal behind the project was to build this tapestry of voices, and to get people engaged in a dialogue around climate change. That's what our goal was. That's what we have been doing. People can literally go online and share their story themselves. And hopefully inspire someone to do something different in order that we can adapt to the changing world.

WHITFIELD: All right, Aaron Doering, thank you so much. What an incredible adventure. One more stop to go and beautiful images. We are all learning so much by way of your journeys. Thanks so much, appreciate it. Good to see you.

DOERING: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, speaking of journeys, how about taking a journey to Russia with Anthony Bourdain? What did he learn about the politics, the people, and President Putin, and of course, what's on the plate there?

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