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Vaccine Unveiled; Cosby Doesn't Have Anything To Prove; Part Almost Certainly Belongs To Flight 370; Plane Debris Analyzed In France Next Wednesday; New Ebola Vaccine; Zimbabwe Asks For Lion Killer's Extradition. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired July 31, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 7:00 p.m. in Paris, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

Up first, the growing likelihood that the piece of wreckage found at a remote island may, in fact, be from Malaysia Airlines flight 370. The next step is for investigators to confirm that the part is from the missing plane. The piece of debris was loaded onto crates this morning at an airport on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. It's expected to arrive in Paris tomorrow and then be sent to a lab in Toulouse, France for investigators to examine. The Paris prosecutors' office says analysis will begin next Wednesday.

The French aeronautics investigator familiar with the probe told CNN today, there is almost no doubt this part belongs to the Boeing 777. It's believed to be a flaperon, that's a part of the wing that helps the pilot control the aircraft. A preliminary assessment by U.S. intelligence agency suggests it's likely that someone in the cockpit deliberately caused the aircraft's movements before it disappeared. The report was prepared months ago and was not intended for public release. On CNN's NEW DAY, the national security commentator for CNN, Mike Rogers, explained why the information is coming out now.

(BEGN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Well, I would argue that they've, again, gotten to a place where they can eliminate other factors. And so, when you're trying to narrow down what exactly happened, I think that they determined this was the right time to do that. Of course, finding the wing or the portion of the airplane, incredibly important to that end. And I think they'll have that settled probably by earlier next week, if not earlier, on the fact that that was part of the airplane.

But, again, it's about take options off of --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Off of the table.

ROGERS: -- the table --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gotcha.

ROGERS: -- to come to a conclusion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: CNN's Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is joining us from Toulouse in France. He's near where the plane debris will be examined. Fred, we understand that aviation investigators won't begin analyzing, what, formally, officially until next Wednesday. Is that right?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right, assuming that the Paris prosecutor has come out and said, we believe that one of the reasons why that may be the case is that this is, obviously, a very complex investigation and also many parties have to be present.

Of course, on the one hand, you have investigators themselves, and then you have judicial officials here from Franca, also aeronautical judicial officials they call them. But you also have officials from Malaysia as well as investigators from Malaysia as well. So, all of them are going to hold meetings. They have to get on the same page and that's when the analysis starts.

Now, the interesting thing that we have heard from officials here in France is they say they believe that once this lab here begins its investigation, they'll be able to determine whether or not this is part of a Boeing 777 and whether or not it is a part of that specific Boeing 777. Of course, MH370, they think that will happen very, very quickly.

And the other things are going to try to determine as well, of course, is how long that part has been in the ocean and how far it might have travelled in the ocean because one of the things that is key or that the parties here are going to be trying to find out or getting clues to is where the rest of the plane might be because that still remains very much a mystery. So, the lab here is gearing up to start its analyst as you said. It's not going to start until next Wednesday but this is one of the premier institutions in Europe to deal with accident investigations. They gained a lot of experience in the past, for instance, dealing with that 2009 crash where an Air France plane went down over the Atlantic -- Wolf.

BLITZER: I assume, Fred, that the French have invited other international experts to join in examining this piece of debris, whether Malaysian or Australian or U.S. experts, is that right?

PLEITGEN: Or experts from Boeing. We do believe that there are going to be other experts present as well. You're absolutely right, Wolf. Then the French prosecutor's office has also said that the information that is going to be gathered here is going to be shared. However, what we're also hearing internationally that, of course, there is a lot of confidence here in this lab. As I said, they have had a lot of experience dealing with this. But it is, indeed, an international effort and there will be parties present from many other nations as well. And the information will be also shared with them as fast as possible -- Wolf. BLITZER: And key will be the experts from Boeing, the manufacturer of

the 777. This plane was a Boeing 777 and there are about 1,200 of them flying around the world right now, 777s.

[13:05:02] All right, Fred, thanks very much.

Let's take a closer look at where the investigation stands. I'm joined by our Aviation Correspondent Richard Quest. He's joining us from New York. He's been following this story from the very beginning, writing an important book on the entire story right now. And also joining us from Denver is our CNN Safety Analyst David Soucie, a former FAA safety inspector. He's written a book on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 as well.

