Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Russia Seeking Spy Swap; More Info Released on New York Subway Plot; Oil Cleanup Crew Subjected to Health Dangers?

Aired July 07, 2010 - 13:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, thanks.

Here's what I've got on the run down for you today. The Cold War's over, right? Well, when it comes to the Russian spy ring case, all bets are off. And all kinds of deals, they are on.

Plus, BP says it's taking care of oil clean-up crews. Well, you know what, Exxon said the same thing once and people are still sick. I'm going to show you what I found in my special investigation.

Also, call it alternative energy on the half shell. It's a device inspired by oysters that harnesses the power of the ocean. Really cool.

But first, new intrigue in the Russian spy ring case. All kinds of talk behind the scenes about a swap between the people we think are Russian spies and the people Russia thinks are American spies. And to sort this all out is Matthew Chance, who's standing by in Moscow.

Matthew, bringing us up to date on all this intriguing, I thought it was all over, Cold War stuff.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is very intriguing, indeed, Drew. And it's all very speculative still at the moment as well. What we're hearing is from the mother of a convicted spy, a spy for the United Kingdom. He's being held in a Russian prison. He told his mother, apparently, that he believes he's part of a spy swap deal in which he and 10 other people would be exchanged for the 10 people being held in the United States as part of that alleged spy ring there. Of course, nobody here in Russia or in the United States is confirming this is a possibility. But the mother and the lawyer associated with this espionage convict, this spy, are very confident that they're absolutely right in this. They say they've been asked to sign documents. They say they're being prepared to be transported out of the country, as early as tomorrow.

And so it's very speculative, there's no confirmation, but it looks like there's a possibility that this actually could be -- there could be something in it, Drew.

GRIFFIN: The scientist that Russia is holding and actually convicted, I believe, in 2004, right, is Igor Sutyagin. What, Matthew, do you know, is he accused of?

CHANCE: Yes, well, he's a nuclear analyst, nuclear weapons expert, in fact. He worked at a think tank associated with the Moscow Academy of Sciences, which is an academic institution. He was particularly associated with the U.S. and Canada institute there.

He's accused of essentially selling nuclear secrets from Russia to employees of a British security firm, which is now believed to have been a front for a CIA operation. He was convicted in 2004, was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He's all the time, though, denied his innocence. Although today his mother says that he has been forced, in her words, to sign a confession that he is guilty of this spying, as one of the terms of this alleged prisoner swap deal.

GRIFFIN: And one final question, Matthew. Do you know of any other time that the U.S. may have tried to intercede on this scientist's behalf and get him released?

CHANCE: No. Certainly, they've not done that publicly, and throughout his period that he's been held since 2004, Igor Sutyagin has repeatedly said that he didn't do any spying for the United States or any spying for the British, which is what he's accused of.

But it doesn't mean that those representations didn't happen. And there's a lot of speculation here now. It seems a bit bizarre, but speculation that this whole spy scandal in the United States could have been some kind of elaborate set-up by the American security establishment to try and set the conditions for a spy swap to take place to get this asset out of the Russian jail.

GRIFFIN: All right, Matthew Chance, live in Moscow with the latest on this. And Matthew, I want to bring you up to date. This is developing news we're getting from our report. Jill Dougherty, Elise Abbat (ph), Terry Friedan (ph) for CNN at the State Department now telling us that officials in the Russian embassy in Washington are confirming that the undersecretary of state, William Burns, who was a former ambassador to Moscow, well, he did meet at Russia's Washington embassy with the ambassador, Sergei Kislyak, but officials declined to comment on the reason for the meeting.

And separately, an attorney involved in the case against the accused Russian agents tell CNN that the expectation is that the matter, quote, "will be resolved soon," and although the person did not have access to all details, his attorney said that the resolution may have a political dimension.

Well, while all this potential swapping is going on, court hearings are scheduled today for the spy suspects arrested here in three states. But all not going as planned for some of these guys. Brian Todd has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drew, at this courthouse today, a last-minute cancellation of a pretrial hearing. Federal officials have ordered that all three suspects being held here and the suspects being held in Boston be transferred to New York for further court proceedings.

Meanwhile, one suspect already in New York is, according to her attorney, very upset over a recent development in this case, a development that came courtesy of her former husband.

(voice-over) The attorney for accused Russian spy Anna Chapman tells CNN she is aware that racy photos of her have been published by the British tabloid, "News of the World." That paper says it got the pictures from her former husband, Alex Chapman, who, according the tabloid, also dished about what he claimed was her adventurous sex life.

