education, such as south africa and eye raublg, everywhere such as. everywhere like such as. get on board, america. as for all you pageant haters, pull out a map and see if you can find yourselves on theo r ridiculist. piers morgan live starts now. >> this is piers morgan live. tonight what would you do to stop a mass killer? i'll talk exclusively with the killer who made the ultimate sacrifice and turned in their only son. he bought an assault rifle and was planning to shoot up a walmart and movie theater. now, morgan spur lock is back and in the chair. wait until you see what happens when he goes to work in a gun shop. and the guy who did this?

>> once in a lifetime, baby. >> oh, my god. >> yes, he hitched a ride on a 30 foot shark. he'll tell me what possessed him to do it. and jeff corwin tells you why you should never ever try this at home. i don't suspect many of you were thinking about it. seven people were shot to death in chicago this weekend. police say a total of 41 people were shot in the city. in one weekend. meanwhile, joe biden delivers a progress report tomorrow. white house efforts to reduce gun violence across the country were so far -- as far as i could work out, result in absolutely nothing. joining me now, two people who risked everything to fear what they think could be a mass shooting. he had been committed seven times to mental institutions, because those commitments were not court ordered he was able to legally buy an assault rifle. he planned to shoot up a walmart

and movie theater. if convicted he could face the be possibility of life behind bars. blake's parents join me now. welcome to you both. let me start with you, if i may. this story, and the reason ien watted to have you both on, just about gets to the very heart of the real problem with the gun violence toll in america. that is the appalling way the mental health system in america deals with people exactly like your son. tell me when you realized that blake had serious mental issues. >> i wouldn't say that blake really has serious mental issues. blake has been hospitalized seven times. it started in 2008 when he was diagnosed with depression.

at each hospital visit they diagnosed him with something different. they would change his medicine, they would keep him on the same medicine. we never really had a correct and steady diagnosis, it was something different each and every time. and sometimes the medicine would affect him in different ways, make him manic, make him more depressed, make him suicidal, homicidal. each hospital visit was a different diagnos. which just, you know, led to the events that happened last fall will. >> and just to put this incident into proper perspective. we go back to 2009, soon after he is first receiving treatment, as your wife just said, very, very different treatments each time he went in. in 2009 he goes into a walmart near where you live, i believe, he was carrying a butcher knife

and a halloween mask. he picked out an employee and said he hoped police would shoot him before he was taken hostage. he was taken to an inpatient facility. cut to last november, he went to the same walmart where he did this, and he was legally allowed to buy an assault rifle. by that time, he had been committed seven times to mental institutions, and really should never in a million years have been allowed anywhere near an assault rifle. as his father, what do you think about the system that allowed this to happen? >> i think it's totally broken. there's no way i think america should allow this to happen. seven times in a hospital, going to the same walmart that he had -- was carried out in handcuffs earlier with a butcher knife, and he can legally go in

there, put the money on the counter, pass a background test, buy a weapon and ammunition and be handed that rifle. good luck, have a good day. something is wrong with that system. as a matter of fact i would say the system is totally broken. >> and you only discovered what had happened. tricia, i think you were going through blake's laundry, and you found a walmart receipt in his pocket that said shotgun $865. >> yes. >> as it turned out it was an assault rifle similar to an ar-15. >> yes, and he was clearly, from what he told police, planning to commit an atrocity? >> we really can't get into detail, about what's going to happen in trial, because he hasn't been to trial for that yet. so we -- >> but the bottom line is, there's -- he -- the bottom line is, he bought a weapon at

walmart. the same walmart that we pick up his medication. you know, you write a bad check at walmart, you're on a bad checklist. blake should have been on a list. >> well, he should have never passed the background check. >> yeah. >> seven times in the mental hospital. that's -- they should not be able to buy a weapon. >> things need to be changed. >> the point is, isn't it, if you look at the loopholes in the background checks system in america. he could have gone to a gun show. from all the investigations i've seen, he could have walked into a gun show, no questions asked, and bought the same kind of assault rifle there. when you see washington reacting in the way they did recently by doing absolutely nothing, not even tightening background checks. what do you feel, as responsible parents who did -- almost the