So, let's talk about this piece of debris. And, Richard, let me start with you. It isn't going to be formally looked at until Wednesday. That's surprising to me. What takes so long? Why can't they look at it right away?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Because everybody has to get there. I suspect -- I read the -- I read that press notice that says next Wednesday. The thing arrives tomorrow. It gets to the south of France tomorrow night or on Sunday and everybody sort of convenes on Monday. The team arrives from Malaysia, obviously. I suspect the NTSB will be there or at least Boeing will be there. They'll look at it before Wednesday but I suppose what they're really saying is Wednesday gives them a chance to properly get the -- get the piece, put it into the right conditions and start a formal force of investigation. But I'll be very surprised if they haven't taken a good look before then.

BLITZER: Yes, because they could -- they could clearly, David, at least get some at least preliminary clues on why that plane went down, based on that one flaperon, that piece of the wing. Is that right?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Yes, indeed, they have already. And that's why they're so confident. They've come out -- Boeing themselves have come out and said that they're confident it is a 777 part. This is a matter of course right now. It's a matter -- because it could potentially be a criminal investigation. We're looking at the chain of custody. Who touched the part? Where it went from and where it went to to make sure that it hasn't been altered in any way or damaged in any way.

BLITZER: And, Richard, is it possible to determine, based on what we see from what's left, the debris from this flaperon, whether it was blown off while it was in the sky or it simply broke off upon landing in the water?

QUEST: That's something that the experts will look at. And from those I've spoken to, they say, yes, it is possible to say certain things. For example, how it will have gone in the water. Was it blown off? Was there an explosion? And that's because you're looking at the compression. You're looking if it's been stretched, bent, ripped and all those sort of things. We see the front. The leading edge is pretty good condition whereas the trailing edge is in appalling condition. It's been completely pulled apart. I think on this question of why are they doing it so -- why is it taking so long, Wolf? You have to remember, this is the first piece -- well, obviously, this is the first piece they've had from the plane.

And they've determined, they're damned that they're going to get it right. They're going to decide what it is, where it's from, what happened with it and then how to announce it. Because do they tell all the families first? Do they make an announcement to the rest of the world first? All these things have to be coordinating otherwise you end up with the fiasco that we had last year.

BLITZER: David, what's your assessment of this preliminary intelligence U.S. assessment that was done a while ago but only now being leaked out to our own Justice Reporter Evan Perez that they believe it's likely that someone gained access, for whatever reason, into that cockpit and deliberately forced that plane down? That was an assessment -- preliminary assessment put out by U.S. intelligence analysts.

SOUCIE: Well, we have to consider that it most likely is a little bit out of context since it was three or four months ago. But, in addition, the word, likely, and some of the words that were in that document are, as Philip Mudd, put before, are terms of art. They're the way that they describe things. And what it likely means is that it's more than 50 percent. But that doesn't mean it's 51. It doesn't mean it's 99.

But, at the same time, even what we think happened isn't what we know happened and so we're really speculating here that perhaps it was done intentfully. But we don't know if it was intentfully because it was of nefarious purpose or because it was in response to a failure on board the aircraft. That's another possibility as well. Either one of those would have been deliberate actions.

BLITZER: For some reason, as you know, Richard, better than almost anyone, that plane taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, about an hour into the flight at about 35,000 feet, all of a sudden makes a U- turn and moves away from Beijing and heads in the opposite direction and stops communicating with ground control. And that raises all sorts of possibilities, doesn't it?

QUEST: It does and that is why, to your previous question, the deliberate part of it. The deliberate part of it is pretty much not disputed by anybody. Everybody accepts that a pilot or somebody did actually make those maneuvers. They're far too precise. They follow certain airwaves in some cases. There's obviously a hand at the wheel making them.

[13:10:17] The issue, of course, is what was the intent? And there are some, and I'm in that category, that believe it could have been mechanical, maybe very well was mechanical. There are others that are absolutely adamant that it was pilot involvement or other hijacking or terrorism. We don't know and it's such an unsatisfactory answer to give there, Wolf, isn't it? When I have to sort of say we don't know. When the people, particularly the families, are looking for that moment of certainty. We're a long way off that, a long way off that. BLITZER: Yes. And there's nothing wrong with saying we don't know

when we, in fact, don't know and this investigation continues right now. Richard Quest, David Soucie, guys, thanks very much.

And to our viewers out there, we'd love to hear from you. Tweet out your questions about MH370, the plane crash mystery. Use the hash tag MH370QS.

Coming up, a new vaccine that could be highly effective in preventing the spread of Ebola.

And Zimbabwe officials want justice for the death of their beloved lion. They're demanding the United States extradite the American responsible in that killing. We'll have more on that and a lot more news coming up.