We reached Anna Chapman's lawyer, Robert Baum, by phone, in New York.

What is her reaction to that?

ROBERT BAUM, ANNA CHAPMAN'S ATTORNEY: I've discussed it with Ms. Chapman. She was 21 years old when she got married to Alex Chapman. He asked her to pose for some photos. She believed the photos were to be used for private purposes. She is shocked that he has kept the photos for four years after their divorce. And she is disappointed in his betrayal.

TODD: Contacted by CNN, the publicist for Chapman's ex-husband said he couldn't do an interview with us, citing his need for rest. Alex Chapman had spoken with British newspapers, including "The Daily Telegraph."

The publicist, Max Clifford, did talk to us. Clifford said he didn't know if Alex Chapman gave the photos to "News of the World" or not. Clifford relayed what Alex Chapman had told the papers about the demise of his four-year marriage to the accused spy.

MAX CLIFFORD, ALEX CHAPMAN'S PUBLICIST: As the time went by, as the years went by, she became increasingly distant, and she seemed to be increasingly enthusiastic to go to these parties, launches, gatherings, where the rich and famous were, which is something that never appealed to him.

TODD: Anna Chapman's attorney didn't comment on that, but he denies other claims by her ex-husband, including one that her father worked for the old Soviet spy service, the KGB.

BAUM: Her father does not work for the KGB. He's an embassy official who has worked in the past in Zimbabwe, in Kenya. Not exactly locations for KGB officials to be sent.

TODD: When we asked Robert bomb if she denies the spying charges against her, he said so far nothing has been disclosed to them about the government's evidence, so they're not making any comments about the charges.

(on camera) Baum says Anna Chapman is having a difficult time emotionally right now. He says she's being held in solitary confinement, is in her cell about 23 hours a day. He said she's allowed no visitors aside from him, no phone calls, and has no access to TV or any other media -- Drew.

(END VIDEOTAPE) GRIFFIN: Brian Todd reporting from Virginia.

Well, it is day 79 of the Gulf oil disaster. That means 79 days of health dangers for clean-up crews. BP says they're safe. Well, Exxon said the same thing after the Valdez disaster. I've been doing some digging into this and I'll show you what I found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We have breaking news now this afternoon from the Justice Department on what we have been told would have been the worst terrorist strike since 9/11. It was thwarted, it was happening in New York. Susan Candiotti is live in New York with details on this. And this involves Najibullah Zazi and the attempt to, I guess, plant bombs in the New York subway system.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's true, Drew, and you're very much aware of this story, as well, so heavily involved in it. Now we are learning that the plot was much grander than just a conspiracy to blow up New York subways.

According to the superseding indictment that began with the New York City subway plot case, we're also learning from the Justice Department now that they're indicting more people in connection with not only this, but in a scheme, they say, that also was to be carried out in a series of attacks in the United Kingdom.

So, in fact, we're learning that it was also directed, according to this indictment, by senior al Qaeda operatives out of Pakistan, and likewise, at about the same time there was training going on involving both plots, the New York City plot as well as the attacks that were to be carried out in the United Kingdom.

Now, some of the people involved in this are already in custody, as you know. Najibullah Zazi has already pleaded guilty in connection with this case. And according to sources, they said that he has been continuing to cooperate with the government.

However, there are two other people who are also named in this indictment that are in the United Kingdom. Let's see. One of them, I believe, is already in custody. That's right in the United Kingdom. And the United States intends to seek extradition of him. The other individual named is not yet in custody.

And two others who are also discussed in the superseding indictment, it turns out, are not charged, and that's because they were killed by U.S. drone attacks sometime in the last year or two.

And so the plot is developing.

Drew, we're also hearing some new language in this. In talking about the -- what happened in the plot leading up to the attacks that were to be carried out in the New York subway system. And that is that they were using terms like "the wedding." As you know, we have heard this term before in the past and other situations. But then when they were talking about the plot, the government says that they used language that was intercepted or eventually learned about that they said "the wedding," get ready for "the wedding." "The wedding" is to be carried out.

And also, the superseding indictment also names again Adis Madujanin. This is someone in the New York area, who is the only one of the defendants in the Zazi plot who is going to challenge this case. And I spoke with his attorney a short time ago, and he said, quote, "Nothing in the new indictment is a surprise." And Mr. Madujanin, he said, fully intends to let a jury decide the issues in this case.

So it is broadening out the plot in the New York subway system to include Pakistan, al Qaeda directives -- directors, operatives over there. And a man that we mentioned since last week whose name is Sukri Juma. You may have heard us mention him before. He remains a fugitive, and he's one of the people that is also named in the superseding indictment.

