over the years, we've reported on the more than half a

million u.s. servicemen and women who served in iraq and afghanistan and are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. >> i couldn't make sense of it, but -- >> tonight you'll hear ptsd can be contagious. >> the worst of it was in seventh grade. i kind of decided that my family would be better off without me here. on the banks of the rhone river by a tranquil city park sits the highly secure global headquarters of interpol. 196 countries are members of interpol and share important intelligence about worldwide criminal activity. but there are questions about why some of those countries are still part of its alliance. >> i'm just trying to understand how a country that is being investigated for mass murder can be a member in good standing with interpol. this is a tasmanian tiger,

or was a tasmanian tiger. most scientists believe the apex predator to be extinct. but like big foot and the loch ness monster, plenty of people believe otherwise, that this tiger is still roaming this beautiful island. >> all of a sudden, we heard a mighty howl like this. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm bill whitaker. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm sharyn alfonsi. >> i'm jon wertheim. >> i'm cecilia vega. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories tonight on "60 minutes." if you have generalized myasthenia gravis, picture what life could look like with vyvgart hytrulo, a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90 seconds. for one thing, could it mean more time for you? vyvgart hytrulo can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you.

do not use vyvgart hytrulo if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients. it can cause serious allergic reactions like trouble breathing and decrease in blood pressure leading to fainting, and allergic reactions such as rashes, swelling under the skin, shortness of breath, and hives. the most common side effects are respiratory and urinary tract infections, headache, and injection site reactions. it may increase the risk of infusion-related reactions and infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart hytrulo for gmg and picture your life in motion. (♪♪) if it's been a minute since you've been to panera, you might not want to wait a second longer. more new sandwiches and salads,

more in every bite, and more new options under $10. enjoy free drinks all summer when you join panera's unlimited sip club today. (husband) we just want to have enough money for retirement. enjoy free drinks all summer (wife) and travel to visit our grandchildren. (fisher investments) i understand. that's why at fisher investments we start by getting to know each other. so i can learn about your family, lifestyle, goals and needs, allowing us to tailor your portfolio. (wife) what about commission-based products? (fisher investments) we don't sell those. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in your best interest. (husband) so how do your management fees work? (fisher investments) we have a transparent fee, structured so we do better when you do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different.

summer savings are on the way! wayfair's fourth of july clearance is here and it's the talk of the neighborhood! because now through july 7th, you can save up to 70% on everything home. yes! save on finds for indoor and outdoor, and get surprise flash deals you don't want to miss. and get it all with fast shipping straight to your door. save up to 70% off with wayfair's fourth of july clearance now through july 7th and amp up your summer with savings! ♪ wayfair. every style. every home. ♪

two million americans served in afghanistan and iraq, and at least 600,000 have been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. for the most part, the u.s. is doing better, recognizing and treating these wounded warriors. but less well known are millions more who are in need but remain hidden. they are the children living with injured veterans. in a profound sense, ptsd can be contagious. many children have become caregivers, confronting depression and fear. and tonight, you will hear that the stress can be so great it can lead to attempts of suicide. as we first reported earlier this year, two courageous families spoke to us so that others can know that help is on the way for america's children of war.

>> in 2011, chuck rotenberry was a marine on patrol in afghanistan, when an improvised land mine detonated a few feet away. >> which sent me down the hill 20, 30 feet, knocked me out, caused catastrophic injuries to the marine behind me and the marine behind him. >> reporter: it was roten berry's second combat tour after iraq. >> what happened to the marine behind you, who had stepped on the ied? >> he lost both his legs above the knee. >> you and the medic put the tourniquets on him. >> yes, sir. >> you saved his life. >> i helped out, yeah. >> reporter: when rotenberry came home from his seven-month deployment, his wife, liz, was pregnant with their fourth child. chuck was suffering with a brain injury from a concussion and ptsd. >> chuck was struggling to just be in the house because he was

dealing with so many emotions, mentally and physically. he was hiding in, you know, back rooms, and i'd find him crying. and he didn't understand why he was crying. >> i didn't know whether i was coming or going. >> chuck kept a video diary, as he dealt with self-isolation, anxiety, depression, and denial. >> one second i'm up super high, the next, i'm not. >> chuck, who was that man who came home? >> in my head, it was me. but i was very far from it, i think. >> at age seven, his son, kristopher pitched in. over the years, he tried to shield his dad from triggers that set him off and shield his sisters from the emotional trauma.

