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Texas Community Prepares to Fight Tar Balls; Google Resolves Dispute With China; Cleveland Heated Over LeBron; New Weapons in Fight Against AIDS; Crowds Protest After Verdict; Zero Energy Building
Aired July 09, 2010 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK, so the CNN NEWSROOM continues right now. And I want to ask you this question. Are you ready to go under water? You ready to dive?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We're about to do this. We're waiting for this thing to happen, don. Good to see you. Thanks so much, Don Lemon.
Hello, I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in for Ali Velshi. Let's tell you what we've got on the rundown today. We're showing you the oily Gulf of Mexico from the air, from the shore, and now we're going to take you right into it, a deep sea dive like you have never seen before. And it's going to be an exclusive to us. We're telling you more about that in a second and showing it to you hopefully here shortly.
Also, a potential new weapon in the fight against AIDS, and a potential basis for a new vaccine. HIV research might have just taken a huge leap forward.
Also, it produces as much energy as it consumes. In other words, it doesn't waste a drop. We're talking about what's called a zero- energy building. We're going to be taking a tour of one here in just a bit.
So we're going to show you all of that throughout this hour. But here we are on day 81 of this oil disaster. And I want to tell you what we are waiting on and hoping to show you here shortly. Something you have never seen before.
We, in fact, have a crew out, one of our reporters out there, Amber Lyons and also environmentalist Philippe Cousteau, are waiting now to take a dive into this oil. And when I say a dive into this oil, I mean that literally. They are going to go down and take a look. And we're going to bring you a look like you have never seen before of this oil.
Now, the point of this, of all this we're going through, there's going to be some new technology being used, some special suits they have to wear. But the point of this is to show you, and for us all to get a look and see exactly what this oil and these dispersants, which have been dumped into the Gulf, of course, to show you exactly what they are doing to the aquatic life under the water. So they are out there, right now. They're just off the coast of Louisiana. Right now, they're hopping around a different oil rig. These abandoned oil rigs. They're going to be going out there and doing their dives.
Now, the area they're using is like I said, about just a few miles off the coast of Louisiana. But it's about 50 miles away, roughly 40 to 50, I should say, from the Deepwater Horizon oil rig itself, where the whole rig explosion took place. So they are getting ready. We're going to hear from them shortly, as soon as they get down there. But this is something that CNN is going to be bringing to you exclusively.
Now, to get ready for this dive, you can't just go out there and hop into the water. They are using special suits, and they had to go through some special training. Our correspondent had to do this. A special suit you have to wear, of course, to protect her, first of all, to protect our crew, first of all, from all that gunk that's in the water. We're not sure sometimes exactly what's in there, how it's reacting, how it's treating the aquatic life, so certainly, we're trying to keep our crew as safe as possible. So they went through this special training.
But in the meanwhile, at the same time, all this oil continues to gulf -- to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. As we know, the estimates, some 35 to 60,000 barrels every single day still going into the Gulf. Live pictures. We are able to still show you.
Now, an update here about what's happening down there. Some new work is going to be taking place this weekend. That work is going to put a new seal, a new cap, on top of that gushing oil well. Now, of course, we know a cap was on there that was being able to siphon up a lot of the oil up to a ship. But this new cap is supposed to be able to siphon up even more oil.
Thad Allen believes, again, he's the admiral, retired admiral, from the Coast Guard, who is still in charge of the relief effort. But believe they could have that in place sometime this weekend, if not over the next several days, to be able to siphon up even more oil.
However, in the time it takes to take it off and put the new cap on, more oil is actually going to be gushing into the Gulf for a short time. So that's something we're going to keep an eye on over the weekend.
Also, beaches along the Gulf Coast. These tar balls, these tar patties have been showing up. And at times, actually one was spotted off the coast of Mississippi. Now, get this, folks. Imagine the size now of a bus. This tar paddy that was seen was about the length and the width of a bus. All right? So you have these big tar patties out there, and what happens is they get close to the shore. They break up and that's why they end up in these smaller pieces along the shore.
Our Ines Ferre is along the shore, taking a look out there, as she has been doing and many of our other correspondents have.
Ines, what is the view? Tell us again precisely where you are and then tell us what you are finding there.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, T.J. Well, I'm in Long Beach, Mississippi. And this is where city officials say that they saw these tar patties that were the size of buses. And as they were coming towards the shore, they would break up into smaller pieces.
And right here with me is the chief of the fire department also in charge of emergency operations, George Vass.