GRIFFIN: Susan, real quickly, I just got that indictment, and I haven't had a chance to read it all. In terms of what the targets were, we've always heard the subway, the subway, the subway. Anything else in that indictment that says the subway plus this?

CANDIOTTI: No. So far, that is -- that's all I've been able to read thus far. And also, it isn't specific about other targets in the U.K.

GRIFFIN: All right.

CANDIOTTI: But those arrests were made, I think it was last year.

GRIFFIN: All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks for bringing that to our attention. Again, breaking news as the -- more information and more arrests being made in that plot allegedly to blow up the subway system in New York.

Thanks, Susan.

Now to the latest on the oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Bad weather causing another critical delay. A third containment ship hasn't been able to hook up because of choppy seas. Now it may be delayed until Saturday, and that's at the earliest. Why? There is a complicated system of connections that still need to be made. The national incident commander, Thad Allen, explained it this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: As you know, the Discovery Enterprise is taking oil straight from the riser pipe and the lower riser package right now through the containment cap. We're also producing through the choke line, through the Q-4000. We intend to take the oil coming out of the kill line at this point, and hook that up to the helix producer.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GRIFFIN: Now, when that helix producer is hooked up, and this is the most important thing that Thad Allen says it will have the capacity to capture, to suck up, 53,000 barrels of oil a day. That would be up from around 26,000 barrels right now.

And as that work to clean up the spill continues, there are concerns for the workers. Now coming into contact almost daily with the oil, the fumes, dispersants. Federal health officials insist they are keeping a close watch. And BP insists the workers are safe.

But back in 1989, those workers cleaning up the Exxon Valdez spill say they were told the same thing. And some say they have been suffering ever since.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): He coughs, his breath short, his eyes tear, his vision, failing. Roy Dalthrop says he started getting sick 21 years ago, when the Exxon Valdez hit a reef in Alaska, which at the time he thought the Valdez was a blessing.

(on camera) You were out of a job at the time.

ROY DALTHROP, HELPED CLEAN UP EXXON VALDEZ: Yes, I was -- I was out of a job. I was in hurtsville. I was definitely heading to -- I had no choices on that. Because I was behind on my house payments. And so -- and no health insurance.

GRIFFIN: For six weeks, he worked on a ship that super heated sea water to pressure wash Exxon's crude oil off of rocks. His photos on board show the steam. He says an oily smelling mist permeated the ship, where he worked 16-hour days. That's when the cough began.

(on camera) Were they concerned with your health?

DALTHROP: They never asked us; they never said anything. Nobody ever checked with us. Nobody. They never did a follow-up on us, never asked if we ever had any consequences of it. They could have cared less. I'm serious. There was no follow-up.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Dalthrop didn't follow up, either. He never filed a lawsuit, never filed a claim. He could never prove the work he did on the Valdez made him sick.

(on camera) Exxon did pay to study the health effects of almost every single creature that came in contact with oil in Prince William Sound. Every creature but one.

DENNIS MESTAS, ATTORNEY: From clams and mussels to fish and otters to ducks and eagles and even deer and bears, but they never studied what this oil was doing to the workers, to the human beings, in Prince William Sound.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Tonight at 10 Eastern on AC 360, my full investigative report on the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez clean-up and why a congressional committee investigating the current clean-up on the Gulf now wants to look back at what happened in Alaska 21 years ago.

Well, we have got tennis superstar Venus Williams coming up talking about everything from Lebron James to taking her game to the business world. The ball, apparently, in her court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Tennis star Venus Williams has a new match. Christine Romans joins me from New York.

You got a chance to sit down with her, Christine, another perk of your wonderful job.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, talking about business and money no less, right? Venus Williams, the tennis star, but she's got a new book out, Drew, called "Come to Win," as she interviews everybody from Vera Wang, the designer, to Jack Welch, former head of GE, to Jack Zucker. A lot of different people, asking about the parallels between the competitive juices in sports and in the boardroom and in the office and in your job.

But first I had to ask her about Lebron James, right? All of this hoopla about where he's going to go. We're going to find that out apparently tomorrow night on ESPN. And I asked her, I said, look, a lot of people in the country are suffering. Here's a guy who's going to get $100 million. You know, what do you think about rewarding one athlete with so much money? This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VENUS WILLIAMS, TENNIS STAR: As an athlete, I respect how good he is. And if people want him that badly, then he's -- he's amazing talent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS; You know, it's about talent and competition and learning from failures. That's what a lot of the things that she talks about in the book about business and on the court are.