>> i just worried about a lot of things, things that kids, i guess, at that age should not be worried about. and it kind of evolved into kind of like a helplessness. >> he was becoming almost like my husband. there were times where he wouldn't be able to go to school because he was so stressed internally from everything happening. and i don't think he knew how to process it and understand it. i knew kristopher was starting to struggle with the weight of it all. >> the weight grew, as kris turned 12. >> the worst of it was in seventh grade. i think i kind of decided that, you know, my family would be better off without me here. i remember looking back on those days. it was just chaos all the time.

and i -- i remember taking my -- one of the dogs' leashes upstairs and tied one end to the bunk bed that we had, my little brother's bunk bed. and i tried, you know, hanging myself. and it was working, and my mom walked in on me kind of, and i think i was, kind of, about to pass out. i was, kind of, you know, losing consciousness. >> walking in and seeing what was happening to him and what he was really struggling with, i knew everything else had to stop. everything just had to stop. and my focus had to be kristopher. >> liz became the warrior, fighting for her family. kristopher went to intensive therapy. then he and his sisters enrolled

in a clinic for military children confronting ptsd. >> it's hard, as a military family, to own that, when you're built with such pride and strength. and you're seen as resilient, as the word is in our community. but it's okay to not be resilient. and it's okay -- it's okay to ask for help. >> therapy saved your family. >> it did. >> reporter: little was known about families like the rotenberrys until the wife of a wounded warrior spent ten months at walter reed national military medical center. elizabeth dole, former senator and transportation secretary, heard these families, while caring for the late senator, bob dole. >> i met all these young spouses, mothers, dads, who were caring for their wounded warriors. i don't think america is aware of what's happening. most americans have no idea

what's happening in these military families. less than 1% are serving in the military today. less than 1% are protecting our freedom and our security. and it's so important for us to raise awareness of their challenges and their needs and provide them support. >> dole created a foundation that commissions studies of military caregivers. the studies discovered that more than 1 million are caring for those injured during the wars since 9/11. nearly half said they were overwhelmed. >> you know, they felt guilty really that they were leaning on their children so much, needing their support, and that this was causing problems for the children. there are 2.3 million children living in the homes of wounded warriors. >> reporter: one of them is elizabeth cornelius. >> and i just need to make sure everybody's okay because if my

mom isn't okay, everything is going to just fall. >> reporter: elizabeth has helped her mom, ariel, as long as she can remember. even before she was born, her dad brought terrifying memories home from a combat tour in iraq. ariel told us his first episode came with a pizza delivery. >> the delivery man came up to the door and knocked on the door. and you know, my husband didn't expect it. he had an immediate flashback and threw me to the floor and was yelling, get down, get down, get down, get down. >> even with that, he deployed to iraq again in 2007 and to afghanistan in 2011. ariel is a schoolteacher. her husband is completely disabled by ptsd. he can't work and wasn't up to speaking with us. 17-year-old elizabeth has become something of a coparent to a

brother and a sister at home in montana, shielding them, she told us, from episodes and arguments. >> i just try to shield them as much as i can, as my mom did for me. and she did it for a very long time. >> a lot of it falls on myself, and then she goes out and helps pick up the pieces that i can't. >> reporter: her husband's worst crisis came on the anniversary of an attack that killed several of his fellow marines. >> oh, gosh. he was extremely suicidal because of all the memories that came back. he was barely hanging on. it's just that regret. it's the flow of memories that come in. >> reporter: extremely suicidal, but ariel found beds for inpatient mental health care can be scarce. >> you know, helena is an hour and a half to two hours away. casper, wyoming, is eight-plus hours away. and they didn't have a bed. we then looked at idaho.