unthinkable. having to hand your son in, because you've just run out of options, what do you feel about washington doing nothing? >> it's going to happen again. i mean doing nothing is the worst thing can you do. we're just waiting for another mass shooting to happen. it's going to happen again and again and again. something has to be done. and it's appalling to just see that washington and gridlock and they can't pass anything. >> i can't buy six packets of sued de fed in walmart, i can't buy certain types of french cheese in walmart. all of these potentially damaging to my health, but your son -- and let's repeat this again, who had been to a mental institution seven times in the previous few years, because he had never been court ordered to one of the institutions, just didn't show up on the walmart

background check. the same walmart he had been in with a meat cleever to try to harmon employee before. it almost defiz belief, and yet we hear about these things time and again. what do you think it will take to wake people out of their slumber on this issue? >> well, if the aurora colorado shooting didn't wake people up and the shooting that happened in california, that didn't wake people up, i don't think congress and the government -- i don't think you can wake them up. maybe something needs to happen to their family. maybe if they had mental illness in their family, and their son or daughter was arrested, maybe then someone would wake up and see that things need to change. >> but we're here -- >> the biggest thing -- i think what i was say iing, the chicag situation this weekend over 40 people shot in chicago, over 20 different incidents.

that is one issue involving gun violence. that is an issue involving mainly gang on gang related violence. and the fact that chicago has quite tough gun control is utterly meaningless, they all get in their cars and go outside of the state to neighboring states which don't have strong gun control. until you have a federal gun control that stops that happening, this will keep happening in places like chicago, until they can enforce it properly. in terms of what happened to your son. what is so relevant, we saw exactly the same thing happening with this young man in santa monica ten days ago. we saw it at sandy hook with adam lanza. we saw it at aurora. each time, disturbed young men who should never be allowed anywhere near these assault rifles and yet they're able to. >> well, so it's probably the health care professional not able to report to the local

authorities or to the atf or the fbi that they just saw a patient that would harm the general public or themselves if they were to buy a weapon. so it's a failure of the health care system to not be able to report because they're too -- you know, the hippa privacy is too shielded and guarded information. but yet we're enabling these people with some type of a mental handicap to go out and buy a weapon and use it on themself or others. >> they're -- >> and, of course, it comes at a time when -- it comes at a time when the majority of americans seem quite happy that the nsa can access almost all their private data. so you have a complete hypocrisy here the ones who shout loudest about we can't infringe the second amendment in terms of background checks because of the

information it may unveil. they're the ones saying, nsa should carry on doing what they're doing. >> i don't really think anything's private any more. in the day of the internet, everyone has everyone's information. yet my son could go in there and buy an ar-15 and nothing showed up on his background check. >> it's extraordinary. >> i know. >> let's take a short break. stay with me, i want to get to the moment you decided to turn in your son. it must have been a heartbreaking moment for you. i want to talk to merlin sp spurlock, he goes and works in a gun store, i want to get his reaction to what you've been saying. an extraordinary story of a teenager who hitched a ride on a 30 foot shark. hey, look! a shooting star!

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back with me now are blake's parents, who made the tough decision to turn in their son. the moment that you decided as parents that you had to do something, that you had to turn him into the police. what did you feel in that moment? >> well, we -- our intention was not to go have blake arrested. our intention was to warrant local authorities that our son, who everybody knew because he had been in and out of the hospitals several times, now has the -- has an ar 15 in his

possession. and we just wanted to say this is probably not a good thing for him to have, everybody knows his history, and it was a warning to the local authorities. we didn't know that he was going to be picked up and the confession and the plot that he had told the detective, we didn't know anything about that, we just wanted to warrant authorities that we thought it was unsafe for our son to have this weapon out in the community. >> you know, when you live with a child that is depressed or does suffer from mental illness, you want to protect that child. in 2009 he wrote a letter saying he was sorry that he was a failure, and sorry to disappoint us, and he went to walmart because he wanted the police to shoot him, because he didn't want to live any more. when you find a receipt that your son has bought a weapon,