And, you know, Wimbledon is her tournament. This year it wasn't. And I asked her, you know, the parallel. The book is called "Come to Win." Wimbledon was not so much that for her this year. This is what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: I've had so many great years at Wimbledon and this year also was a very good year, but not what I'm used to. So...

ROMANS: What happened, do you think?

WILLIAMS; I didn't win the match, just that simple. And just like, you know, in my book, when you don't win, you reevaluate. You go back, and you come back better. And that's a part of sports, you don't always win. It just doesn't happen. I mean, I wanted to, but it doesn't. And I'll be ready for the next match.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: So Drew, the message for us, and for us in our jobs, and in business, from the consummate competitor there, is that if you're not failing, you're not taking risks. And that all of these people that she has talked to about business at the top of their own game and whatever different profession it is, they've all acknowledged that failure is a very incredibly important part of the ride to the top.

And so it's a pretty -- pretty interesting conversation with her. You know, she's got a lot of different business ventures. She's in fashion design, commercial interior design. She wrote this book. She and her sister are minority partners in the Miami Dolphins. She is intent on becoming an established business woman before she ever retires.

And I asked her when she is going to retire, and she said, "Are you kidding me? I'm very good at this and I still love it. I'm not retiring now."

GRIFFIN: I was going to ask you that very question. Did you get a sense that she is not retiring, but maybe moving on, moving above tennis?

ROMANS: No. I would say she's diversifying. She loves it too much. And tennis is still the thing that she does the best, you know. And she is very, very good. She's 30 years old. On the one hand, she has been doing this, for what, 16 years professionally, more than half her life.

On the other hand, she's only 30, and she is -- she's an incredible competitor, and she still tastes it, you know? She still really wants it, lives it and breathes it.

There's an interesting anecdote in the book from Magic Johnson who said that, you know, when he first started taking business meetings with people after he was not in sports anymore, they kind of were there because a lot of people wanted to get his autograph. A

And she really is intent on learning from people who came before her. You know, now he's a very successful and well-known businessman in his own right. She wants to be a businesswoman while she's still hot in her primary profession, and she said, you know, she's got a lot of years of being a competitor after tennis is over. So she wants to build that groundwork right now.

She says she gets that from her parents. Her parents taught them, you are entrepreneurs. On the court, you are entrepreneurs, and at some point she's going to be an entrepreneur in something else.

GRIFFIN: Well, those two ladies sure have branded themselves. Thanks, Christine. Great report. And you can catch more of Christina, along with our own Ali Velshi on "YOUR $$$$$," Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Soccer-playing robots that could beat real players? Maybe France does have a chance. Stay with me here. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Breaking news now. And it's breaking on BP. But not where you might think. It's up in Alaska.

The head of the company that operates the Trans-Alaska pipeline expected to announce his resignation, CNN is reporting, Wednesday, after criticism by a congressional committee watching the majority owner BP. CNN is learning this right now. That man is Kevin Hostler. He's a former BP executive. His resignation to take effect at the end of September.

A congressional oversight committee had been and continues to examine allegations by several pipeline managers that cost-cutting measures have put the integrity of the pipeline at risk. So a resignation after a congressional investigation there. BP managers have criticized this person, hostler's, cost-cutting efforts, saying they resulted in deferred work projects on the pipeline. The sources at BP's internal watchdog agency said.

So that is breaking news. A resignation for the person that runs the Trans-Alaska pipeline in Alaska.

Meanwhile, soccer fans around the globe watching the World Cup, but they haven't seen anything like this, believe me. In Singapore, an unlikely group of players competed for world soccer titles of a different kind. Deb Feyerick has today's "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEB FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever want to bend it like Beckham? How about like R2D2? At Robocup, teams from around the world compete in soccer matches use robots. A team from Carnegie Melon played in he championship match in Singapore.

STEFAN ZICKLER, CARNEGIE MELLON GRADUATE: People look at these games and often ask why robots talk. The challenge goes to the fundamentals of robotics. So it's a friendly competition that really drives research forward.

FEYERICK: So how do the robots play soccer? The students build the robots from scratch and create the software to make them think. They cameras "see" between two cameras above the field. These images feed into an external computer. The robot's brains decide the next move. They can deliver a flat kick, and even a chip kick.

ZICKLER: And robots, you have to predict the physics of the world. There is a lot of uncertainty, you don't know what your opponent is going to do. FEYERICK: Another group of students creates programming for humanoid robots. These robots have cameras and computers inside their heads, and they use a wirelesses system to communicate.