they didn't have a bed. we looked at oregon. they didn't have a bed. we still ended up having to wait three weeks before he could get the support he needed in puget sound, washington. and, you know, that's ten hours away. >> three weeks during this time you felt like he could commit suicide. >> at any point in time. and we couldn't get help. >> reporter: chasing care in a crisis and navigating government health insurance raised stress for everyone. >> it's rough on her because she's been on the phone for hours and hours reading pamphlets trying to find us help. >> in 2018, elizabeth dole watched president trump sign a law that expanded v.a. benefits for caregivers of the severely disabled. it offers a stipend, access to health insurance and counseling. the dole foundation studies found that at least 100 other

organizations are providing support, which now include the dole foundation itself. steve schwab is the ceo. >> how does the foundation help these children? >> one of the first things that we do is we offer emergency financial support to anybody who needs it. second is peer support. we're building a first of its kind peer support model that will link these children with other children like them for the first time in their lives. we offer on-the-ground respite care, backup care in the home to provide a trained health care worker to come in and back up that mom or dad so that that family can take a break together. >> reporter: one dole foundation partner called our military kids paid fees to help keep the cornelius children in sports. their mom, ariel, says that even the little things help her husband. >> he is an amazing man, and i can't wait for him to get past -- i know he'll never get

past the ptsd, but for him to heal enough to enjoy life and to be able to enjoy the family dynamics and just being around. >> you have hope for that? >> i sure do, yeah. >> reporter: today, liz rotenberry leads a dole foundation initiative to train caregivers to be public advocates, for example, on capitol hill. husband, chuck, is recovering and works as a dog trainer for the secret service. and son, kristopher recovered and has applied to follow his father into the military. >> after all the things that kris did to help the family during your troubles, what would you like your son to know? >> first of all, everybody -- everybody that's in my life now, i wouldn't be here without them. i tell him i love him all the time.

and he replies. but i never really say why. watching him grow, being aware of other people, there's plenty of proud dad moments for me. but i'm proud of you every day. all the time. you owe me nothing but to be happy. >> more than just about anything, these families told us they want the nation to simply see and know the children living with disabled vets who are, in a sense, still fighting america's post-9/11 wars.

>> reporting on the toll of war. >> certain symptoms of ptsd kicked in. i didn't know what was going on with me. >> at 60minutesovertime.com. (soft melodic humming) ♪ oh there was a tree, ♪ ♪ down in the woods ♪ ♪ the prettiest tree, ♪ ♪ that you ever did see... ♪ ♪ now we all have roots ♪ ♪ and roots help us grow ♪ ♪ we water where we live plant seeds here at home ♪ ♪ grow jobs, grow skills ♪ ♪ so what's good makes more more fact'ries, more farms ♪ ♪ more goods on the roads what we make together ♪ ♪ makes the whole world go. ♪ ♪ make the green grass grow all around all around ♪ ♪ make the green grass grow all around. ♪ at jpmorganchase,

the investments we make help make businesses happen that make jobs happen, that make communities happen. together, we make momentum happen. deep down, i knew something was wrong. since my fatigue and light-headedness would come and go, i figured it wasn't a big deal. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light- headedness can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. holding off on seeing a doctor won't change whether or not you have afib. but if you do, making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. contact a doctor and learn more at notimetowait.com

my dry eye's made me a burning, stinging, 5-times-a-day,... ...makeup smearing drops user. i want another option that's not another drop. tyrvaya. it's not another drop. it's the first and only nasal spray for dry eye. tyrvaya treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease fast by helping your body produce its own real tears. common side effects include sneezing, cough, and throat and nose irritation. relying only on drops? not me. my own real tears are my relief. ask your eye doctor about tyrvaya.

if you're a fan of crime novels and movies, you've probably heard of interpol. the international police organization was started 100 years ago, when 20 countries, including the u.s., came together to fight international crime. today it has 196 members, connecting the new york police department, scotland yard, police in moscow, mumbai, manila. but, as we first reported in january, for all its good work, interpol has been accused of doing the dirty work of some of its more repressive members.