the first thing you think is, your son is going to take his life, i went to the authorities, because i didn't want to lose my son. i didn't want my son to hurt anybody in the process of him taking his life. i do believe that was his intention. my son wanted to die. so i had to do what i did as a mother to save my son. >> as the way it is right now, our son is in -- >> i was going to say, it's heartbreaking to hear this. >> it is heartbreaking, but our son is alive. >> he's in jail, but he's alive. >> and other people in our kmoont are alive as well. >> safe. >> in a way, you lost your son potentially. i mean, if he's convicted of the offenses for which he's being charged. faces a very long sentence, how do you feel about that? >> it is heartbreaking.

and it -- i -- you know, i don't have restful nights because i -- i think about the long road my son has ahead of him, and what could -- what kind of future does he have. but at the same time, piers, my son is alive, i can talk to him every day. >> bill, what is your message to the families, who may be watching, who may have children in a similar position, late teens or early 20s who have been in mental institutions for a few days at a time. a similar pattern to what you went through. what is your advice to them? >> don't hide it. having mental illness 234 your family, should not be embarrassing. act on it, like we did. we saved our son's life. we possibly saved the lives of many others, but our son is still alive. and everybody is safe. we didn't want to hide the fact -- i mean, we didn't want to just push this under the rug

and be the next potential parents of a mass shooting. we acted, we had to do something. we couldn't sit back and let events play out. i would say every other parent if you see these warning signs in your child and they have access to weapons, something needs to be done. step up and do the right thing, don't just sit back and turn the other cheek and let it happen. the other thing i want to say is -- >> go ahead. >> sorry. i was going to ask tricia, how is he doing? >> he's -- you know, he's -- not out swimming. you know, it's summertime, he doesn't get a chance to go outside. watches a lot of tv. for the most part, he's maybe happy go lucky, he is in a structured environment. we try to have structure at home, sometimes that's hard. for the most part, he's not

doing too bad. >> bill, in conclusion, did you have any view about gun control before all this hit your family? >> well, you know the second amendment right and everybody's aware of that, i think we need to peel the onion back a little bit. i keep talking about this, the laws are -- privacy is so private that everybody can buy a gun, i don't think everybody should be able to buy a gun. i think the lawmakers need to get together. senators, lobbyists, everybody needs to get together, do the right thing, have it to where people that are unstable, something needs to be done to where they shouldn't -- they are not allowed to buy a weapon. >> i just wanted to thank you both really, i know this has not been an easy thing for you to do. it wasn't an easy thing to do to report what had happened to your son, to the authorities, it's not easy to talk about it now.

you're facing another huge ordeal. you may have a trial and who knows what happens after that, what you did do through your actions was possibly prevent an appalling incident happening, and for that, i'm -- very grateful to you, and i hope that you and your family can sort things out with blake, and he gets the help that he clearly needs. >> thank you. >> thank you, piers. >> thank you very much for joining me. >> very brave couple there opinion. i want to bring in merlin spurlock, he's the filmmaker behind super size me. just how easy it is to buy guns. he goes to work at a gun shop. he's in the chair tonight. welcome to you. >>. >> obviously a heartrending story there. usually deranged young men who just shouldn't be getting access to firearms. >> right.

>> what did you discover in your show? >> what you start to see is, these types of folks, they aren't in a database. people aren't tracked. there's no way to know who those people are, and really keep the firearms out of their hands. the shop i worked in did an incredible job of doing background checks on people. they ran all the specs they had to. >> it was in virginia. >> fredericksburg, they did everything to the letter of the law. more than other shops. they were great, this part of the puzzle is one that is missing doing background checks on people. >> how lax is it in reality? >> i mean, in terms of somebody like that who has mental problems, it's very lax because none of that is reported, none of that goes into a database that is managed by or controlled by the states. >> and there is a hypocrisy, season the there between those who campaign for the second amendment and say, look, the reason we don't want universal background checks, we don't want this information getting into the wrong hands. and at the same time, they're