SOMCHAYA UEMHETCHARAT, CARNEGIE MELLON STUDENT: When the robot kicks the ball, it will send a message, hey, I see a ball over here. So it will decide who should be the attacker.

FEYERICK: In Robocup, the goal is to create a team of robots that can beat a human team by the year 2050.

ZICKLER; Robots in general are going to be really important over the next decade and Robocup is a domain to develop the theories.

FEYERICK: Deborah Feyerick, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: It is hot and dangerous. Much of the eastern seaboard is in the danger zone. Triple-digit temperatures dominating the map. We're going to tell you how to keep your cool. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Well, it's not just uncomfortable. It's now downright dangerous. Electric companies trying to keep up with the heat, there's cooling stations in many cities. And Chad Myers, I'm being told that mid shipmen, four of them at the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland right? Are suffering from heat exhaustion. So this is happening all over the place up and down that coast.

CHAD MYERS AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sure, I mean you've got to think soldiers and naval and the Marines they're still out there doing their thing. Whether we think it's hot or not, those guys still out there. And this is air quality from air now. And there are some areas here all the way up and down the east coast that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.

And you should know if you're a sensitive group or not. If you have asthma if you're a young kid, you shouldn't out there running around too much. It is just going to be downright hot and the air quality is low is because what's happened is that because this high pressure has been sitting over this area for so very long and it's not windy, blowing the dirty air out to the ocean, this hot air is now getting to be stale air, it's now getting to be dirty air.

It's 100 degrees right now in Richmond. I've noticed, though, a couple degrees lower temperatures in the city today than we were this time yesterday. And I believe it's because there's humidity in the air today. There's a couple more clouds in the sky. The clouds act to block out a little bit of the sunshine.

So it feels a couple of degrees warmer. And I'm really saying, a couple, because that's about it. It will still get to 99 in New York City, probably Newark at 102, some of the other reporting stations around 100, as well. Philadelphia, D.C., the same story. Even Richmond, Virginia at 102 today. We have been watching this system, watching this tropical system in the Caribbean here, moving up into the Gulf of Mexico, thinking maybe it could be -- could have been Bonnie.

Right now, it still could be, but it's getting closer and closer to Brownsville. As soon as it gets on land again, there's no chance of that developing any stronger. This will not -- not be Alex.

GRIFFIN: Good. All right, Chad, thanks a lot.

You know, when it is so hot people like to turn on their air conditioning, but what if you don't have the money to pay the bill? People having to make a tough decision out there. And Jason Carroll found one guy who is sweating it out, he says, for a good cause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice over): Those on the east coast didn't need to see triple digit temperatures to know how hot it was. They felt it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm melting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is very hot. We're not used to this.

CARROLL: : So hot in New Jersey, a state of emergency is declared. While the in New York City, Con-Edison concerned its customers will crank up the air in their homes and strain the system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE : I do expect for isolated outages.

CARROLL: But for those living without air conditioning --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE : I don't know what I would do without an air conditioner. It's just brutal out here.

CARROLL: : Alfred Roblero lives without it in a six-floor walk- up apartment.

ALFRED ROBLERO, LIVING WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING The air conditioning doesn't work. Doesn't go up.

CARROLL(on camera): :So not only do we have the heat, we've got to now walk six flights up to your apartment.

ROBLERO: Yes.

CARROLL(voice over): City officials don't keep records on how many people there are like Alfred without air conditioners, suffering from the heat.

ROBLERO: You can come in.

CARROLL: But they do know, when the temperatures hit the hundreds --

ROBLERO: (on camera): Oh, yes, it's hot in here.

(voice over): Living in apartments like this can be dangerous.

(on camera) How difficult is it for you? is.

ROBLERO: It's terrible. Because you know most of the time, my heart -- it's bumping like -- you know, it's like -- like I need oxygen, you know. Like I need air.

CARROL: Yes.

ROBLERO: Because of the heat.

CARROLL (voice over): Alfred and his wife keep lights off, fans on, windows open. It helps, but not much.

(on camera): How hot would you say it is in here?

ROBLERO: I don't know. But probably 98 degrees.

CARROLL (voice over) :Buying an air conditioner, not an option. Instead, the extra money is need to it buy supplies for their college- bound daughter.

ROBLERO: I need something for my daughter. She needs a book or something, I have to make the decision.

CARROLL (on camera): : I see.

I prefer to take the -- you know, the heat. And provide to her.