russia, for one, has used interpol to track down people who have run afoul of president vladimir putin. last year, we visited interpol in leon, france, and found an institution trying to navigate the treacherous path between policing and politics. >> reporter: on the banks of the rhone river by a tranquil city park sits the highly secure global headquarters of interpol. for the past decade it's been led by a former vice president of the german police. >> it's still the same, kicking police for a safer world. >> as interpol's secretary general, stock manages operations in leone and regional offices on five continents. 900 employees work at the leone headquarters. many are police officers on loan from member countries chosen for their expertise. they don't carry guns or make arrests, but rather collect and share information with law enforcement agencies around the

globe. interpol also has bureaus in each member country, including one in washington, d.c., managed by the departments of justice and homeland security. >> so, what is the main mission of interpol? >> i would describe it as an information broker. we collect, we invite member countries to share information. we do analysis. we enrich the information. interpol's information is leading to arrests of high-level criminals, murderers, drug traffickers, those who are abusing children all around the world. every single day that happens. >> reporter: last year, interpol coordinated a crackdown on human trafficking and prostitution, operation global chain, that led to 212 arrests in 22 countries and the release of more than 1,400 victims forced into criminality. it's been going after one of the world's most powerful crime organizations, italy based --

thanks to interpol the second most wanted man in italy was arrested in brazil after 23 years on the run. >> we were able to identify him through images that were shared that allowed us to be sure it was the guy. >> tattoos? >> tattoos. >> cyril gout, a forensic expert from the french national police, oversees 19 massive databases, which are queried 20 million times a day. they are a compendium of crime, piracy, fugitives, elicit firearms, stolen travel documents. >> my role is to make this information available to the end users. >> your members. >> the member countries of interpol. but for me, the customers, the end users. these are the police officers who want to arrest those major criminals and providing them with actionable information everywhere around the world.

>> reporter: interpol has a number of ways to alert its members, including a yellow notice for missing persons, a black notice for unidentified bodies. perhaps most important, the red notice, a closely guarded list of 74,000 of the world's most wanted fugitives. with the suspect's name, picture, fingerprints, details of the alleged crime, and the country seeking the arrest. >> the red notice is not an international arrest warrant. that is also very often misunderstood. >> how would you describe it? it seems like it's a digital wanted poster. >> yes. it's an alert that we are disseminating that somebody is wanted by a member country. >> reporter: each notice is vetted by a task force secretary general stock created to make sure it doesn't violate rules forbidding the use of interpol for political, religious, or racial persecution. but the vetting is not foolproof. >> some of interpol's more repressive members take advantage of red notices, using

fabricated charges to locate, detain, and extradite people they want to get their hands on, like political dissidents or innocent people who have merely displeased powerful officials. >> like any information sharing system, the information you get out is only as good as the information you put in. >> rhys davies, on the left, and ben keef are barristers, british lawyers, who help people accused of crimes to navigate interpol's complex bureaucracy. >> our clients come to us and say, we've been accused in a particular state of a criminal offense, which has been fabricated for political reasons. and interpol has just taken this at face value, issued a red notice. >> reporter: both concede interpol does a lot of good, despite a yearly budget of $170 million, which is about the size of the omaha police department. >> the constitution says they are meant to believe their member states. so, when a member state -- russia, china, turkey -- whose

rule of law is often non-existent say to them a particular person is wanted for a criminal offense, they are bound by the constitution to aleve them. >> does interpol view all the information that comes out of all of them as equal? >> this is one of our main frustrations is the interpol don't penalize countries properly. >> they were never in that club. >> they were never in the club. when a country is clearly egregiously breaching the rules and manipulating the system on a gross scale, they don't suspend them. they've not suspended russia. russia is still an active member of interpol. >> reporter: russia accounts for nearly half of the red notices interpol makes public. according to a russian police official, its interpol bureau in moscow helped arrest and extradite more than 100 criminals in 2021 and in 2022 helped nab the founder of the world's largest dark net criminal marketplace called hydra.