Chief Vass, thanks for being with us. Can you tell us -- you guys say that you saw these big patties. What are you seeing today out there?
GEORGE VASS, CHIEF OF EMERGENCY OPERATIONS: Unlike what we saw the other night, we're seeing the small tar patties come in. They're about 12 inches in diameter. They're just south of our harbor. If you look out to the south of us here a little bit and a little to the east, you can see the boom that goes around the harbor right now. We do have the tar patties approaching as we're speaking. We're mobilizing boats. We're shutting down the harbor, placing the boom around to see if we can keep them, the tar patties, from coming into the harbor like they did the other night. We've got boats out doing a further search to see if we have a larger patty.
FERRE: And part of the frustration that you were talking about was also the fact that you were watching this stuff come in, but you guys couldn't really do anything. So you're doing something different this time.
VASS: We have mobilized. We have equipment down now. We have the supplies that the folks are going to need to get on to the boats to do the collection of these tar patties. We've got the absorbent booms to try to collect the sheen to keep it from getting into the harbor. We're doing everything we can.
We do have supplies now we didn't have the other night and we have the boats. We have the operators out there. So we feel a little bit better about our attack this time. But, you know, still, it's just a daily onslaught of this same thing, and it's working from one end of the beach to the other.
FERRE: And what goes through your mind when you're seeing this stuff?
VASS: It's -- you know, what's going through our minds now is this is going to be a pattern in our life until they get the well shut off. And then how many days after the well is shut off will this continue? You know, so -- it's just going to be a part of our everyday work.
FERRE: Thanks so much, Chief Vass. Thanks for being with us.
VASS: Thank you.
FERRE: And T.J., I also spoke to the mayor earlier, and he said the frustration is, you know, workers come out here, they pick up the tar balls, and then the next day they have to come out here again and keep picking them up -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And that's the way he just described there, is that, in fact, they will be doing this for quite some time. It's a part of their daily life now.
Ines Ferre, we do appreciate you. Appreciate you bringing that to us. Thanks so much.
And again, as we've been telling you here, we are standing by, waiting on that dive to take place. And when we are able to get that unique view from below the surface of the water, we will certainly bring that to you. Again, something you will only see here on CNN.
Meanwhile, our Chad Myers standing by with us, as well. He's helping us navigate this oil disaster story.
And also, keeping an eye, and telling us more about what we can expect in this dive. Stay here with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Welcome back here. Over with Chad Myers. We're talking about this deep sea dive. We are waiting for what we believe is going to be one of the first, if not the first, live feed we are going to get.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: First live.
HOLMES: Live feed from under there. We're waiting for our correspondent, Amber Lyon. She's out there with Philippe Cousteau, as well. But you're a diver yourself.
MYERS: Yes.
HOLMES: What can they possibly encounter down there that's going to be different from just your regular dive? I know they have these special suits on, as well.
MYERS: There are toxins down there, right? I mean, literally, toxins. And that's what they're going to be encountering. That's why they have to have this suit on. That's why they have this white Hazmat suit on. There's polyurethane on the inside, polyurethane on the outside, and rubber kind of in between. It's unlike -- see all this extra space that's in there? See how this doesn't fit her body? This is air. Air bubbles in there. And this is the risk of being a dry suit diver, is that the air could be in the body. There's body -- air everywhere.
If this person, if this diver, doesn't do it correctly, you can get all the air in your legs. All of a sudden, the air legs are up in the air, your body is going down, and you're going -- you realize this is not what I wanted to be. So this is why she had to go through all this extra training in the dive tank to make sure that she could control the air. Unlike when you're in a -- you ever been to the West Coast and been in a wetsuit?
HOLMES: Of course.
MYERS: So you're in a wetsuit. It sticks to your body. There's no air between you and the wetsuit, whether it's 3 millimeter, 7 millimeter, or farmer John, whatever. It's right stuck to your body, and you don't have this issue with bubbles going different places, making your arms go high or your legs go high.
So the difference between what she's doing now is that you can't get a wetsuit to be a hazmat suit. You must have this encapsulation of your body in dry air in between you and the wetsuit itself and the dry suit. The outer part of this dry suit.
You also can't just put this regulator that's hooked to this tank. You just can't put that regulator in your mouth like you can on a regular dive, because then all the oil and all the water is going to be everywhere, except right around your lips, right? So you have to be in a mask. You have to be in another top part to keep your face dry, because you cannot, obviously, be touching this hazardous material. It's under the water, whether it's COREXIT, whether it's the oil, whether it's anything else than oil, because we talked about that story a little bit ago. I think you might have been just coming in, how oil breaks down into many different things.