CARROL( voice over) The city's mayor encouraging people like Alfred and his wife to spend their days, if possible, in libraries. Theatres. Or cooling centers like this one. 480 now operating in New York City. Similar sites set up in Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. But there's always those who sweat it out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had a pair of pants made out of talcum couple powder.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE : I don't mind it. I just remember what it's like when all of the snow is on the ground, and it doesn't bother me that much.

CARROLL (on camera) : Always good to keep a sense of humor when it's hot outside. Those hot temperatures aren't expected to last. We're hearing from the national weather service that the temperatures are expected to cool off by a few degrees by the weekend. But Drew, you've been in hot temperatures out here in the city before. And you know that every degree counts. Drew--

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Jason, I sure have. I'm glad I'm in this freezing cold studio. Thanks.

One game to go before the World Cup finals getting under way in under an hour. It is Germany versus Spain. The winner battling the Netherlands for the World Cup. We're going "Globe Trekking" South Africa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: In South Africa is where they're going to play this World Cup. Today's semi final match between Germany and Spain kicking off in under an hour. It's going to determine who is going to play the Netherlands and the all-Europe finals, Michael Holmes.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed it is the all Europe finals. And if Spain wins, we're guaranteed a first timer final, because Germany has won it three times, Spain has never won it, the Netherlands never won it, so if Spain, wins that's exciting for them.

But Spain was like the co favorite going into the tournament. Haven't quite lived up to the hype. The Germans meanwhile have sort of overachieved according to many people. It's a younger team, very organized, very disciplined. The Spanish are a lot more sort of fluid, if you like.

GRIFFIN: And what is real interesting about -- we say it's a all-European finish, but the German team is quite the international spread.

HOLMES: Yes I know. You and I were chatting in makeup as men do --

GRIFFIN: Men don't chat in makeup.

HOLMES: Well -- what is interesting, Hitler would take this team. Let's put it that way. 11 of the 23 players in the squad could have played for another country. And I'm talking about there's guys there who are either born in or are at -- are of parentage in countries like Tunisia, Ghana, Brazil, Nigeria, Bosnia (INAUDIBLE) their leading striker Miroslav Kossa, and Lukas Podolski, he's Polish parents. And there a Turkish player, who's a real playmaker, Mesut Ozil. So it's interesting there that the German team is really a multinational team in a way.

GRIFFIN: And they have chosen to play for Germany. Not their home--basically their home country.

HOLMES: That's right. All of them either were born in Germany to a parent from another country, or they moved there as infants. And so they grew up in the system there, and they feel more comfortable playing there.

Two guys who were born in Germany have played for Cameroon though, so they played for their home country. But-interesting little thing. When it comes to the German team, though, they have changed a lot over the last couple years, brought in a lot of younger players as well.

So it's going to be interesting to see how they go. David Villa., I think we got shot of him He's a massive striker of the ball. He's got five goals in this tournament, could win the Golden Boot, which is a big deal if you're playing soccer.

And there he is there. Excellent scorer. He's going to be the danger man for Spain. And when it comes to the Germans, as I said Miroslav Kossa, he is unbelievable, too, in fact he's No. 2 on the all-time list of goal-scorers in World Cup. He's second on the list with 14. And No. 1 Rinaldo with 15.

GRIFFIN: So just, logistics. Because something you told me I didn't know yesterday, they play for third place.

HOLMES: Yes they do.

GRIFFIN: So they'll be a concession game.

HOLMES: A bit of a slap in the face.

GRIFFIN: Hang around for another two days.

HOLMES: That's right.

GRIFFIN: When is that game and when is the actual cup?

HOLMES: The final -- the play for third place is Saturday. The big match is Sunday. So --

GRIFFIN: Sunday.

HOLMES: So that's going to be the big game, yes.

GRIFFIN: And that will bring billions of viewers.

HOLMES: It will. It's going to be enormous. In fact, a lot of people would say the two best teams are playing today. But my mate, Johan (ph) down at the pub who's Dutch would disagree with that.

GRIFFIN: Did he talk to you about that in makeup, as well?

HOLMES: He sort of talked to me at the pub last night, but didn't make a whole lot of sense, because he had been in his cup, as they say.

GRIFFIN: All right Michael Holmes, thank you so much for keeping us updated on today's semi final match.

It is not the World Cup that has a high profile soccer player making headlines, though. Up next, more on the goalie whom police believe is behind a kidnapping and murder of a pregnant woman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're going to check some top stories now, starting with breaking news that we're following. Kevin Hostler, head of the company that operates the TransAlaska pipeline. Well he's expected to announce his resignation today. We've learned that from a senior federal government source.