but some of the information russia gives interpol is suspect. members of congress, human rights groups, and the european union have labelled russia a serial abuser of red notices. >> so, russia is widely viewed as being fairly brazen in its attempts to manipulate the system. the famous example we talk about is bill browder. >> reporter: bill browder is a london-based, american-born financier. he made his fortune in russia but has spent the last 11 years on the run from president vladimir putin, after he and his lawyer exposed corruption by russian government officials. his lawyer was arrested and died after being beaten in a moscow prison. browder was convicted in absentia on suspect fraud charges. the kremlin turned to interpol to bring him in. >> so, how many times, by your count, has russia tried to arrest you by way of interpol? >> eight times.

i must hold the guinness book of world records for the number of times they've tried to abuse interpol. >> reporter: his closest call came in 2018, when he was visiting spain. >> i opened the door of the hotel, and outside the door, just about to knock, is the manager of the hotel and two uniformed officers from the spanish police. i pull out my passport, i hand it to the -- one of the two police officers. and he said, you're under arrest. and i said, what for? and he said, interpol, russia. >> reporter: the hotel manager told him to collect his things from the bedroom. once out of sight, browder grabbed his phone and sent out this tweet. >> at the time, i had about 100,000 followers, and i tweeted out, urgent, being arrested in madrid, spain, right now. >> that was quick thinking. >> this is not the first time i had this worry. they'd been chasing me with interpol for a long time. i'm sitting in the back of the police car, and because they hadn't taken away my phone, i took a picture of the back of their heads.

>> reporter: he sent this picture in a second urgent tweet, in the back of the spanish police car going to the station on the russian arrest warrant. >> what were you hoping to accomplish? >> i'm hoping to wake the whole world up to the fact that i'm being arrested. i didn't want to be slipped into the back of a russian jet and sent off without anyone knowing where i was. >> what did you think was happening or was going to happen? >> if i was sent to russia, i would be killed, no question about it. >> reporter: while browder stayed locked in a holding cell, his tweets went around the world. >> the chief of police comes back with a translator and says, we've just gotten off the phone with interpol general scretariat in leone. the warrant is no longer valid. you're free to go. >> wow. as a result of your tweets? >> as a result of the tweets. >> are you fearful that this could happen again? >> every time i cross the border, my heart starts beating a little bit faster.

>> reporter: we asked jurgen stock why, after all this, russia hasn't been suspended from interpol, especially considering the u.n. is investigating russia for war crimes in ukraine. >> i'm just trying to understand how a country that is being investigated for mass murder can be a member in good standing with interpol. >> interpol introduced some measures when the conflict started to avoid any political abuse of our systems. but we also decided to keep the channels of information open. >> reporter: russia is hardly the only country to use interpol to do its dirty work. bahrain, for example, used interpol to nab a professional soccer player, an outspoken critic of the government at the bangkok airport in 2018. he spent two and a half months in a thai prison. china used a red notice to arrest this chinese uyghur activist in morocco in 2021. he remains in prison awaiting

extradition. and qatar issued a red notice for the scottish engineer in 2022 over a disputed $5,000 bank loan. he spent two months in an iraqi prison. all of these red notices were eventually rescinded but not before lives were upended. >> i don't know how to characterize the people who get caught up in this. are they collateral damage? >> no, i would never call that collateral damage. and we are investing all we can to ensure that every piece of information in our databases are compliant with our rules and regulations. >> but you know and we have heard of incidents where people are languishing in jail because of erroneous information that was sent out by interpol. >> i'm not saying that the system is perfect. we see wrong decisions on the national level, and we have seen wrong decisions also at interpol. that is correct a small number

of cases. >> reporter: interpol admits in 2022, 304 of nearly 24,000 wanted person alerts were found to violates its rules and were eventually denied or deleted. the organization declined to share which countries were the worst offenders. >> there are well-documented cases against russia, china, turkey, united arab emirates, for repeatedly abusing the interpol notices. why not name and shame these countries? >> because we believe this is not in the interest of international police cooperation. you need to have a platform where information is being collected from different parts of the world, where criminal groups are operating. we want to provide a channel even between states that have diplomatic difficulties or even are in conflict. our decision is not to police a member country in terms of their human rights agenda. that's not our role as a technical police organization. >> that's not justice.