saying, we're quite happy for the nsa to be tapping everyone's phones, e-mails and so on. >> it's very ironic, and one of the things we talk about in the show, 90% of americans when there's a vote about to come up about having background checks and expanding background checks to any type of a gun sale. 90% of americans approved of that, 90% of americans don't agree on anything. the only thing that people approved on or agreed on more than universal background checks was ice cream. 93% of americans like ice cream more than universal background checks. not baseball, not apple pie, all of those were less. >> what does it say about america's relationship with guns? >> there's a part that is embedded into our culture. what you see in the show and what you realize over the course of us making this, there are a vast amount of people that want change. they want things to be different. >> their voice tends to get drowned out. >> by both sides. we have to get rid of these for

good. we have to have massive reform that gets rid of the firearms. people say, no, second amendment, we have to have it stand by our rights. this is what our country's founded on. these people get lost in the discussion. >> what is the sensible compromise from what you went through with your show could make a difference in reducing the gun violence toll. >> i feel like if you do universal background checks, it's a great start. if you create a database where people with mental illness don't have access to firearms, that's a great start. i don't think you'll get a -- you won't get an a.r. 15. >> when you see that kind of weapon. >> yes, and you think about the type of people who have had it in their hands committing an atrocity. why would any civilian need one of those outside of hunting? >> sure, it's like -- they're fun to shoot, that's the thing. for somebody who's a sport hunter, it's a fun -- sure, why

not. ultimately, there's a way you request have them and keep them for people who want to have them, because they're fun. i like driving a ferrari because it's fun. outside of the realm of other people's understanding. i don't own a ferrari. then we could drive around in our ferraris and ar 15s. it would be a magical day in america. >> maybe it would. let's take a break. i want to take you inside a medical marijuana clinic. now that i have my card, our next stop is at harbor side. it's a medical marijuana dispensary. they serve 600 to 800 patients every day. according to the feds, harbor side is the largest illegal drug zib bugs center in the country.

today i'm harbor side's newest higher. next minute i'm in the back of an ambulance having a heart attack. i was in shape, fit. i did not see it coming. i take bayer aspirin. [ male announcer ] so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. see your doctor and get checked out. i don't know.in how did you get here? [ speaking in russian ] look, look, look... you probably want to get away as much as we do. with priceline express deals, you can get a fabulous hotel without bidding. think of the rubles you'll save. with one touch, fun in the sun. i like fun. well, that went exactly i as planned..

really?

there it is -- >> not only do i have a card, which makes me have the ability to buy in the state of california, but because i have this form, which i was even more shocked by, i have the ability to grow marijuana in the state of california. san francisco, i can grow up to 24 plants in my backyard. if i so wanted to.

>> oscar nominated film mmaker merlin spurlock. he's here with me in the chair. >> and i'm not high right now. >> you seem outraged by the fact you can get dope in california, but very happy about your gun collections. >> no, it's the incredible thing about america, there's all of these pockets where people question everything, that's what the show is all about. >> tell me about the cannibus. throughout america, quite a few states have legalized it, this is a sense within 20 years, it probably will be completely legal in america? >> sure, from what you've found in your show, is that a good thing? >> i think that one of the things i was really -- what i was really intrigued by is the number of people who came in there, who had been strung out on countless medication. we go to a doctor, he'll give you a pill for whatever the problem might be. there are people who were on six, seven medications, they're

off all their medications, soldiers coming back from iraq and afghanistan who were so medicated they couldn't function around their family members. they now have a life back. >> that's a great thing. what's the negative? >> from their standpoint, a lot of folks feel like it's going to be the '60s again and people are going to be out wanting to get high, and not wanting to go to school, and we're going to be a lazy bunch of people. >> is that a real risk? >> i think it's -- i think the key is, making sure that you try -- and again, kids always had access to marijuana, when i was growing up, it was illegal. 15, 16-year-olds got weed, it was around. will it become more accessible with something like this? i don't know if that's true. >> a seismic movie in america. i want to show you a map that came out today. a map of america showing a