Hostler was a former BP executive. Earlier, Congress looked into allegations that stringent cost-cutting measures have put the integrity of that Alaskan pipeline at risk. We also have this. Judges in two states ordering five suspects charged in that Russian spy ring all be moved to New York. Two of them are being held in Boston. The other three had a scheduled court hearing in Alexandria, Virginia today. It was cancelled. Court documents show that Virginia judge wants them moved promptly to New York. There are rumors of a spy swap with Russia that we're looking into.

A Brazilian judge has issued an arrest warrant for a high-profile soccer player and one of his friends. Bruno Fernandes Sousa is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of a pregnant woman.

She's believed to have been his former lover. Five others have already been arrested. A body yet to be found.

The Justice Department charging five people in an alleged Al Qaeda terror plot. Prosecutors say the suspects planned to attack targets in the U.S. and U.K. Senior Al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan said to be behind this one.

Well, using the power of the ocean to power homes. We introduce you to ocean wave power after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Every day on this show, we do a segment called the "Big I" it's all about big new ideas, innovations ask big solutions to problems. And the Gulf oil disaster has invigorated the push for renewable energy resources.

Hydroelectric power, currently used in dams around the country. Wave power, though, uses power of the ocean to produce electricity. Take a look at this video. This is actually called Oyster. It is a wave-powered device. This is in Scotland. And this is actually creating energy by using the waves to push and pull, push and pull back against this huge thing, and I don't quite know how it works, which is why we're going to London next, and Martin Mcadam, who is the CEO of Aquamarine Power.

And you are live, sir, from London. Thanks for joining us. I want to tell you, we're going to show some animation that your company sent us as you explain just exactly, sir, how does this work?

MARTIN MCADAM, CEO AQUAMARINE POWER: Well, basically, the oyster machine is like a very large barn door, which is hinged at the bottom. And the action of the waves actually drive the oyster machine forwards and backwards.

And you mentioned hydroelectric power. We have a couple of hydraulic pistons on this machine, which pumps high-pressure water. That high-pressure water then goes on shore and drives hydroelectric turbine.

GRIFFIN: So it basically, if I'm getting this straight, it creates this kind of a loop current between the wave machine into your electric power station and back out to sea, and just creates more or less its own little river using the ocean's power.

MCADAM: That's basically it. I mean, hydroelectric power stations need high-pressure water. So what we do is, we use the Oyster machine to create high-pressure water, and that's pumped on- shore to the turbine.

It goes through the turbine, and then flows back to the machine to be pumped again. So it's a continuous loop, continually pumping and driving our turbine.

GRIFFIN: And this is working now, or is this a prototype? And if it is working now, what is the energy you're producing in terms of homes being powered?

MCADAM: Yes, this machine, it's our first-Oyster 1is our first machine. And it's installed in Scotland. That machine has been installed and operating since October last year. And the machine itself, we are developing our second generation machine, which is much more powerful. And what we see is that approximately ten of these oyster machines would power around 6,000 average homes.

GRIFFIN: I mean it's a great idea. It's a very clean idea. But as we look at the actual video of one of these large pieces of machinery in the water, there's some unsightliness to it. I wonder we're very conscious of what our views look like off the coast here. Did you run into problems like that with local community that is perhaps didn't want to see this in the water?

MCADAM: Well t machine itself, what you're looking at when you see it on, it's about 500 meters or about 500 yards from the shoreline. So you do actually see the top of the machine from time to time. The machine is deliberately painted yellow because it's a requirement of the navigation that it should be visible.

However, we are working with the local community as we always do. The key issue here is that we don't interfere with any of the recreational or economic activities in the sea. So we try and minimize that in terms of its impact. It is a low-profile machine and is much less visible than some large power stations or indeed some wind turbines which could be installed in the near shore environment.

GRIFFIN: I was going to ask you about wind turbines. The difference between the two being one the unsightliness Two, I would also assume, would be the waves - well I'm guessing here, would be a more steady supply. You don't have to rely on waiting for the winds to kick up?

MCADAM: Yes, I would have to say what you called wind turbines unsightly or even oyster unsightly, I think that's very much a personal opinion. People feel differently about these machines. But getting back to your point about waves versus wind.

Waves are actually a very good companion to wind power. The fact is that the wind output changes as the wind blows higher and lower. And most people would be aware that waves are more persistent than wind. That means that even when the wind disappears, you would continue to have wave power. So it makes a very good companion in the overall mix of renewable energy, matching very well the lows from wind with highs from wave power.

