>> eric: welcome to assignment 7. today on our program, investigating the worst bay area oil spill. exclusive audio recordings. plus michael finney shows you how to save $500 on your mortgage and a bay area doctor's surgical procedure. >> we're now hearing what happened in one of the worst environmental disasters ever in san francisco bay. 55,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled when cosco busan hit a bay bridge support tower. we obtained the audio recordings of that day. >> the fog was very thick. the cosco busan captured the

audio giving orders to the ship's crew. >> crew had spent concern about setting sail in such low visibility. for some reason, he returns to the electronic charts. he can see the channel and bridge, but he had difficulty recognizing a common symbol. a red triangle. >> what is this? oh, i see. >> take a look atchart. electroc chart. these are images from that day. now koda believes that he is telling him was the opening between the two towers, it's actually the delta tower. >> he slams into the tower

ripping a cash 220 feet long, 14 feet high, eight-foot deep into the cosco busan. he essentially hit what he was aiming for that morning. he was aimed on a signal that he misunderstood. >> we had exclusive interview with the lead investigator and the head of the criminal investigation division in san francisco. they told me this case should serve as deterrent for all bar abilities. >> make the right decisions. make sure you have all the facilities about faculties before you make a catastrophic mistake. >> with miscommunication. i felt was the center was the pier. >> the ntsb found koda did not disclose to the u.s. coastguard all his medical conditions and

that one probable cause of the accident was the pilot's degraded performance from using impairing prescription medication. he wound up serving ten months in prison for violating the rules. more than 55,000 gallons of fuel oil spilled from the cosco busan. pilot took over on for him told him how bad it was. >> the spill killed thousands of birds, affected marine animals and halted crabbing and fishing. >> company that owns the cosco busan pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and falsifying documents. they paid a $10 million fine and $44 million toward the cleanup. i called john koda for an interview and reached his wife and he last not returned my phone call.

>> eric: federal budget action is falling on nasa but ames is being spared. >> nasa's budget has been cut by $59 million but the leaders are accentuate go the positive. >> this year will man curiosity the rover ever on mars and continue to develop critical tests on the james ware space telescope. >> but it's the telescope that is creating a tidal wave of budget cuts. the the successor to the hubble space telescope, it's going to cost $6.2 billion. some projects will be postponed such as a man landing on mars 20 years from now. >> there was mission to pursue electric propulsion, precursor missions to astroids and mars

and back to the moon. those are going to be put on hold. >> the research center will see the budget increase slightly to $711 million compared to this year's $690 million. part of the reason is the cost to maintais old building. nasa estimates 80% of the buildings have gone past their expected life span. >> it's going to take time. that is a big worry, with the agency. >> they are also working on top priority projects such as development of an automated system. cuts will be made elsewhere. >> we have a goal to reduce administrative costs by hundred million dollars and we are well on our way to meeting that. >> nasa ames has 2500 employees. that number is not expected to change with the next budget

year. >> eric: more carmakers are recognizing the need for electric cars as gas prices continue to go up. in the coming year, 14 new pure electric cars will be released. a drive to discover a universal car charger. >> this partly disassembled car is not plugged in, it's being charged. they have been dogged by the charger. at the turn of the century there were as many plugs as cars. the this was a problem for public garages and for drivers who had to worry whether that destination would have the right plug socket. >>er know, i drove one for four years. for the first time they have standardized on a single charger. level one which uses a common 120 volt after plug but is slow. level 2 which requires a dedicated 240 after charger but

is four times faster. level three, and d.c. quick charge which are not intended for home use but super fast, 30 minutes for a full tank. this should provide a boost for electric sales everywhere. in the u.s. more than a hundred projects are underway building thousands of car stations from the u.s. department of energy. >> in the meantime, one technology company thought, why get away with the plug entirely. >> a tooth brush is charged something called induction. it doesn't need to make contact with the electrical wiring, just whoever near it. the toothbrush is there and embed these in the roadway and these halos could charge your car while you drive. qualcomm is says tinge the system in london. richard hart, "abc 7 news".