little dot for every mcdonald's in the country. now, look at that. season the that one of the scariest images you've ever seen. >> there's about 30,000 mcdonald's all around the world and half of them are these. we represent the lion's share of all the mcdonald's in the world today, and our guts show it. >> ceo of mcdonald's claimed he lost 20 pounds eating mcdonald's every day. >> he also didn't say -- >> you are the one person, do you believe it. >> he also didn't say he got liz leg removed in surgery. he left that part out. >> that just can't be right, can it? >> i think he's -- there's ways for you to go in there, there's a way to go in and eat responsibly at all these restaurants. >> and if you exercise -- >> if you're exercising every day, you can have a salad and a water. people don't go to mcdonald's for salad and water of less than 2% of what they sell is a salad. 98% of what they sell is the fat

and sugar we love. >> what do you make of mayor bloomberg banning the sugary drinks? >> it's one of those things where part of me applauds the idea of something like that wanting to happen, part of me hates the idea of having to ban anything. you want to have a responsible citizenry where they make responsible decisions. >> does that ever happen? >> not really. >> so isn't it right to be -- i think there's also a time when there should be a nanny state. >> this is when you provide kids with helmets and you make them wear helmets. you have to have seat belts in cars. >> they improve the quality of life of people? >> no, as much as people were against the smoking ban, when that went through a few years ago, nobody's talking about it now. you love the fact that you can go to a restaurant and the guy next to you is not puffing up. it's great. not many people die from secondhand obesity. i never had somebody roll over

on me. that's the problem, it could happen. >> you would be around too many thin guys. let's take a short break, we'll come back, i want to ask the question. where do you think america's going? what is happening in the real country of america right now. there is a pursuit we all share. a better life for your family, a better opportunity for your business, a better legacy to leave the world. we have always believed in ts pursuit, striving to bring insight to every investment, and integrity to every plan. we are morgan stanley.

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i love big macs. this is the first time in a long time i've seen a big mac that looks like the picture. big macs never look this good. you have to come to chinatown. >> that's morgan spur log. i actually love about every six, seven weeks to march ten blocks up the upper east in manhattan and get a big mac and a large fries. >> you just walked a half a mile to get it. >> exactly. >> i recommend -- >> that kind of balances it out a little bit. most people are driving that ten blocks. >> do you ever sneak a big mac in? >> never. not since march 2nd, 2003. >> not a single one. >> there's so many better places to get a burger that i wouldn't do that to myself.

>> are you allergic to it? >> when it hits my mouth, it tastes like chemicals. >> your view of where america is, the reason i'm inited, you are the -- i think you've got a great take on the real america. which is probably not what the media elite. what is your take on where america is right now, and where is it going? >> i'm an optimist. i'm an eternal optimist. i believe, when i get to make a show like this, or the show we made for fx, you get to meet the real people who live and breathe every day, and deal with the problems we talk about in the show. they also believe in this country. that's what the backbone is, people who continue to have faith that things are going to get better. do the best for their families, that's what it comes down to, all the terrible things that happened, are always going to happen, i think as long as those people are around who continue to believe that things are going to get better, can get better,

that's what's most important. >> how does america find its new place in the world. having been the great manufacturer of the world? they've been the great consumer of the world. what is stage three? it can't be the previous. >> that's the real question now, where are we going to go, not only do we not manufacture, but we're 17th in the world in science, we're like 25th in math, you know, even lower than that when it am coulds to reading comprehension. it's a scary time. i think that -- >> britain's the same. >> i mean, the stats are equally bad. >> for me, one of the episodes we talk about is education. it all comes down to that. you have to start preparing kids, get them excited about education, but get them excited for what's next in our country. >> this nsa scandal which comes down to whether or not you think edward snowden is a hero or a villain. why do you sit with him? >> i saw this incredible thing on tv. if he was a hero, why wouldn't he stay here and face the music? why not stay here, and say, great, i'm going to blow the

