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CNN`s Dr. Sanjay Gupta Joins Us Today To Discuss Antibodies; We`re Going Beneath the Surface to Explore the History of a World-Famous Subway System

Aired May 13, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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


CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: From blood cells on patrol to robots on patrol, we`re keeping our eyes open today on CNN 10. I`m Carl Azuz with your

Wednesday edition of our show. By this time next week, at least 48 U.S. states will have relaxed some of their restrictions concerning corona

virus. There`s a lot of debate about this. Many health officials say opening up the country too soon could lead to more cases and deaths from

COVID-19. Many business owners say keeping things closed could lead to a crash of the economy with more jobs lost. Scientists around the world are

racing to test and study different medications like the one we told you about last week that could help sick people recover faster. Scientists

around the world are racing to develop a corona virus vaccine, though one of those could still be a year away or more.

And while corona virus testing can help officials know who`s sick now, antibody testing can help them know who`s had this disease in the past.

This is crucial because doctors say that up to 50 percent of the people who have corona virus have zero symptoms when they`re tested. So there could

be a lot of people who have this disease or who have recovered from it without ever knowing they`ve contracted COVID-19 and they could have

unknowingly spread it to others. We`ve reported that the novel corona virus was officially identified in Wuhan, China in mid-December of last

year but U.S. intelligence agencies were tracking it there in November. The first case in the United States was confirmed on January 21st but more

research is coming out that suggests it was spreading in America and other countries well before that. So antibody testing when it works accurately

could supply some of the missing pieces of the corona virus puzzle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL EXPERT: One of the ways our immune system protects us from viruses is through antibodies. Antibodies are proteins in

our blood that attach themselves to parts of viruses. That limit`s the infection and also alerts white blood cells to come in, attack and

eliminate the virus. So in many cases, if the body encounters the same virus again, the immune system has left over antibodies that are taught and

remember the previous infection. These cells can either fight off the deadly virus directly or they can produce more antibodies to help prevent

the infection.

Researchers aren`t entirely sure why this process works so well for some viruses but not others. Our immune system seems to remember some viruses

better than others. A person is generally protected for life after one encounter with viruses like chicken pox or polio. However, there are some

viruses that our immune systems seem to easily forget. Scientists have reported that immunity could be short lived after encounters with some

common seasonal corona viruses which can cause the common cold. That could help explain why we can repeatedly get sick with something as simple as a

cold even if we think we`ve been exposed to cold viruses before.

We could be getting exposed to new stains as well. And some viruses like the flu can mutate often which means our old antibodies, no longer work

against these strains. While most experts do believe that we`re probably going to have some protection after being infected with the corona virus,

we`re still not sure just how long that protection will be or how strong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: 10 Second Trivia. Where would you find the oldest underground railway in the world? London, United Kingdom; Moscow, Russia; New York,

New York; or Budapest, Hungary. A section of the London Underground dates back to 1863 making it the world`s oldest underground railway.

When it was first built, workers dug large trenches through the streets, reinforced them, put roofs on them and then rebuilt the street surface on

top. Did this impact traffic? Yes, badly. Did it work? Yes. The first year it was opened, the London Underground carried more than 9 million

passengers when only a few million people lived in London at the time. Building methods got better though as the subway expanded, large shields

were developed and pushed through the soil beneath the city streets and one of these relics can be seen today. All you gotta do is look beneath the

surface.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most central London Underground stations have some form of disused space. But some have far more than just something,

(inaudible) you have a whole forgotten pockets of history really tell a fascinating story. We`re actually kind of (inaudible) in a living museum.

It feels very much like you`re stepping from a normal day to day (inaudible) into something completely unusual. This is the Moorgate

Station that you might recognize and be very familiar with but where I`m about to take you now is somewhere that the public has not seen since 1924.

Moorgate was actually the first station that was extended on the first underground railway in the world which was the Metropolitan Railway which

opened in - - in 1863. And so Moorgate is the oldest underground stations in London. This station`s quite extraordinary in the way it`s evolved over

150 years since it opened. What we`re looking at here is a passageway built and opened in 1900 when the city and South London Railway extended

from King William Street to Moorgate. You can see there is original features all around us particular the white and black tiles which are

beautiful glass tiles. And here we`ve got some incredible posters that have been left over since 1936.

These are (inaudible) for Lifebouy Soap which is an incredibly popular soap back in the `30s and `40s and up until the `70s. It really gives you a

sense of kind of stepping back in time. Here again you can see way out to the lift would have set there but also quite interestingly right next to it

is an old no smoking time that`s sort of slowly been, kind of, peeled away. This is actually from the second World War not from 1924 when these

passageways closed. And that`s because this whole area was used as a staff accommodation during the height of the Blitz.

It definitely feels like, you know, somewhere you kind of shouldn`t - - shouldn`t be when you come to (inaudible). This is the only complete

Greathead shield on the entire London Underground network and this has been here since 1904 and will be here for the foreseeable future. The whole of

the London Underground would have been built with basically shields just like these. The line was actually supposed to be extended further south to

Loffbury (ph). It started excavating the - - the extension but they ran out of money and instead of dismantling the entire thing, they just decided

to put concrete into the tunnel and seal it up that way.

Probably with the hopes that maybe one day they would be able to finish the job but they never did. The London Underground is such a fundamental part

of city life. Everyone equates London with the "Tube" but rare for us (inaudible) experiences is that we`re actually able to go and see and feel

and literally experience this closed off space.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: The robotic dogs we`ve seen from Boston Dynamics aren`t exactly the cuddly, furry sort you want to pick up and snuggle. Then again, this ain`t

no therapy dog. It`s name is Spot. It`s not trained but it is programmed. It`s job is to play a prerecorded message in a human voice to encourage

people to practice social distancing. Spot`s cameras can also estimate how many people are hanging around. This is a pilot program at a park in

Singapore and if it`s successful more people at more parks could see more "Spots" in the days ahead.

Just the sight of that would make some people "scardy cats" and those who break the law could see Spot as man`s best "fiend". But if you`re not a

cat person, you`re not "dogged" by robots and you`re not afraid of a canine crime fighter who`s a little "McGruff" around the edges, you won`t mind

walking with Spot as long as the project isn`t "short circuited". Peola High School is watching today from Peola, Washington. It was great to see

your comment at our YouTube channel. I`m Carl Azuz and CNN 10 will be "bark" tomorrow.

END