that is not justice. we get it right most of the time. >> british barristers rhys davies and ben keith say if interpol is to survive another 100 years, it must learn to police itself. >> we're concerned about the rule of law and human rights, and interpol are concerned about trying to catch people who are allegedly criminals and let innocent people get caught up in the middle. it feels like that's the price they're prepared to pay for catching the bad guys. and we think the price paid is far too high. if you have wet amd, you never want to lose sight of the things you love. some things should stand the test of time. long lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision and can help you go up to 4 months between treatments. if you have an eye infection, eye pain or redness,

or allergies to eylea hd, don't use. eye injections like eyla hd may cause eye infection, separation of the retina, or rare but severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye. an increase in eye pressure has been seen. there's an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. the most common side effects were blurred vision, cataract, corneal injury, and eye floaters. and there's still so much to see. if you are on eylea or a similar type of treatment, ask your retina specialist about eylea hd today, for the potential for fewer injections. - let's see what we got in this fridge. ask your retina specialist about eylea hd (gentle ambient music) - what's a recipe using what i have in my fridge? - guys, let's do some trivia. - oh yes. let's do that. - absolutely. let's do this. - i'm gonna win. - summarize this. - it starts with an empty prompt. - i was right! - good job. - next question. - and the most advanced ai at your fingertips.

(bright music) when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri.

there's the loch ness monster in scotland. and in the himalayas, there's the yeti, the abominable snowman.

in tasmania, the tear drop of an island under the eye of the australian mainland, there's the thylacine, a creature we first reported in april brings out folklore and folks armed with grainy images convinced they've seen a thing. unlike mythical creatures, the thylacine, or tasmanian tiger, actually indisputably existed. the size of a small wolf that roamed the island as recently as last century, which gives the hope to so many obsessives and true believers looking for the tasmanian tiger in the bush, and as you'll see, in the lab. this is a story that says so much about human nature as it does nature nature. even in the face of science and logic, passion survives in the wild just fine. >> you've been doing this how many years now? >> i've been doing this for over 30 years, and every day is an adventure. >> all right. here we go.

>> getting there wasn't easy, but adrian "richo" richardson, a retired military man turned self-declared tiger seeker, retraced his steps. tramping around the dense outback of tasmania on january 28, 2017, 12:45 p.m., he heard the sound. >> and then all of a sudden was this almighty howl like this. i was gob smacked. the hairs on my arm and my neck stood on end. and as that call finished, another one come from the other side of the forest, another howl like that. >> what did that one sound like? >> exactly like -- >> richo craned his neck but saw no creature. still, he's sure of what it was, a tasmanian tiger. >> the whole environment went quiet for about a minute. it was an unbelievable feeling.

i just can't explain it. >> you're still emotional talking about this. >> look, i'm going to remember that call to the time i die. then i had to try and prove to others what i'd heard. >> reporter: when he returned to his home in hobart, tasmania's capital, he didn't go to the pub to share his account. he stayed up at his desk. >> what my passion is the thylacine. i know it's there. >> and this only reinforced your faith. >> oh, without a doubt. >> one slight hitch, one crimp on the barbie, as it were, the creature richo described so vividly and breathlessly, it was declared extinct almost 40 years ago. >> thought maybe it's a dingo. maybe it's a wolf. >> in tasmania, we do not have anything remotely like it. we do not even have wild dogs in any form. the only feral thing we have

around here is deer or cats. >> i don't think deers are making that noise you just made. >> no, sir, they did not. >> the tasmanian tiger roamed these parts for thousands of years. more wolf than tiger, it was/is a marsupial weighing about 55 pounds. >> the tasmanian tiger. >> reporter: it was also a carnivore that preyed on farmers' sheep. recalling the fate of the wolf of the american west around the same time, the local government paid out bounties to hunters presenting carcasses. the population dwindled one, captive at the zoo, where it died in 1936. with the required 50 years elapsing without a confirmed sighting, the tiger was put on the extinct list in 1986. yet putting the mania in tasmania, the search became a national obsession. in the tasmanian tiger, not the tasmanian devil, became a local mascot.