>> eric: up next a bear watch at lake tahoe. plus.... >> did you want to beat the bank at that you are game you need to know how they make credit decisions. >> if you wince every time you pay your mortgage, how to save hundreds of dollars every month. ha you called to switch us to anthem yet? honey, how can i call now, i can barely hear a thing with amber's band practicing. ♪ you're right, we've had enough. but i know exactly what to do. you take care of the music and i'll switch us to anthem. sometimes you just have to pull the plug. ♪ sorry, grandpa, we'll try to keep it down. i just...

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>> eric: this year's weird weather has made confusion for lake tahoe's bears, warm-cold weather is bad news for bears. dan ashley explains. >> dan: when they take a walk near lake tahoe she does not expect to see any bears. they should be hibernating but this year things are out of whack. >> we went some that went to bed and woke up. >> there are 200 volunteers help

bears share the basin peacefully. they should be tucked in their dens. it follows a summer which was the best ever for the bears. that is best in very few confrontations with people. last year was heavy snow which created a lot of natural food. >> the water started to flow and green occurred, someone flipped a switch and the bears and it was quietest summer we've had on record. >> during a bad summer, the bears get 150 calls a day from people reporting bears looking for food near homes and businesses. last summer, they only got 10-15 calls a day. >> i thought something happened to all of them. we went out looking for the bears, we thought, are they okay? indeed, they were. their coats were gorgeous.

>> but if we don't get more snow soon, this summer could be rough for bears. >> they will be knocking on our doors and trying to get into our refrigeraters. >> hungry bears are smart, break through windows and doors and causing serious property damage, they are not likely to hurt a business. >> people think they are dangerous. no one has been killed by a black bear ever. >> plenty of bears have been killed. wildlife officials have determined they are nuisance. bear league has worked to prevent that by teaching people to handle garbage on properly. they also provide training for bears, scaring them away from urban areas by shooting guns that make noise but don't kill. >> anne believes you can get a

bear to change it's habits but the dry winter will make them hard to stay out of trouble. >> we consider they our animals and we want them alive. >> eric: to get the very best home loan you have to know the rules and then play the game. many think in this economy you are stuck what you got. that is not really true. michael finney explains. >> a third of all homeowners have enough equity to refinance their homes but don't. >> they i won't be able to borrow money or won't be able to refinance because it's verydifft difficult, but that is not the case. >> if you know the tricks you can save tens of thousands of dollars. adrian is the founder and ceo of credit sesame.com. >> if you want to beat the banks you need to know how they make credit decisions.

>> reporter: so this this is a san francisco based mortgage broker. >> the lender decides what rate based on your equity and income is good and credit score is good. >> let's start with equity. if you bought your home before the downturn, your interest elevate probably 6% or above. our example will be a median priced home in san francisco which now goes for $650,000. if you have 20% equity, your loan amount is $520,000 and monthly mortgage payment is around $3,117. a fairly simple refinance at 5% and it drops to $2,791. nice but just the beginning. for instance, has your credit score been hurt by the down economy? >> first ten point in the credit score could mean thousands of

dollars. the usual advice is to pay down your credit cards, but there is an easier way. increase your credit limit. the credit scoreblem isn't how much you owe, but how much you owe versus available credit. ask for higher credit limits. get your usage below 30% and you could be looking at half percentage rate drop. now $2,634. now most will get you along. >> here is the secret. 21% equity can get you a great loan. >> instead of, let's say you want to borrow $80,000 on a $100,000 home and you knew the rule and you were able to borrow $79,000 to stay below the 80%. it's better to be00 4%.