HOLMES: How difficult is it to move around in this thing? And we know wet suits, not the heaviest thing in the world, but what about this? How difficult is it to just navigate around in those things?
MYERS: It's pretty heavy.
HOLMES: OK.
MYERS: It's probably 30 to 40 pounds. And she's probably 105 pounds, soaking wet. So this is adding 40 percent to her body weight right here, walking around, you know.
And so -- plus, if you get too much air in your legs, it could pop your flippers off, pop your fins off and a number of things. And it's special training between a wet -- just a regular diver compared to a certified dry suit diver.
And dry suits are typically used at 30 degrees, 33 degrees in a river, in a -- wherever you're going, you must do something in water that you wouldn't be doing, and it's not summer. If you must stay warmer than a wetsuit can hold.
HOLMES; And you said control the air. How is a diver supposed to control the air?
MYERS: Well, think about what you're doing as you're going down if you just have a regular BC on, a buoyancy compensating vest. You go down, it gets smaller. You get heavier. You add a little air. Then you don't go down as much.
The problem is, when you go down, you get more pressurized. The pressurization is pushing this air bubble together, making the air bubble smaller. Therefore, you're going down faster. So if you don't put a little more air in this bubble, then you're just going to keep on going. Right?
So you put too much air in this bubble, you're going up. What happens if you go up? The bubble gets bigger. Bubble gets bigger, so do you. You pop up out of the water like "Hunt from Red October" when the submarine is trying to go out. That's completely dangerous, as well. You can't be doing either one of those. You can't go up uncontrollably; can't go down uncontrollably. Both of those are dangerous situations.
HOLMES: Dangerous situations.
MYERS: They're only going about ten feet.
HOLMES: OK, not far, ten, twenty feet, maybe. They're looking for the oil down there.
MYERS: Right.
HOLMES: Again, they just switched spots. Again, they're doing this from these unmanned -- these abandoned, I should say, these oil rigs. So they're moving to another spot.
And, again, Chad just explained, and we appreciate that breakdown, Chad. And this is why this is very dangerous and serious stuff. We're expecting something we'll be able to show you live, like you've never seen it before. So we will be checking with your crew out there in the Gulf right now.
Meanwhile, federal responders hoping to take advantage of a new aerial weapon in the fight against the oil. This is a U.S. Navy blimp. We can show you here now. It's 178 feet long. This is known as the MZ3-A. It flew from New Orleans toward Mobile, Alabama, this morning. Could take its first flight to survey the disaster area from above, weather permitting.
Officials hope the blimp will reduce the time between spotting oil and getting skimmers to the scene. So this thing could be very helpful.
Also n CNN tonight, at 10 p.m. Eastern, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, live from the Gulf. New look at the devastation, the latest tonight. Again, Of 10 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Well, Google. That's been in a big fight with China for months. But today the standoff, we're told, is over. We'll tell you exactly what happened. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Do you remember that standoff between Google and China that was going on for a while? It was an issue of censorship. The Chinese government wanted to censor some of the things, some of the results you could find on Google. Well, the standoff, we're told, Christine Romans, is over. Is this thing truly over? All sides happy with how it worked out? Or is this going to pop up again in the future?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, I would not go that far. I would say, you know what? These two were standing on the great firewall of China, and they both have taken a step back from the edge, if you will.
HOLMES: OK.
ROMANS: It looks as though Google could go dark in China. I mean, it could lose its license to operate completely as a company there. And they have resolved that conflict for now with the Chinese authorities.
And Google tells us that we are, quote, "very pleased that the government has renewed our ICP." That's Internet content provider license. "And we look forward to continuing to provide web search and local products to our users in China."
Uncensored Web searches will still be available, T.J., through Google.com.hk, which is the Hong-Kong-based service from Google. But they renewed their license, the government renewed their license, so that Google could provide some other products to the Chinese mainland that do not require censorship.
So the censorship issue is still there at its core. You're still going to have to be rerouted through Hong Kong to get an unfiltered view of what's happening. But at least they have stepped back from the brink.
And I'll tell you that -- that the stock, Google stock, is up about 8 percent here today. The stock has been hammered for much of this year for a variety of reasons. But one of the reasons is that there are concerns about, you know, Google just not having access to the biggest and fastest growing Internet market in the world, which is China.
And remember, it all started in January, when Google said that -- they said, "We're not going to -- we're not going to play by those rules. We're not going to censor our Internet searches, and it has been, you know, a six-month struggle between a government and a big company.