its image adorns tasmania's coat of arms and government buildings. here's the island's current license plate. at local watering holes, the regulars put down their tazzy tiger beer long enough to tell you they've seen the animal, or know someone who has. >> held a torch on it for 40 seconds, i reckon. >> when nick mooney was a biologist, it fell to him to investigate the various tasmanian tiger accounts. now, in retirement, he's the islands unofficial arbiter. >> i know several people who have got classes of cameras in very remote areas, serviced remotely by satellite, and who go and check on the cameras with their own helicopter, all sorts of things. >> you moved way beyond the guy with binoculars saying, i think i may have seen something. >> oh, absolutely. >> reporter: he can't help notice, no one ever quite captures a clear image. still, reported sightings come

by the thousands. >> have you ever got a report that gave you a little pause? >> yes. sometimes people are dead accurate with the times, the places, the distances. and very good naturalists often don't exaggerate. they take their skills very seriously. and it's very hard to say to those people, i don't think you saw a thylacine. >> reporter: for the devoted army of seekers, the investment isn't just one of hope and time. each year, richo spends more than he cares to admit dollars on trail cam batteries alone. >> how much money have you sunk into this obsession? >> sir, i wouldn't like to speculate, and please don't tell my wife. >> make it our secret. >> she often asks and i go don't -- can we stop that one? can we read through that one again?

>> reporter: in the bush, we met another enthusiast, chris rehberg, and approaches the search in the manner of a csi detective. >> apart from the cameras, i gather you've been scouring for prints, fur, even poo. >> yeah, everything. footprints is a big one. i found a series of 18, 19 individual steps in a track line that are an excellent match for tassie tiger. not only are they an excellent match, the quality of the prints is pristine. check it out. what's the animal been eating? >> there are even tracking collectives. richo was part of a booth richardson tiger team. >> thank you for joining us on what we believe is a historic day. >> which made worldwide news in 2017, after calling a press conference to announce a sighting. but when they provided this

image as proof, nick mooney assessed it as a chance but not an official confirmation. >> what is the middle ground? you can be right, you can be lying, or what? or you can have an illusion. >> and there's all sorts of ways that our memory can be affected by time. i've had lots of talks with psychiatrists and detectives trying to figure out this. you really often have to make a choice, a personal call in the end -- >> to essentially tell them they're wrong and their mind is deceiving them. >> you can't tell them that because you don't know. if you weren't there, you don't know. >> richo and the other seekers won't have to wait long. they won't even have to go into the bush if a group of tech investors and biologists deliver on their goal. andrew pask comes to the quest armed with a microscope. in his liger lab. >> envision that day when you're not wearing another pin. >> 100%.

i think about it all the time. it would be like to be in that landscape and to see one walking past in the push, an actual one rather than a crappy photograph. >> tell us exactly what you're doing. >> we can't magically bring the tasmanian tiger back. we have to start with a living cell and then engineer our thylacine back into existence. you find the closest living relative to your animal that has gone extinct. for us, that is a small marsupial species called the fat-tailed -- >> a developmental biologist, pask has raised $15 million for a de-extinction project that recalls "jurassic park." in partnership with american company, colossal biosciences which counts -- wait for it -- leonardo dicaprio, paris hilton, and even the cia among its backers. he's adamant he'll replicate the genome and turn it into a much larger tassie tiger. we'll let him explain.