>> once the loan to value drops below 80%, some banks show the love with an additional rate drop. if you have thequit or an our example can pay down to $513,000 you could get that 4% rate and your monthly payment drops to $2,451, you just saved every month, $666. >> the idea here is to get the process started. then search for those little tweets that make even more. i'm michael finney, "7 on your side". >> when we continue, a new green era, up at crissy field. controversial procedure that may be an alternative to traditional knee replacement but some

>> eric: a huge collection of electric cars is on display on crissy field in san francisco. it's a demonstration where we're headed in the years ahead and among some experts and some students. >> in the corner of the parking, it may be the biggest gathering of electric cars crissy field has ever seen, all here for one reason, free electricity. >> it's basically getting free gas. >> but except without the gas on a sunny breezy day like this one er running throuthe power runnih the cables is literally coming out of thin air. >> right through the golden gate steady wind, no fog blowing in

or out, it's ideal. >> he is one of engineers behind the quite turbines with similar panels will charge cars and provide half the power for crissy field center. the power to lift them into place didn't come from fossil fuel, it came from a group of students that is what is now their science project. >> high schoolers are monitoring the tower generating wind and reporting findings back and the impact on wildlife. >> keeping track and monitoring if any birds do get injured. >> it's meant to protect birds. >> instead of moving this way and that way, so that means that the birds won't get sucked and die. >> generating teachable moments as they generate electricity is the reason why they put them here.

>> it will be an exemplar is the state of lity. >> it's awfully quiet, isn't it? >> yes. >> we could all use a little education. a bay area has opened a first clinic dedicated to miniscus transplant. carolyn johnson reports, some doctors are cautious about the procedure. >> wobin had several knee surgeries but she was facing knee replacement. >> i still don't believe a knee replacement is something that right. >> instead she chose what was a newly emerging alternative, a miniscus transplant, one taken from the cadaver.

>> my husband and i four months later took a bicycle tour. >> you have two types of cartilage in the knee. >> kevin stone ovens performs the tech neat what he called biological knee replacement. the procedure which we first profiled in 2008 involves the resurfacing of damaged cartilage. >> you need to repair the surface and not just replace the miniscus. >> since our initial report. they have opened the first dedicated transplant center in the country. they perform the scurrying on more than 200 patients and several major insurance companies cover all or part of the procedure in specific cases. >> slowl logic by logic field is growing, growing in acceptance, as well. >> while miniscus replacement may be gaining wider acceptance, it's still controversial. some think it's too risky. >> i have taken so many that

have failed, young people and really not a good outcome. >> dr. susan lewis is an orthopedic surgeon in sports medicine clinic and a failed transplant can cause additional damage to the knee. >> if they fail, again you have this large piece of tissue flapping around in the knee and it doesn't tolerate very well. >> what is clear that the use of artificial knee replacement says surging as americans exercise longer and harder, more than half a million procedures are performed every year. his duggests that suggests thata successful transplant could provide relief for ten years allowing younger patients to postpone it until later in life. >> we think the future of joint replacement and future of joint care is on the by logic side, tissue side and plastic is very

old. >> eric: still ahead. an n.f.l. player scores big in a san francisco neighborhood he grew up in. how he is giving back to his community.ededededededededededed

>> eric: often the news in one san francisco neighborhood focuses on crime but there is plenty of things going on in bay view hunters point. a young man that is now an n.f.l. player giving back to his community. >> you see eric write at bay view hunters point.

>> i think giving back it's all part of the game. it's what you have to do, it's your social responsibility. >> he is a defensive back for the detroit lions but his heart belongs to san francisco, particularly to bay view hunters point. >> eric wright grew up in this community, right around here. >> i had both my mother and my father in my life. they helped out tremendously throughout the course of my life obviously. they got me in a positive direction. you still have to deal with the elements that is outside your own house. >> his program will match teenagers at the "y" with mentors like sean tanner that can help them. >> education and opportunities. >> wright will lend his name and resources and guest speakers and other potentially life changing activities. mike is the mentoring

coordinator. >> we want to support the youth and focus on their strength and support their abilities be successful. take the right steps. >> perhaps some day be a role model. >> be a cool guy. >> this program is still recruiting mentors. carolyn tyler, "abc 7 news". >> eric: if you would like more information on the stories on our program today, go to our website at abc7news.com. that is you'll for this edition of assignment 7. i'm eric thomas. i'm eric thomas. >> finding strength in faith. the shooting at oikos university becomes a message of healing in faith in bay area churches.

>> the mike wallace interview. >> he asked the tough questions for 60 years, and tonight, we remember mike wallace. i'm alan wang. -thatis there a prize in there? is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are ose great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