HOLMES: But no matter how much Google would like to stand on principle on this issue, at some point, you're going to stand on paper. And when I say paper, I'm talking about money. Because that is a big market that they need to have access to.
ROMANS; So some of the analysts say that maybe they have $300 million in sales in China right now, which is, you know, vending machine money for a company like Google, right? I mean, that's just such a small percentage of what it brings in. But it's the potential in this market.
And investors have been very kind of restless about Google for some time now, because this is a company that is the Internet giant. It is the search engine giant. And what's its next big thing? What's it going to do? How is it going to continue to grow at the pace that it has been? And investors are getting a little impatient.
And so, yes, you're right, that they look to this particular end of this standoff with China and at least today they're pleased about that.
HOLMES: Well, this particular end is going to impact other companies or even Google, how any of these companies do business down the road.
ROMANS: Here's the interesting thing. I mean, I think this censorship issue in China is still going to be alive and well. Because as the Internet has matured, so has the Chinese government's ability to scrub different websites, to look at what people are looking at to prevent people from seeing certain things.
And as the netizens, as they're called, in China get more savvy and figure out creative ways to get around the censors in China, the censors get more savvy and find other ways to scrub and control information, as well. So I think this is a story that we're going to still be talking about for some sometime, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, look forward to talking to you about it down the road. Good to see you, as always. You have a good weekend, dear lady.
ROMANS: Yes. You, too.
HOLMES: You can, of course, catch more of Christine along with Ali Velshi on "YOUR $$$$$." That comes on at -- Saturdays, 1 p.m., Eastern Time. Also, Sundays, 3 p.m. Eastern.
Meanwhile, let me give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines right now. A navy blimp on the move today to help in the Gulf oil disaster. Flying from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama, to survey the site. The goal is to help cut the time between spotting oil and getting the skimmers to the scene. Also, Admiral Thad Allen says a new containment cap could be installed by this weekend.
Well, some debt collectors may be breaking the law as they try to collect on past due bills. Harassment complaints surged 50 percent last year, could climb higher this year. The Federal Trade Commission says not only are some of their practices inappropriate, but could you be downright illegal, as well.
And a spy swap between the U.S. and Russia now complete. Both countries exchange the agents on chartered planes at an airport in Austria. U.S. expelled 10 Russia agents yesterday. Russia freed four people who had been jailed for spying for America.
Well, Cavs fans out there took it kind of personally. They had every right to, though, didn't they? Their hometown hero is gone. Now, they are telling him where he can really go. Yes, a lot of trash talking going on out there. Secret strategies, failed fortune telling. It's all next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEBRON JAMES, PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: Just going to take my talents to South Beach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: "Take my talents to South Beach." He is going to Miami. LeBron is le gone. And some people are le mad today. In particular, in Cleveland. I don't know if they're so mad or just hurt by how this all went down.
Now, we have seen all this play out. You might have gotten tired of this LeBron mania, watching him every single step of the way, where is he going to go? And now there's a new -- a whole new element to the story. And that's the reaction to it.
But a lot of people predicted correctly, that, in fact, LeBron would be going to Miami. Max Kellerman was not one of them. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The predictions, everybody has got a prediction. You think what?
MAX KELLERMAN; I think he's going to the Knicks. I think that, when you divorce the commentary from the information that's come out, the information consistently leads me to the conclusion he's headed to the Knicks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, Max. We had to do you like that, buddy. Sorry about that.
KELLERMAN: You didn't do me anyway. I did it to myself.
HOLMES: You did. And you shaved today. We should note, we should point out, he shaved today, as well.
But Max, good to have you back. Your initial reaction, you said he was going to Miami. Those reports were out there. Good move or bad move. Let's just talk about as a career move, good or bad move for this young man? What do you think?
KELLERMAN: You know, it depends what your priorities are. We were talking on the show yesterday. Though not with you, but we were -- I was -- you know, what's most important to him?
If what's most important to him is winning as much as possible, right away, Miami was the place to go. Because if you pair -- look, there's three guys in the NBA where, if any permutation of the two of them are on the same team, they're going to win. Kobe, LeBron and Dwyane Wade. If you get two of those guys on the same team, it's going to be a tough team to beat. Then you add Chris Bosh, maybe now Mike Miller. You're got Pat Riley in front office, maybe coaching, who knows? That's a dynasty. They put together -- they put together the redeem team, basically, minus Kobe Bryant.