whistle, and i'm going to be here front and center, to take the heat for it. >> you're a whistle blower of sorts? >> yes. >> you've blown the whistle on companies and bad things in america. >> yeah. >> if what he's doing is exposing a truth that ought to be exposed, regardless of where he's run and what he's saying, is that not in itself the justification? >> i think it's -- i think that he -- what he did is great. i think that we should have somebody like that that let's us know that these things are happening. the question of whether or not he's a hero is the real question. what he's done was very heroic, i don't think he's dealing with it in a heroic way. >> what should he do? >> come here, stand up for what he believes. there are plenty of other americans that will support him for that. >> will you trust the government to do that? to take care of you? >> it's like, i don't trust the government now, what are you talking about? >> every time i pick up the phone and hear it clicking. >> you must be right. it's part of the problem for president obama.

he did come in on this wave of, i'm going to be transparent and we're not going to be spying on american citizens. he's in office, and worked out, that's what you have to do to stop terrorists. >> nothing worse for him than to have this happen right now. it's tainted up until now. >> we have drugs, guns, education. what else could i pour into the show. >> one of my favorite episodes is all about end of life issues, what happens with the elderly, i move in with my 91-year-old grandmother. >> how did that go? >> it was great, i called her up and said, you want to have a roommate. she's like come on down. i moved in with her, and we filmed with her to show what the elderly go through and what they face. >> it's a terrific show. inside man premieres this sunday june 23rd at 10:00 p.m. eastern. best of luck with it. >> when we come back, shark stories, a texas teenager beat sharply with his bare hands.

another team goes for a joyride on a 30 foot whale shark. i'll talk to him and jeff corwin to explain why he's an idiot. [ male announcer ] every inch. every minute. every second -- we chip away. making the colors of earth and sunset skies

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this is what matters. the experience of a product. how will it make someone feel? will it make life better? does it deserve to exist? we spend a lot of time on a few great things. until every idea we touch enhances each life it touches. you may rarely look at it. but you'll always feel it. this is our signature. and it means everything. congestion, for it's smog.

but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the busses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution to the earth. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. a texas teenager beat a shark with his bare hands after it took a bite out of his leg. friends from his church group

came to his aide and the 15-year-old was airlifted to houston hospital where he's in stable condition. i want to turn to another shark story. the teenager taking the joyride of a lifetime on the back of one of the largest sharks in the world. take a look at this, a 30 foot long whale shark. he grabs the dorsal fin and goes for a ride. >> he joins me now live. first obvious question, what were you thinking? >> well, it's always been one of myrrh lifelong dreams to be able to see one out in the wild. and on saturday june 8th, i had the opportunity to see one. >> we all want to see one, but what you did went way beyond seeing one, you jumped in the water, pursued it, jumped on the

water, rode it. it's the stuff of madness. >> i mean, it's always been one of my lifelong dreams to be in the water with one of them, and i took it, i jumped in, and i grabbed on to its fin and it took me for a short ride which was an experience of a lifetime. >> most people run a mile from sharks, rather than jump on top of it, did you not worry it might eat you, drag you under the water? do something horrible to you like sharks tend to do? >> well, i've been around sharks for many years. i've dove with bull sharks and very aggressive sharks, and i know that they're harmless creatures. their size might be frightening, except they eat plankton and small organisms, i wasn't scared at all. >> when you see the video, what goes through your mind? >> when i watch the video, it's almost a surreal moment. because at the moment when i did

it so many things are going through your head, you don't realize you're holding on to a 30 foot whale shark that weighs approximately 50,000 pounds. you only realize it when approximately 50,000 pounds. you only realize it when you look back at the video and watch what you actually did. >> what's next on the dream bucket list? hammer head sharks? great whites? where are you going next? >> i'm not too sure about that yet. i mean, every day is another adventure if we go fishing. so -- >> do you worry at all about the poor old sharks in all this? is it good for them to have human beings clamoring all over them? riding them around? >> well, i'm not too sure about how many people have actually done it, per se. however -- >> i think a very, very small number.