[13:11:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:37] BLITZER: Now to some potentially big news in medicine. The Ebola virus has ravaged parts of West Africa, but now the World Health Organization says a vaccine is showing promise in preventing another large outbreak. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is joining us now from NIH headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, outside of Washington.

Dr. Fauci, thanks very much for joining us. How significant is this?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIR. NATL. INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Quite significant, Wolf. This is a very impressive result on an Ebola vaccine that was tested during the outbreak in Guinea with very impressive results. So we're really very happy about this. This is really good news for the global attempt, the multi institutional attempt to control Ebola in the present outbreak and to prevent future outbreaks. So this is -- this is really good news.

BLITZER: How big were the trials for this vaccine because obviously that's significant and you know a lot more about this than I do.

FAUCI: Yes, the trials were measured in thousands of people, but it was done in a -- in a very interesting way. It was -- it was a bold trial that took a look at getting groups of people who were exposed to the people who were infected, the contacts and then the contacts and the contacts. And to vaccinate them in a ring way, which is very similar to somehow the smallpox vaccine approach was done for the elimination of smallpox. And in this study, people were randomized to either get the vaccine right away in the first ring or delay 21 days. And when you compared the people who were in the immediate vaccination around that index case versus those who delayed vaccination, there were 17 infections in those who delayed and no infection in those who got the vaccine right away. So that's rather impressive results.

BLITZER: It certainly is. Is the vaccine suitable for everyone?

FAUCI: Yes. I mean it's been done in safety trials. In fact, Wolf, you may remember some time ago we did a phase one trial right here in Bethesda of that same vaccine, by phase one we mean to determine whether it's safe and what the right dose is. So this is a rather safe vaccine. It's been tested here. It's been tested in Europe. It's been tested in Africa on much, much larger number of people than were actually in the vaccine trial in Guinea. So we feel comfortable about the safety of the vaccine.

BLITZER: And what about side effects?

FAUCI: Again, side effects, it's the kind of side effects that you see with any vaccine. It's a lot --it's a vaccine that's made of a -- of a live virus called Vesicular Stomatitis Virus, which has nothing to do with Ebola. And what you do is you take one of the genes of Ebola and stick it into that virus so that you can make Ebola protein. You get a side effects, sometimes a little fever, sometimes of pain in the arm, but there haven't been any really prohibitive side effects that would make you put a red flag up about the safety.

BLITZER: Very, very impressive news. Dr. Fauci, thanks very much. Thanks for all the important work you and your colleagues are doing at NIH in Bethesda, Maryland, and all of your colleagues indeed around the word. Very promising information about Ebola. Appreciate it very much.

FAUCI: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Other news we're following, a Minnesota dentist who killed a beloved lion named Cecil while on a trophy hunt is now wanted in Zimbabwe and we've learned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says a representative of the dentist has contacted them. The agency saying they appreciate the cooperation and that their investigation is ongoing. Dr. Walter Palmer reportedly paid $50,000 to kill the lion with a bow and arrow. Palmer has said he relied on local guides for expertise on where to hunt, but officials in Zimbabwe say Cecil was lured out of a national park for the hunt and they now want the U.S. to extradite Dr. Palmer.

CNN's David McKenzie is joining us now live from Johannesburg in South Africa.

So what's going on, David? What are you hearing about this?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're hearing, Wolf, is that the minister of wildlife in Zimbabwe wants to extradite this Dr. Palmer to Zimbabwe to face poaching charges. Now, that's a pretty serious offense. They could get at least 10 years for that kind of offense. They're saying the U.S. should cooperate and if they don't, it could further strain the relationships between the U.S. and Zimbabwe on this issue of killing this lion.

[13:20:19] Now, certainly they say they want him to face justice. They said this action was orchestrated together with his local guides. Dr. Palmer has kind of gone to ground until now, so far just putting out a statement saying, while he did kill the lion, that it was all above board and as far as he was concerned legal. And he kind of passes the buck on to his local guide and the professional hunter he worked with. Wolf.

BLITZER: We've been doing some checking, and I wonder if you have as well, the United States and Zimbabwe do have an extradition treaty, but since 1980, when Mugabe came into power in Zimbabwe, we haven't found any evidence that anyone from the United States has ever been extradited to Zimbabwe and it's very unlikely the U.S. would do so given what the State Department regards as a very brutal, repressive regime in Zimbabwe right now with torture and other extreme measures underway there. What's your analysis of the possibility that the U.S. might even -- might even consider this kind of extradition of this American dentist to Zimbabwe given the political climate over there?