HOLMES: Done deal. You sound like you're saying done deal. These guys are going to win championships for the next ten years.
KELLERMAN: T.J., take it from the guy who told you definitively he was going to New York yesterday.
HOLMES; Of course.
KELLERMAN: Yes. No, I do believe that -- I believe that, barring catastrophic injury, they will -- they are -- they will be a dynasty. Look, I just saw the nucleus of this very team play in the Olympics, and it was the best team I saw play anywhere since, you know, the original dream team, since the Chicago Bulls were running things. I don't know, since when?
HOLMES: OK, Max, have we seen anything like this before? And will we see this again, where it seems like the players got together and took a lot of power out of the hands of the owners and the GMs, and they decided, "Hey, we are going to build something, and we are going to take this league over for the foreseeable future"?
KELLERMAN: I love that question. I really do think it's a labor issue here. The NBA management -- you know, the league has consistently crushed the union in negotiations. The player union, right?
And so they have this onerous salary cap, which is basically a redistribution of wealth from the players to small market owners. Essentially, that's what it is. And it makes player movement difficult.
And here three guys got together, three young guys, and they orchestrated things in a way where they took control of their own destiny. And if you even think of where they wound up in Miami, why is Pat Riley in Miami? Because he wanted management to give him a piece of the team when he was in New York. They wouldn't do it. He said, "See you later." Management gave him a piece.
So there is this very interesting labor issue underneath all this. But you know, I think that really what we see here is a bunch of young guys. They want to play together. They want to win. They want to live in Miami. Who can blame them?
HOLMES: Who can blame them? At 25 years old, who wouldn't have taken that deal?
But we've got to talk about what's happening in Cleveland now. And a lot of people, yes, are angry, but a lot are hurt. I want to read a couple things from the owner, Mr. Gilbert. He put this, and I know you're familiar with it now. He posted this yesterday. And we had to check this out, because some of the words he used, we -- you couldn't believe it. But I'm going to read a couple of things to share with our audience. I'm going to ask you about it, Max. But he says, "Our former hero, who grew up in the very region that he deserted this evening, is no longer a Cleveland Cavalier. This was announced with a several-day narcissistic, self-promotional build-up culminating with a national TV special. This shocking act of disloyalty from our home-grown chosen one sends the exact opposite lesson of what we would want our children to learn."
Now, those are some really strong words by the owner there in Cleveland. But can you blame him? Was it just a matter of not that this young man left, but it's how he left his hometown folks?
KELLERMAN: It -- there's so much to parse there. I mean, it's an emotional reaction. And you kind of like that an owner would take that -- have that reaction in a way, because he's venting, and he's giving voice to the frustration of the fans. And it's kind of legitimizing that frustration in some way.
But I -- he may live to regret a few of the things he said, especially that he guarantees Cleveland will win a championship before King James in Miami. Because I'd like to guarantee right now that Miami will win like five championships before Cleveland wins one.
Look, of course they're devastated in Cleveland by what happened. It's -- you know, if you're a Cleveland Cavs fan, you're upset. But LeBron James doesn't really owe them anything. He put seven years in there, took them to the finals with really an inferior team. I mean, that team had no business in the finals, minus LeBron James. He wants to win. He wants to win championships. He wants to live his life.
This is a guy, by the way, who never went to college. You know, he looks at Dwyane Wade and guys like this, they had that experience. He never had that.
HOLMES: But Max, he could have just gone to Cleveland and said, "Hey, guys, I'm not coming back. This is why." But to hold -- to string everybody along, some people would say, and the decision, and this whole one-hour special and just call up Cleveland. He didn't even call the owner and say, "You know what? I'm not coming back. Here's why." Just the way he -- and a lot of people said he gave them the middle finger on live national television. Some people described it in that way.
KELLERMAN: He should have. He should have made the call. It's the right thing to do. And you can understand the frustration. But I think the larger kind of -- in the bigger picture, the kind of vitriol directed at LeBron James in the media, I think, is a reflection not so much that we're mad at him for the way he has conducted this narcissistic, as was written, kind of show.
But the fact that we were so interested in it, you know, he can't conduct himself this way and it won't be on live national TV if we weren't hanging on every word. We were. And even though sports is a trivial subject, we don't always treat it that way.