>> possibly. however, i felt that if i, my size compared to the size of that shark is almost nothing. and also, scientists tag the whale sharks with tags on the dorsal fin. if i'm simply holing on to a whale shark, how is that any different than a scientist tagging a shark? >> it sounds perfectly normal, doesn't it? chris, thank you so much for joining me. i think you're barking mad but many others who think maybe you're not. i tell you what. wait with me. i'm going to bring in a shark expert. i'm interested to hear what he will have to say. joining me, a man who has experience with sharks, host of ocean mysteries on abc. his book appropriately called, sharks. what do you make of young chris's shark riding? >> well, good evening, guys. well, i can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm. for me, one of the most amazing

experiences i've had was documenting whale sharks for ocean mysteries. but we have to remember that this is a wild animal and in fact, intense contact with sharks can actually be incredibly stressful for these animals. they have a very thin, almost like slimy layer, a mucus layer on their skin. when that rubs off, it can expose them to bacteria. and we also need to remember what this animal is doing. these animals move to the surface for one specific reason. that is to filter feed. and they're burning energy to get energy. when we interfere with their feeding activities, it could be detrimental. in some places, whale sharks are protected. these are a mysterious species, piers. we don't know a lot about them but we know they're very vulnerable. that shark that could be on the coast of florida one day, a few weeks later could be somewhere off the coast of mexico. they remove and travel great

distances. but i myself think you need to be real careful around these creatures. because they're vulnerable. >> i had a few guys on recently who had caught what what may trn out to be i go the biggest shark caught in american waters. i got a bit of flak on twir afterwards for glorifying in that capture on the basis that we should not be celebrating this kind of thing. these are great creatures of the sea and they shouldn't be looked out into the boats. what do you think of that, jeff? >> well, when we vilify them, it makes it understandably easier to exploit them. sharks are incredibly complex. these are animals that for example, mako sharks, they may spend many decades before they are even old enough to reproduce. so there are some species of sharks that haven't even replaced themselves until they're 20, 30, 40 years old. we know that they're the

ultimate symbol of the health of an ecosystem and we know that sharks are in trouble. around the world, 70% of all shark species have their populations down by 90%. and i'm not opposed to people fishing or sustainbly connecting to sharks. but i think they warrant a tremendous amount of respect. and around the world we have failed as stewards of our planet to protect sharks. >> what about the young 15-year-old boy who was attacked by a shark? what is the best thing to do? if you're in the water as he was in texas, and you do get attacked by a shark, what is the most sensible course of action? >> if you're religious, start praying to god. after that, you know, defend yourself. he did exactly what he needed to do. we need to remember that 90% of shark attacks are the result of mistaken identity. these animals are often cruising

in. usually during poor light conditions or bad weather conditions. oftentimes they deliver first a test bite. so you have to be incredibly unlucky to be bitten by a shark. it is really one in tens of million of possibilities. but he did exactly what you need to do. the first thing you need to do is to try to get out of the water. if you cannot get out of the water, you need to defend yourself and try to keep this animal at bay. if it turns out what he's doing is a lot of work, you might just lead this person alone. and most shark attacks have this ending where someone gets scared, someone gets bit. but they end up surviving. >> final word to you, chris kreis. any regrets having heard what jeff had to say? >> well, if a little bit of uneducation with, with a whale shark in general, that touching

it might have absolutely harmed it, i might feel regretful about it if i might have injured it. in the long run, it was definitely an experience that might be once in a lifetime. as jeff was saying, the shark populations are really down and who knows if i might ever see one ever again. >> it was certainly an extraordinary bit of video. something i would not do in a lifetime. thank you very much for joining me. and jeff, thank you very much for joining me. >> my pleasure. >> we'll be right back.

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tomorrow night the mother who says it is not selfish to have one child. pits liberating. a lot of parents rthing twice about having an only child. thank you right now. anderson cooper starts right now. good evening. it's 10:00 on the east coast. tonight, edward snowden resurfaces online entering allegations that he is spying for china. he talks about why he believes he will never get a fair trial in the u.s. and revels in the honor of some people calling him a traitor. later, there might not be honor among thieves. what about alleged killers? he turned on his