GRIFFIN: Down the line, what are you forecasting here? Would you need bunches of these various power stations along a coast to really make a dent in the energy use of a single country or could you have as many of these little -- I wouldn't say little, they're very large - these Oysters out in the water powering one plant that could handle a large population?

MCADAM: Well, basically the machines need to be laid out along the coastline. So you wouldn't have just a single power station. You'd have several smaller power stations along the coast.

The wave resource is actually enormous. It's one of the most powerful and yet untapped resources in the world. There's enough wave resource in the world to power the total world's electricity about ten times over. Now it's very difficult to harvest that energy. And with Oyster, we're taking the first step to create a commercial machine which can actually tap that and deliver clean, renewable power to the grid.

GRIFFIN: Martin Mcadam, live from London, the CEO of Aquamarine we certainly thank you for joining us and wish you luck on this clean energy project. Thank you, sir.

MCADAM: You're very welcome thank you..

GRIFFIN: Well Let's play ball, right? For a great cause an unexpected group of women are teaming up to help those hit the hardest by the oil disaster. We're going to take you out to the ball game it's after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: The wives of current and former Major League Baseball players are teaming up to raise money and awareness for people hit hard by this oil spill disaster in the Gulf. They wanted to have a little fun doing it too of course.

CNN's David Mattingly is having a little fun himself. He's live in Metairie, Louisiana, details on all this. This is certainly a respite from what you've been doing in the Gulf. DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Drew, this is one of those great events of summer you had a minor league baseball park in the middle of the summer in the middle of the week. It's is a day game, it' usually a great chance for people to come out to the park, take an extra long lunch or maybe play hooky from the job that afternoon.

But today here with the New Orleans Zephyrs the triple A team, the home team here they're sharing the field with a very important message, wives of former and current Major League Baseball players have been touring the state in a fact-finding tour learning firsthand about the impact of families that this oil spill has been having.

They were going to places like Grand Isle and other places where they were talking to families of fishermen families of oil workers as well talking about the hardships they were going through. They say it was a very big eye opening experience for them

Throughout this process, they're also trying to raise money for wildlife rescue and things like that as well. So now they're going to take all of this experience they've gained from this trip, they're going to go back to their hometowns where they husbands play or possibly work as coaches and they're going to have charitable events there, and they're going to try and raise awareness there all the around the country.

And the point they're trying to make here Drew, is this is one town but it could have happened anywhere and this is the time for everybody to pay attention what's happening here this summer in Louisiana. There's so many metaphors you could look at about the game of baseball and life in America.

This team itself is looked at as something of a barometer for the health of this community. This team, there were some doubts about whether it would come back after Hurricane Katrina. But the GM is credited with keeping this team together, bringing it back and helping it thrive in the aftermath of Katrina.

I talked to him about the future of the team now with this new economic ripple seemingly barreling down on this area here. He says they're going to be looking at next season to look at those tangible effects. If there are fewer people in the stands next year and if there are fewer sponsors buying those billboards in the outfield, then they will know that this disaster is hitting home in all possible ways.

GRIFFIN: I realize it's mid week, midday, but the crowd does look a little sparse there.

MATTINGLY: It is mid week, midday. This sort of game really appeals to groups like summer camps for kids, you see a lot of youngsters up there in the stands right now. So this game is really set up sort of geared for them, for the young kids, the groups in summer camp to come out here.

They weren't expecting a big crowd at this at all. But this really is something that they wanted to share with the wives of major league baseball to help get that message out there that there is charitable work being done and those wives are now going to be going back to their own individual towns to get something going there to help the people here.

GRIFFIN: I'm being told in my ear that somebody threw out the first pitch that we should know about.

MATTINGLY: One of the wives threw the pitch out. You know I-- from this vantage point, I could not tell if it was a strike or not. But we'll say it was just to make sure all the husbands are happy.

GRIFFIN: All right David Mattingly live from Metairie, Louisiana, thanks, David. Good story.

A new hour, swapping spy for spy, that's what's going on, a Cold war Era twist to a current (INADUBILE).

Plus, it's a scandal of hefty proportions and it' sending shock waves across Japan. We're going to take you into this sumo ring.

Also Lindsey Lohan I've got some things to say about her in my "XYZ".

We start though with weather delays in the Gulf of Mexico. Choppy waters, that's what we are told is causing problems now, keeping the containment efforts from getting hooked up.

Talking about the Helix producer. It's already partially hooked up but they can't finish the connection. And now there may be delayed until Saturday we're being told. Here's what they expect when it's finally connected. When it is all hooked up, Thad