And when we don't, and we catch ourselves being that deeply emotionally affected by it, we're upset. But I think, if anything, we're upset at ourselves for kind of being played at fools. You can't be played as a fool if you're not all in. You know, if you're not completely, emotionally vested in something that maybe you shouldn't be.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people were and they are dealing with their emotions today. Max Kellerman predicting five championships over the next several years and of course, you can take Max's predictions to the bank as we all. Max, good to see you, buddy. You have a good one. Enjoy your weekend.
KELLERMAN: You too.
HOLMES: Well, we have a major breakthrough to tell you about. This is something that might be one of those moments in HIV research that we will look back on and say, this was the moment.
Could this be a game-changer? We're talking about new antibodies that have now been found. That's just the beginning though. We're getting into it in just a minute. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And a live look right now. Beautiful shots as we see along the Gulf of beautiful beaches. But you look out in the distance a bit, and what do you see? You see boom. That is letting you know that, in fact, this oil disaster continues.
That is a beach in Mississippi, Long Beach, Mississippi, in particular, where they are starting to see more and more of these tar balls. These tar patties, as they're described, show up. We are standing by. We are hoping to bring you something here live on CNN. Something you haven't seen live before.
And we have one of our correspondents and also environmentalist, Philippe Cousteau, out there right now getting prepared to take a live dive. When I say a live dive, they're diving, but they're going to be able to send us back live pictures of what they're seeing.
You see our correspondent there, just showing kind of that new -- that wetsuit, a hazmat suit they're going to have to wear in diving down into the Gulf and showing some of the dispersants and also some of the oil and how we're hoping to find out -- this is having an if he can on the aquatic life there.
But, again, this is something we're going to be able to bring to you here exclusively, again, a live look. And you're going to be able to see it, live pictures, of this dive as it takes place. When that happens, we'll certainly bring it right along to you.
Meanwhile, new news we're getting in medicine right now. A possible breakthrough in HIV research. Some new antibodies have been found and that could possibly help fight this disease. This new information was published in the "Journal of Science," and it could be instrumental in the race to help us develop an HIV vaccine.
I want to turn now to Dr. Anthony Fauci. He's director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. Sir, thank you for being here.
And before we get into the details of what the discovery was, put it in perspective right now for us of how I guess big of a milestone possibly or how big of a hope this now gives us moving forward. Just I guess how significant of a find this is and then we'll get into the details of exactly what this find was.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR , NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, it certainly is very important. An important advance conceptually in the sense that it's opening up the door for us now towards a vaccine. Sort of the light at the end of the tunnel that we can see.
So in its potential, it is very important. The reality of the proof of the pudding would be when we do get a vaccine that works in an individual. But clearly, this is a crisp way towards the path to that vaccine.
And that's the reason why scientists are rather excited about it. Even though it's really a conceptual breakthrough, as opposed to something you have in your hand that you can now give to a patient.
HOLMES: All right, with that perspective now, we'll get into exactly what it is. We have antibodies found and also the method used to find these antibodies. So let's start with why the significance of these antibodies, and how we discovered them in the first place.
FAUCI: Well, one of the unusual things about HIV is that the body does not mount a very good protective response, an antibody response, for reasons that are not clear. Whereas any other infections, even the bad ones, like small pox or polio or measles, you can get sick, but ultimately, the body mounts a response that would clear the virus and protect you against subsequent exposure.
And we use that as road map to get a vaccine. HIV/AIDS is different. It is very rare that an individual will make a very robust response that would block virtually all the isolates of HIV. Scientists have found an individual who happened to have these antibodies, which is quite interesting.
But what they did in an ingenious fashion was figure out a way to identify the cells in the body that make that antibody, identify them and make them make a lot of antibody that in and of itself can be used so having antibody in your hand that you could use for prevention or for treatment is good in and of itself.
But the real important part about this discovery is they are now able to identify on the HIV virus precisely that component that you want to use as a vaccine. So that you get rid of all the other noise that gets in the way of a very specific directed response. They have been able to do that now.
HOLMES: Well, where did -- or how did they discover this individual, and this -- their explanation for how his body, how he was able to produce these antibodies? FAUCI: We screen individuals all the time, particularly those individuals like this person who seemed to be doing very well, looking for clues, looking for immune responses that might direct us to why a particular person does well.
What was very important about this discovery is that we find neutralizing antibodies in a fair number of people. But not to extent that they're so potent that they can actually neutralize 90-plus percent of all the HIV isolates that we have been able to identify in the laboratories.
So this person stood out as really quite unique. And because of that, the scientists will be able to do the manipulations that are now leading them directly precisely to what they need to make from the HIV virus to use as a vaccine.