MCKENZIE: Well, look, the climate is not great and certainly in extradition proceedings generally between any country, even with a treaty, can be a long and torturous process. I think at this stage, you know, it could be -- we could be proven wrong, but at this stage it would be reasonably unlikely, I think, that the U.S. will hand over this dentist to the Zimbabwean officials, partly because of the nature of the charge that he faces. This is not a murder charge, though, you know, certainly it's struck a chord around the world and raised very serious questions about poaching. In this issue, you'd probably find it would be difficult for the Zimbabwean officials to get him over to face these charges.

You know, at the same time, though, there is a sense of outrage here in Africa that often American hunters will pay top dollars to come in, and if not illegal, certainly questionable -- as questionably ethically some of these hunting practices, though it must be said that hunting outfits say that this money is being put back into conservation and can have some good, even if people feel pretty squeamish about it. But, you know, extradition at this point, probably unlikely, Wolf, but we'll have to see.

BLITZER: Yes, from what I'm hearing from officials here, very unlikely indeed.

All right, David McKenzie, thanks very much for that report.

Coming up, Donald Trump, he's still in Scotland for a golf tournament. CNN's Max Foster caught up with Donald Trump for an exclusive interview today. Get ready, we have some highlights.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:12] BLITZER: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump is spending a second full day in Scotland, attending the second round of the Women's British Open, but he's still taking every opportunity to deliver his stump speech. Trump has only given one formal interview in Scotland and that was to our Max Foster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I used to be 100 percent loved. Now I'm probably 55 percent loved, OK. So I gave up 45 percent. But the fact is, you know, I'm leading in all the polls, including your polls, so that's an honor. I brought up very important --

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Does that surprise you, your success in the polls?

TRUMP: Well, a little bit because I know I have to be harsh to let people know what's going on. And we were talking about illegal immigration. We're talking about taking care of the vets. It's so important. Taking care of the vets is such an important thing. The veterans in our country are treated so poorly and I would make sure that that stopped.

So I bring up things like that and other thing, trade. Trade is so big. I mean I would be so good on trade because we're falling behind China, we're falling behind so many other countries. Even in education, we're 25. If you think of it, we're number 25 in education. We have third world countries that are better than us. So we have a long way to go, this country, and we will -- we will do something, I think, spectacular if I win.

FOSTER: You're going to put a lot of money into defense spending. Where is the money going to come from? You know you -- you say you're going to make friends with Russia, but what are you going to do about Crimea?

TRUMP: It's going to come from -- right, it's going to come from a great economy. It's going to come from just a great economy. Our economy is very weak. We probably have a 21 percent real unemployment rate. And I heard somebody the other day, actually a great economist, say it's actually 43 percent unemployment. Now, if you think about it, it sounds ridiculous, but so many people aren't looking for jobs because they don't think there's enough.

FOSTER: So you're going to create jobs. How are you going to create jobs?

TRUMP: We're going to create greatness for our country. We're going to make our country great again in the sense that we're going to bring back -- one of the things, we're going to bring back jobs from China. We're going to bring back jobs from Japan. We're going to bring back jobs from Mexico. We're going to bring back jobs from all these countries --

FOSTER: But then prices go up, don't they, because the reason the job --

TRUMP: No, no. The prices -- and prices won't go up, but income will go up. People are going to make more money. It will all change. With me, it will all change. Interestingly, in your poll, CNN did a poll and they said, on leadership, Trump is by far the best. On the economy, Trump is by far the best. I have a couple -- we just love when people said, well, but is he a nice person? I'm not sure that matters, but I think I am a nice person. People like me.

FOSTER: You need respect, right, as a leader.

TRUMP: You need respect. You need respect as a country. FOSTER: On Russia, you mentioned Russia yesterday, how you're going to

make friends with Putin, is that the right way --

TRUMP: No, I don't say make friends.

FOSTER: Will work with Putin.

TRUMP: Putin will -- Putin has no respect for President Obama. He will respect me, that I tell you, and he will respect our country.

FOSTER: But on that basis, what do you do with Crimea, for example?

TRUMP: Well, let me -- let me explain.

FOSTER: Do you accept that Crimea is under Russian control?

[13:29:54] TRUMP: Yes, let me explain. First of all, this is Europe's problem much more so than ours, OK? And Europe isn't complaining as much as we are. But this is more of a Europe problem. And when Europe comes to us and says, we want your help, we want your -- but they're not really doing that. They're dealing with Russia. They're taking in the gas. They're taking in the oil. They're not really doing that.