>> we examine all of its dna. we compare that to the dna of your extinct species, the tasmanian tiger, and we look at everywhere that those two genomes or those two piles of dna, if you like, are different. and once you've identified the differences, it's just a matter of then going in and making all of those edits to turn your fat tail dunnart into a cell. >> you're saying that dunnart is closer than the tasmanian devil. >> that little dunnart is a ferocious carnivore even though it's very, very small. and it's a very good surrogate for us to be able to do all this editing in. >> reporter: a native of minnesota, kris helgen is director of the australian museum research institute in sydney. he understands the push to deextinct the tassie tiger. >> this is one of my favorite mammals. >> really? >> and i love all mammals. i am a mammal guy. this is a special, special animal. >> he took us upstairs to his

lab to show us why. >> so, this is tasmanian tiger of the 19th century. >> see the stripes, see the thick tail, see the gaping mouth with the sharp teeth. >> what do you make of this de-extinction effort with respect to the tasmanian tiger. >> i would be the first person to line up to see this animal if it could be somehow brought back from extinction. >> that said, helgen is the skeptic, gently explaining that wishing tassie tigers were running rampant doesn't overcome science. >> the idea that you could actually tweak the dna of this mouse-sized animal into making this apex predator of australia, it stretches imagination in many different ways. this is an impossible project. >> we all love optimism. we all love innovation. >> what they're saying is we're going to modify the genome of a dunnart to create a genetically modified dunnart that might look

a bit more like a thylacine. maybe we'll be able to tweak it genetically and it gets bigger. maybe we'll be able to tweak it genetically and it has some stripes on it. but there's about 1,001 steps in between. >> helgen has thought about the source of the current tassie tiger obsession and wonders how much is driven by remorse. >> it's a special symbol about australia and about what we've lost. we've had a lot of extinctions here in the last 100, 200 years. 30 mammals alone. so, in the united states, only one or two mammal species have disappeared entirely. >> why aren't people taking this seriously? and why are people investing so much in this? >> so many people have the dream, if we can just get this animal back. maybe it would help us think different about extinction or the guilt that we might feel of having removed such a special animal from the planet, whether, you know, they imagined it might

be still hiding in tasmania or in a lab to be reborn. there is this burning hope. >> richo reckons that if his countrymen in the dna sequencing labs can resurrect a tassie tiger, good on them. but regardless, he'll continue coming here. faith unshaken, he's certain this animal, most famous for being extinct, is not extinct at all. >> if someone accused you of being obsessed, would you plead guilty? >> certainly. i am up to that. your honor, i am guilty. > you're a tasmanian tiger obsessive. >> i am, indeed. it's been my love. >> why is that? why have you continued to search so long for this? >> i just know it's there. i do. in my own heart, i know it's there. >> and if it isn't there, well, we say, what's the harm in searching? coming to the planet's subbasement, bush bashing this gorgeous terrain, there are worse ways and places to spend your days.

cbs sports hq is presented by progressive insurance. andrew catalan with you in detroit. we're at the rocket mortgage classic. australian cameron davis won a thriller, his second career pga tour win. in european soccer, england survived against slovakia, and spain defeated georgia. for 24/7 news and highlights, visit cbssportshq.com. see? homequote explorer lets you easily compare home insurance options so you can get what you need without overpaying. yeah, we've spent a lot on this kitchen. oh, yeah, really high-end stuff. -sorry, that's our ghost. -yeah, okay. he's more annoying than anything. too bad there's mold behind the backsplash. [ sniffs ] yep, that's mold. well, then, let's see if we can save you some money with progressive. guess how much i originally paid for this fireplace? 23 bucks. materials and labor.

just ignore him. you got bamboozled! type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration,

which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? ask about the power of 3 with ozempic®. hi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. some people say, "why should i take prevagen? i don't have a problem with my memory." memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight. i started noticing subtle lapses in memory. i want people to know that prevagen has worked for me. it's helped my memory. it's helped my cognitive qualities. give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

- lift the clouds off of... - virtual weather, only on kpix and pix+. i'm sharyn alfonsi. stick around. another edition of "60 minutes" is coming up next. [announcer] introducing allison's plaque psoriasis. she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. allison! over here! otezla can help you get clearer skin

and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. ♪♪ [announcer] with clearer skin girls' day out is a good day out. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla.

russia has