HOLMES: And we talk about using the vaccine and we're talking about these antibodies. But are we talking about something that can lead to simply treating people and have them living longer with HIV or are we talking about an actual vaccine that can prevent it in the first place?
FAUCI: We're talking about an actual vaccine that can prevent it in the first place. This it person was infected with HIV and was making the response. What now the next step is, is to take that part of the covering of the virus that we now know, when you make an antibody to it, you make very potent antibodies.
And use that as a vaccine to vaccinate people who are not infected to prevent them from getting infected. So the real work ahead now is how do we get that particular product in a form that when we inject it into someone, they will make these very potent antibodies.
HOLMES: Fascinating stuff. A significant find like you said on both fronts. The antibodies themselves and then this finding the method, quite frankly, for getting a body to duplicate this and to produce these things.
Dr. Fauci, we always appreciate having you on. Thank you so much, and looking forward to following this down the road.
FAUCI: Very good.
HOLMES: All right. Well, you've been keeping up this as well. It had all the suspense, the intrigue of a spy novel. Could be the biggest spy swap since the cold war?
We're taking out the players. Also, checking out the gang. We are going "Globe Trekking." That is next.
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HOLMES: Well, in our "Globe Trekking" segment today, the destination is Vienna, Austria. Let me bring that back for you. Let's try that again. Vienna, Austria right there. And we're talking about what may be the biggest spy swap since the cold war.
It played out there in Vienna today. Ten members of a Russian espionage ring operating in American cities were exchanged for four Russians convicted of spying for the U.S. They arrived in Vienna. They were on separate planes, one came from Moscow, the other was from New York City.
Vienna has played this role before actually. The city was the center of cloak and dagger intrigue during the Cold War, as well. After the exchange, the Russian plane returned to Moscow. Four Russians boarded the other plane and they flew to Britain.
The undercover Russian agents in this country pleaded guilty yesterday as acting as unregistered foreign agents and ordered expelled from the country. The other four Russians signed admissions of guilt and were granted pardons.
Hundreds of people were in downtown Oakland yesterday, and they were upset after a verdict that was read hours away in Los Angeles. We'll tell you about the case (INAUDIBLE).
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HOLMES: Taking a look now at some stories making headlines. President Obama trying to drum up support for Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid. Reid is in a tough battle to keep his seat, but also his state, Nevada, has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 14 percent.
Also, Miami Heat fans, they did not waste any time. They scooped up tickets after LeBron James announced his decision to head south. The team has sold all of its currently available season tickets.
While Miami, happy, Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland not so much. And the owner of the Cavaliers is kind of the spokesperson right now for that city in a lot of ways. He blasted LeBron James for what he called a cowardly betrayal and also LeBron James poster outside the arena in Cleveland came down today.
And actor Chris Kline expected to be arraigned on drank driving charges today. Police arrested the "American Pie" actor last month after spotting him weaving on a Los Angeles freeway. Kline allegedly failed a sobriety test. He is charged with two misdemeanors. His rep says Kline checked himself into a rehab facility.
These are now to "Crime & Consequence" and the verdict and the fallout from a high profile police shooting case in Oakland, California. Hundreds of people were in the streets yesterday to protest a Los Angeles jury's verdict.
The jury convicted white former transit officer of involuntary manslaughter, instead of a more severe second degree charge in the death of an unarmed black man.
Oakland police say at the high point of the protest around 8:00 last night, the crowd was at around 800 people. And when we checked today, police arrested more than 80 people in all. Charges including failing to disperse, resisting arrest, burglary, vandalism. The family of the shooting victim, Oscar Grant, called the verdict an outrage.
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WANDA JOHNSON, VICTIM'S MOTHER: My son was murdered. He was murdered! He was murdered! My son was murdered. And the law has not held the officer accountable. Even though the system will famous and let us down, God will never fail us, nor will He let us down. And I will trust in Him until I die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The former officer, Johaness Mehserle has maintained he intended to draw his taser rather than his gun during that incident. He didn't show much emotion. His sentencing set for August 6th.
The conviction carries a maximum of four years, but a judge could add on more because a firearm was used. The case was moved to Los Angeles because of all the pretrial publicity that was in Oakland.
More now on the victim. Oscar Grant shot while lying face-down on an Oakland train station platform on New Year's Day of last year as another officer kneeled on him. He was among several people removed from the train after a fight. Grant had worked as a butcher at a supermarket near the train station. He was 22 years old.
Well, stay with us. We're going to show you a building that produces as much energy as it consumes. Again, the building produces as much energy as it consumes. Stick around for the tour.
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HOLMES: Well, every day here on the show, Ali bring you the big "I." The big idea and we got (INAUDIBLE) for you today.
How about a building that actually produces as much energy as it consumes? This is what they call the zero energy concept so this building in particular is out in Colorado, in particular, Golden, Colorado, this is a research support facility. It's actually owned by the government, but it's the largest zero energy building in North America.
Now about 800 employees work in this thing. It costs about $64 million to put together and it's 222,000 square feet. But, again, as impressive as the numbers are, the most impressive thing, again, you can't emphasize it enough, zero energy. It produces as much as it actually uses.
The guy who designed the energy elements, his name is John Andary. He's the managing principal at Stantec joins us now.
Sir, good to have you with us. How does it do it?
JOHN ANDARY, MANAGING PRINCIPAL, STANTEC: Well, zero energy building is a building that creates more energy renewably than it uses when measured over the course of a year.
In the case of this building, the key is that the building is designed to use very little energy. In fact, about 50 percent less energy than a typical building built to code and then we have renewable energy source on the building in an adjacent parking area in the form of electric solar panels to provide that renewable energy source.
HOLMES: But what else do you do in the building? It sounds like I heard you there you designed the building not to use a lot of energy in the first place. That's one element.
But the other side, you actually do things in this building and designing it in such a way that it's producing energy. You're talking about the solar panels, but what else is in that building that it actually helps to produce energy?
ANDARY: Well, the solar panels produce the energy. The elements of the building that save energy or reduce the energy use in the building are very -- many of them very, very simple, centuries, thousands of years old techniques.
Call us back to the future where you have a very narrow building four plates that allow the sun to penetrate the building and fully daylight all the work spaces. We have windows that are operable so that you can naturally ventilate or naturally cool the building.
And then we have the building oriented the proper way to the sun so those long narrow (INAUDIBLE) of building are facing south and north and that is -- really key and important to the design of these low energy buildings.
HOLMES: And now for some small business owner out there or maybe medium-sized business owner or a large business owner who would like - who might be hearing this and say, is that going to be something I can do to my building? Is that going to be something quite frankly I can afford? Can we take this concept and start quite frankly use it on every building?
ANDARY: Well, I certainly think that the answer to that question is yes. What we've done here is have a collaborative effort of a number of very, very talented design professionals and construction professionals that were tasked by the National Renewable Energy Lab -- NREL -- to produce the building that could be a zero-energy building and would use very little energy.
The way that we're doing this with the renewable energy source is there's a special way that we're contracting with an outside entity to get those solar panels on the building at zero cost. That's kind of the critical piece of that. Getting the dollars down on the construction, on the first cost construction.
HOLMES: Getting the dollars down. Let's just do apples to apples here. This building, $64 million, this one in particular. Let's say you didn't design it the way you did without this zero energy and people just build it to normal codes where we're all used to. How much would that same building have cost?
ANDARY: Well, there's a comparison that was done of buildings in the Denver area, and the building kind of fell in the middle. There are some class "A" office buildings that are more expensive on a square foot basis than this building.
So that comparison has been made and again, the point is that there's the technology. We have the technology. We have the brainpower to design these buildings if we're being asked to do that.
HOLMES: All right, some of video we were showing there or the graphic we were showing there, that's the cost - that was how much per square foot there as well.
But again, back to my issue about some of the small business owners, do a lot of people need to be put in the right mindset to ask for this, to go this route when you're starting to put together a building, starting to get the blueprints together, do a lot of business owners just not think to go this route because maybe they think it's too expensive or it's just not on their mind?
ANDARY: I think that it's probably a combination of both. This is a groundbreaking building that I think America can be proud of what the government is doing here.
They're proving that this can be done. Building owners are sometimes very skeptical of new technologies and new ways of doing thing and I think this proves that we have a functioning building that can be zero energy at a reasonable cost and it's critically important to our energy economy here.
HOLMES: All right, last thing, what about the month-to-month, your maintenance costs, your energy costs as you go month to month?
ANDARY: Initially, the cost of the panels, of the solar panels are the cost of your energy -- until those panels are paid off. And then, of course, there's zero cost.
HOLMES: All right, well, John Andary, interesting concept. It's working right now in Colorado. So thank you so much. We'll see you down the road.
ANDARY: Thank you very much.
HOLMES: All right, we're going to take you to South Africa. A lot of story lines coming out of there. The World Cup final, a couple of days away, but people want to talk about an octopus for some reason.
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